Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
The Ultimate Palpatine Essay
Part 1
The purpose of this thread is to prove the superiority of Darth Sidious to Valkorion, his most bitter enemy on these boards.
This is all my opinion of course, and I’m not trying to force these views down upon anyone, although a response would be appreciated. I did this mainly because I was bored, and several people requested the sources for my claims about Sheev in another thread. I figured that instead of giving you but a taste of Sheev’s magnificent power, I might as well provide it in its full glory by sharing all the sources of his best feats. I will also make a comparison to Valkorion to demonstrate just how inferior he is compared to Sheev’s unwavering might. You could also say I was inspired by Tempest/Gideon’s “Complete Palpatine essay” that he wrote back in the day, which I thought was very well done. You could treat this as a follow-up to that.
Now, I didn’t mention every feat Sheev has, nor every Force power, because most of his displays with minor powers aren’t that significant, and irrelevant to proving his supremacy anyway.
Also, Nova, add everything here to your RTs that you haven’t already.
Overall Force Power
Darth Sidious is offcially stated to be the most powerful Sith Lord and darksider in history. For said accolades, check the Palpatine Supremacy Thread.
Valkorion falls under the jurisdiction of these quotes, even if you don’t believe him to be a Sith (he is, though), as he is still very much a dark side user. Thus, any feat relating to power and not mastery by Valkorion that was done using abilities Sheev also knows, is attributed to Sheev but in greater magnitude. And given that Palpatine knows every Force ability that Valkorion does, he can replicate every single feat of power of Valkorion’s.
Which leads us to...
Overall Force Knowledge
Indeed, I mentioned that Palpatine knows every Force ability that Valkorion knows. That claim is validated by this lovely quote:
-From the Dark Side Compendium
So the Emperor has canonically collected the greatest dark side lore there is, and he collected all of it. Whatever Force power might have manifested in the past, Palpatine knows it or a greater version of it. For those who have comprehension issues, let me explain: If Valkorion knew a dark side ability that Palpatine didn’t, then Palpatine wouldn’t have collected all of the greatest dark side lore, as there would be a piece of it he hadn’t attained in the form of Valkorion’s ability. Thus, in order for him to have collected all of it, Palpatine needs to have knowledge of Valkorion’s hypothetical ability, and all his other unique Force abilities as well.
Another thing you might have picked up from the quote is that Palpatine studied the dark side in greater depth than anyone else in history, and discovered abilities no one else had discovered and thus had no knowledge of, Valkorion included. This already factually establishes the Emperor as a more knowledgeable dark side user than Valkorion, so there really shouldn’t be any more debate about this.
However, Valkorion supporters might want to argue that Valkoion has moved beyond mere Sith teachings and has evolved his understanding to encompass both sides of the Force, and thus, has the potential to surpass Sidious in overall Force knowledge. This argument falls flat very quickly, though, as Valkorion has never demonstrated any light side powers to my knowledge, and even though he has stated to have moved “beyond light and dark”, there no way to quantify how well this translates into overall Force knowledge, and any argument using this as its crux in an attempt prove Valkorion’s superiority to Sheev remains unsubstantiated.
And it’s not like Palpatine himself is an ignoramus on the light side of the Force, himself telling Anakin that “if one is to understand the great mystery, one must study all its aspects, not just the dogmatic, narrow view of the Jedi.”:
“All its aspects” indeed. His word is supported by an objective source, claiming that:
-Dark Empire Sourcebook
He also gathered Force-related from over a million worlds, which is an amount of knowledge Valkorion doesn’t come close to rivalling. And it’s not hyperbole either; there were canonically over 70 million star systems in the Galactic Empire, many of which contained more than one planet, I’m sure:
-The Essential Atlas
And for more specific light side knowledge, Sidious inherited the Banite archives, which contains tons of the Jedi’s knowledge of the Force:
-Darth Sidious, Book of the Sith
-Darth Sidious, Book of the Sith
-Episode I: The Phantom Menace Scrapbook
-Revenge of the Sith novelization
It’s even suggested that Palpatine knew all Jedi Force abilities ever, and created knew ones on a whim:
-Dark Empire Sourcebook[/i]
While this quote could easily be argued around due to the word “believed”, which establishes it as not the most concrete of accolades, but the fact that it is even suggested as a possibility in the first place says something, and there’s always authorial intent; they wouldn’t have put this is the book for no reason. The message and implication is clear: that Palpatine is among the most knowledgeable Force users ever regarding Jedi abilities and the light side of the Force, even if him knowing absolutely everything isn’t to be taken literally.
