Palpatine eventually emerged as the hidden Sith Lord. Yet, he was not revealed as such until the end of Revenge of the Sith. The Jedi didn’t suspect him until too late. Who did they think was the Sith lord? Someone close to Palpatine or someone tucked away from the action.
Table of Contents
Who Was the Hidden Sith Lord?
According to this video, the Jedi thought the hidden Sith lord could have been one of Palpatine’s royal guards, his personal assistant Mas Amedda, or someone else in his “inner circle.” Fans too indicate that the most likely candidate was “one of Palpatine’s advisors” or a political ally that was using Palpatine.
The Revenge of the Sith novelization leads us in this direction too. When Obi-Wan asked Mace Windu if he had any suspects, Windu responded that they had “Too many,” but also indicated that “Sage Pestage springs to mind” and how they shouldn’t “rule out Mas Amedda, either.” As Senior Advisor to Palpatine, Pestage corresponds with the inner circle idea, as does Amedda.
Here’s the conversation between Obi-Wan and Mace Windu from the novel.
Another possibility was Count Dooku. Since he abandoned the Jedi, he could have been the one who threatened the galaxy. Yet, fans indicate how it was unlikely the Jedi believed that he was the hidden Sith lord, given that “Dooku was still a Jedi when Maul surfaced.” Most Jedi, especially Yoda, must have known that someone else must have been pulling the strings.
Coinciding with articles like this one about The Acolyte, the Jedi could have also believed that the hidden Sith was a mysterious figure working from afar. While the Jedi mainly thought the Sith had gone extinct, those who did suspect a hidden Sith lord may have been looking for Darth Plagueis or someone like him.
An off-the-radar Sith, not someone close to them like Palpatine, makes sense, particularly after Darth Maul’s death. As another discussion alludes to here, Yoda knew about the Rule of Two for the Sith, and that master Sith was most likely away from the action.
Perhaps the Jedi were thinking it was more of a Darth Bane-like Sith bent on overthrowing the Republic from a distance.
Why Didn’t the Jedi Suspect Palpatine?
We may find it puzzling that the Jedi didn’t suspect Palpatine was the Sith lord more readily. Yet, several reasons explain why they didn’t.
Among the top reasons was that Palpatine held a very public role. As a prominent politician, Palpatine was constantly in “the spotlight” and could not keep such a secret hidden, or so the Jedi believed. Likewise, Palpatine kept his “Sith work” concealed and relied on “covert connections and vassals” to lay down the road for his takeover.
On that note, it would have been more likely that a mysterious and distant Sith lord lay behind the dark designs. Even when Jedi suspicions were raised, they still looked elsewhere.
Mace Windu expressed his concerns over Palpatine, but mainly thought he “was up to no good” not the main perpetrator. We can recognize how Palpatine concealed his presence through Force cloaking and how the evidence the Jedi found pointed to Palpatine’s inner circle, not Palpatine himself.
There were also many suspects who seemed to connect back to the elites of Coruscant. Moreover, the “massive” and “time-consuming” Clone Wars cast a haze over the Jedi detective work. The Jedi already had their hands too full to properly find out who the Sith lord was.
While this may not satisfy our frustration with the Jedi not correctly identifying the Sith lord, these reasons do provide some clarity, which the Jedi lacked.
Who The Jedi Believed Was the Sith Lord
With all the obstacles to identifying Palpatine, the Jedi thought the hidden Sith lord was a person within Palpatine’s close network. They may have also believed it was a dark lord hidden away from view and not directly involved with the overthrow of the galaxy.