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I can't understand why didn't George Lucas reveal to us (the audience) that Palpatine is Darth Sidious sooner, like in the Phantom Menace, or at least in Attack of the Clones?! If he did that, it would allow much more screen time for Sidious as oppose to the few seconds he had in Attack of the Clones.
First it thought there could be a some major plot twists in Episode III (like Palps and Sidious are two different people) and that's the reason why we never cleary know his identity, but then i saw the Palpatine toy figure that changes into Sidious so there can't be any doubt any more!

I think is regratable that such a interesting character is so sidelinded in the first two movies!!

Any comments?

(sorry for my english, i'm german)

He didn't have the need for revealing it yet.

I think he already did in TPM if you put it all together.

Lucas never made a secret out of it, it wasn't told on screen yet because it wasn't relevant yet but never a secret.

I always thought it was a 'twist' for the newer fans..but since they showed Palpatine with a saber in the trailer..I dunno..to give us something to debate about probably.

It was never a secret, if you put things together you could easily figure out who he was and I think Lucas knew/understood that the fans could figure it out so he never had the need to come out on screen and say it.

dont look at me, i got an F in german

UMMM they did reveal that palps is sidious in TPM right at the end, when yoda and mace say which was destroyed the master or the apprentice and then they focus on pals with the sinister music playing.

it was merely for fans who never saw the OT

I think it is for dramatic effect....viewers of the films find out at about the same time that the Jedi do. Fans might know they are the same, but the ENTIRE fictional SW universe (aside from a few Sith) DO NOT realise this until it is too late.

well as far back as the TPM DVD commentary, Lucas referred to the hologram in Episode V as "Darth Sidious"

Sorry, serious attempt:
Probably Lucas was not sure in which direction the story should goe. He wrote the scripts bit by bit. He wanted to allow for all possibilities.
I miss an exposure in the prequels like Luke and Vader in Episode V.

I doubt that. GL intended Palps to be Sidious/emperor from the start of the prequels....a major part of the trilogy is his plan coming together. Plus a big clue is the fact that it's the same actor from ROTJ.

of course he intended palps to be Sidious/Emperor, did you watch TPM?
they revealed that palps is sidious in TPM right at the end, when yoda and mace say which was destroyed the master or the apprentice and then they focus on palps with the sinister music playing.

When does he hid it?Everyone knows so if he is hiding it he is not doing a good job at it.JM

Again, it is a terrible secret within the SW universe itself. The Jedi, and the population of the Republic (who generally LOVE Palpatine) are completely unaware of his dual nature, and if it's not a surprise to (most of) us, it sure as hell is to them!! I don't think that Dooku is even aware of this...but will avoid starting a thread on the subject.
Maybe.

Like I've said before, you have to look at this the way someone will in ten or twenty years: In order, with no recollection of the later chapters.

With no memory of the original trilogy, making the connection isn't as simple as 2 + 2.

to reveal it as part of the plot contained within the dialogue would be pretty difficult

there is a little remembered scene in epsisode 2 when yoda, windu and ki adi mundi are in a meeting with palpatine in his red office when padme enters with her entourage...palpatine says something to her and yoda turns around and gives him a suspicious look...

i think yoda knew then about palpatine and the darkside were bedfellows

i guess they just didnt reveal it because it would be better timed to coincide with anakin turning to the dark side

if it was revealed earlier within the plot then it would most likely have meant that sidious would have been killed as anakin would not have been around

I think it would be better to say that Yoda SUSPECTED rather than knew....I don't think he would have kept that info to himself for 3 years, as the situation deteriorated.

Dooku did say that an evil sith lord Darth Sidious was in charge of the republic in episode 2 to Obi-wan.

Thats why I say suspected, a combination of not really trusting Dookus word with their (Jedi) inability to sense the darkside.

If you saw the entire series of movies from the begining, finding out that palpatine is actually sidious would be a shock to the viewer, however since everyone has already scene the last three its no suprise who palpatine is. If GL had the entire story plannd out from the get go and didnt change it, than everything is goin as plannd for him. Even though we do know that palpatine is sidious it still gives more to the movie to see how the sith can easily minipulate everything until he is ready seize power, and for the ppl who never saw the IV,V,orVI they will be in for a surprise.

