Star Wars: Everyone Who Knew Palpatine Was a Secret Sith Lord

Emperor Palpatine carefully hid the fact that he was a Sith Lord, but there were some star wars Heroes and villains who knew the truth. Darth Sidious was always a schemer and preferred to operate in the shadows rather than in the spotlight. When he finally became Emperor in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the SithHe saw no need to abandon the secret that had served him so well for years. The Empire he ruled was characterized by deceit and mistrust, and only the upper levels knew the truth about their leader.

The first star wars The novelization suggests that the Emperor managed to fool the entire galaxy into believing that he was a kind and generous man. The Empire’s ills were blamed on Palpatine’s advisors and military leaders, and the public believed that the Emperor himself was unaware of what was happening. It was the greatest deception of all, perpetuated over decades, although he had clearly abandoned it by the time of the war. star wars sequel trilogy. Here are all of Palpatine’s friends, allies, and enemies who knew the Emperor was a Sith Lord.

Darth Vader

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As Palpatine’s apprentice, Darth Vader was well aware of his Master’s true identity; The revelation that Palpatine was Sidious was instrumental in Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Darth Vader became the public face of the dark side cult, known throughout the galaxy as the Dark Lord of the Sith but actually subordinate to his Master. Few knew enough about the Sith to understand that there should be not one Sith but two, and anyone who did probably assumed that one of Vader’s Inquisitors was actually a Sith Apprentice.

Darth Maul

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Although Darth Maul was considered a Sith apprentice, Palpatine always thought of him as little more than a tool. As such, until Star Wars: The Clone Wars In season 7, it was difficult to say how much Maul knew, even if he knew Darth Sidious’s true identity. Those questions were answered during the Siege of Mandalore, when Maul taunted Ahsoka Tano with just enough information to suggest she knew everything about Order 66 and Darth Sidious’s plans for Anakin Skywalker. In Into the Dark Times, Maul planned to use this knowledge as leverage to undermine and destroy Palpatine.

More Amedda

Mas Amedda addresses the Galactic Senate in Star Wars Revenge of the Sith

Mas Amedda, a Chagrian politician who served in the Senate from the time of Chancellor Valorum onward, was one of Palpatine’s closest political allies. He proved useful during Palpatine’s rise to power, helping him navigate the treacherous waters of galactic politics and witnessing the Sith Lord’s ascension to Emperor. He remained relentlessly loyal to Palpatine for the next few decades, but curiously, he was not approached by the Emperor’s droids to participate in Operation Cinder after Palpatine’s death in Return of the Jedi.

cunning moore

crafty moore star wars

Sly Moore served as Palpatine’s Chief of Staff during his tenure as Chancellor. Not only was Sly Moore aware of Darth Sidious’s true nature, but she herself was actually Force-sensitive and successfully concealed her own dark side powers from the Jedi. The Umbaran woman’s past remains a mystery, but she remained unwaveringly loyal to the Emperor throughout his reign, and remained a powerful figure in Palpatine’s government until shortly before. Return of the Jedi. He appears to have disappeared after the destruction of the Second Death Star, perhaps heading to Exegol.

Grand Moff Tarkin

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One of the Empire’s greatest military minds, James Luceno’s novel Tarkin confirms that the Grand Moff got close enough to discover that his master, the Emperor, was actually a Dark Lord of the Sith; He also deduced that Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker. But Tarkin had no real interest in the secrets of the Sith, nor was he interested in challenging the Emperor’s reign. He proved to be a loyal ally, with his so-called “Tarkin Doctrine”, of using fear to subdue the galaxy, which fits very well with Sith philosophy. Tarkin died on the First Death Star.

Grand Admiral Thrawn

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The Chiss strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn was the only alien to achieve such a high military rank in the Imperial Navy, primarily because his knowledge of the Unknown Regions was useful to the Emperor. Timothy Zahn’s novels have strongly suggested that Thrawn, like Tarkin, quickly deduced Palpatine’s true identity as Dark Lord of the Sith. Lacking any real interest in the customs of the Jedi and Sith, Thrawn saw all of this as a form of intellectual curiosity and ignored it to continue fulfilling his duty in the Emperor’s service.

Gallium Rax

The Rise of Skywalker Palpatine on the cover of Star Wars Aftermath: Empire's End

Gallius Rax was a Sith cultist who was introduced in the Chuck Wendig film. Aftermath trilogy. He appears to have been among the Emperor’s closest advisors, even anticipating his resurrection after the Battle of Endor. Still, even though Rax held Palpatine in high regard, he did not fully understand the ways of the dark side; He was aware that the Emperor sensed a dark presence in the Unknown Regions, most likely on the ancient Sith world of Exegol, but could not understand why only Palpatine could detect it. In fact, he thought the Emperor had gone mad.

