Warning: Contains spoilers for Star Wars #50! Emperor Palpatine Has a reputation as an evil genius Star Wars Kanon, a master planner capable of manipulating events on a galactic scale. Palpatine orchestrated the Clone Wars, he wiped out the Jedi Order, and he manipulated the Senate into electing him Emperor of the Republic, which was immediately reorganized as the Galactic Empire – and that’s just the prequels. Over the Skywalker SagaPalpatine was twenty steps ahead of everyone. However, that doesn’t mean he’s infallible, especially after one recent development.
in Star Wars #50 by Charles Soule and Madibek Musabekov, The Current Era of Star Wars Comics come to a close, and it almost ends with the death of Emperor Palpatine along with every remnant of the Sith across the galaxy. After discovering a mystical artifact that can remotely kill anyone, no matter where they are in the galaxy, Luke, Leia, Lando, and Chewie decide to use it on Palpatine. However, the only way to use this artifact – known as the Grim Rose – is to offer it the target’s DNA, ideally blood or bone.
Fortunately for the Rebels, all members of the Senate have to donate a blood sample to the Republic databanks on their home planets for security purposes, meaning Palpatine’s sample is still on Naboo from when he was a senator. Lando went to Nauvoo posing as an Imperial officer to get the sample, but the records official checked him and identified Lando as a rebel right there on the spot. However, rather than alerting the Imperials, the official simply handed over Lando Palpatine’s blood sample, as she was sick of his dictatorial rule as were the Rebels.
Emperor Palpatine was nearly killed by… a records clerk
Palpatine’s latest brush with death proves that he doesn’t account for everything
While Luke Skywalker and the gang ultimately did not go through with the plan to use the dark magic of the Grimm Rose to kill Palpatine from afar, they certainly could have, and the records clerk who gave the Rebels his blood sample would have been reasonable. responsible for his death. There was no other way the Rebels could have obtained a sample of Palpatine’s blood, so without the records clerk, their plan would have been foiled before it began.
Emperor Palpatine is someone who could orchestrate the downfall of the entire Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order in one fell swoop, all while hiding his identity as a Sith Lord of the entire galaxy as he did so. However, the Emperor’s focus on the big picture blinds him to the threat level of the individual, which creates a loose end that Palpatine never foresees, nearly costing the Emperor his life.
This isn’t the first time Emperor Palpatine has overlooked people who weren’t individually powerful or relevant to his grand schemes. During the events of this very story, an insurgent cell in the Empire called the Schism Imperial – which is made up of Imperial bureaucrats – is plotting to usurp Palpatine. While Palpatine is aware of the Imperial schism, the mere existence of the group is proof that people with seemingly no power can be a threat to even the Emperor himself, just like the record official.
Palpatine’s life is not the only one in danger, the Sith as a whole are nearly wiped out
The reason Luke, Leia and the others did not go through with their plan to use the Grimm Rose to kill Palpatine is that it would not only kill him, but also everyone whose lives he personally impacted. People that Palpatine knew, was close with, had a relationship with his entire life were all in danger, meaning countless innocents would have died as a result of the Rebels’ actions. However, many not-so-innocent people would have been killed as well, including and especially the Sith.
The only prominent Sith during the original trilogy were Palpatine and Darth Vader, although there were other Sith-affiliated groups with access to the dark side of the Force that were arguably just as dangerous. It was the Sith Eternal Cult on Exegol that was led by Palpatine, the Knights of Ren who once saved Palpatine’s life, and Administrator Sly Moore, who was essentially Palpatine’s right-hand man who also practiced in the dark side. If the rebels used the Grim Rose, every single one of them would have been killed along with Palpatine, effectively wiping out the Sith all at once.
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All his scheming, all his achievements, everything he worked his whole life to achieve – both as a political leader and a Sith Lord – almost crashed down, all because of a simple records clerk. And not only Palpatine’s life was in danger, but perhaps the entire future of the Sith. That one margin of error could have been Emperor Palpatine‘s biggest mistake, which completely destroys his super-planner reputation Star Wars Canon.
Star Wars #50 by Marvel Comics is now available.