Seduced by the Dark Side: Palpatine/Anakin, Emperor/Vader (Star Wars)
Title: Seduced by the Dark Side
Author: pen_and_umbra
E-mail: pen_and_umbra at livejournal dot com
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing: Palpatine/Anakin Skywalker (Emperor/Darth Vader)
Spoilers: For all the movies, incl. Revenge of the Sith
Notes: This is the opinion of one fan, shipper, and writer; opinions about canon readings vary -- as they tend to, when one is interpreting into text a canon very much bound to a visual medium. In other words, YMMV.
Also, my apologies for being a couple of days late with this. Mea culpa.
STAR WARS 101
One of the most well-known fantasy film series in the world, the six Star Wars films are a space opera par excellence. Created by one George Lucas, they mix mythological elements with science fiction and a myriad of morals in a saga that spans almost three decades of film history. At the core of the films is the concept of the Force, as described by Ben Kenobi in A New Hope:
"It is an energy field generated by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together."
The Force has a light side and a dark side, and the struggle between individuals on both sides is the driving force of the story: evil (the dark side, embodied by the Sith) against good (the light side, or simply "the Force", embodied by the Jedi).
The essay timeline will follow the chronological progression within the films, rather than the sequence of film releases: the first three films released (parts IV through VI, often known as the Original Trilogy) chronologically take place after the latter films (parts I through III, called the Prequel Trilogy or simply "the prequels" here). The context is limited to only the films, with quotes from film novelisations offered when they suit the purpose; the Expanded Universe canon is ignored, because analysis there is a road that surely leads to madness.
PALPATINE/DARTH SIDIOUS
Palpatine is the ultimate evil of the Star Wars universe, the blackest of the black. However, he does not presumably start off evil, though little is known about his early years. Upon first filmic encounter, he is Senator Palpatine, a seemingly affable, jocund man, serving as the representative of his home world, Naboo, in the Galactic Senate. Through some behind-the-scenes manoeuvring and mild plotting, he becomes Chancellor Palpatine (later Supreme Chancellor), de-facto ruler of a decaying, corrupt Republic. (Aside: Palpatine is the only name canon gives for him; it's often understood to be a regnal name as per Naboo customs.)
Unbeknownst to all, there is a dark side to Palpatine -- that of Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. As the reigning Sith master and a maestro of the dark side of the Force, he holds at least two apprentices before Darth Vader and brings about the near-destruction of the Jedi Order, the eternal enemy of the Sith.
With the help of his dual identity, he plays a stratagem that takes years if not decades to complete, engineering a long and brutal war against himself to drive the Senate and the Republic right where he wants them: to utter chaos. The Republic is in a state of disarray and people have lost all faith in their bickering politicians, and it is time for Palpatine to disband the Republic and declare himself as His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire. And so he does -- to thunderous applause.
In appearance, Palpatine starts off as a man of modest looks and genial presence, like one's favourite kindly uncle. Sidious is Palpatine's dark side: lascivious, power-hungry, and ruthless, yet patient. The true face of Sidious emerges when Palpatine fights Jedi Master Windu, the use of dark side power corrupting his flesh as it had corrupted his mind. His face turns into a grotesque mask; that's the face he will wear for the rest of his life as he rules his Empire with an iron fist.
ANAKIN SKYWALKER/DARTH VADER
Anakin Skywalker is a Jedi Knight of extraordinary power, at the height of his power a celebrity and living legend amongst the Jedi. First discovered on the remote planet of Tatooine by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin shows extra-ordinary talent in the Force. According to the last wish of Qui-Gon and against the wishes of the Jedi Council, Kenobi takes Anakin as his apprentice.
Under Kenobi's tutelage, Anakin grows into a headstrong, temperamental man, at times chafing under the restrictions the Jedi, mistrustful of him, seem to place on him. He also has a secret: he is married to Padmé Amidala, even though attachments of any nature, least of all romantic, are forbidden by the Jedi code.
It is through Padmé and his deep, desperate (and at times, obsessive and possessive) love for her that Anakin falls to the dark side. After a prophetic dream where Anakin sees Padmé dying in childbirth, he is distraught -- he once failed to save his mother from death, and now fears he is unable to save Padmé, too. He searches for a way with which to save her and Palpatine offers him one. The catch is, it's a Sith technique. When he finds out that Palpatine is a Sith lord, Anakin is conflicted between duty and wanting to save Padmé. His love for her prevails and Anakin runs off to save Palpatine's life -- and through that act, falls to the dark side of the Force. Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and apprentice to Darth Sidious.
As Vader's first act as a Sith Lord, he and Palpatine brutally murder almost all of the Jedi. Upon this news, Kenobi, who is amongst the survivors, goes off to hunt down his former apprentice. During the fight, Vader is gruesomely wounded and Kenobi leaves him for dead. However, Palpatine finds him still alive, if barely so, and repairs him into the helmeted, black-clad machine of a man most familiar to audiences.
For over twenty years, Vader serves as the Emperor's capricious, fear-inducing right-hand man, commanding the Imperial navy in search of the last of the Jedi and crushing uprisings against the Empire all around the galaxy. However, the Rebellion, intent on restoring the Republic, grows in strength through the years, scoring major victories, e.g. the destruction of the Emperor's most fearsome weapon, the Death Star. Amongst the rebels is Luke Skywalker, Vader's son that he never knew he had. Through him, Vader comes to see the error of his ways and kills the Emperor, mortally injuring himself in the process. He dies in Luke's arms.
THE RELATIONSHIP: CANON
Undeniably, the canon itself presents a long-term relationship of extra-ordinary durability and dedication.
