Always found it strange that everyone assumes to overthrow a Sith Master you have to be able to beat them in a 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 face to face confrontation.
Vader is the best pilot in the Galaxy. And Luke not far behind. Would have thought thats far more useful in taking down the Emperor.
Registered: Dec 2019
Location: Imperial Throne Room
Not sure how that'd work though, most of the places the Emperor resides in are probably heavily fortified. There's also a decent chance that Sidious could conjure a force barrier to lessen the injuries.
Maybe attack the Emperor with a transport ship? But we've seen Luke use the force on ships so Sidious would probably be able to do similar to Vader's ship. Unless I'm missing something.
Also there's a good chance Vader overestimated Sidious and is just being extremely careful. It's likely that Vader would've far surpassed Sidious if he just gave it an extra 10-20 years. But with Luke he wouldn't need to wait that time.
Just seems more effective than using a Lightsaber to me, especially when Vader > Palpatine in that particular use of the force.
That said, I see your point, its probably far more effective leading an army of ships into battle against the Emperor. So would require Vader to have his own army loyal to him.
If Vader really believed that he had the power to kill Palpatine, he would have done it(or at least attempted it) himself... Especially given the rage/hatred he felt towards Palpatine at times.
But the very fact that he didn't suggests he couldn't. This is solidified by Vader wanting to team-up with Luke in order to overthrow Palpatine.
__________________
"I am tired of Earth. These people.
I am tired of being caught in the tangle of their lives."
Last edited by Galan007 on Mar 26th, 2020 at 07:45 PM
ah ok, misread that then, and yes you're correct on that one; would almost be comical to see Palpatine pilot a fighter tbh... it'd be so out of context lol
Registered: Dec 2019
Location: Imperial Throne Room
My point mainly was that I don't think Vader had much idea how powerful Palpatine was sure he can tell force power, in which Palpatine outclasses (most likely) Vader, however, a lot would come down to skills as a duelist since neither would be ragdolling the other.
It seems likely that even if Vader's Sabers was > Palpatine's then I don't see how Vader would know that, it's also possible Palpatine bigged up his fight against Yoda. Which would make Vader even more wary of Palpatine then he already is.
I think there's a few different ways to approach this.
In terms of canon quotes saying Sidious is more powerful, the book Lords of the Sith implies that Sidious is more powerful than Vader, though that book does take place in 14 BBY. It actually goes quite into detail about the relationship between Vader and Sidious, too. Another point is that in the 2015 Vader comic and the following Doctor Aphra comic, we've seen Vader get ambushed and tricked, whereas the same comic claimed that Palpatine's precog was so powerful that he could sense the very instant when hostility toward him turned into action.
The other point is that he clearly had a greater knowledge of the dark side and its powers, which may have given him a combative edge.
Of course, the OT also implies that he's more powerful - "You don't know the power of the Dark Side. I MUST obey my master."
In terms of why Vader didn't kill him, while it's tempting to say that it's because Vader wasn't more powerful than him, I agree with Darth Thor that he still probably could have killed him. I think it's probably because he was so subservient to him. He was psychologically locked into obeying Sidious, even if that's not what he wanted to do. Him wanting to teach Luke was his first step toward independence. Him actually teaching Luke would have been the last. Much like Kylo stepping out of Snoke's shadow by teaching Rey.
In terms of out-of-universe authorial intent, Sidious is pretty much supposed to BE the Dark Side. He's the definition of giving into your hate. So if you were to kill him, there's no Dark Side to join. There's no one to kill to defeat the Dark Side. There's no way to really tell a story without Sidious, since his death means the end of the saga.
And it wouldn't make sense for anyone to be more powerful in the Dark Side than the Dark Side incarnate himself.