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.
Palpatine makes it seem like he knew the outcomes because he adapts quickly or has contingency plans. This is what I believe happens at the end of the 8th episode in season two of The Bad Batch. Palpatine is notorious for using people as pawns to further his agenda (ex: Rampart, Snoke, Kylo Ren, and Anakin/Vader). This is why he still launches the Stormtrooper program when the vote for the bill fails and has Rampart arrested.
Another example is the end of Return of the Jedi. Perhaps Palpatine saw two possible outcomes from his confrontation with Luke. Either Luke joins or he has to die; however, he did not see Vader’s betrayal. In this situation, I think he was blinded by his own ambition, or perhaps blinded by the Force acting in favor of the light.
The same could be said for the end of The Rise of Skywalker. He knew that Rey and Kylo Ren are linked by the Force. He uses that knowledge to manipulate Kylo Ren to ultimately bring Rey before him so that he may continue to be immortal. However, it’s clear he did not know they were a Force dyad and he underestimates Rey’s powers and the powers of the Force.
Palpatine is a great villain and ranks pretty high as one of the evilest bad guys in cinema. He’s definitely one of my favorite villains. Hmm, maybe I’ll write a Top 5 Favorite villains in film? Despite his “unlimited power”, he still possesses the typical bad guy flaw: nearsightedness brought on by blind ambition and corruption.
