Palpatine's Public Image as an Emperor

So I was talking to a friend who just watched Star Wars for the first time after a very long time and he asked me something that made me realize I don't know something very major and important about Star Wars.

The question was: How much does the senate/people of Galactic Empire know about Emperor Palpatine's sith identity?

Which lead to many more questions in my head:

Is he openly Sith to everyone?

Do people know how powerful he is in the force?

Does Imperial Military actually think he is a good person or do they just respect him?

Do the citizens know the evil deeds of the Empire like blowing planets up?

Those who don't like him are the rebels. Everyone else in the galaxy either fears the Empire so they don't rebel or do they actually support him?

Also, how did people forget about the force in such a short time? I mean it is called an ancient religion in ANH which is really stupid considering the fact that it was very well-known 20 years ago.

Another consistency cock-up from the PT. It really hammered home the Sith stuff, so we're left wondering how that now impacts the later Empire. It also established the Jedi and the Force as everyday things that people run in to at the bar on Coruscant, and get involved in major political intrigues. By showing how well known and obvious the Force was in every single story ever in the prequel era, it makes the disappearance of the Jedi from the collective consciousness of society and the enigma of the Force in the OT less believable.

It's the difference between the disappearance of the Shaolin monks, and the disappearance of the CIA. One is more mysterious and fringe, the other is the f*cking CIA. Everybody everywhere knows about them and will talk about their sudden mass murder 20 years from now.

Exactly. I thought it might have been explained somewhere but like you said, it is just a weak storyline. Still though, I would like to know Palpatine's relations with politicians and the citizens. For example, he used his force powers in front of Mas Amedda and he was not surprised at all and was aware of what was about to happen as he left the room before Yoda got up so we know that he knows his sith identity.

By the way I am only referring to ROTS and OT era so prior to his first death cause after that things just get messy.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Another consistency cock-up from the PT. It really hammered home the Sith stuff, so we're left wondering how that now impacts the later Empire. It also established the Jedi and the Force as everyday things that people run in to at the bar on Coruscant, and get involved in major political intrigues. By showing how well known and obvious the Force was in every single story ever in the prequel era, it makes the disappearance of the Jedi from the collective consciousness of society and the enigma of the Force in the OT less believable.

It's the difference between the disappearance of the Shaolin monks, and the disappearance of the CIA. One is more mysterious and fringe, the other is the f*cking CIA. Everybody everywhere knows about them and will talk about their sudden mass murder 20 years from now.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Another consistency cock-up from the PT. It really hammered home the Sith stuff, so we're left wondering how that now impacts the later Empire. It also established the Jedi and the Force as everyday things that people run in to at the bar on Coruscant, and get involved in major political intrigues. By showing how well known and obvious the Force was in every single story ever in the prequel era, it makes the disappearance of the Jedi from the collective consciousness of society and the enigma of the Force in the OT less believable.

It's the difference between the disappearance of the Shaolin monks, and the disappearance of the CIA. One is more mysterious and fringe, the other is the f*cking CIA. Everybody everywhere knows about them and will talk about their sudden mass murder 20 years from now.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
Honestly, pretty much everything except A few lines from Han established this. Either way, Vader used the Force all the time in OT and preached about it, dare I say, religiously. It made no sense to begin with.

You don't call a technique that chokes people to death without touching them an ancient religion. Its still stupid without Han.
If its proven, its not religion. Oh yeah, I just went there.

The jedi and force isn't a religion and the jedi aren't freakin monks

The senate knew that palps was a sith, they just hid it from the jedi because if they told palps would kill them all.

By kill them all I meant the senators.

The senate didn't know he was sith before order 66. Maybe a few people did. Im asking whether he went public with his sith identity or not after he declared the reorganization of the republic to Galactic Empire.

Originally posted by Sinious
You don't call a technique that chokes people to death without touching them an ancient religion. Its still stupid without Han.
If its proven, its not religion. Oh yeah, I just went there.

The jedi and force isn't a religion and the jedi aren't freakin monks

Anyway, Vader being called Darth Vader should give away that they were obviously public about being Sith.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
The line between fact and religion doesn't come from being proven. People worship the sun. Guess that's not a religion because it's proven to exist.

No one would worship the sun without putting a meaning to it. For whatever reason the sun worshippers declare the sun a god, they would have to prove it which is impossible because it is not a god. But I was just kidding anyway.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
Anyway, Vader being called Darth Vader should give away that they were obviously public about being Sith.

That is a good point. I wonder if any politicians/citizens refer to Palpatine as Darth Sidious.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
The line between fact and religion doesn't come from being proven. People worship the sun. Guess that's not a religion because it's proven to exist.

