When watching the Star Wars original trilogy, you get the Impression that Darth Vader is
a loyal servant to his master.
But In A New Hope, we don’t even know the Emperor was Darth Vader’s master.
And we only hear mention of The Emperor in passing.
Remember, I’m talking about those who saw A New Hope when it was released, prior to
the Empire Strikes Back and the Star Wars prequels.
If you were like I was, when I was a child seeing it for the first time, you thought
Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin was Darth Vader’s master...with lines like, "Vader, release
him!" and "As you wish."
Then Leia tells Tarkin, “Governor Tarkin, I should have expected to find you holding
Vader’s leash.”
It wasn’t the Empire Strikes Back that we learn this isn’t the whole truth.
With Darth Sidious being Vader’s true master, and Grand Moff Tarkin being well-respected
by Darth Vader, the story begins to really unfold in the Empire Strikes Back.
For the longest time, even after the Star Wars Original Trilogy finished, we didn’t
know exactly what Grand Moff Tarkin’s relationship was to Darth Vader.
Sure, we knew that The Emperor was Vader’s master, as we learned more in the Empire Strikes
Back, and even more later in Return of the Jedi.
But it wasn’t until the Expanded universe began growing the story, that we learned that
Vader and Tarkin were just very respectful of one other, and even being forced to work
together a time or two.
But what of Darth Vader’s relationship with Darth Sidious?
Now, I know a lot of people will say, Fanatic…it’s a master and apprentice relationship.
THAT’S ALL!!
And yes…I get that.
But there’s so much more to it than that.
And we actually see Darth Vader manipulate Darth Sidious.
Yeah, I know it seems impossible to manipulate the Sith Lord who has a plan for everything.
But…hear me out.
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Now, back to today’s topic.
For the sake of this topic, I want you to forget everything you know about Star Wars
from the release of Return of the Jedi on.
At least for the firs bit of this.
It’s important because we didn’t have the prequels to shine light on some of the
stories in the Star Wars original trilogy.
When The Empire Strikes Back was released in 1980, we see Lord Vader interact with Emperor
Palpatine for the first time.
Kneeling in front of a large hologram image of his true master, Emperor Palpatine…or
just the Emperor at this point.
He didn’t have the name Palpatine until the toys came out.
But his master was not Grand Moff Tarkin…who is actually dead by this point.
Kneeling before the Emperor, a sign of obedience, servitude, and respect.
A submissive pose for someone humbled before those they serve.
But you already knew that.
But kneeling is also more graceful than bowing or groveling and far less embarrassing.
If we go off what we see and hear in that moment, we begin to realize a lot about their
relationship.
Or at least what we perceive is their relationship in 1980.
From the first time you see the Emperor, Vader is kneeling before him.
And the conversation quickly becomes about the boy in the Rebel Alliance who blew up
the Death Star, Luke Skywalker.
There’s no “hello, how are you?”
Kind of rude, really.
Instead, it’s straight to business.
The Emperor calls the young pilot "the son of Skywalker" and says he must not be allowed
to become a Jedi.
He poses a problem for the Empire and is a threat to them, as Sith.
Palpatine wants him killed.
And so on and so forth.
But wait…the word Sith isn’t even used in the first three films.
You had to read the original novelizations to know they were Sith at that time or wait
for the expanded universe material to come out years later.
ANYWAYS…
Darth Vader offers another solution, "If he (Luke Skywalker) could be turned, he could
become a powerful ally."
The Emperor quickly agrees, and everyone goes about their business.
I mean, he didn’t even take a second to think about it.
Back up, listen again…watch that scene over and over if you have to.
Darth Vader... changed Emperor Palpatine’s mind.
Vader controlled Darth Sidious for a brief second.
Or at least manipulated him into agreeing with Darth Vader’s alternate plan to take
the Emperor out!
Did he learn the Jedi Mind trick from Obi-Wan Kenobi?
Remember…we are talking about 1980.
This was long before the Star Wars prequels came out.
And we know Obi-Wan was once Vader’s master…and we saw Obi-Wan Kenobi use the mind trick on
stormtroopers in A New Hope.
Okay, now we can start remembering the Star Wars prequels exist, for a moment…you’re
welcome!
And recently many more stories about Darth Vader have been coming out.
How he had been plotting against his master, almost from the beginning, if we include him
telling Padme that he could defeat Palpatine, and they could rule together.
Even before Palpatine could properly begin Darth Vader’s training.
It’s the same as what he told Luke Skywalker.
In the newer Vader comics, he shows that he doesn’t trust Sidious and fears for his
life from him.
With good reason.
The Emperor is constantly testing Vader by trying to kill him.
Darth Vader also builds an army in hopes of defeating his Sith master.
The plans don’t work out as hoped but it is always in the forefront of Vader’s mind.
The entire time he spends under Sidious, he sees how The Emperor manipulates every situation
to his benefit, and what kind of apprentice would Darth Vader be if he wasn’t learning
from his master?
He was watching and learning his ways.
After all, Darth Vader is obsessed with power, just as any Sith should be.
As he finishes kneeling before Sidious, in The Empire Strikes Back, he tells Sidious
that Luke Skywalker will join them or die.
