Star Wars Confirms the Immense Level of Palpatine's Most Essential Prequels Force Power

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #3

Summary Palpatine's greatest power was masking his presence in the Force, even from his own Sith apprentice.

Keeping his Sith nature hidden allowed him to plot in secret, right under the Jedi Order's nose.

Palpatine utilized Darth Maul to eliminate other potential threats to his plans and possible exposures.

Star Wars confirms 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 canonical Darth Maul: Black, White & Red series, the Dark Lord meets with his apprentice before the beginning of the Skywalker saga with The Phantom Menace. It's during this meeting that Maul confirms just how powerful his master truly is as a Dark Lord of the Sith.

In Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #3 by 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 the Star Wars canon.

Related Star Wars Movies In Order: How To Watch Release Order, Chronologically & With The TV Shows What's the best way to watch Star Wars? Here's everything you need to know to watch in release or timeline order, and how to include the TV shows.

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 his more 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 that Palpatine 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 the Star Wars canon is quite impressive.

Darth Maul: Black, White & Red #3 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.