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Darth Sidious, if not the most powerful, was one of the most powerful Sith Lords of all time. He was also known as Sheev Palpatine, Chancellor of the Republic during the Clone Wars. While revealing himself to the public as the Dark Lord of the Sith, he was the Emperor of the Galactic Empire. I have seen in Youtube comments and on Reddit that the Emperor feared Luke Skywalker for reasons I do not know. So why does Darth Sidious fear Luke Skywalker?

Do Legends, such as the Return of the Jedi novelization, mention this?

Machavity
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The Witch King of Angmar
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1 Answers1

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Vader tells Luke in Empire Strikes Back

VADER: Luke. You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son. Come with me. It is the only way.

See also here

If Palpatine had foreseen his destruction at the hands of Luke, why risk trying to turn him?

The Wandering Dev Manager
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    Maybe this quote holds the secret. Only Luke could destroy the Emperor, it's only Luke's destiny. That's why Vader/Anakin could not ultimately do it on the Death Star II. That's why the Emperor is still around in Episode IX, and Luke needs to come back and finish him off. – Essen Nov 18 '19 at 06:14
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    Possibly here but "can destroy" is not "will destroy". It only shows the potential, not necessarily what would happen. – VLAZ Nov 18 '19 at 08:23
  • @VLAZ If you know you are completely untouchable for anyone but one single person, would you go and have lunch with them? – 11684 Nov 18 '19 at 09:28
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    @VLAZ And even if the result is "emperor is destroyed", there might be other things to consider. The emperor would probably prefer "emperor is destroyed, and Luke ascends to the throne" to "emperor is destroyed, and Luke lets the republic come back". And that's before you get to EU, with their emperor clones etc. – Luaan Nov 18 '19 at 09:29
  • @11684 if I am convinced that I can influence them to not destroy me, then sure. Otherwise, if I don't go to lunch, I have no influence on the matter. It's simple, really - control the variables you can and avoid the variables you can't. If you cannot avoid nor control a variable, then work it into your plan. Happens all the time in games but it's also a factor basically anywhere. There is probably some field that specifically deals with planning and variables. – VLAZ Nov 18 '19 at 09:43
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    @Luaan sure. There is also the possibility that everything is a lie. Perhaps the Emperor was simply lying to Vader to see what Vader would do with this information. Doesn't sound too far-fetched for a Sith to do this with his apprentice. – VLAZ Nov 18 '19 at 09:45
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    Do we know that Vader wasn't lying to Luke? "The only way to defeat the evil Emperor and bring about peace is to join forces with your long lost Dad and be a family again" sounds like the sort of lie a Sith would use to recruit a new apprentice – Lord Jebus VII Nov 18 '19 at 10:27
  • This is an okay answer, but I think it ignores how the Sith hierarchy works. Vader was asking Luke to become his Sith trainee, so that Vader would train Luke and they could kill Sidious together. It's how the Sith have worked throughout the centuries. The student kills the master to become the only Sith Lord in the Galaxy. So yes, the son of one of the strongest force users in history would be a threat to Sidious, even (especially) if he became a Sith. – nomen Nov 18 '19 at 16:27
  • but Luke doesn't kill him....Vader does. The visions likely showed Luke's presence at the end but not the final betrayal. – rtaft Nov 18 '19 at 18:41
  • I find this quote to be very vague in several points as well, given the cloudiness of foreseeing things. to destroy does not necessarily mean to kill. Might also refer to his heritage or whatever. Also the emperor is ambiguous. Could be a past or future version like an incarnation. As well that the whole quote could mean he did not do it himself but by instructing someone (of the newer characters). Or programming C3P0 to do so. Also the link in the answer mentions it is not clear if Vader did make the whole story to convince Luke to overrule the emperor in good old Sith fashion. – steros Nov 19 '19 at 11:59
  • It's also worth noting the last time the Emperor underestimated Luke, he blew up a Death Star. – Alexander The 1st Feb 05 '22 at 00:59