Quick spoiler warning, this topic discusses the events of episodes 7 and 8 of The Bad Batch Season 2. If you haven’t watched those yet, it behooves you to return after you have. The inspiration for this post comes from something I saw on Twitter. At the end of episode 8 (Truth and Consequences), the Emperor implies that he had foreseen the outcome of the vote to pass the Defense Recruitment Bill. This is a common claim by the Emperor which begs the question is Palpatine omniscient?
Force Manipulation
The short answer is no (IMO). If Palpatine actually knew all outcomes he would be unstoppable. As we saw he is defeated, twice. I think he boasts that he has foreseen events as a fear tactic; to convince his enemies their efforts are futile. The other possibility is that he only sees what he wants to see and not actual future events. The Sith are notorious for manipulating the Force to further their own agenda. Therefore one can assume Palpatine’s “visions” are a manipulation of the actual events.