All in all, the amount of knowledge and the powers Sidious has discovered and developed from it is nigh immeasurable, being described as “almost unlimited”:
-Beware the Sith
I hope nobody still thinks Valkorion somehow has an edge over Sheev in this field. He’s squat compared to Palpatine’s knowledge and that’s that. But to his credit, I don’t think anyone would be able to measure up to Sidious here, save for possibly the Ones. I think, after all the evidence I’ve presented, it’s fair to say that Sidious is the most knowledgeable Force user of all time, bar the Ones.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 2
Overall Force Attunement
Sheev Palpatine had one of the deepest connections to the Force in galactic history, perhaps the most attuned being outside the Skywalker lineage. His connection to the dark side went so deep, that he literally commune with it, and be one with it:
-Darth Plagueis
Another example would be when he pulled the name of Vader straight from the dark side:
-Revenge of the Sith novelization
Sidious immersed himself in the dark side so deeply that its power was beginning to kill him. His body was failing, and it could not handle his own power:
-Darth Sidious
-The Dark Empire Saga
This is in sharp contrast to Vitiate, who, despite not having discovered immortality, remained unchanged for centuries, whereas Palpatine, who did discover immortality (I will elaborate on that later), was dying despite this. It proves just how much the latter’s connection to the dark side was deeper than the former’s.
Now that we have established Palpatine’s superiority to Valkorion statistically, it is time to see how well does Sidious use these attrubtes in combat. Let’s compare their individual Force abilities one by one...
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 3
Telepathy
Let’s establish Valkorion’s best TP feat right off the bat: the domination of Ziost, as seen in the Rise of the Emperor storyline. Here’re the video and the relevant quotes:
As is rather clear, from the videos and the quote, Vitiate never dominated Ziost in its entirety, since there where still free-willed people running around, and it is noted to be gradual. And although many would like to claim Vitiate was vastly weakened by being an incorporeal spirit, this would be counter-balanced by Ziost’s dark side nexus. Overall, he was performing at his natural level of power.
Another point I’d like to bring up is Vitiate’s inability to possess people who were unconscious. This is one of the ways the Hero fought his influence, and ultimately reduced the number of possessed beings to one. It is also made apparent from the fact that Vitiate only starts re-dominating them once they come to. This is clear indication that Vitiate was using maximum effort when performing this feat.
So, in total, Vitiate is able to dominate half a planet of people, with maximum effort, while present at said planet. Contrast this with Sidious’ domination Byss, and it becomes clear the wannabe Emperor has no business being considered in the same league as the OG, much less beating him.
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-Dark Empire endnotes
-Byss and the Deep Core
Dominating an entire planet is even by itself a better feat than dominating part of a planet. What makes an order of magnitude better, though, is the fact that Sidious did this from across the galaxy. Note the highlighted parts; the most straightforward interpretations of “constantly” and “forever” are that Palpatine never stopped dominating them, even when he was off-planet, on the other side of the galaxy.
What puts it two orders of magnitude higher than the Ziost feat is the fact that Sidious’ hold over them was far more subtle, yet just as effective. Not only are they described as living in a “dreamlike state”, implying they don’t know what is going on, they also don’t glow like magic zombies. Contrast this with the reactions of the people freed from Vitiate’s control and you’ll see that they were fully aware of what they were doing.
What puts it three orders of magnitude higher is the fact that the Emperor set them to do far more complex tasks than just mindless slaughter. What is described in the bottom quote requires infinitely more concentration, precision, thought, intelligence, knowledge of electronics, physics, mathematics, financing, economics, etc. than swinging swords or firing gun, and thus, would be much harder to pull off than the Ziost feat.
What puts it four orders of magnitude higher than Vitiate’s feat is the fact that he accomplished it casually. We never see the Emperor being strained in any of the comics or movies or novels. In fact, no one would ever notice or know about him dominating Byss since the Emperor does it so effortlessly.
