I figure if anybody knows the definitive answer to this it’s the GWC hive mind. When Mace Windu reflects Palpatine’s Force lightning back onto him in Episode 3, Palpatine becomes all gnarled and ugly from the effects. My question is this: did his own Force lightning scar him terribly, or did it just strip him of a disguise and reveal his true physical appearance? It’s something that’s bugged me since I watched the movie; in Episode 6 he lightnings the heck out of Luke, but Luke is not scarred afterward, despite clearly being in immense pain during the lightning-ing. But I always figured that Force lightning can be adjusted for power, so the lightning he threw at Luke was lower powered for torture’s sake, where the lightning Mace reflected back upon him with his light sabre was full force. Or maybe the lightning’s power diminished with Palpatine’s age. Or perhaps the lightning more drastically affects those who use the Dark Side, which doesn’t make much sense since we’ve only ever seen Dark Side folks USE the lightning, though we did see Yoda apparently “catch” and neutralize it. I guess a side question for all those familiar with the expanded universe would be: Has a Light Side Jedi ever mastered/used Force lightning? I know it’s all relative as to what’s cannon, and a lot of agonizing over a minor point from a movie I don’t really care for (sorry, not a prequel trilogy fan), but I’m curious what those better versed in the SW 'verse think about this.
This has always bothered me as well. I believe we may have a good discussion but we will not be able to put it to rest once and for all.
I was thinking that Palpatine was not really trying to win with Master Windu he has holding him until Anikn could get there and complete his move to the dark side.
Since I believe that, I believe that he was twisted by the Dark Side and was using something like a Glamour to make everyone who saw him think he looked normal and then he used the battle with Windu to stop spending the energy on the Glamour.
thats what i think. but its not Cannon
Thanks! I can roll with this. But whether it was a physical or “magical” glamour-type disguise, or a disguise at all, the questions would remain: Was he human and physically deformed by the Dark Side, and if not what race was he? For that matter, did humans evolve separately on separate planets in the Star Wars universe, or were they native to one planet and then scattered to various other planets? I hope we can get more feedback on this. Definitive de-shminitive, I just want to know what fans and connoisseurs think.
The answer to your question is yes in the extended universe (The New Jedi Order) Light Side Jedi did use force lightning. In Star by Star by Troy Denning the Solo children and there Jedi strikeforce used force lightning in there assault on the World Ship that held the Yuuzhan Vong’s new Jedi hunting animal. They didn’t use it again after that I think they determined that they were pushing it a little too much.
Also, I believe Luke used force lightning when he was turned to the dark side by the reborn clone Emperor but I didn’t read that one so don’t quote me on it.
I believe he was human. I think it was stated in one of the novels that the empire is a humans only club.
I also believe that Palpatine is the seth himself the he refered to when talking to Anikin at the “opera” that had learned from his Master how to hold off death, and then the apprentice kill the master.
If thats the case then Palpatine would be one of the last Seth apprentice’s that the Jedi had a record of . and that was a thousand years ago.
so either twisted by Time or the Dark Side, I believe his true appreance was revealed. and the fact that it was the last step to bring Anikin to the Dark Side was so much the better.
Side note - I also believe that it was Palpatine that “created the life” that became Anikin. (he made reference to the possiblilty in that same conversation.)
IMHO.
Im pretty sure in the Star Wars Lore it was the intense use of the Dark Side at that moment that is what caused Palpitine to shrivel up all prune like. He could have defeated Mace but then Anakin would have turned on him. He need to play Anakin making it look like Mace was the one hurting Palpitate. I dont think he is any older than any normal human in Star Wars…and according to EU lore over at Wookiepedia he was born 86 years before the Battle of Yavin (Episode 4) on Naboo. I do believe the mention this in the commentary but i also may have heard it on a podcast at some point…
He was the Sith who killed his Master in the story he talked about but it wasn’t that long ago in terms of the Sith/Jedi wars.
If you want to know more about Palpitne i recommend reading up on him over at Wookiepedia.
I seem to remember an interview that said something to that effect. This was a guy who was extremely powerful, but to keep his cover he barely used a fraction of that power over a long period of time, so when the time came for the Sith to make their move, he gave it everything he had–and the Dark Side being what it is, it basically ate him up in exchange.
Or there’s the Matthew Stover explanation, which (IIRC) was that he had his “Sidious face” and his “Palpatine face”. There’s a line in the Ep. 3 novelization where he says, “And so the mask has become the face” or something similar, implying that the creepy wrinkle-face was his true face after all. You could go the literal route (he was always like that) or the metaphorical one (it was more about the personality displayed in the face–you ever meet someone who seems to have two entirely different personas and it’s clearly visible which one they’re in?).
either way…he sure enjoyed being evil…dude laughed constantly after he got all “deformed and scarred”