The other day, someone’s son asked a question while watching Revenge of the Sith, and honestly – it’s a good one.
“If the Jedi could just check holorecordings to see what Palpatine was up to, why’d they need Anakin to spy on him in the first place?”
At first, that really sounds like a plot hole. But when I looked closer and thought it through, it all started making sense. The truth is: the recordings weren’t what most people think, and they weren’t even recorded at the time the Jedi needed information.
Let me explain step-by-step, because this one’s actually pretty interesting once you get into the details.
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That Holorecording Everyone Talks About? It Wasn’t From Palpatine’s Office
A lot of people think the scene where Obi-Wan and Yoda look at the footage of Anakin kneeling before Palpatine was taken from the Chancellor’s office. It wasn’t. That was from the Jedi Temple’s security system, after the attack had already happened. Yoda even warned Obi-Wan before watching it: “If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find.”
In the footage, Palpatine’s wearing his hood and standing in the Jedi Temple. It’s not the same room or even the same clothes as the earlier scene when he first calls Anakin “Darth Vader.” That was a different moment entirely. What Obi-Wan watched was Palpatine visiting the Temple later on, after the younglings were “slayed” and the Temple had fallen.
So no, the Jedi weren’t sitting on some magical livestream from Palpatine’s office the whole time.
The Jedi Had No Access to His Office, and He Covered His Tracks Anyway
Before all this went down, the Jedi didn’t have access to Palpatine’s private recordings. That’s why they asked Anakin to spy on him in the first place. They couldn’t just press play on a holotape and catch him plotting in his office. It didn’t work that way.
Even if they somehow had managed to get surveillance from inside his office, Palpatine wouldn’t have let anything slip. The guy was way too careful. In fact, the Revenge of the Sith novel shows that he even edited or deleted footage that showed him fighting Mace Windu. He made it look like the Jedi attacked him without warning, just to justify his rise to power.
That’s why spying was the only real option. The Council wanted Anakin to get close and learn what Palpatine was really planning – not catch him red-handed, but maybe get a glimpse into his long-term moves. Something deeper than what any camera could show.
Why Obi-Wan & Yoda Didn’t Use the Footage Against Palpatine
When Obi-Wan watched that Temple footage, everything was already lost. The Jedi Order was destroyed. The Senate had been manipulated. The Republic had already become the Empire. There wasn’t anyone left to report to, and no one who would believe them.
Palpatine didn’t care anymore about being caught on camera. He’d already won. At that point, him standing in the Temple and praising Vader was just him flexing. There was nothing secret about it anymore. He didn’t have to hide, and he knew no one could stop him.
Even if Yoda and Obi-Wan had saved that recording, what were they going to do with it? There was no court, no Council, no media – they were fugitives. The only thing the footage did was confirm what they already feared: Anakin was gone.