Palpatine's Secret Hiding Place Highlights Just How Blind The Jedi Really Were
Palpatine is easily one of the most conniving and devious Sith in Star Wars. He was the mastermind behind the Clone Wars, pulling the strings of both Separatist and Republic leaders. If that wasn’t enough, he also hid in plain sight from the Jedi. Most of the time, he was able to manipulate the Jedi into carrying out his hidden agenda without the Jedi even noticing.
The Dark Side clouded the minds and Force connection of the Jedi, but even without that cloud, Palpatine was still able to play them like a fiddle. The location of his Sith collection might just be the greatest example of his arrogance, confidence, and the folly of the Jedi.
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Palpatine was what we might call a Sith fanboy or, more eloquently, a connoisseur. He actively studied the Sith of old and amassed quite the collection of Sith artifacts during his life. Several Star Wars novels have delved into the large collection he had. Most of the time Darth Sidious had to play the role of innocent Chancellor Palpatine, so naturally he couldn't keep a massive collection of Sith memorabilia in his office for decoration. He doesn’t keep them far away though. You may think that, since Palpatine is the Chancellor, he would have the ability to go to any planet he chooses. Theoretically, he could pick any distant planet to house his collection, and it could be in a place that is safe, guarded, accessible to him, and as far away from Jedi suspicion as possible. However, it seems Palpatine didn’t want to drift too far away from his collection.
Coruscant is a planet that is divided into many districts and levels, and each of those can be filled with a wide variety of people, places, and criminal activity. One of these places is the Works. The Works was once an industrial area, but it was abandoned shortly before the start of the Clone Wars. This location would be chosen by Sidious to serve as his secret headquarters, and it can even be seen at the end of Attack of the Clones. This is also where Palpatine initially chose as the location of his Sith trophy room. However, towards the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi and the Republic began to become aware of the conspiracy surrounding Order 66. An investigation of Order 66 almost led back to Palpatine, but fortunately for him and his collection, it sorted itself out. After that, Palpatine took extra precautions to move his collection to a new location.
Now might have been a good time to move everything off-world to further decrease the chance of the Jedi finding it. Alas, Palpatine chose to double down on the “hiding-in-plain-sight” angle, and he moved everything closer to his office! He chose to put everything in the Grand Republic Medical Facility. As the name would imply, injured military personnel were sent here to be tended to during the Clone Wars. This is also where Palpatine brought Anakin after his battle with Obi-Wan to be placed in his suit and fully become Darth Vader. I have to reiterate how to Palpatine’s office this was, and how central it was in the city. This was as close to the Jedi as Palpatine's collection could be without placing it in the Jedi Temple itself.
While this does drive home how arrogant Palpatine was, it also shows how blind the Jedi were. They not only had one of the most powerful Sith hiding as their ally, but they also had a goldmine of Sith artifacts practically on their doorstep. They were so blinded by their hubris that Palpatine was able to manipulate them easily and keep his Sith collection close by without fear of being discovered by the Jedi. It shows just how confident and powerful Darth Sidious was and also how blind and weakened the Jedi were.
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Source(s): CBR
Written by Alex Lenzini
Syndicated from Culture Slate