The Primary Motivations of Darth Sidious in Ep I

[ThunderDroid]

This is my fundamental interpretation of Episode I, specifically regarding the invasion of Naboo. It is presented under the assumption that Darth Sidious and "Palpatine" are the same character.



I belive Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord, eventually becomes The Emperor. In Episode I he disguised himself as an influential Senator named "Palpatine", so that he could influence the democratic process in the Galactic Republic to better serve his plan. Darth Sidious, using the Trade Federation's military might and presence in the Senate, tried to legalize the occupation of the planet Naboo. The Federation invaded Naboo in an attempt to capture the Queen and force her to sign a treaty to make the invasion legal. This conflict on Naboo originally began as a legal boycott of trade to Naboo in response to a taxation dispute in the Congress of the Republic.

Darth Sidious needed Queen Amidala to sign the treaty to ratify this occupation in the Senate. He even sent his apprentice, Darth Maul, to find her after she escaped from Naboo. He never succeeded in his attempt, and Maul was killed by a Jedi. But, he salvaged an election for "Palpatine" who ultimately became Chancellor. Despite this particular bit of good fortune, the primary plans of Darth Sidious were thwarted by the interference of the Jedi, the resiliance of the Queen, and the bravery of Anakin Skywalker in battle.


This is the supporting evidence for the intrpretation above. The evidence comes from Episode I only, and does not contain speculative information about the past or future of Darth Sidious, or "Palpatine".


1) THE BLOCKADE: The opening crawl of the "The Phantom Menace" refers to a dispute over the taxation of trade routes to outlying systems. As the film begins, we witness the legal blockade of one such outlying system, Naboo, by the Trade Federation. A blockade is defined as "the blocking of a place by an enemy to prevent entry and exit of supplies" (Oxford, 1998) .

We also learn from the crawl that the Trade Federation is "hoping to resolve the matter" by stopping "all shipping to the small planet Naboo." We can very logically conclude that by stopping the "entry and exit of supplies" the Federation's strategy is to neutralize the Republic's ability to tax their transactions. If there's no trade, then there is nothing to tax. Although this incident has engulfed the Galactic Republic in turmoil, it is nevertheless a legal maneuver by the Federation in an attempt to protect the financial prosperity of their trade franchise.

2) DARTH SIDIOUS: Several times throughout the film, the Federation Viceroy consults a holographic image of the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, on how to proceed in this dispute. One Federation official refers to a "bargain" that they've made with Sidious.

But, at no point in the film does the Viceroy suggest that he is aware of Darth Sidious's specific identity in the Senate, "Senator Palpatine." But, Darth Sidious makes several comments to the Viceroy to suggest that he has at least some influence in Congressional procedures:


by Darth Sidious:

a) "I will make it legal." in response to the Viceroy's concern about the legality (in the Republic) of invading Naboo.

b) "I have the Senate bogged down in procedures. They will have no choice but to accept your control of the system," where your = the Federation's, and system = Naboo.

c) "I will see to it that things stay as they are in the Senate." Not enough evidence to decisively explain what this means. But, the issue remains that Darth Sidious can influence the state of affairs in the Republic.


3) THE INVASION OF NABOO: After the Republic's Supreme Chancellor Valorum secretly dispatches two ambassadors to resolve the issue, Darth Sidious learns that they are actually Jedi knights (one actually a padawan learner). A Federation official suggests that they're "here to force a settlement". Darth Sidious responds to this "unfortunate" turn of events by advising the Federation to accelerate their plans and begin the invasion. Note: Sidious does not suggest that they alter their plans, but rather accelerate an already existing plan to invade.

The plan of the invasion is soon revealed: The Federation hope to capture the Queen of Naboo, Amidala. Once she is captured, they plan to force her to sign a treaty that would legalize the Federation's occupation of Naboo. The Queen's signature would legitimize their control of the system. With communications wiped out, the Naboo are unable to contact the Republic to warn them that this is a hostile takeover rather than a willing transfer of power to the Federation.

