As Palpatine ascended the Senate platform to deliver his proclamation that would bring an end to Galatic Republic, Anakin Skywalker had taken his first full steps down the path of darkness. What single event was instrumental in allowing this moment to happen? If the Clone Wars had not raged across the Galaxy for over two years, would Palpatine be able to crown himself as Emperor? The Jedi, in one frightful event in Palpatine's office, had been branded as traitors... their once noble position in the Republic now utterly destroyed.


The Manipulation of Fear


The Clone Wars had eroded the sense of security that had long existed in the Republic, bringing death and devastation to nearly every system across space. A strong and willful leader would be everything a fearful public would need, promising them the kind of security that the War had torn apart. We know the power that fear has within the Darkside of the Force, and have seen through Anakin the devious way in which it can be manipulated. The Senate, fearful of the growing Separatist threat, would gladly hand over what power it could to the Chancellor, certain that he alone could bring the devastation to an end. Without these powers, his ascendancy to Emperor would be virtually impossible... he would need that strong, initial support before greater and more violent methods were required. Palpatine knew that fear would only take him so far, that long after he had declared himself ruler, the public would begin to realize what they had done. He would need something far more frightening to control them, for fear brought him to power... and even greater fear would be needed to keep him there.


"At last the Jedi are no more!"


Naming the Jedi as traitors to the Republic would have played some role in aiding his rise to power in the new Galactic Empire. The long and noble protectors of peace had been declared enemies of the state, with Palpatine taking the role of the helpless victim in their diabolical plot. A loyal army and a powerful new apprentice was all that Palpatine required to ensure that the flame of the Jedi was violently extinguished. The Jedi would no longer be in a position to question his new found authority, and those Senators weary of his new position would be forced to wait and bide their time. To declare themselves in open opposition to the new Emperor at such an early stage would be far too dangerous, much of the Senate and the Republic still believed that they needed him. Soon the initial fear that had put Palpatine into such a position of absolute power would fade, and then the quiet discontent that had begun in secretly in the Senate could grow into something much more.

But this fear would be replaced by something more akin to terror. Almost immediately after taking his place as Emperor of the Galaxy, he would begin construction of a weapon that would ensure his power for years to come. How long had this one machine been in Palpatine's Plan? We know of its origins, the droid factories of Geonosis and the beginnings of the Separatist movement, but now it would play a vital and violent part in events to come. Even as the Senate quietly talked of rebellion, the Emperor planned to build and unleash a weapon that would strike terror throughout the known worlds. He would continue the manipulation of fear that had brought him into power, and reveal the darkest part of his twisted nature.


"Excellent, everything is going as planned."


These were moments long prepared for; every piece of his grand scheme had come together with evil precision. The capture of the Death Star's plans on Geonosis would become instrumental in helping to maintain the fear that he needed, giving rise to the infamy of the Empire and fueling the Rebellion that would follow. The result of his plan was one of cunning evil, tearing down a once thriving democracy and building in its place a government of fear and oppression. The greatest weapon of the Darkside and the most potent tool of the Sith had brought down a democracy and the Chosen One of Jedi Prophecy... fear had indeed served him well.