Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious has a well-established reputation as Star Wars’ greatest mastermind, but was he really? Palpatine is among Star Wars’ most powerful Sith, and he has proven himself as a formidable opponent throughout Star Wars movies and TV shows. In fact, even when it seemed as though the Star Wars sequel trilogy was moving in a different direction, there he was again, proving he had still been behind everything all along.

Palpatine’s resurrection and his longevity alone suggest he has earned his evil mastermind reputation, yet I’m not totally convinced he was quite as brilliant as he may seem. Yes, Palpatine managed to overthrow the Republic, establish and rule an empire, and nearly eradicate the Jedi, but there was plenty outside his control or his plans that made his ascension to power possible. Palpatine may have had an ingenious plan, but several other factors made his power grab so much easier.

Anakin’s Entire Relationship With Padmé Was A Stroke Of Luck For Palpatine

This Was Precisely What Palpatine Needed To Turn Anakin Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the dark side was key to Palpatine’s plans, and Anakin’s feelings for Padmé made that so much easier. In fact, Anakin’s fears about losing Padmé made him completely susceptible to Palpatine’s manipulations, and his reoccurring nightmares about Padmé dying are among the most defining moments in Anakin’s fall to the dark side. While opinions vary regarding how much influence Palpatine had over these circumstances—I, for one, believe Palpatine planted these nightmares in Anakin’s mind—Palpatine was incredibly lucky that Anakin fell for Padmé in the first place.

Even if Palpatine did influence Anakin’s fears about Padmé dying, Palpatine didn’t directly cause Anakin to fall in love with Padmé, and that ended up being the one thing that scared him enough to drive him to the dark side. Although his mother’s death nearly got him there, as the slaughter of the Tusken Raiders made clear, it was his (possessive) love for Padmé and inability to ever let her go that made Anakin willing to betray the Jedi, join Palpatine, and kill younglings. In the end, this was really a stroke of luck for Palpatine.

The Jedi Council Just Kept Making The Dumbest Decisions

The Jedi Made Countless Mistakes In The Prequels

In addition to Anakin’s love for Padmé being rather convenient for Palpatine, the Jedi Council consistently made bewildering choices that helped Palpatine in his rise to power. One of these was actually the choice to have Anakin go to Naboo with Padmé alone, which only pushed him further into loving her. Why they would send a young Jedi, particularly one who already struggled with attachment and had a clear crush on Padmé, on this mission hasn’t been explained, but it undoubtedly contributed to Palpatine’s plans.

Beyond this, the Jedi didn’t hesitate to jump into the Clone Wars once they started, despite being peacekeepers, and that included accepting an army of clones under extremely dubious circumstances. This of course went horribly wrong with Order 66, and that was made so much easier (if not made entirely possible) by the Jedi’s willingness to join the war. Even outside this misstep by the Jedi, the Order and especially the Jedi Council had become far too involved in politics. All of that made Palpatine’s path to power so much easier.

Palpatine Lost (Badly) As Soon As He Had A Real Challenge

Not Only Luke Skywalker But Also The Rebellion Brought An End To Palpatine’s Reign

Anakin’s attachment to Padmé and the Jedi Council’s numerous poor decisions throughout the prequel trilogy era all made Palpatine’s path to power quite a bit easier, which raises questions about how truly genius Palpatine was. Palpatine was still impressively strategic throughout this era, and it’s clear that he wielded immense power, but it wasn’t as though he was meeting resistance at every turn. In many ways, the Jedi and the Republic played right into Palpatine’s hands.

What makes this all the more interesting is that, when faced with true resistance, Palpatine lost fairly terribly. It didn’t actually take all that much for Luke to defeat Palpatine, particularly because Palpatine mᴀssively underestimated how much Darth Vader would feel attached to his son, even in light of all that had happened. Not only from a strategic standpoint but also from a physical one—Darth Vader really just picks him up and chucks him—Palpatine wasn’t that hard to beat.

Star Wars has also increasingly shown how major a threat the Rebellion proved to be, even early on. Palpatine had plenty of cause for concern throughout Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars Rebels, and Andor. This isn’t to say Palpatine wasn’t brilliant; he certainly was. However, there’s significant evidence that Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious had plenty of (accidental) help on his path to power in Star Wars.