The Federation succeeds in the initial invasion, as their droid army takes control of the capital city of Theed. But, the Queen escapes Naboo, and the forced treaty, with the help of the Jedi. She eventually makes it to Coruscant to plead their case to the Senate.

4) DARTH MAUL: After the Queen escapes from Naboo, Sidious continues to demand that the treaty be signed. The Federation admit that the ship has escaped their "range" and cannot be located. At this point, Sidious employs the assistance of his apprentice, Darth Maul, to find their "lost ship."

Darth Maul eventually finds the Naboo ship on Tattoine and attacks the Jedi guarding the Queen. Qui-Gon fights off Maul and escapes with the Queen unharmed. This is Maul's first attempt to capture the Queen, and he fails.

Later in the film, as the war on Naboo rages, Maul again attacks the Jedi. The objective of this attack is speculative, as it is unclear whether Maul was trying to create a diversion, kill the Jedi, capture the Queen, or any combination thereof. But, the end result is not speculative. Darth Maul is destroyed by the Jedi. Darth Sidious has lost an apprentice, and revealed the return of the Sith to the Jedi.

5) "PALPATINE": In a brief conversation early in the film, Queen Amidala discusses the blockade with "Senator Palpatine." "Palpatine" represents Naboo's interests in the Senate. During this conversation, "Palpatine" expresses confusion as to why the Chancellor's ambassadors never arrived to negotiate the dispute.

If we still proceed under the assumption that Sidious = "Palpatine", then we are instantly alerted to "Palpatine's" deceit at this moment, since he knows (as Sidious) that the ambassadors did arrive but were attacked by Federation forces before negotiations could ever take place. In fact, Sidious himself ordered the attack on the Jedi and the subsequent invasion. This demonstrates, very early in the film, that "Senator Palpatine" is misrepresenting Naboo's best interests by lying directly to their Queen to hide his knowledge of the imminent invasion.

So, when the Queen finally arrives at Coruscant to alert the Republic to the invasion, "Senator Palpatine" awaits their arrival. Since the film has blatantly demonstrated that "Palpatine" is deceiving the Queen and secretly supporting the Federation's invasion (as Sidious), everything that "Palpatine" says or does from this point forward is highly suspect.

"Palpatine's" motivations are clearly Darth Sidious's motivations, since they are the same entity. Prior to the Senate's hearing on the invasion, "Palpatine" advises the Queen to call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum's leadership. "Palpatine" has suggested that Valorum is an ineffective Chancellor, incapable of resolving this issue decisively because of the rampant bureaucracy to which he is powerless to overcome.

"Palpatine's" claim may, in fact, be accurate. We do see evidence that Valorum's decision-making is heavily influenced by said bureaucracy. But, since we've already established that "Palpatine's" actions are highly suspect, we could just as easily surmise that the "vote of no confidence" was primarily suggested to remove Valorum because he has been "Naboo's strongest supporter," as mentioned by Queen Amidala. But, since there is no conclusive evidence to support any claim about "Palpatine's" motives on this scheme, we can not draw any direct conclusions from it.

As a supporter of Naboo's sovereignty, Valorum is a potential obstacle for Sidious. His continued reign as Chancellor may continue to interfere with the Federation's plans to legalize the occupation and invasion of the planet. Valorum is also responsible for secretly dispatching the Jedi to force a settlement, which conflicted with Darth Sidious's plans for invasion.

Valorum is ultimately voted out, and "Palpatine" is nominated to succeed him as Chancellor (along with three other delegates). "Palpatine" suggests that he may have an advantage in the election as the Naboo situation could create a strong "sympathy vote" for him. His optimism is justified when he does eventually win the election (which we learn late in the film, after the Federation occupation has ended).

