I wanted to do a follow-up to my post from last week, "A conversation between Anakin and Palpatine from the novelization of Revenge of the Sith that didn't make its way in the movie: Palpatine asks Anakin what he wants." In the book by Matthew Stover, Palpatine tells Anakin that he can fulfill every one of his fantasies and that he should allow himself to want things, which isn't allowed in the Jedi Order. Anakin is really tempted by this offer, but is still hesitant to follow this path, because the only thing he truly wants is to save Padme from dying in childbirth. Palpatine then tells him that he has the power to do just that, because Darth Plagueis taught him. Here, I want to show you the rest of the conversation, where Sidious (at this point Palpatine has revealed himself to Anakin) explains the Sith plan to Anakin in all its clarity. I couldn't include it in the first post because it would have been too long.[The scene is happening in Palpatine's office on Coruscant]"Darth Plagueis was my master. He taught me the key to his power," the shadow said, dryly matter-of-fact, "before I killed him."Without understanding how he had moved, without even intending to move, without any transition of realization or dawning understanding, Anakin found himself on his feet. A blue bar of sizzling energy terminated a centimeter from Palpatine's chin, its glow casting red-edged shadows up his face and across the ceiling.Only gradually did Anakin come to understand that this was his lightsaber, and that it was in his hand."You," he said. Suddenly he was neither dizzy nor tired.Suddenly everything made sense."It's you. It's been you all along!."In the clean blue light of his blade he stared into the face of a man whose features were as familiar to him as his own, but now seemed as alien as an extragalactic comet - because now he finally understood that those familiar features were only a mask.He had never seen this man's real face."I should kill you," he said. "I will kill you!"Palpatine gave him that wise, kindly-uncle smile Anakin had been seeing since the age of nine. "For what?""You're a Sith Lord!""I am," he said simply. "I am also your friend."The blue bar of energy wavered, just a bit."I am also the man who has always been here for you. I am the man you have never needed to lie to. I am the man who wants nothing from you but that you follow your conscience. If that conscience requires you to commit murder, simply over a . . . philosophical difference . . . I will not resist."His hands opened, still at his sides. "Anakin, when I told you that you can have anything you want, did you think I was excluding my life?"The floor seemed to soften beneath Anakin's feet, and the room started to swirl darkness and ooze confusion."You - you won't even fight-?""Fight you?" In the blue glow that cast shadows up from Palpatine's chin, the Chancellor looked astonished that he would suggest such a thing. "But what will happen when you kill me? What will happen to the Republic?" His tone was gently reasonable. "What will happen to Padmé?""Padmé . . ."Her name was a gasp of anguish."When I die," Palpatine said with the air of a man reminding a child of something he ought to already know, "my knowledge dies with me." [note: this line can be heard in the movie when Anakin is looking across the horizon in the Jedi council room, in the background, though we never see Palpatine say it]The sizzling blade trembled."Unless, that is, I have the opportunity to teach it . . . to my apprentice . . ."His vision swam."I . . ." A whisper of naked pain, and despair. "I don't know what to do . . ."Palpatine gazed upon him, loving and gentle as he had ever been, though only a whisker shy of a lightsaber's terminal curve.And what if this face was not a mask? What if the true face of the Sith was exactly what he saw before him: a man who had cared for him, had helped him, had been his loyal friend when he'd thought he had no other? What then?"Anakin," Palpatine said kindly, "let's talk."[Here, the book cuts to a scene with Obi-Wan and Grievous. I'm skipping over this part.]This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, right now:You don't remember putting away your lightsaber.You don't remember moving from Palpatine's private office to his larger public one; you don't remember collapsing in the chair where you now sit, nor do you remember drinking water from the half-empty glass that you find in your mechanical hand.You only remember that the last man in the galaxy you still thought you could trust has been lying to you since the day you met.And you're not even angry about it.Only stunned."After all, Anakin, you are the last man who has the right to be angry at someone for keeping a secret. What else was I to do?"Palpatine sits in his familiar tall oval chair behind his familiar desk; the lampdisks are full on, the office cheerily bright.Ordinary.As though this is merely another one of your friendly conversations, the casual evening chats you've enjoyed together for so many years.As though nothing has happened.As though nothing has changed."Corruption had made the Republic a cancer in the body of the galaxy, and no one could burn it out; not the judicials, not the Senate, not even the Jedi Order itself. I was the only man strong and skilled enough for this task; I was the only man who dared even attempt it. Without my small deception, how should I have cured the Republic? Had I revealed myself to you, or to anyone else, the Jedi would have hunted me down and murdered me without trial - very much as you nearly did, only a moment ago."You can't argue. Words are beyond you.He rises, moving around his desk, taking one of the small chairs and drawing it close to yours."If only you could know how I have longed to tell you, Anakin. All these years - since the very day we met, my boy. I have watched over you, waiting as you grew in strength and wisdom, biding my time until now, today, when you are finally ready to understand who you truly are, and your true place in the history of the galaxy."Numb words blur from your numb lips. "The chosen one . . . ""Exactly, my boy. Exactly. You are the chosen one."He leans toward you, eyes clear. Steady. Utterly honest."Chosen by me."He turns a hand toward the panorama of light-sprayed cityscape through the window behind his desk. "Look out there, Anakin. A trillion beings on this planet alone - in the galaxy as a whole, uncounted quadrillions - and of them all, I have chosen you, Anakin Skywalker, to be the heir to my power. To all that I am.""But that's not . . . that's not the prophecy. That's not the prophecy of the chosen one . . . ""Is this such a problem for you? Is not your quest to find a way to overturn prophecy?" Palpatine leaned close, smiling, warm, and kindly. "Anakin, do you think the Sith did not know of this prophecy? Do you think we would simply sleep while it came to pass?""You mean-""This is what you must understand. This Jedi submission to fate . . . this is not the way of the Sith, Anakin. This is not my way. This is not your way. It has never been. It need never be."You're drowning."I am not . . . " you hear yourself say, " . . . on your side. I am not evil.""Who said anything about evil? I am bringing peace to the galaxy. Is that evil? I am offering you the power to save Padmé. Is that evil? Have I attacked you? Drugged you? Are you being tortured? My boy, I am asking you. I am asking you to do the right thing. Turn your back on treason. On all those who would harm the Republic. I'm asking you to do exactly what you have sworn to do: bring peace and justice to the galaxy. And save Padmé, of course - haven't you sworn to protect her, too . . . ?""I - but - I -" Words will not fit themselves into the answers you need. If only Obi-Wan were here, Obi-Wan would know what to say. What to do.Obi-Wan could handle this.Right now, you know you can't."I - I'll turn you over to the Jedi council - they'll know what to do -""I'm sure they will. They are already planning to overthrow the Republic; you'll give them exactly the excuse they're looking for. And when they come to execute me, will that be justice? Will they be bringing peace?""They won't - they wouldn't-!""Well, of course I hope you're correct, Anakin. You'll forgive me if I don't share your blind loyalty to your comrades. I suppose it does indeed come down, in the end, to a question of loyalty," he said thoughtfully. "That's what you must ask yourself, my boy. Whether your loyalty is to the Jedi, or to the Republic.""It's not - it's not like that -"Palpatine lifted his shoulders. "Perhaps not. Perhaps it's simply a question of whether you love Obi-Wan Kenobi more than you love your wife."There is no more searching for words.There are no longer words at all."Take your time. Meditate on it. I will still be here when you decide."Inside your head, there is only fire. Around your heart, the dragon whispers that all things die.This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker, right now. via /r/StarWars https://ift.tt/3yFtdpX
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