What puts it five orders of magnitude higher is the fact that he was also using other Force powers simultaneously, mainly Battle Meditation and Drain Life. I will elaborate on BM here, but Drain will get its own section. But without further ado:
-Return of the Jedi
-Dark Empire Sourcebook
-Rebellion era campaign guide
The text is quite straight forward: Palpatine was keeping the Empire together with his power. He was utilizing Battle Meditation on every single Imperial soldier and officer in the galaxy, since the Empire’s inception. Over time they grew so reliant on this that when they were cut off from the Emperor’s power, it caused mass hysteria and mental breakdowns all across the galaxy. It is why they lost the Battle of Endor even though the outnumbered the rebels ten to one; It is partly the reason why the Empire went to shit in general very fast.
Sidious influenced tens of trillions with his mental powers. Valkorion requires maximum effort to accomplish a feat that is number-wise, hundreds if not thousands of times inferior to Palpatine’s’. And that’s without factoring Sidious doing it casually from across the galaxy. The disparity between these two is so large I’d wager Sheev would simply mind rape Valkorion and make him his slave.
Now, I did mention Sidious was also using Drain from across the galaxy, so let’s get into that...
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 4
Drain Life
Sidious siphoned the energies of Byss’ populace, according to the quote above in the TP section, constantly and never stopping. This infinitely more impressive than anything Vitiate has done with Drain, due to:
1. Vitiate was forced to exert maximum effort to affect the population of one planet; Sidious did it casually
2. Vitiate only affected an unknown amount of the population; Sidious affected the entire population
3. Vitiate could only drain the life essence of those who were dying; Sidious could drain the life essence of anyone he wanted
4. Vitiate was using a single Force power in conjunction with Drain; Sidious was using two, one of which he did on a galactic scale
There’s no comparison; Sidious drains him to death easily. As for Vitiate’s Death Field, while it is true Sidious never pulled it off, it's also true he never even attempted it. He's been canonically confirmed to know the ability in Book of the Sith and after just comparing their respective power in basic Drain, it's apparent Sidious is Vitiate's superior in that regard, so why should Death Field - which is an aspect of Drain - be excluded from that? Palpatine can do it, casually I’d say.
Telekinesis
It is quite clear that Palpatine is a telekinetic monster:
-Fact File 9
Ragdolling a 19 kilometer starship? Darth Sidious is up to the task. And yes, I mean ragdolling, as in he can do it with very little effort. As has been established already, he never stopped his Byss nor his Battle Meditation feat, meaning he was doing them at the same time as he buried the Lusankya. This would logically mean he would’ve expended very little of his actual Force reserves on burying the ship, as he would’ve had to concentrate on other two monumental tasks simultaneously. It gets even better, though:
-Starships of the Galaxy (Saga Edition)
So the thing was covered in all kinds of crap, making it look like a planetary shield generator. This would logically increase its size and mass considerably, making the Emperor’s feat all the more impressive. He also, has this:
-Rebel Force: Target
He could crack the foundations of the Imperial Palace, a building 3 km tall and 20 km wide. Although it is only an implied feat, we are given little reason to doubt Palpatine’s word, given the other showing I’ve presented here.
Overall, I’m quite at a loss as to why some people think Valkorion compares, much less wins this. He can’t measure up to Sheev in other powers, so logic dictates he can’t do so here either. Palpatine ragdolls him.
He can also fly so that’s another way in which Palpatine is superior:
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 5
Force Lightning
Sidious has two Lightning feats that make him the undisputed champion in this area. The first one would be bending Mace Windu’s lightsaber blade solely with the strength of his Force Lightning:
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-Revenge of the Sith novelization
The other would be damaging lightsaber-resistant material. Compare how Vader’s lightsaber and Sheev’s Lightning perform against the Lylek queen’s carapace:
-Lords of the Sith
Sidious’ Force Lightning > lightsaber blade; this much is fact. I haven’t seen any comparable showings from Valkorion (or anyone for that matter), and as I’ve said before, if Sheev is better at other powers, in the absence of comparable showings from Valkorion, logic dictates Sheev is superior here as well.
