Why Palpatine Was Deformed By His Own Lightning - And Why He LOVED It

Being deformed by his own lightning was a price that Palpatine willingly paid, a sacrifice necessary to complete his grand plan. Interestingly enough, he actually loved his deformed face...
Information from the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, "Revan," and "Stories of Jedi & Sith."
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[@fosterfied9007]

Seeing Palpatine revert back to his actual form in Episode 3 terrified me so much as a child man, I used to get legit nightmares lmao.

[@boltplaysyt7364]

I always thought that how Paplatine looked was a facade; removed by how powerful his lightning is. It was only revealed to me later that he was actually scared by it. Imagine wearing a mask, that palpatine, the mask was destroyed by his lightning, leaving his true self.

[@Wartogh]

Damn that makes a lot of sense... He was becoming even stronger in the dark side of the force and by been overflowed by it he "suffered" the deformations that other sith lords had too. The thing is, he already was very powerful before that, and if only after all this he felt the toll of the dark side, I can only imagine how powerful he became after this event

[@benyodace6489]

In the Darth plagueis novelization, young palpatine had a conversation with his master asking if he had to fear to get deformed too like the ancient sith and plagueis talked to him about it. Dont want to explain everything here but that would have been fitting in this video too. Btw i frequently watch your cool lore videos about sw. I love them and learned a lot about the sw universe from you. Appreciate your work👍

[@ivixeg]

A more popular explanation is that he used a force illusion to hide his true self. The illusion was broken by his lightning. The face of Sidious was what he really looked like due to decades of dark side corruption. Same reason why he didn't have yellow sith eyes until the mask was broken.

[@RetneysHolocron]

I’ve never seen that stated in the lore anywhere. Is that just a fan theory?

[@ivixeg]

It's a fan theory. I don't think there's a "canon" explanation. Though the Revenge of the Sith novelization does seem to imply that he was physically deformed by the lightning.

[@brokenbridge6316]

The explanation in this video about Sidious is quite logical

[@keithnpee]

It’s funny because if you look at him I’m the crimson robes. He’s standing like Sidious not Palpatine . Almost as if one died and the other was fully born.

[@btristin01]

Surprised you didn’t mention sith alchemy. Palpatines face already was deformed by the dark side. Through sith alchemy not only was he able to hide himself from being sensed by the Jedi, but he was able to mask his face from the affects of the dark side. Which also hid his sith eyes. Him “being deformed by the attack” was simply a manipulation. All his lightening did was burn his mask off. He probably could’ve repaired his appearance via sith alchemy again, but appearing deformed served it’s purpose so

[@RetneysHolocron]

That’s just a fan theory that he was hiding his true appearance. The novelization of ROTS states that his lightning deformed him.

[@btristin01]

@@RetneysHolocron I’m sure it did. But I’m also sure evil Palpi had sith eyes long before his duel with Mace. He did something to hide them

[@RetneysHolocron]

@@btristin01 Thats not the same, Sith eyes aren't a permanent thing

[@RT42069]

"I look like I have a scrotum for a face!!! What am I supposed to call myself, Darth Syphillus?"

[@jeffskywalker2495]

You know palbitine wouldn’t have to worry about women wouldn’t find him attractive, he could made obedient clone women for his herum, these clone women would have control disc in each of the clone women.

[@darrennpeagler47291]

I have already commented on this video earlier and I suddenly got an idea on a video that you could do. That is if you already haven't done it yet. What if you did a video, or videos, focused on the physical, mental, and perhaps spiritual, in regards to the Force, side effects of using both the light side of the force and the dark side of the force separately as well as combined in rare circumstances. Including fighting styles, emotional side effects, and physical side effects associated with which aspect of the Force the user would use.🤔

[@ASmellySmellThatIsSmelly]

I always thought that's just how Palpatine looked because of how corrupted he was by the dark side and his face throughout the prequels was just a sith alchemy disguise

[@EchosOfWhiterun_5555DocOfStyle]

All I can say is that *Palpatine* is a very *Demented* individual. How he could do that to so *MANY* people is *Beyond* my understanding. Why does someone *LOVE* being that kind of *EVIL* and why would they want to unleash that on the universe? I guess someone like me, who has a *heart* that works well, we'll never be able to *understand* the way someone/something like that would behave.... 👲 ~ JonseyG

[@joakimareskoug1437]

Because an evil person doesnt see himself as evil. He sees what he does as good. That is why the devil is called the father of lies. You decieve yourself by believing that what you do is right.