I dunno. Even if you had never seen the OT Sids doesnt seem to be as big a shock as the Vader being Luke's father thing. Palps was in plain sight the whole time and makeup or not they look similar and their voices are the same. So I dont think Lucas was hiding him.

tru u gotta point

and also in the credits you might notice that palpatine and sidious are infact the same actor

Yup!

I just think it's kinda fun watching Palpatine right under everyone's nose and no one has a damn clue that he is the cause for all the debate and conflict.

And in Episode III when everyone finds out, everyone is gonna give the patented soap-opera gasp and be like, "You bastard..." And he'll just laugh his ass off like he pulled off the world's biggest prank.

Or something similar...

The reasons for not showing palpatine as the Sith lord Sidious is to demonstrate his skills in the Dark Side of the force in hiding his real persona to the victims in all of this. Its for drama effect because really everyone knows its him and its like sitting at the edge of your seat pissed off at the fact that nobody knows yet the audiance does. It stikes an emotion of furstation and when he does show himself to the audiance and to the victims (The JEDI) it will be one hell of a dramatic scene! I think that Lucas is doing the right thing in keeping him as the Phantom Menace of this Opera!

Lucas is a genius and I love it!

just rolled past a movie theater this morning

Coming Soon
Revenge of the SITH!

Damn it 49 days 14 hours 33 minutes and 13 seconds left as of this post!!!

Lucas doesn't hide the fact that Palpatine is Sidious...

Did you not see Episode I?

WINDU: But which one was destroyed, the Master or the Apprentice?

*close-up of Palpatine*

If you couldn't figure it out from that, then there is something very wrong with you...

In fact, every time sidious appears you can clearly see that he is palpatine by the way he talks plus the phisical aspects (jaw nose mouth). I always knew they were the same person.

hmm but if we were to watch ep 1 again, knowing what we all know, it seemed confusing to be in the shoes of palpatine himself,acting as the agent of evil to the viceroy gunray and a senator of Naboo in the whole act.

PALPATINE: (to Queen Amidala) Your majesty, stay here (corunscant) where it's safe..Be rational they would force you to sign the treaty!

SIDIOUS: (to Viceroy) Hiss.. this is a surprising move by her (to return to Naboo)

He wanted people to be surprised when you find out in episode III.

it was not hidden it was bloody obvious from the end of TPM and you get lots more clues during AOTC. and cybervader how do you think sidious knew that Queen Amidala was going back to Naboo just after she left.

Also sidious with the hood on resembles palps vey closely so to think that GL was hiding his identity is just stupid.

I thought him being sidious was blatantly obvious...

I knew when Sids first came on-screen in TPM i was like "hey thats emperor palpatine"

In the VCD release of TPM..the plot summary at the back actually revealed palpatine was the Emperor..

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, the wise old Jedi from the original series, is a determined young apprentice and Palpatine, well known as the evil Emperor, is an ambitious Senator in the Galactic Republic."

Palpatine and Sidious are both played by the same person who played the Emperor in Jedi. How many more clues would you need?

It was not meant to be a secret.

Agree..it was not meant to be a secret..if not why would it be written in the back of the vcd..

dooku knew palps = sidious.

Look at his face in ep 3 when palps says "kill him!".... "do it!"

He was hoping that sidious would come ot his rescue if anakin was winning. I don't think the sith can operate effectively if such basic truths are kept from each other...

I knew Palpatine was Sidious in Phantom Menace because immediately after Palpatine was shown the people behind me were whispering "That's the emperor!"

He doesn't hide the fact. It is revealed at the end of episode 1 who the Sith is. Didn't you see the awkward closeup of Palps face at the end right when they are asking who was killed, the Master or the apprentice?

Apparently not, but watch the movie again. It's right there...

lordy. i could just tell by the voice and the lower half of the face...and the fact ian mcdiarmid played the emporer in ROTJ. jeez.

It was so obvious. I think you can figure out on your own.

Hello? Anyone ever hear of "Emperor Palpatine"? Frigin duh, that was his name forever, then a guy of same old age, "Senator Palpatine" comes into play. Who couldn't put that together? I was like 9 and I figured it out.

was it not like completely obvious right from the start.
look at the bottom of sidious face,it's exactly da same as palps without the evil grinvelho

It was obvious to anyone who'd seen the OT but I guess people who hadn't would of been alittle surprised ie kids

It was obvious to hardcore fans, but not to random viewers. And it was a bad move from GL to hide it like that.