And that’s not the end of it. Sidious doesn’t need hands to cast Lightning; he can simply do it with his mind, and across very long distances, too:
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-Palpatine's hologram recording
-The Book of Anger
Haven’t seen Valkorion kill anyone from across the galaxy with Lightning. Face it: Sheev is better. Just better.
Pyrokinesis/Combustion/Convection
I have not seen Valkorion demonstrate any fire-related powers. I don’t even have to make a comparison; Palpatine wins by default. For his feats in this area, I’ll list them here briefly, to save you the effort of going through several respect threads.
Palpatine can keep himself warm in arctic temperatures:
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 6
Force Storm/Fold Space/Teleportation
All of you probably have seen or heard about Palpatine’s Force Storms at one point or another. However, many people are ignorant about their true capabilities and have asserted that Vitiate marring the surface if Ziost is a better feat. This is not the case, as Vitiate could only damage the surface, whereas the Reborn Emperor could literally tear them off:
-Dark Empire Sourcebook
To put this into perspective, the Earth’s surface layer can vary from 30 to 65 kilometers in depth. That’s tremendously more mass than any application of Telekinesis has ever come close to manipulating, and it is certainly more than what Valkorion has ever come close to replicating in terms of destructive potency. Palpatine’s Storms also have the potential to alter entire dimensions:
As for feats, there’s his Force Storm he summoned on Coruscant:
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Compared to the hype the ability has received, Palpatine’s demonstration may seem quite underwhelming. That would be the case if what we saw on-screen was all that transpired. It is revealed in a novel taking place six years after the event that the shore of the Great Western Sea had yet to recover:
-Black Fleet Crisis: Before the Storm
What’s also interesting about Palpatine’s Storm, is that it can alter entire dimensions with its power, a feat beyond Valkorion’s wildest dreams:
-Databank (2008): Luke Skywalker
Sidious also used these Storms not only to destroy, but to transport things across galaxy-wide distances. He did this to Luke and R2-D2, and also entire starships that he would add to his fleet:
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Also, the reason I listed traditional Teleportation and Fold Space here along with the Storms is because they all have the same effect – they can teleport objects, and I also believe Palpatine to be capable of teleportation without Storms. When he snatched Luke from Coruscant, the latter woke up on a prison ship, in a small, dark cell. The Force Storm couldn’t have possibly fit in there, so the only plausible explanation is that Palpatine used Fold Space to put him there. And if he can teleport others, then he can obviously teleport himself. This is reinforced by a description of Palpatine in the DE endnotes:
-Dark Empire endnotes
So if the Emperor himself bursts open the fabric of space, then it obviously means he can teleport, since the in the act of teleportation you are bending space to get from one place to another without moving yourself. This is another huge advantage Valkorion lacks
But back to the topic of Force Storms, it should also be noted that Palpatine had summoned multiple Storms in several different systems at the same time as he summoned the one on Coruscant:
-Mon Mothma, Dark Empire audio drama
I hope most of you have already realized just how screwed Valkorion is at this point. He can’t possibly hope to stand up to the power Sheev is bringing. But just to drive the point home, the Storm he summoned on Coruscant was actually on the small scale, relative to Palpatine’s true power. The Storm he summoned on Da Soocha was far larger and more powerful.
-The Essential Chronology
In fact, this is according to Palpatine himself, his full potency. He poured all of his power into this singular act of the dark side, and the results were devastating. This is what Palpatine is capable of at full power:
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Not only did it consume the fleet, but in a matter of seconds, it was threatening to devour the entirety of the moon of Da Soocha:
-Mon Mothma, Dark Empire audio drama
Luke himself made the same observation upon seeing the Storm in action:
-Luke, The Jedi Path
So Palpatine at full power is a moon buster. At least that’s what he can do in a matter of a dozen seconds. In the long term, Palpatine’s Storm was going to consume “all of space”:
-The Comics Companion
Taken literally, “all of space” would literally mean the entire universe, as well as any other universes if they exist. In other words, Darth Sidious is omniversal.