[@garybowes3081]

That explains why Anakin look so old in return of the Jed when Luke took off his helmet

[@kevin-2.1]

I was surprised that Palpatine did this on purpose just to win Anakin over to the dark side. I thought his plan on killing Mace backfired.

[@nemo7542who]

Thank you for your work!

[@RetneysHolocron]

Thanks for watching!

[@joeyrivaldo5239]

I always that he was a changeling like Zam Wesell from Attack of the Clones & I thought that was the set up. If you look at Zam Wesell's face, there's similarities to Palpatines after the force lightning directs on his body. So I thought, when it happened, that he was reverting to his true self. I guess I was wrong!

[@SniffHeinkel]

If I were Anakin when Palpatine cried for help, I'd be like, "Dude, you're the one shooting lightning. Just stop." It's kind of hard to believe that Anakin was stupid enough to be fooled by such a trick.

[@user-ne2sb6kt4z]

Has anyone noticed that when Dooku was using Force Lightning on Obi-Wan and blocked it with his lightsaber, it didn't reflect back? Why was that? I mean Windu did the same with Sidious and THIS happened but when Obi-Wan did it nothing happened to Dooku! Is it because of strength difference between Sidious and Dooku or the distance between the lightning and the saber... or something else?

[@RetneysHolocron]

I’d guess that it’s because Palpatine intentionally allowed the lightning to reflect back onto him to make it look like Windu was killing him in front of Anakin. Dooku probably wouldn’t want lightning to wrinkle his cape 😂

[@stephanjordan5529]

It’s most likely due to the properties of Vaapad. Which is a direct counter to dark side users and the darkside itself, by treading the line a jedi takes the dark of their opponent into them and redirects it back at them, that’s likely the case here. The reason Vaapad is exclusive to Windu is because it’s risky, all he taught it to fell to the dark, as you need to revel in the fight to use vaapad effectively. Which brings one so close to the darkside that only the absolute most disciplined could possibly wield it while staying a jedi, even then. It’s almost impossible. That in itself shows how much of a unit windu was

[@user-ne2sb6kt4z]

That sound quite logical.

[@kevinphillips2992]

I thought Obi-Wan's saber absorbed Count Dooku's force lightning instead of deflecting it. Am I mistaken?

[@stephanjordan5529]

@@kevinphillips2992more or less. The lightning was a single jolt which likely joined in the plasma that makes up a lightsaber blade, we see something similar in the vader comics. Palpatines sent a torrent at vader who blocked it with his lightsaber absorbing some of it until the lightning overpowered the plasma making up the lightsaber blade

[@TylergangAnimations]

Hey reynet nice video I really enjoyed it l know this a bit much to ask but do you think could you make a what if video if Anakin beat obi wan on mustafar and what would happen👍🏿

[@zaneal-amood5474]

no, that’s not what it is what it is is that he was begging Anakin to help him, but if he stopped using Sith lightning mace windue would’ve chopped him with the light saber if you looked at the lightning mace Has to block the lightning but it’s also pushing him back, and he’s using the force to push against the Sith lightning so he hast to keep attacking mace because mace was gonna literally kill him. He could’ve killed him any number of ways he could’ve used telekinesis to throw the light saber into emperor Palpa teen he could’ve killed him by force levitating him, then force pushing him out the window so he had to use the force to block any telekinetic attacks on his person, and if he tried to move, mace was going to light saber lop his head off because telekinesis can’t stop a light saber swing or at least not. The one of a master Jedi with the good chancellor already weekend he needed Aniken to save him at that point anything where he was just pretending to be vulnerable to manipulate Anakin that’s just extra cake

[@timgonzales2891]

Ive always wondered why mace's saber reflected the lightning, obi wans just blocks it. Is it because mace is more powerful?

