Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #3
Summary
Star Warsconfirms the true levels of Palpatine’s greatest and most crucial ability in the Force, especially during the prequel trilogy era. As seen in Marvel’s new and canonicalDarth Maul: Black, White & Redseries, the Dark Lord meets with his apprentice before the beginning of the Skywalker saga withThe Phantom Menace. It’s during this meeting that Maul confirms just how powerful his master truly is as a Dark Lord of the Sith.
InDarth Maul: Black, White & Red #3by Erica Schultz and Leonard Kirk,Maul was sent by Palpatine to eliminate a known criminal known as Coir Cion. While Palpatine’s reasoning for wanting Cion was initially kept from his apprentice, Maul eventually learned that Cion could have exposed his master’s darker operations and true identity, as the rest of the galaxy knew him only as the humbler Senator Palpatine from Naboo. However,Maul’s success and return to Coruscant confirms just how powerful Palpatine is in the dark side of the Force:
Sneaking up from behind Maul, Palpatine’s Sith apprentice confirms that he couldn’t even sense his master through the Force until he was right behind him and placing a hand on his shoulder. While seemingly an insignificant moment on the surface,it actually communicates just how powerful Palpatine was on a much grander scale in theStar Warscanon.
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Palpatine’s Greatest Power Was Making His Presence In The Force
Keeping His Sith Nature Hidden From The Jedi Order
The reason Palpatine was able to maintain his dual identity as both a secret Sith Lord and eventually Supreme Chancellor of the Republic came down to one key ability.Palpatine was able to mask his presence in the Force from even the most powerful Jedi masters. As such, this allowed him to sinisterly plot and scheme from the shadows right under the Jedi Order’s nose, all while publicly presenting himself as a leader seeking the ongoing peace and prosperity of the Republic.
That said,this issue provides a key metric for just how powerful Palpatine’s abilities truly were. After all, the fact that Palpatine could mask his presence in the Force from his own dark apprentice is quite noteworthy. It essentially means that the Dark Lord always had a built-in advantage over his foes, regardless of their own strength in the Force.
Palpatine Was Still In Danger Of Exposure
That’s What Darth Maul Was For
That being said,Palpatine’s ability to mask his presence in the Force didn’t mean he was completely immune to exposure. After all, Coir Cion chose to take advantage and blackmail Palpatine after witnessing some of hismore illicit activities in Coruscant’s lower levels. While Cion likely didn’t know that Palpatine was a Sith, the mere notion of being exposed for darker deeds could have led to an unwanted number of eyes and likely an investigation into his affairs.
As a result, circumstances such as those in this new issue do help prove thatPalpatine having Maul trained and ready to do his bidding was quite useful. Palpatine’s Sith apprentice quickly and efficiently helped remove potential rivals and threats, allowing Palpatine to continue plotting and preparing for the eventual rise of his Empire at the end of the prequels. That said, the fact that Palpatine could mask himself so entirely from light and dark side users alike in theStar Warscanon is quite impressive.
Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #3is on sale now from Marvel Comics.
Darth Maul
Palpatine’s apprentice, Darth Maul was nothing more than a tool to winnow down the ranks of the Jedi ahead of Darth Sidious' true plans. Discarded after he was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo, Darth Maul swore revenge against all those he blamed for his past struggles - Jedi and Sith alike. Maul tended to operate within the shadows, running various syndicates, and even established himself as a true rival for Palpatine on at least one occasion. He was eventually killed by Obi-Wan in a duel on Tatooine.
