Did The Force Shield A Young Palpatine From The Jedi?
One of the fascinating plot holes in the Star Wars galaxy is that Emperor Palpatine, aka. Darth Sidious, was never discovered as a Sith and/or Force user, even as a child. The Jedi knew absolutely nothing about him. This was glossed over by Yoda in the prequels in that the Jedi had become so used to being in charge and having peace that they became complacent. But Palpatine was strong, and he was right under Jedi noses. Not to mention, as a child, he would have to be strong as well. Wouldn’t they have tried to seek him out as a youngling? This plot hole is explained in James Luceno’s 2012 Star Wars novel Darth Plagueis. While the novel is technically non-canon in Star Wars lore, it explains this plot hole more than what Yoda gives us in the prequels.
Emperor Palpatine may very well have been the most powerful Sith in all of Star Wars history and lore. He was exceptionally skilled with a lightsaber, and his insane ability with the Force was, well, a force to be reckoned with. However, he is extremely patient, waiting as long as he did and playing the long game to eradicate the Jedi Order from existence. It is honestly impressive how he was able to conceal his evil nature and motives for so long, and his skill with the Force was so great that the question is why the Jedi wouldn’t have found him as a child if he is so powerful.
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James Luceno’s novel Darth Plagueis offers two explanations as to how Palpatine was able to grow as a Sith in the shadows and was not brought to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant as a child.
The most straightforward explanation, of course, is that the galaxy is vast. The odds of the Jedi finding one child who has an insane ability with the Force is…well…not great. Think about it. Anakin Skywalker was powerful in the Force, and he was only found by the Jedi because Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi needed a safe place to keep Queen Amidala and find a ship’s part. Otherwise, Anakin may never have been found. So, using that same logic, it does make sense that the Jedi wouldn’t necessarily have found another child who has a crazy good connection to the Force. There are millions or billions of planets and only about 10,000 Jedi, not all of which traveled the galaxy. The odds of coming across young Force user Palpatine was slim.
We know that Palpatine came from the planet of Naboo, which until the time of the novel Darth Plagueis, was a backwater planet and isolationist. The Jedi probably were not interested in Naboo. Palpatine’s father was also highly isolationistic and would not have wanted his son to be trained as a Jedi or even let anyone know about his abilities.
For a more in-depth answer why the Jedi never found Palpatine, Darth Plagueis actually found Palpatine by chance as well. He was planning on forcing Naboo onto the galactic stage because of a plasma reserve on the planet. To do that, he planned on using the son of a Naboo nobleman, Sheev Palpatine, as a spy. Unfortunately, young Palpatine had already leaked information in the past.
Darth Plagueis, the Dark Lord of the Sith, overlooked Sheev Palpatine’s Force abilities and sensitivities. It was only after a few months before Plagueis noticed all the guiles and ambitions that Palpatine was capable of. Darth Plagueis began to ask if Palpatine had “somehow learned to corral the Force within himself, as Plagueis had concealed his own powers as a youth?” But then he landed on another explanation for Palpatine’s hidden powers. “The Force [was] so strong in him that it had concealed itself.”
In the end, the Jedi most likely may not have found Palpatine as a child since Naboo was not a planet that received many off-world visitors. Palpatine also somehow hid the Force inside himself to where even other Force users could not quite feel his presence in the Force. This was probably why the Jedi did not notice Palpatine in the prequels either. Palpatine was able to control the Force inside himself at a young age and stay hidden. An explanation for this is that as a baby, the Force recognized the great potential and power that Palpatine had with it that it could hide Palpatine. Basically, the Force itself was afraid of what Palpatine would become if trained as a Jedi or Sith so the Force created a shadow or “void” in the Force that hid Palpatine and allowed him to stay hidden for years. This was ultimately why the Jedi never detected Palpatine and only accidentally by the Sith.
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