This is AFTER the Emperor had his vision that Luke could destroy the Sith.
Yet, the Emperor goes along with the plan.
Instead of ordering Luke Skywalker’s execution…as to stop the young moisture farmer from destroying
Papa Palpatine, he goes along with a plan to allow Luke to live and fully realize the
vision.
Darth Vader knows Luke’s destiny and sees this as his chance to recruit him in defeating
the Emperor.
And the Emperor goes along with it!
I can’t stress that enough.
The Emperor knows what will happen if Luke is allowed to live, and he just agreed to
a plan that ensures Luke’s survival and Palpatine’s own death.
Not to mention, Palpatine knows the rule of two and the way of the Sith is for the apprentice
to kill his master when he’s powerful enough.
And Darth Vader has learned more from Palpatine than any apprentice he has had to date.
Because he had the others killed off after a short stent as his apprentices.
Now, we could argue that Palpatine wanted to turn Luke to the dark side and turn on
Vader…Return of the Jedi shows that.
But HE HAD A VISION THAT LUKE WOULD BE THE CAUSE OF HIS DOWNFALL.
WHY WOULD HE ALTER THE PLAN TO KILL LUKE?
Because Darth Vader manipulated him!
Let's move on to Return of the Jedi.
Vader kneels as the Emperor disembarks his shuttle on the second Death Star.
Surrounded by his guards and a plethora of troops of all types.
Vader tells the Emperor the Death Star will be operational on schedule.
Then the Emperor says, "I sense you would like to continue your search for young Skywalker."
Vader responds "yes, my master."
The Emperor tells him to be patient and that Skywalker will seek him out.
Now, here's where it gets tricky.
The Emperor tells Vader that once Skywalker turns himself in to Vader that he must bring
Luke before (the Emperor).
"Only together can we turn him to the dark side of the Force.”
That scene is reaffirming that Luke is more powerful than they suspect and that he could
defeat Sidious, if Vader doesn’t help him turn Luke.
Darth Vader needed Luke and he needed to openly use him with his Master’s blessing.
And the Emperor gives him his blessing!
But the Emperor was set on killing Luke, in the beginning.
How did it switch to turning him?
Did they really need another Sith?
They already had control of the galaxy and Luke was the last of the Jedi, that we knew
of at the time.
And it isn’t because they needed him to end the Rebellion, in Palpatine’s eyes,
it was a sure deal that the rebels would all perish at the second Death Star.
Sure, Palpatine, Sidious, The Emperor…whatever you want to call him, showed he wanted to
have Luke kill Darth Vader and take his place but that didn’t show until later.
And Palpatine’s vision showed nothing of Luke turning, if he survived.
So it went from “OK, you change him or kill him”...to OK, we will both work on him.”
What happened?
Well, the seed Vader planted back in The Empire Strikes Back grew.
Did Vader use a mind trick on his master, which may have developed into another plan
of the Emperor’s to replace Vader?
The Emperor was supposed to be the one to teach Vader to help those he loved by cheating
death.
And he knew how much Anakin loved Padme.
He didn’t think having a son with the woman would cause complications in their relationship?
The Emperor kept Vader in constant pain and would even bring up Anakin's deceased wife
from time to time to help fuel his anger.
Vader and, by this point, his alter ego (Anakin) knew this.
He was biding his time until the moment was right to strike and remove Palpatine.
But he knew he wasn’t physically powerful enough.
However, he was learning Sidious’ manipulation techniques.
And coupled with Obi-Wan’s teachings when Anakin was still a Jedi, Darth Vader was learning
to control his master through manipulations.
Because defeating him through pure physical strength was not working out.
The moment came after his final duel with Luke.
HE saw his son being electrocuted by his master.
He felt he lost control.
His powers were dwindling from the duel with Luke, and his life support was beginning to
fail.
It was time to act, or he and his son will perish.
So, he threw the Emperor down a shaft and, seemingly, killed him.
He saved his son, but he sacrificed himself in doing so.
In the end, he hated Palpatine/the Emperor/Darth Sidious but all Sith hated their masters and
turned on them eventually.
What made this notable?
Darth Vader redeemed himself and learned from Palpatine how to save the ones he loved by
defending them and sacrificing himself.
He also learned how to manipulate his own master through wanting to keep Luke alive.
In the end, Darth Sidious did just that.
By teaching Darth Vader his art of manipulation, even if accidentally, he taught Anakin Skywalker
how to save the one he loved from death, and it wasn’t accomplished through ancient sorcery
nor the Dark Side of the Force.
It was through standing up for the ones he loved and protecting them.
He saved his son through love!
So, what do you think?
I know when the original trilogy was written, most of these ideas were nonexistent.
But if we only had the original trilogy, and nothing else, it would appear that Vader learned
to manipulate Emperor Palpatine, even if just for a moment.
I know this is my own head canon and I’m sure you all have your own thoughts on this
idea.
So, I would love to hear them.
Let me know in the comments below what you think.
And now another word from our sponsor…me!
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This is Gerald, a Star Wars Fanatic signing off.
Wishing you all great health, happiness, and peace.
thank you all for watching, and remember, this is the way…and positivity in the Star
Wars fandom is the only way!