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So in Ep III, Palpatine says something like "the attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed". Is this what really messed up his face? (the fight with Mace)

I had always thought that when he was in Darth Sidious-mode, he looked evil, and when he was in Palpatine-mode he looked normal. But I guess we never really did get a good look at his face under the robe in Eps I & II.

Also - a big plot hole not explained: How come the Jedi could never sense the force in Palpatine!?!?!? In the original trilogy, they could sense each other miles away (Ben & Vader on the Death Star, Luke and Vader in space around Endor).

dooku: "The dark side has clouded their vision, my friend."

I think a more interesting question is why Palpatine feels the need to put on a robe AFTER his true nature is revealed. I mean, he wears it in TPM and AOTC to help hide his identity, but why in ROTS? Does he run straight to the wardrobe after the fight with Mace? Kind of peculiar, I think.

You do get to see Sidious briefly under his hood when he's talking with Maul and also Dooku. Admittadly it's only his chin area but it doesn't look all scarred up to me so I guess the force lightning must have done the trick

I think the featureless moth-eaten robe makes him look homeless, to tell the truth. I mean Vader has an excellent suit, so why does the ultimate dark lord always look like he just got out of bed?

But to each his own.

"Look what they did to me! They put dioxin in my soup!!"

There, SEE!! Just my point. Dooku was a Sith lord for a good ten years or so, and you never saw HIM running around in his granny robe.

Maybe Sidious likes how burlap feels against his naked flesh.

[quote="Bandersnatch"]Maybe Sidious likes how burlap feels against his naked flesh. [/quote

Ok, now I need a shower. Eeeyuhhh.

Besides...he obviously needs the robe to hide the Emperor's Hands.

I don't remember where I read it (back of the action figure maybe), but I read that when Palpatine unleashes his Dark Side power it has 'unintended consequences' or something to that effect. I'm not sure if Palpatine's using his Force powers to hide his appearance but when he has to put all of his Force skill he can't maintain his 'youthful' complexion.

That doesn't explain why it didn't happen in ROTJ when he's frying Luke. Maybe Luke is too much of a pussy.

lol cuz luke doesn't reflect it back to palps via light saber

Mace deflects the force lightning back to Sidious with his saber, thus melting Sidious' face. So yes, what he said was true, from a certain point of view.

Palpatine was able to use the dark side to hide his force abilities. Vader sensed Obi-wan in IV because of their connection (they were practically brothers until lil annie went bad). Luke and Vader had a father/son connection. Also, the Jedi truly started to get ignorant and blind. They probably figured Palpatine was an old politician that new little about the force.

1st of all: he's like that b/c of his fight w/ mace. while he was force electrifying mace, he did it to himself too...

2nd: the jedi DO sense evil in him. do u not remember mace continuously saying that he is surrounded with dark forces and that the entire jedi councel doesn't trust him. why do u thin kthat is?

Check out the chat with Rick (about half way down):

http://www.millenniumfalcon.com/phpbb/v ... php?t=5116

Q Rick, was palpy's crinklebutt look caused by the lightning or is it the true face of sidious?

R It was molded from my... oh wait a minute. I think it's the true face of Palpatine. Of course, it takes a little lightning to get it out. Great question!

Or gee, maybe because Lucas hadn't thought of it being his true form at the time?

Or gee, maybe Sidious doesn't have to keep switching back and forth from fake face to true face if he doesn't want to.

Well, that's the in-universe answer, yes.

It's clear that early on, the deformed look was Palpatine's true face. But maybe Lucas changed his mind as production went on, because if it's his true face, it was poorly explained visually in the film.

Or perheps Lucas doesn't always like giving straight answers, but prefers fucking with the viewers' minds instead.

I much prefer having my mind fucked with than having every damn thing didactically explained.

We don't need it spelled out, sure, but I doubt the average viewer is going to figure out that was Palpatine's true face.

And to solve that issue, Palpatine doesn't have to didacitally explain to Anakin that's his true face. Just that one line from the novel ("I will miss the face of Palpatine...") would have done the job.

Not that the average viewer matters...

Then the "average viewer" wouldn't understand what the fuck "I will miss the face of Palpatine..." meant either.

Lucas is very good at giving the fans and the objective viewers exactly enough information, imo.

I think the average viewer would understand it if that line was presented how it was in the book. Of course, the average might not even care why Palpatine's face has gone rotten, so I digress.

Lucas IS good at telling us as much as we need to know, I agree. His line on the ANH Commentary where he mentions he can't stand it when movies take time to explain how everything works is very telling.

It's just that there's really nothing in the film that would give evidence to that being Sidious' true mug, word-wise or visually.