However, whether the quote should be taken at face value is up to debate, since an omniversal usage of the Force would be massively out of proportion in the Star Wars setting. Even the Ones – godlike Force wielders beyond anyone – possess only a fraction of a fraction of that kind of power. They’re at best noted to be galaxy-level. It would make very little sense for Palpatine to be able to accomplish something so outlandish and – within the scope of the Star Wars universe – ridiculous.
Nonetheless, this hardly detracts from his supreme dark side might. Outright destroying a moon is far beyond Valkorion’s ability. He’ll be annihilated in a fight against Sheev.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 7
Force Defence
Valkorion’s best feat is blocking a lightsaber blade with Tutaminis. However, this is Darth Bane-tier shit:
-Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil
While Bane was thrown back, he still managed to completely negate the effects of the lightsaber. He also managed this without any gestures whatsoever, so in a purely defensive sense, this feat is superior to anything Valkorion has ever demonstrated. So blocking lightsaber blades should be a absolute child’s play for Sidious, per Banite scaling (see the Supremacy Thread). Theoretically, if an opponent was hammering him relentlessly with a blade, he could simply erect a barrier and nonchalantly drink his coffee.
But of course it doesn’t end there. Purely in the realm of feats, Sidious has casually tanked his own Force Lightning, which, as you know – if you were paying any attention while reading the previous section – is more potent than a lightsaber blade.
-Revenge of the Sith junior novel
Now, you may claim Sidious wasn’t hit by it, but I ask you: What is this notion based on? I’d say if Sidious is described as ”doomed” (RotS script), the lightning is hitting him. Yoda’s comment about destroying Sidious also supports my case. Nowhere is it stated the lightning missed. Nowhere is it stated that Sidious dodged. Nowhere is it stated the lightning just stopped mid-air. And none of these would even make sense, as Sidious would clearly not look like he was doomed, if the lightning was not hitting him. The only plausible conclusion here is that Sidious was casually tanking his own Force Lightning, which didn’t even put a dent in him.
This also supported by Yoda – Sidious factual equal or near-equal – tanking the Sith Lord’s Force Lightning himself at the start of their duel. He was sent flying, but that was the extent of the effect it had on him. He rose up a moment later completely unscathed, indicating Sidious could do it as well.
Fast forwarding to Dark Empire, Sidious demonstrated the ability to shield others from his Force Storms, which are far more destructive than even his Force Lightning. He did this to Luke and R2-D2 when he transported them to Byss, and also the starships. I have heard the argument that Sidious could have simply controlled his Storm in a way that it would not hit what he was transporting, but this is not how Force Storms work. They destroy absolutely everything they touch, and Luke very clearly went right through the eye.
-Darth Sidious, Book of the Sith
So if Sidious can shield others and even entire starships, and from across the galaxy, then he can obviously shield himself. Valkorion doesn’t compare in the slightest.
Alter environment
Let’s discuss their power on a planetary scale. A mere hologram of Sidious causes intense weather phenomena on Vjun. Sidious accomplished this from across the galaxy:
-Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
Contrasted with Vitiate, he never did anything from across the galaxy, and to influence a planet’s climate, he needed rituals. Couldn’t do it with his own power. He’s a sad joke compared to the true Dark Lord.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 8
Cosmic Accomplishments
I have already covered this topic here, but there is more I’d like to add.
Firstly, Sidious is outright stated to have the ability to weaken someone’s connection to the Force through the dark side:
-Aliens in the Empire Part II
Secondly, more evidence for Sidious causing the imbalance. When Yoda is ruminating on the shroud of the dark side, it is visually represented as a cloaked figure, which is of course Sidious, implying he is the source of the imbalance:
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Third, it is implied Sidious not only hindered the galaxy’s lightsiders, but the darksiders as well, clouding both sides of the Force:
-Attack of the Clones script
This isn’t a traditional meditation session. Yoda clearly says only darksiders can see the future. Emphasis on “only”. Yoda very clearly knows that it is impossible for him as a lightsider to see the future, so he wouldn’t attempt the normal method, and is instead using some sort of dark side variant of Force sight. This is supported by Mace Windu describing it as “dangerous” (the risk of Yoda falling to the dark side), and Yoda viewing it as his only option and a last resort (normal meditation having failed numerous times).
