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

This tells us that the Emperor was overconfident in the Dark Side in regards to Vader turning against him.

However, at one point Vader tells Luke that he can destroy the Emperor and that he (the Emperor) has foreseen it.

So, if Palpatine has foreseen that Luke (or another Skywalker for that matter) can destroy him, why risk bringing him closer with the expectation of turning him to the Dark Side?

I know turning Luke would be a great asset, but still, this is probably the only man in the galaxy that can kill you. Why not cancel this possibility immediately and have Vader kill him on first occasion?

Answer

It is never made clear how Luke's ability to destroy the Emperor has been foreseen (if in fact Vader did not simply make this up in order to persuade Luke to join the dark side). It is, however, clear that the Emperor needs Luke.

Vader has long ago been rendered an inferior pupil to the Emperor - he is growing old, his body has been replaced with excessive machinery, and the Emperor (rightly) predicts that he will turn on him at the crucial moment. To maintain the Rule of Two, the Emperor needs a new apprentice, and a still-green young Jedi Knight like Luke is an ideal candidate to turn.

This also seems to be his modus operandi - when faced with the possibility that Count Dooku would betray him, he saw the potential to turn young Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side by having him kill Dooku in cold blood. This is the exact same thing he tries to do to Luke with Vader, and it very nearly works given how Luke has embraced his anger to defeat Vader in direct combat.

And finally, we should also remember that while Palpatine was willing to try to convert Luke by talking him into this murderous act, he was also prepared for it to fail, and promptly executed his plan B with Force Lightning.

The only true flaw in his plan was to underestimate Anakin's rekindled loyalty to his son, and Anakin's ability to betray the Emperor even under such circumstances.

Comments

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