What Would It Have Been Like If Palpatine Wasn't A Sith Lord?
Image Source: Star Wars Official Databank
Star Wars Youtube content creator Geetsly’s, in one of his videos, mentioned an interesting point. What would the Star Wars canon have been like if Sheev Palpatine was not a Sith lord? This problem creates more questions than answers. It also is fascinating to think about the implications of such alterations that could have been brought to the galaxy, and to the forces that move it.
Geetsly’s first caveat in this alternate reality is that Palpatine’s personality would stay the same. So no powers, no lightsaber, no “Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise?” sort of deal. Just pure politics and a megalomaniac personality. Indeed, Palpatine’s true nature was a complicated one; he was able to manipulate the whole galaxy for almost a decade and lead two military powers to clash with each other. The Force was a crucial tool, of course, but it is possible to imagine a similar outcome when the “Sith Lord” factor is removed from the equation.
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Image Source: Wookieepedia
The Separatist movement was already in play even without Palpatine behind the curtain. He was a decisive factor in the Naboo crisis, of course, but something still would have happened without that. Sifo-Dias' assassination, along with Dooku’s manipulation of the Kaminoans and the Jedi archives (shown recently in Tales Of The Jedi) was certainly a difference-maker. These events were extremely relevant when considering the causes of the Clone Wars, but other factors were at play; the separatist movement was growing considerably in opposition to the Galactic Republic. The senate’s corruption became worse with the passing of each year, and the republican institutions gradually lost the power to control this. At some point, the two sides (separatists and the GR) would eventually clash, and a conflict (not necessarily one involving clones) could’ve happened.
The Kaminoan clone army was an essential part of Palpatine’s plot to overthrow the Jedi; thus, we can eliminate that from the equation. But Geetsly’s argument about the series of events that led to the Galactic Empire is important to consider. In his opinion, the Republic still would have fallen, and the Empire still would have taken its place. Palpatine not being a Sith Lord would have clearly created some differences, but his position of power likely would have stayed the same. His personality traits - ones that many politicians today share, interestingly - would have put him in one of the highest positions of the Republic. This was only sped up by the Clone Wars and the Senate’s necessity for someone to have a firm grip on what was going on.
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Source: YouTube
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