It’s beentwenty years, andStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithremains a gift that keeps on giving.George Lucas' conclusion to thePrequel Trilogyhas such a complex plot and so many details, that, once in a while, we catch on to something we missed. For example, something that bothers a lot of new fans is:why the hell didn’t the Jedi catch Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) sooner?He was always right next to them! Couldn’t they have used the Force to sense it? Weren’t hispolitical shenanigansfishy enough? Were the Jedi just not that powerful? Well, as it turns out, it’s a bit of everything.
Palpatine Was Powerful Enough To Conceal His Dark Aura
The Jedi Order had some of the most powerful beings in the Force, but, for all their talk of “The Dark Side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor,“they only acted on their suspicions when it was too late. That’s anactual lineby Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) inRevenge of the Sith, so they were aware of that possibility… But it wasn’t their main hypothesis.Matthew Stover’s excellentRevenge of the Sithnovelizationcame out together with the movie, and, although it’s technically not canon anymore, it provides some insight into what the Jedi thought. They never fully trusted Palpatine, but did consider him a suspect because they couldn’t rule out anyone. However, their reasoning was always that he was already in power, sothe Dark Side must come from someone besides him who wants to take power. The Dark Sidesurroundshim, but doesn’t comefromhim, and that’s an important distinction.
Palpatine Was Right All Along — Yoda Totally Blew It
“Your arrogance blinds you, Master Yoda.”
Palpatine was immensely powerful in the Dark Side, enough to conceal his own dark presence. InStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, for example,Yoda(Frank Oz) mentions that he senses the Dark SideinCount Dooku(Christopher Lee), not around him. InRogue One: A Star Wars Story, Chirrut Îmwe (Donnie Yen) mentions that the Dark Side surrounds creatures who are about to kill, and Palpatine had been leading the bloodiest war in galactic history.
There Was Never Any Evidence That Incriminated Palpatine
When Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) tells Mace Windu that Palpatine is the Sith Lord they were looking for,Windu replies: “Then our worst fears have been realized.” In a pastIGN interview,Dave Filoniused this line to argue his case thatthe Jedi did suspect Palpatine, but were never confident enough to move against him. It wasn’t an easy case to make, after all, especially because Palpatine never left any incriminating evidence against himself.
We learn inStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menacethat it was Palpatine, operating as Darth Sidious, who manipulated the Trade Federation into besieging Naboo, and also likely sacrificedDarth Maul(Ray Park) to tell the Jedi that the Sith were back. InAttack of the Clones, the whole Clone Army plot is pinned on Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, but he commissioned the army influenced by Dooku, who, in turn, was influenced by Sidious. Dooku officially led the Separatists in the Clone Wars, buteverything he didwas determined by Sidious, too, from military strategy to political alliances.Palpatine was behind everything, but nothing formally led to him.
Even if, somehow, the Jedi obtained explicit knowledge of Palpatine’s involvement in all these issues, they would stilllack the evidenceto prove it, so they needed to be extremely careful and thorough to build their case. They could never simply tell the Senate about who Palpatine really was, because, without hard evidence, no one would believe them, and it would look like they were trying to bring him down. Not even opposition senators would be able to help them. So,any action they took against Palpatine would look like a coup, which was exactly what he wanted, from a political and public opinion point of view.
The Jedi Lost Simply by Being in the Political Arena
As much as one could argue about possible ways the Jedi could have exposed or defeated Palpatine, the truth is that they lost before their clash against the Sith even began inThe Phantom Menace. There was a time when the Jedi were seen as respectable protectors of peace and justice, and, back then, perhaps they could have exposed Palpatine and saved the galaxy,but Palpatine’s plan wasso airtight, it forced them to go deeper into the political arena. Attempts on senators' lives, for example, served that purpose.
By the time ofRevenge of the Sith, the Jedi simply didn’t have any political capital to spend. Perhaps Windu could have pressed on against Sidious in their duel and killed the Sith Lord before Anakin arrived, but that would still not be enough to actually save the galaxy from turmoil, because the Jedi themselves would be seen as culprits, and aloose cannon like Anakincould still turn on them.They couldn’t do it without incriminating the Order in major ways.It would be seen as a political assassination, and the Jedi’s reputation was already at an all-time low at that time. They lose either way. It’s such a dangerous idea, that even the Order the Jedi Council couldn’t talk about this, because of the sheer panic it could cause.
Finally, with Anakin in the Council as Palpatine’s own envoy,the Council really didn’t have many options left, so confrontationwas inevitableat that point. The Jedi needed an equally airtight case against Palpatine in order to remove him from office and later defeat him as a Sith Lord, but Palpatine’s trap was so masterfully laid, that it allowed them no time to build such a case. Even when he openly confessed to Anakin, the Jedi had no other option but not to engage him in a fight. Truly a masterclass in political intrigue by Palpatine.
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
