Poll: TPM Palpatine. Sith eyes or not?

[MaulFan]

Going by what happened with Anakin in ROTS, my view of the Sith eyes is that it's a transformation that occurs when one allows themselves to be consumed with hate and all the traits of the Sith. Even in ROTJ, Palpatine was filled with evil thoughts of wiping out the Rebellion and removing Luke as a threat. He's the ultimate Sith, consumed entirely with the Dark Side once he lets his guard down in ROTS. At least that's how I take it because Anakin's in and out with his eyes in ROTS. As he's killing the Separatists, they go Sith on that close, then they're back to normal as he's crying with remorse and inner conflict over what he's doing, then when Obi-Wan "tuns on him" from his POV, he gets consumed and turns again, then his eyes are normal again as he's locked into Vader because he's in shock from everything and he first wakes wondering where Padme is, not really consumed with the Dark Side until he's told of her death, then I envision him always having the Sith eyes from that moment until he kills the Emperor, perhaps having moments where he reverts back to normal when he sould becomes conflicted with the light and the dark.

 

[pixletwin]

There are moments which are parallell as far as attitude goes.

Maul and Sids talking about revealing themselves to the Jedi vs Vader and Sids talking about finding Skywalker. He had Sith eyes in one. Why not the other?

What about when he is saying "Wipe them out... All of them." How could he not have had Sith eyes while saying that.

:emperor

 

[MaulFan]

It all depends on how you perceive the Palpatine/Sidious character. Like I mentioned before, to me, Sidious was using all his strength to keep up the disguise as Palpatine and orchestrate his plans and keep hidden from the Jedi. While there's not visual reason not to let his eyes be natural while talking to Maul or any moment where he's hooded, my perception is that were he to let his guard down any like that, he could be revealled untimely and just had to keep up his guise until the Mace duel where he felt no longer in any danger and could just be himself and rise to power as he did.

 

[pixletwin]

So what you are saying is you believe that Palps having Sith eyes would have sent out signals in the force?

 

[Customikey]

So what you are saying is you believe that Palps having Sith eyes would have sent out signals in the force?

That doesn't scan. Then Maul would have shone like a beacon to the Jedi throughout TPM and Kenobi wouldn't have had to interrogate Padme to find out where Anakin had gone off to in ROTS.

By the way, Pix, do you want him looking straight forward or to the side all shifty-like?

 

[MaulFan]

So what you are saying is you believe that Palps having Sith eyes would have sent out signals in the force?

Ya, I think part of what made him a "Phantom Menace" was an unimaginable ammount of focus and concentration on concealing his true nature and identity. I know the story arc of the PT is the Jedi order was losing focus with the Force, but still, to be able to sit in the same room with Palpatine and not even have a slight inclination of who/what he was stands a sign of how powerful Palpatine is and how much effort he gave to hide himself. Up until ROTS, my impression of how he'd look like ROTJ was that he was some humanoid species and somehow could even guise his face and at some moment, the eyes and the deformation would show through and show his true self.

 

[MaulFan]

That doesn't scan. Then Maul would have shone like a beacon to the Jedi throughout TPM and Kenobi wouldn't have had to interrogate Padme to find out where Anakin had gone off to in ROTS.

That's where infamous Star Wars contradiction comes into effect

 

[pixletwin]

By the way, Pix, do you want him looking straight forward or to the side all shifty-like?

Actually I would kind of like him looking up: similiar to Medi-Maul.

That's where infamous Star Wars contradiction comes into effect

 

[Customikey]

Actually I would kind of like him looking up: similiar to Medi-Maul.

Vicious. Got it.

 

[pixletwin]

Vicious. Got it.

 

[Alice Adrenochrome]

I haven't read through the thread, so if this has been said already...

I'd say NO sith eyes for TPM Palpatine. I know there are some theories about the Sith eyes. What ever theorie proves to be "true" in the end, I don't think that the sith eye syndrome is something the sith - or any other creature that dwells on the dark side - can turn on and off. I belive, once completely on the dark side, your body physically changes, hence the eyes. Perhaps the eyes can change back when the subject turns away from the dark side again, but it's definitely not a event that can be turned on and off by the flick of a switch.

 

[Agent0028]

How does that mesh with Anakin's eyes switching back and forth in ROTS?

 

[pixletwin]

So you are saying Sidious wasn't a "complete" Sith in Phantom Menace?

 

[Alice Adrenochrome]

How does that mesh with Anakin's eyes switching back and forth in ROTS?

Yes... that is a glitch, you know like the cell mirroring they did in RotJ: one time Boba's "antenna" is on the right, then it's on the left... Serious, I don't know. Maybe Anakin's body still was in transition? Adapting? Not enough dark energy yet? Did his eyes change back and forth?

 

[Agent0028]

Yeah they went back and forth. My personal theory is that they changed as he abandoned himself to the dark side and then when he calmed down they changed back. I also think that once a person goes completely to the dark side they stay that way permanently such as with Maul. On the other hand if you don't completely let yourself be immersed in the dark side then you don't have them like with Dooku. And I think Palpatine had them but was able to hide them or make them go away by his mastery of the dark side.

 

[pixletwin]

...And I think Palpatine had them but was able to hide them or make them go away by his mastery of the dark side.

So its logical that he could "turn on and off" the Sith eyes at will.

 

[Agent0028]

By my theory at least.

 

[Alice Adrenochrome]

So you are saying Sidious wasn't a "complete" Sith in Phantom Menace?

I don't know enough about Palpatine to answer that question. What strikes me most about him - compared to all the other Sith I know from the EU - is that he's the only one that seams to be able to fool the jedi, even the heavyweights, keeping his true nature a secret for years.
While in exile on Dagobah (ESB), Yoda needed the 'dark side cave' ("That place…is strong with the dark side of the Force.") to balance out the good in him, and thus become invisible to the Emperor and Darth Vader. They could not sense him.
Palpatine apparently doesn't need that. So perhaps he has extraordinary powers, making it possible for him to change his eyes back and forth? Somehow, I think that the Sith eye thing, was a last minute afflatus by Lucas, and now, there's no good explanation for it. Was the Sith eyes aspect ever explained in the EU literature or else where? If so, we wouldn't be guessing about it here now I think.
It was a smart move from Lucas to hide Palpatines eyes in TPM!

 

[Agent0028]

I don't know about explanation but in Legacy of the Force: Revelation by Karen Traviss there's some mention of it which is partially where I am drawing my theory.

 

[Blackhole]

Darth Maul pretty much always has Sith eyes...they make him look scarier...

And there's mention somewhere that Anakin turned his off when he went to meet Padme on Mustafar...