Palpatine’s Best Friend – Sate Pestage (Legends)

When people think about Emperor Palpatine, “friendship” isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind. He was a man who saw everyone as a tool — apprentices, allies, even entire star systems. Yet, buried under all the lies and political games, there was one man he truly trusted. His name was Sate Pestage, and for decades, he stood closer to the Emperor than anyone else in the galaxy.

When Power Met Loyalty

When I first learned about Pestage, what caught my attention wasn’t how powerful he was, but how close he stood to Palpatine. Back when the Emperor was still a senator from Naboo, Pestage was already there. Their connection started when Darth Plagueis, Palpatine’s Sith master, introduced them. At that time, Pestage worked in the background for Plagueis, handling things most politicians pretended didn’t exist — espionage, manipulation, and assassination.

His first big assignment was to help Palpatine get his seat in the Senate. That meant arranging the death of Naboo’s previous senator, Vidar Kim. The plan worked, and from that point, Pestage became part of Palpatine’s circle. Palpatine admired his professionalism and his ability to stay calm while doing the ugliest work imaginable. Pestage, on the other hand, saw something bigger in Palpatine — someone who could shape the galaxy and take him along for the rise.

From then on, they worked like a perfect pair. Palpatine handled politics in public; Pestage dealt with everything behind the curtain. They had a clear understanding: power was the goal, and both needed each other to reach it.

The Right Hand Of The Emperor – The Empire’s Quiet Ruler

When the Republic turned into the Galactic Empire, Pestage rose with it. Palpatine rewarded him with one of the most powerful titles in Imperial history — Grand Vizier. That role made him second only to the Emperor.

Pestage wasn’t a warrior or a Sith; he was the man who kept the machine running. While Palpatine buried himself in dark side experiments and long-term plans, Pestage managed everything else. He signed off on legislation, supervised the ministries, handled communication between departments, and made sure Imperial policy moved exactly as the Emperor wanted.

He had the authority to use the Imperial Seal himself, which meant his decisions carried the same weight as the Emperor’s. Palpatine never feared betrayal from Pestage, because the man knew his place. He wasn’t trying to take power; he just wanted to serve and survive.

And it paid off. Palpatine gave him entire worlds, personal fleets, and more wealth than most systems ever saw. There were even Star Destroyers named after him. Pestage became one of the richest men in the galaxy, all because of how much his loyalty mattered to one person.

As years passed, Palpatine became more obsessed with the dark side and spent less time managing politics. That left Pestage in charge of day-to-day Imperial affairs. In a way, he ruled the Empire while the Emperor was away in the shadows. Ministers, Moffs, and governors had to go through him before they could do anything important.

That made him powerful — but also isolated. People feared him, but not for who he was; they feared the man he represented. Many saw him as the Emperor’s mouthpiece, the barrier you couldn’t cross. Pestage didn’t seem to care. He kept working, kept managing everything, and never stepped out of line.

Holding The Empire Together After Endor

When the Battle of Endor ended and news spread that the Emperor was dead, chaos took over. The Empire fractured overnight. Commanders and Moffs turned on each other, each one trying to claim what was left.

But Sate Pestage stayed calm. He knew Palpatine wasn’t truly gone. He had seen too much of the Emperor’s secret cloning projects and dark experiments to believe death was permanent. While others panicked, Pestage stepped forward and became acting Emperor, trying to keep the remains of the Empire from collapsing.

The problem was that nobody else wanted to listen. The military ignored him. Ambitious leaders staged coups. Even Ysanne Isard, the head of Imperial Intelligence, turned against him. Still, Pestage did everything he could to hold on until Palpatine returned.

When things became too dangerous, he made a deal with the New Republic to protect himself — offering Coruscant in exchange for immunity and a few planets. But before he could reach safety, he was captured by Imperial warlords and executed. Or, at least, that’s what many believed.

Clone Or Survivor

Rumors spread fast that the man who died wasn’t the real Sate Pestage. Some believed it was a clone, while the real one escaped to Byss, the secret planet where Palpatine returned to life through cloning. According to Imperial sources, Pestage eventually reunited with the Emperor there and went right back to serving as his advisor in the Dark Empire.

He stayed by Palpatine’s side until the end — when Byss was destroyed, taking both master and servant with it. Sate Pestage’s loyalty lasted through death, rebirth, and destruction, ending only when his Emperor finally vanished for good.

Bonus: Sate Pestage In Star Wars Canon

In the canon timeline, Sate Pestage exists too, but his role is smaller. He’s still one of Palpatine’s most trusted aides, sitting on the Imperial Ruling Council and wearing the colorful robes and hats we see among the Emperor’s advisors in Return of the Jedi.

Before the Empire’s rise, Pestage worked as a senior aide to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, handling diplomatic missions and political assignments. During the Clone Wars, he traveled with other top officials like Janus Greejatus, Sly Moore, and Orson Krennic to Geonosis, where they oversaw Poggle the Lesser’s homecoming. It showed that even then, Palpatine trusted him enough to represent him directly.

In James Luceno’s novel Tarkin, Pestage appears during a major meeting with Vader, Mas Amedda, and Tarkin himself. He’s the one who brings up Tarkin’s clash with insurgents, keeping track of details that most would overlook. He was a bureaucrat to the core — sharp, polite, and never far from his Emperor’s side.

Author Jason Fry later confirmed that the dignitary in black robes standing beside Palpatine in Return of the Jedi was indeed Sate Pestage. That officially made him part of canon. According to records, he likely died aboard the second Death Star at Endor, remaining loyal to Palpatine until the last second.