Did Tarkin Know of Palpatine’s Secret Plans, or His Secret Identity?

One detail from The Clone Wars always made me wonder how much Tarkin really knew. During the Citadel arc, Tarkin tells Anakin, “I needn’t worry about my career. I’ve fallen into favor with the Chancellor.” Anakin then says, “I happen to know the Chancellor quite well myself,” and Tarkin immediately reacts with, “Oh, really?” 

It is a small conversation, but it says a lot about Tarkin. He was already confident that Palpatine’s favor could protect his future, and he seemed very interested when he realized Anakin had that same connection. So did Tarkin know Palpatine was hiding something during the Clone Wars, or was he simply smart enough to recognize how powerful Anakin’s relationship with the Chancellor really was? 

Tarkin Probably Didn’t Know Palpatine Was Darth Sidious

Despite how suspicious and calculating Tarkin seems during that encounter, the reality is that he had no idea Palpatine was a Sith Lord during the war.

Tarkin’s reaction wasn’t born out of shared secret knowledge, it was a flash of political jealousy. We see proof of this throughout the Citadel arc when Tarkin openly criticizes the Jedi way of handling the war. He explicitly tells Anakin that the Jedi Code prevents them from doing what is necessary to win, a philosophy that perfectly mirrors Palpatine’s own public rhetoric about the Republic’s weakness. Tarkin prided himself on being one of the few military minds who truly aligned with the Chancellor’s authoritarian vision.

When Tarkin realizes that Anakin Skywalker also enjoys a close, private relationship with the Chancellor, Tarkin is simply sizing up a rival. He isn’t wondering how Anakin knows Palpatine’s secret identity; he is protecting his own standing as the Chancellor’s premier military confidant.

In fact, the canonical Tarkin novel later confirms that during the Clone Wars, Tarkin genuinely bought into Palpatine’s public persona as a dedicated, grandfatherly statesman trying to save the Republic. The book establishes that Tarkin had immense respect for Palpatine’s political mind long before the Empire, but entirely missed the supernatural strings being pulled in the background. At this stage in the timeline, Tarkin was just another pawn on Palpatine’s massive chessboard, brilliant at conventional warfare, but entirely blind to the grand design of the Sith.

Tarkin Figured It Out During the Imperial Era

Tarkin did not stay in the dark forever. While he was blind to the truth during the Clone Wars, the dawn of the Galactic Empire changed everything. Working closely within the Emperor’s inner circle, Tarkin’s brilliant forensic mind began to piece together the clues that the rest of the galaxy completely missed. He didn’t need the Force to uncover the truth; he just used cold, hard logic.

The biggest clue for Tarkin was the behavior of Darth Vader. In the Tarkin novel, it’s noted that Tarkin spent a lot of time observing the dynamic between the Emperor and his armor-clad enforcer. Tarkin knew firsthand that Vader was an unstoppable powerhouse who answered to no one and held absolute authority over the military. Yet, whenever Vader was in the presence of the Emperor, this terrifying force of nature submitted completely and flawlessly, treating Palpatine with total deference. By recognizing Vader as a Sith, he logically deduced that the Emperor had to be his dark side master.

Tarkin also re-examined the official narrative of how the Empire was born. The public was told that the Jedi Order had randomly revolted and tried to assassinate the Chancellor in his senate office, leaving him physically scarred. But Tarkin looked at the Emperor’s disfigurement and Vader’s unquestioning obedience and realized the truth: the Jedi hadn’t staged a random political coup. They had finally discovered that the Chancellor was a Sith Lord, and they had gone to his office to eliminate him.

The Tarkin novel explicitly confirms his line of thinking through his internal thoughts:

“That he [Palpatine] and Vader were kindred spirits suggested that both of them might be Sith. Tarkin often wondered if that wasn’t the actual reason Palpatine had been targeted for arrest or assassination by the Jedi.”

By connecting the dots between the scarred face of the Emperor and the ancient rivalry of the Force, Tarkin realized that the Jedi hadn’t targeted a helpless politician—they had targeted a Sith Master.