They don't get to label themselves. Obviously you get to do that.

Anyway, Vader being called Darth Vader should give away that they were obviously public about being Sith.

Originally posted by Sinious
No one would worship the sun without putting a meaning to it. For whatever reason the sun worshippers declare the sun a god, they would have to prove it which is impossible because it is not a god. But I was just kidding anyway.

vader was just the commander of the 501st and palpatines apprentice and a pawn

I'm not sure how many citizens were familiar with the Darth title, considering it hadn't been publicly used for over a thousand years.

Religious debates suck. But... just about all religions revolve around some form of deity or entity that exists in the intangible only. That's kinda the point of them. Treating something "religiously" doesn't make that thing a religion. That adverb is just that: an adverb.

The religion hook for the Jedi is only set up by Motti and Tarkin in ANH. Both were throw away lines, though Motti's was rather condescending and insulting in tone.

And that's what was so great about the Jedi and the Force back then: you never really got to see them in full swing. They were left mostly to the imagination, with Yoda and Ben filling in some of the basic tenets along the way.

But then the PT came along and said "F*ck that, let's make them the equivalent of the FBI or NSA or something. And we'll explain away the Force as microscopic organisms who talk to only a handful of specially chosen people. Because Hand-Lightning can be rationalized if there's bacteria involved."

The backstory to the Emperor fell victim to the same mentality. Seriously--f*ck those awful movies.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
I could tell by what you said afterwards. Not taking anything personal if that's what you think. And while the Force is real, many of the religious connotations given to it by the Jedi aren't really that proven, I think.

Nope I know. 🙂

At least they are honest and don't use it for personal gain. That makes them more reliable.

Originally posted by Emperordmb
I'm not sure how many citizens were familiar with the Darth title, considering it hadn't been publicly used for over a thousand years.

I assume Vader was very popular within the galaxy? I mean he was basically the face of the Empire in most cases. His name is Darth Vader, the educated individuals must have known what he is. Since he serves the Emperor, Palpatine must have been targeted to many questions about being a Sith. Its sad that we don't know anything about his public statement about himself.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
Religious debates suck. But... just about all religions revolve around some form of deity or entity that exists in the intangible only. That's kinda the point of them. Treating something "religiously" doesn't make that thing a religion. That adverb is just that: an adverb.

The religion hook for the Jedi is only set up by Motti and Tarkin in ANH. Both were throw away lines, though Motti's was rather condescending and insulting in tone.

And that's what was so great about the Jedi and the Force back then: you never really got to see them in full swing. They were left mostly to the imagination, with Yoda and Ben filling in some of the basic tenets along the way.

But then the PT came along and said "F*ck that, let's make them the equivalent of the FBI or NSA or something. And we'll explain away the Force as microscopic organisms who talk to only a handful of specially chosen people. Because Hand-Lightning can be rationalized if there's bacteria involved."

The backstory to the Emperor fell victim to the same mentality. Seriously--f*ck those awful movies.

Exactly. If they had put like 200 years between two trilogies and made PT story sound more ancient, it might have worked but they are like different galaxies right now.

I like Palpatine's back story. It made him look more human and realistic.

Originally posted by Sinious
I assume Vader was very popular within the galaxy? I mean he was basically the face of the Empire in most cases. His name is Darth Vader, the educated individuals must have known what he is. Since he serves the Emperor, Palpatine must have been targeted to many questions about being a Sith. Its sad that we don't know anything about his public statement about himself.

Before the PT, I had always assumed that the Empire was a militaristic force that invaded the Republic with clones, defeated it, and set up shop. All the cronies and officers being well aware of their ruler's powers. He talked one of the Jedi in to his way of seeing things, and that guy helped him hunt down and defeat the only people capable of doing anything about the situation.

Simple, but effective. Like Star Wars itself. I never imagined some boring, tiresome, joyless political nonsense, and a completely retarded coup d'etat 1,000 years in the making. Maybe if the progenitor (the OT) had been the kind of tale that had room and atmosphere for such a set-up, then the resulting prequels and EU would feel at home. Something akin to Dune.

But the Star Wars trilogy's strength (in part) was the damn fine execution of a simple, straight forward story and concept. This is why I hate most of the EU--it tries to make the whole thing in to something it never really was, and it sticks out like a sore thumb. The elements that don't stray too far feel the most genuine and are the most entertaining.

I'm not against complexity or intrigue, but I am against trying to turn Dora the Explorer in to Jason Bourne. The ceaseless need people feel to amp everything up (see: every gritty remake ever) is f*cking wearying.