CONCLUSIONS:

Despite "Palpatine's" election, there is not enough supporting evidence that this was the primary objective for the character from the beginning. It could be argued that the entire invasion was simply a scheme to create a situation that would allow the character to win the Chancellorship. But, there are several pieces of supporting evidence missing that would be necessary to reasonably suggest this was the original plan:

A) There is no suggestion in the film whatsoever that either persona, "Palpatine" or Sidious, had expected the Queen to escape Federation forces. Had the Chancellorship plan been entirely dependent on the Queen's escape to Coruscant, then there must be some evidence to indicate this was the plan all along. There is no such supporting evidence in the film. And, there is strong supporting evidence throughout that the opposite was true: The character wanted Queen Amidala to stay on Naboo and sign the treaty to legitimize the Federation's occupation.

B) There is no suggestion at all in the film that "Palpatine" had planned to win an election even without the Queen's escape. Until Queen Amidala arrives on Coruscant, there is no suggestion that a Chancellorship election was a priority for the character. Neither Sidious or "Palpatine" suggests this desire at any point prior to the Queen's arrival on Coruscant.

3) Darth Maul was sent to stop the Queen on at least one occasion (on Tattoine). There is no suggestion at all that this attack was part of a plan to solidify "Palpatine's" chances for election. This specific attack is never discussed in the Senate hearing, and is never revealed to be relevant to Valorum's ineffectiveness as a Chancellor.

With no supporting evidence to justify the claim that Chancellorship was the original plan of "the character", such a contention can only be conjecture within the context of "Episode I". And, there is no evidence in the film to suggest that "Palpatine" knew he'd be nominated and/or elected. He does, however, make a bold claim to the Queen that he "will be Chancellor". This may simply be confidence, but it's also possible that he had guaranteed his election through corruption. But, there is still no supporting evidence for this.

Despite this, the election does provide the character with a possible advantage. With "Palpatine" as Chancellor, Darth Sidious now has more influence in the Senate. We cannot speculate into the character's future (beyond Episode I), but Sidious does use his influence in the Senate to make "bargains" with the Federation in Episode I. Chancellorship may help him in this respect. But, again, this point is purely speculative as any supporting information on this does not yet exist.

So, within the confines of Episode I, there exists enough supporting evidence to reasonably conclude that "the character's" primary goal was to legalize the occupation of Naboo. This suggests that the primary motives of "the character" are most accurately manifested by the Darth Sidious persona, since it is his actions and dialogue that most closely reveal the primary intent of "the character."

[Bromine]

I have to disagree. I believe that the whole Naboo affair was simply to create a crisis so that Valorum's "weakness" could be shown and also so that Palpy would gain sympathy (Since he's the Naboo Senator). The end result was Palpy being elected Chancellor.

I'll address the three point you make:

1) It didn't matter whether Amidala escaped or not. If she stayed and was forced to sign, the Senate would be outraged that the invasion had been made legal, and Palpy could have used this to his advantage in gaining sympathy and making Valorum out to be weak, since Valorum wouldn't be able to do anything to help since the treaty made the whole thing legal. Since Amidala escaped, Palpy simply salvaged the situation; he had Amidala plead her case and get the Senate's sympathy, then had her call for a vote of no confidence (Something he could have done himself, but coming from her it would perhaps have more effect).

2)True, Palpy doesn't mention wanting to become Chancellor, but he hardly says much of anything. The fact that he doesn't say what his overall plan is doesn't really prove anything.

3)True, Maul's attack was never brought up in the Senate as far as we know. I agree that the plan was probably to have Maul bring Amidala back to Naboo to sign the treaty. As I stated in #1, his plan worked both ways.

Essentially, I believe Palpy's original plan was for Amidala to stay on Naboo, sign the treaty, and therefore outrage the Senate and show Valorum's weakness through his inability to do anything. Once Amidala reached Coruscant, Palpy's plans changed and he used Amidala herself to get sympathy.