But of course, as we know, Yoda failed, from which we can conclude that Sidious was not only clouding the light side, but if a darksider’s sight is also muddled, then he is shrouding also the dark side, and thus, the Force as a whole. This is similar to Darth Nihilus, whose mere presence weakened a Force user’s connection to the Force, except Palpatine has cast his shadow over an entire galaxy. This is an unparalleled demonstration of Force suppression.
Another feat in this area would be when the mere hologrammic presence of Palpatine stripped Dooku of his Force Augmentation, and consequently, his power, from across the galaxy:
-Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
Compared to Valkorion needing extensive conditioning and magic words implanted into Vaylin's brain to supress her power, Sidious comes vastly ahead once more.
But back to the topic of galaxy-wide accomplishments. Another feat on a cosmic scale: a mere fraction of Palpatine’s power caused a galaxy-wide shockwave that could be felt by attuned individuals. In the audio drama, Luke is overcome with agony upon sensing this:
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-Dark Empire II audio drama
This is also a feat of Force Empowerment, in which a Force user strengthens another’s connection to the Force. This makes Valkorion’s use of the ability look quite pathetic in comparison:
But I digress, back to the topic of cosmic mastery, Palpatine made himself a dark side beacon. His power could be felt anywhere in the galaxy, and it attracted other dark side users into his service:
-The Dark Side Sourcebook
Again, beyond what Valkorion ever did, as is everything I’ve presented here.
Force Concealment
Even from a very early age, Sheev always expressed great talent with hidding his Force sensitivity. Despite having little training in the Force, he hides his Force signature from Hego Damask, in reality the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Plagueis, even though he was actively attempting to probe him:
-Darth Plagueis
Continuing with his life into the Galactic Senate, and eventually Chancellorship, he hid his identity from the collective of the Jedi Order, and the High Council:
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-Darth Maul, Sith Apprentice
Vitiate did do something similar, in that one of his Children, the First Son, was actually the Jedi Master Syo Bakarn. He could, similar to Palpatine, conceal his true nature from the Jedi Council, and in addition to this, he concealed the Force sensitivities of Vitiate’s other Children:
-First Son Codex Entry
However, this feat is inferior to Palpatine’s in that Palpatine concealed his identity while he was using the Force to dampen the Jedi’s connection to it. He was shifting the tides of the Force all over the galaxy, and the Jedi never realized he was doing it, despite doing it right in front of them. That’s a far greater feat than hiding a couple of people the Jedi aren’t even actively looking for.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 9
Force Illusion/Doppelgänger
Valkorion’s best effort here was creating an illusory world in the mind of the Outlander. Sidious accomplished something similar, but this time against a far more powerful adversary in Yoda. In addition to this, he had to invade Yoda’s mind himself, while Valkorion was already inside the Outlander’s when he lost consciousness.
On a more individual level, Sidious has created a doppelgänger of himself, which was also an illusion in the form of Sifo-Dyas (also seen in the above video). It was so convincing that even Yoda was fooled by it. The doppelgänger possessed abilities such as Pyrokinesis and Telepathy, which he used against Yoda. This is greatly beyond the scope of abilities Vitiate has demonstrated in this field. His three doppelgänger’s were casually stomped by the Hero of Tython, and T7, a simple astromech droid:
I’d also like to address the fact that just because Sidious accomplished this in conjunction with a ritual, does not mean it was not of his own power. The ritual allowed Sidious and Dooku to “see things, that we otherwise could not.” and nothing more. There’s no evidence the illusory world or the doppelgänger were linked to the ritual. It only bolstered their Force Sight ability.
Essence Transfer/Incorporeal Existence
This is perhaps Palpatine’s most underrated ability, mostly because of sheer ignorance. I have literally seen people claim that Palpatine “couldn’t lift a pencil” while in a bodiless form, which is outright laughable. Palpatine is one of the few beings in the mythos to not grow any weaker upon losing his physical shell:
-Handbook 3: Dark Empire
-Databank (2008): Palpatine
This is supported by many sources stating he is longer defined by his physical form, and is more energy than flesh:
-Dark Empire endnotes
-The Unifying Force
-Darth Sidious
In terms of feats, you may remember a quote I posted in the Telepathy section about Palpatine never stopping the Byss feat. For convenience, I’ll re-post it here:
-Dark Empire endnotes
There’s no reason to assume this doesn’t apply to his spirit form as well. It’s stated nowhere, and the word “constantly” means constantly. No ifs or buts. Palpatine’s spirit is better than Valkorion’s spirit, and better than Valkorion in the flesh, too.
