Somehow, Palpatine Has Returned
It is true. Even though we all saw him being thrown off a ledge into an enormous industrial shaft fizzing with lightning all the way to oblivion, nevertheless, somehow Emperor Palpatine has returned.
How can this be? Was he rescued by a well-organised band of charming vermin? Was he propelled by sheer charisma off to another galaxy? Was his departure from the stage somehow just a charade meant to lull us into a false sense of security? We may never know.
He has returned, stronger than ever.
The Jedi can only wonder what all their good works have gotten them. Princess Leia has been in charge of a plucky band of resistance fighters winning victory after improbable victory for something like thirty years but nevertheless, Palpatine’s dark and elemental powers somehow still rule. Somehow. But for how long? Forever? Probably.
Even though we had adopted a hard mask of acceptance and obedience to his imperial commands, a mask we had come to depend on even to breathe, a mask that had formed an intimidating and impressive part of the face we reluctantly present to the public against the moral turmoil of our deepest inner consciences, we finally had the chance to take our masks off and act bravely with true goodness in our hearts. But for what? Palpatine has returned. Do we have any choice but to smile our way into excellent career opportunities even though they weave a corrupting influence throughout our souls? Probably not.
All this time has passed and yet we same right back where we started.
Even though we spent years on the sidelines, watching Palpatine take charge of the entire galaxy, we finally decided to act. Upon witnessing the abuse of an innocent hero with impressive Jedi talents, we spent a minute looking dramatically to the left and right in order to visually represent our inner battle and finally decided to expel him from the political scene once and for all.
Yet, somehow, he has returned. We can only presume that all the power he accrued waving his arms menacingly at the oppressed somehow allowed him to scurry away and spend a year of rest and relaxation building a fleet of massive ships.
And what a fleet it is! It has to be said for Palpatine, he is remarkably good at organising fleets. He’s probably the best in the galaxy. Can we even try to put up an obstacle against the magical power of his fleet-building energy? Out of nowhere, suddenly he has like a thousand massive ships! How did he build them? Did he commission some freelancers? How did he pay for it all? Did he promise some giants money and then use the elemental deceptive trickery of Loge to get out of paying them thus setting into action a chain events that may destroy the world order? We may never tell. We are too busy fighting his many ships and their laser guns.
Despite his controversies, and there are many, we have to admit that Palpatine requires us to ponder an uncomfortable truth about the Force: it can be used for good as well as evil. Though it is great to discover that your child has a high midi-chlorian count and possesses an incredible Jedi power allowing them to perform startling tricks of magic and raising them from an ordinary galactic citizen into a member of a special elite club, the fact is that this process sometimes produces a bad’un. Is there any way to tell in advance what will transpire?
Perhaps all we can do is hope that some day we may be able to do something. Somehow…