[@texasgent4694]

Well Mace Windu possesses an ability called Vaapad, which allows Him to redirect Darkside Force energy back to the user

[@kairi4640]

​@texasgent4694 really? I always thought the light saber just naturally deflected lightning like it did with the plasma rifle blasts and other lightsabers. Interesting.

[@timgonzales2891]

@@kairi4640 episode 2, obi wans doesn't reflect it when dooku fires light ingredients at him. Just kinda blocks/absorbs it

[@brandybrown8296]

@@timgonzales2891 - Exactly. It could be the result of Windu's Vapaad, as some have mentioned. It could also be that Dooku's lightning was not true, Sith Lightning. In the Plagueis novel, Plagueis explains the nature of Sith lightning to his young apprentice, Palpatine. He's very specific about the fact that only a true Sith can manifest Sith lightning and that the Jedi version is significantly less powerful. Dooku was never truly Sith.

[@brokenbridge6316]

My Brother once compared the Dark Side of the Force to a performance enhancing drug. It might help you in the moment but over time it takes a toll on your mind n body. And yet you can't stop taking it. Till someone makes you.

[@darrennpeagler47291]

I will say that this video explained a lot about what happened, and Palpatine's true intent. I would also argue that Darth Malgus would be another good example. His intense use of the dark side in effect drained him of the color of life. As seen in star wars the Old Republic, especially in the trailers, Malgus' skin looked lifeless, almost as if he were a dead corpse walking. Other dark side users throughout star wars history, specifically those who were humans and other species as well, where it is noticeable, the dark side simply saps its users of the color of life that they originally had. It's almost as if the dark side makes its users look dead as if that were the symbol of what darkness represents. In star wars the last Jedi , when Rey sensed the light side of force, dark side of the Force, and the balance of the Force in between. It even alluded to the idea that darkness symbolizes death, hence the effect it has on dark side users. To fully use the dark side of the Force means to embrace the darkness of existence in general. And the effect of doing so means to reject life, peace, and harmony, and to embrace death, destruction, and chaos. And in doing that, you will physically become that for which you represent. That is the inevitable side effect of embracing the dark side of the Force.........😞

[@JediMaster00]

May the force be with you

[@RetneysHolocron]

MTFBWY!

[@bobbill140]

Nice! All hail the Empire!

[@ryandavis8658]

Sidious lost to Mace legitimately according to George Lucas.

[@jsuarez1099]

I have a question for you. Leia has been hinted to be able to use the force (obviously because of who her father is) many times, and even been shown in the last (shitty) trilogy. But why did Luke never train her, why did she never become a jedi?

[@RetneysHolocron]

Well in Legends he did train her in the Thrawn Trilogy and the Jedi Academy Trilogy, but she was always very busy with her political career so she didn't devote herself to becoming a Jedi. In canon, she had a vision of Ben's death at the end of her Jedi path, so she abandoned her training.

[@oliversherman2414]

UNLIMITED POWER!

[@lukedanielgalon1596]

Why did Ezra and Thrawn lived?

[@94462]

true masochist, what a depraved individual

[@IAMJUSTME841]

Palpatine: "I WILL PLEDGE MYSELF TO THE DARK SIDE TO DESTROY THE JEDI!" Dark Side: "in return, ill turn your forehead into a butt" Palpatine: .............DO IT

[@jameswest4259]

The Emperor and Vader are the best characters by far, team Darkside!

[@trapkidd39]

Why wasn’t luke disfigured?

[@thunderstruck2727]

I wondered the same thing