Bestoon Ochi

Star Wars Rise of Skywalker Sith King Ochi Dagger

The Sith assassin Ochi of Bestoon was first mentioned in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkeridentified as Palpatine’s agent who killed Rey’s parents. Since then it has been woven into the star wars timeline, introduced in the current Darth Vader run as an agent of the Emperor who was assigned to attack Vader himself for his failure in The empire strikes back. Ochi seems to know far more of the Emperor’s secrets than even Darth Vader, and dialogue hints that he was aware of Palpatine’s attempts to conquer death and the cultists based on Exegol.

Master Yoda

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Master Yoda learned the painful truth about Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sithand even faced the Dark Lord of the Sith in a desperate duel in the Senate chambers. Yoda subsequently retreated to the planet Dagobah to meditate on the ways of the Force and continue his learning with the Force Ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn. He knew very well that he was not the one who would fix the galaxy.

Obi Wan Kenobi

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Like Master Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi discovered Palpatine’s true identity in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Where Yoda went after Palpatine, Obi-Wan targeted Darth Vader himself. She later retreated to the desert planet Tatooine to care for the infant Luke Skywalker, and came to believe that Luke was the true Chosen One who was destined to destroy the Sith. Obi-Wan appears to have kept his head down during the time of the Empire, wary of drawing too much attention for fear of exposing Luke to danger, and died in the first star wars movie.

It’s hard to say whether or not any of the rebel leaders knew that Palpatine was a Sith Lord.

It’s hard to say whether or not any of the rebel leaders knew that Palpatine was a Sith Lord. Although Bail Organa heard Yoda and Obi-Wan talk after their fateful battles with Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, they never told him. However, you may have put the pieces together.

Ahsoka Tano

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Anakin Skywalker’s former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, was one of the few to discover that Palpatine was a Sith Lord. The novel by EK Johnston. Ahsoka largely takes place shortly after the events of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sithand sees Ahsoka being chased by one of the Imperial Inquisitors.


The shadow was almost certainly one of the creatures of the dark side. Ahsoka had no idea what kind of thing it could be, but whatever it was it couldn’t be that powerful, because she hadn’t been able to locate Hedala. That ruled out Palpatine himself, not that the Emperor could just show up on a planet without causing much alarm.

Ezra Bridger

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That fateful encounter in the World Between Worlds almost certainly caused Ezra Bridger to discover that the Emperor was a Dark Lord of the Sith. Ezra was no stranger to the ways of the Sith, having learned from a Sith Holocron and mistakenly maintained a bond with Darth Maul, and would no doubt have recognized the Sith lightning bolt. The curious question is if he ever decided to tell any of his friends; It’s possible that Ezra simply assumed that everyone higher up the Rebel chain of command knew and therefore kept it to himself.

Eneb Ray

Star Wars Eneb Ray

However, a rebel spy discovered Palpatine’s Sith powers. The Emperor tricked an agent named Eneb Ray into gathering all the Rebel spies on Coruscant to carry out an assassination attempt in his favor. Eneb Ray managed to escape the trap and launch an attack on Palpatine himself, only for the Emperor to block the laser beams and project a deadly volley of Force lightning. Although Eneb Ray survived, he left the Rebel Alliance because he believed their tactics were too weak and sought revenge on Palpatine and the Empire. Needless to say, it didn’t last long.

Qi’ra

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Qi’ra, Han Solo’s former love interest, became involved with Darth Maul’s criminal empire known as Crimson Dawn. As seen at the end of Solo: A Star Wars StoryQi’ra became Darth Maul’s apprentice. He taught her much, including the secrets of the Sith, and she dedicated herself to continuing her master’s work. Qi’ra taught many of Crimson Dawn’s upper echelons the secret of Palpatine’s true identity, leading them on an attempt to overthrow the Sith. Key members of Crimson Dawn included:

  • An expert in Sith and Jedi lore known as the Archivist.
  • A Nightsister assassin named Deathstick
  • Qi’ra’s closest advisors, Trinia and Margo.
  • The Bounty Hunter Chanath Cha

The Knights of Ren

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Introduced in the star wars Sequel trilogy, the Knights of Ren are feared throughout the Outer Rim. Agents of the dark side, they lack the kind of power you’d expect from the Sith, but only came to the Emperor’s attention when Qi’ra recruited them to try to undermine his reign. It is unclear if the Knights of Ren already knew that Palpatine was a Sith or if Qi’ra told them, but either way they initially worked against Palpatine, before bowing to his rule.

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