Also, Becoming Chancellor of the Galactic Republic seems like a much better outcome than just taking over a planet. I highly doubt that he was trying to take over Naboo and "settled" for Chancellorship!:)

[Jedieb]

I agree with Bromine; I think Palpy's main objective was to become elected Chancellor. Yes, Sidious continally demands that the treay be signed. So obviously this was a major part of his original plan. How that treaty could propel him to the post of Supreme Chancellor will never know.
Perhaps, after the treay was signed Palpatine could approach the Senate and dispute the invasion and treaty as both being illegal. He could say the treaty was obviously being signed under duress and was therefore invalid. Then we see the Senate react in the exact same way that they did in the movie. Just as Vallorum is about to make a decision he is forced to delegate the matter to a commitee. Palpatine then calls for a vote of no confidence himself or he has an ally do it. The vote would have been closer due to the lack of the Queen's presense (the 'sympathy' factor) but Paply probably knew he had enough votes to win the election.

I think it's obvious that Palpatine has been working behind the scenes for quite sometime. The baseless accusations of corruption are obvioulsy his doing. Of course he knows they're baseless, he's MANUFACTORED them!!!

"Although this incident has engulfed the Galactic
Republic in turmoil, it is nevertheless a legal maneuver by the Federation in an attempt to protect the financial prosperity of their trade franchise."

Now is the blockade a "legal" maneuver because the Trade Federation says so? There's no state of war between the Naboo and the Trade Federation. And in her address to the Senate the Queen certainly doesn't speak of the blockade as it were a legal matter. Naboo's soverignty has been compromised. What's legal about that? It's an act of war. But as in international matters, you can make the illegal legal if you have enough firepower. Chechyna anybody?

Who knows, maybe Palpy/Sidiuos will reveal his original plan at some point down the line. Or maybe everything transpired the way he "foresaw" it would. The entire incident may have played out exactly as Sidious envisioned it and he kept everyone, even Maul and the Trade Federation, in the dark about it. It's a stretch, but it's a posibility.

[Jedi Master Kyle]

I've got to agree. I think it's obvious that Palpy's goal is to become chancellor, and this whole Naboo thing is merely a spring board to get him there. Palpy/Sidious' plan was manufactured in such a way that he could achieve his goals in any given number of circumstances. It's why he waited so long to pull his stunt in the first place.

[Doc Milo]

I have to agree with both Bromine and Jedieb. Just because Palpatine's motivations are not spelled out in the text, it doesn't mean that they are not present in the subtext.

I believe his original plan was to have the treaty signed creating a stir, then Palpatine could expose Valorum's weakness himself by claiming the treaty was signed under duress and the occupation is illegal. He would then call for the vote of no confidence himself. An ally would nominate him, and he would win because of the sympathy vote, and because people would see him as someone who would stand up to the Trade Federation regardless of their monetary influence.

I also believe that Sidious/Palpatine wanted Amidala to die in her insurrection; at the time, the vote had not yet taken place, so if the Federation succeeded in "wiping them all out" then that would only increase the sympathy vote for Palpatine.

Even without that scenario, he had the votes, but if he had a greater majority, it would give him a greater "mandate" to use a common term in our own reality, which would make him an even more powerful Chancellor.

[Jedieb]

I'd never even considered how the Queen's death could have benefited Palpy's plan, good point Doc. I think it's rather impressive, not to mention evil, how Palpy/Sidious was able to improvise and adapt his plans dispite the interference from the Jedi. And his "watch your career with great interest line" was a great example of this. He's lost an incredible resource in Maul, who he obviously spent years training, and he's already found a replacement. You've got to hand it to the evil SOB. I'd hate to think what his midi-chlorian count is.

[Bromine]

Let's not forget that he's one of the few evil guys in movies to actually WIN! Sure, he's eventually defeated, but overall I'd say he's the real winner of the entire saga.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think Palpatine wanted her to die from the beginning. He would have had her killed once the treaty was signed. You can sense this from Qui-Gon's words, "They will kill you if you stay." I feel that they would have had her sign the treaty then kill her which would create an even bigger amount of sympathy for Naboo making it easier for Palpatine to become Chancellor. I agree with all of you that it this was his intention to become Chancellor all along.