Sith Sorcery
Vitiate’s greatest attempt at Sorcery was a ritual which, if pulled off, would have killed every living being in the galaxy, and transferred their power into Vitiate. While this is a greater feat than anything Palpatine has, it should also be noted that the ritual required hundreds of years of preparation, and billions of simultaneous deaths for it to actually activate.
-Lord Scourge
It also happens to be Valkorion’s only feat on a galactic scale. Compared to Sidious, this is not very impressive.
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Sidious creates a ritual, which causes ripples in the Force as well as envelops Coruscant in a lightning storm, and is felt by every Jedi in the galaxy. Palpatine conducted not only one, but multiple similar rituals during the Clone Wars:
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Also, this comparison between their respective weather rituals needs to be made:
-The Old Republic Codex Entry 33: Galactic History: Dromund Kaas
So to summarize, Vitiate required multiple rituals to create planetary thunder storms, whereas Palpatine needs only one. Vitiate also managed to conduct a single galaxy-spanning rituals over the course of several centuries, with billions as fuel, whereas Sidious conducted multiple galaxy-spanning rituals in a matter of three years, which took very little prep and resources, and no deaths to trigger it.
There’s still the Nathema ritual to cover, though, so I’ll do it right now. Here’re the details of the ritual:
-The Old Republic
As you can see, it not only took ten days to perform, but Vitiate could not do so alone, and required over 8000 helpers. Not comparable to Palpatine.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
Part 10
Sith Alchemy
It should also be noted that Palpatine was far more knowledgeable than his Dark Side Adepts when it came to Sith Alchemy:
-Dark Empire endnotes
The Adepts were extremely knowledgeable and masterful in the art of Sith Alchemy themselves, being greater than the ancient Dark Lord Sorzus Syn:
-Darth Sidious, The Manipulation of Life
They have also succeeded in creating sentient and self-aware intelligent entities, which is as unprecedented feat, even for Valkorion:
-Dark Empire endnotes
And even then, the Adepts were not on Palpatine’s level in the art of Alchemy. In fact, the statement regarding the Adepts perfecting Sorzus Syn’s Alchemy was made in 19-18 BBY, only shortly after RotS. Twenty years later, he noted how he had advanced greatly beyond what he understood back then:
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These are the things he wrote about originally:
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And here are some of Syn’s accomplishments:
-Sorzus Syn, Book of the Sith
Depictions of Leviathans:
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Syn also created the Muur talisman, a highly complex and powerful dark side relic:
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The Muur Talisman create rakghouls and grants the wielder immortality:
-Jedi Academy Training Manual
The Muur Talisman in action:
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Also, a note on immortality: it is something Valkorion never achieved. Many sources state that the ritual of Nathema only extended his life but did not make him immortal, and that he is still looking for a solution to it:
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So prime Palpatine is a far greater alchemist than his RotS self, who was already a greater alchemist than his Dark Side Adepts, who were greater alchemists than Sorzus Syn, who found the solution to immortality through Alchemy, which Valkorion never did. The Adepts also created intelligent life, whereas Valkorion only had success with mindless beasts.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who was the greater master of the arcane and esoteric secrets of the Sith between Valkorion and Palpatine.
Conclusion
Well, it’s done now. Hope you enjoyed and have gained a new understanding and appreciation of Sheev.
Registered: Jun 2016
Location: The Throne of the Sheevites
I am aware that some arguments aren't that solid; I noted this myself when making this. However, in my mind, the overall message of this essay is more important than nitpicking it to death, which is why I didn't spend that much time elaborating on each individual point.
Registered: May 2007
Location: Best company on the planet
He has a real passion in Star Wars you obviously don't with your will you get those hours back nonsense. No wonder you don't debate you don't actually care about Star Wars. Why even come here ?