Their first meeting takes place during The Phantom Menace, when Anakin is but nine years old. The newly elected Chancellor Palpatine briefly meets him and says, "And you, young Skywalker. We shall follow your career with great interest." Fateful words.
By the time Attack of the Clones rolls around, it seems Palpatine has indeed kept his promise: Anakin speaks of him in a manner that indicates he has great trust and admiration for him, calling him "a good man". This relationship, however one wishes to view it, is definitely there and something that's well-known to people around Anakin -- in fact, when the Jedi Council wish for Palpatine to do something, they dispatch Anakin to talk to him. Anakin speaks of the guidance Palpatine has given him; in turn, Palpatine waxes poetic about Anakin becoming the greatest of Jedi the galaxy has ever seen.
Revenge of the Sith offers the meat of the relationship. Through the film, Palpatine whispers poison into Anakin's ear, undermining the influence of the Jedi by questioning their methods. He also offers Anakin something that he finds irresistible: unlimited power. A telling passage from the Revenge of the Sith novelisation (pp. 280-282) tells us a lot. In it, Palpatine promises Anakin anything he wants -- a Senatorial apartment, the Corellian system.
"And in exchange?" [Anakin] asked, finally. "What do I have to do?"
"You have to do what you want."
As simple as that: Palpatine invites Anakin to follow his instincts, make up his own mind, to follow his conscience. The depth of Palpatine's faith in his apprentice-to-be and the risks he is willing to take are enormous.
[Palpatine's] hands opened, still at his sides. "Anakin, when I told you that you can have anything you want, did you think I was excluding my life?"
This is how much Palpatine is willing to risk to get Anakin on his side. His gamble pays off: to save the life of his wife, Anakin turns to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader, Palpatine's new apprentice:
Anakin opened his eyes and turned his gaze fully upon the grotesque features of Darth Sidious. He didn't even blink.
As he looked upon that mask of corruption, the revulsion he felt was real, and it was powerful, and it was--
Interesting.
[...]
"Kneel before me, Anakin Skywalker."
Anakin dropped to one knee. He lowered his head.
"It is your will to join your destiny forever with the Order of the Sith Lords?"
There was no hesitation. "Yes."
In a twist of fate, influenced by the dark side and drunk on power and paranoia, Vader assaults Padmé. When she dies, Vader is led to believe he killed her, and this completes his fall. Anakin Skywalker is truly dead.
A New Hope is the only one of the films that does not feature the Emperor. Through it and at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, Vader appears as the Emperor's most trusted aide, doing his ruthless bidding all over the galaxy -- indeed, having done so for twenty-odd years.
It is during Empire that a rift appears, in the form of Luke Skywalker. Vader offers to turn him to the dark side and the Emperor approves -- but instead of doing just that, Vader asks Luke to join him so that they may defeat the Emperor and rule the galaxy together. As any good hero does, Luke chooses apparent suicide over turning to the dark side.
In Return of the Jedi, the Emperor is lenient in allowing Vader to pursue his son, yet at the end, it is revealed that he wants Luke to replace Vader as his apprentice. The plan fails when Luke succeeds where his father failed: he refuses to turn to the dark side. Palpatine is destroyed and Darth Vader becomes Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight, once more.
THE RELATIONSHIP: INTERPRETATIONS
The Palpatine-Anakin relationship is arguably the linchpin of the entire saga: the tale is the rise, fall, and redemption of Anakin Skywalker, and Palpatine plays a major role in all the phases of his life. It can be construed to be a father-son relationship gone horribly wrong... or it can understood to be a tragic, compelling love story of the ultimate evil and their selfish wants, mutual lust for power, and filthy, destructive desires.
The key word in the relationship is seduction. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is seduced by the dark side of the Force, as much as Palpatine is seduced by the power potential inherent in Anakin; Palpatine covets Anakin and his power, as much as Anakin covets the power Palpatine is promising him. To this end, in his pursuit for Anakin, Palpatine appears as a kindly old mentor, a steadfast friend, and a puppetmaster extraordinaire: he pulls strings with delicious, bewitching precision, always telling Anakin exactly what he wants to hear, whilst always driving a wedge between Anakin and his fellow Jedi.
This seduction is a fascinating dance to watch. Palpatine cultivates a friendship of obvious intimacy: Anakin comes to him with his worries, secure in the knowledge that he will be listened. With no more than carefully placed words and the strength of his suggestions and some judicious lies, he turns Anakin to the dark side, transforming a conflicted man into a genocide machine.
Palpatine holds great affection for his apprentice-to-be, that much is obvious. There is a lot of touching going on, both in the films and in the novelisations; after Vader's fall, when Kenobi has left him for dead, Palpatine senses that Vader is in trouble half a galaxy away (!) and rushes to rescue him. In the scene on Mustafar where Palpatine finds Vader, kneels down, and gently rest his hand on Vader's forehead, is a touching moment of silence and devotion. Palpatine takes Vader with him and constructs him anew, building him into a fear-inspiring half-man, half-machine that is to be the public visage of his apprentice.
Where A New Hope continues the story, it is over twenty years later, and Vader is still at the Emperor's side. This is testament to both Vader's importance to the Emperor (Sith masters seem to change apprentices like socks, yet Vader persists for decades) and his devotion to his master. The relationship has obvious power-play overtones: Vader's favoured form of greeting is to kneel and ask, "What is thy bidding, my master?"
Through the Original Trilogy, the sense of the decay in the Vader-Emperor relationship grows stronger. The first hint is when Vader suggests Luke should join him so that they can defeat the Emperor -- an act that is reciprocated when later on, Palpatine encourages Luke to kill Vader and "take [his] father's place at [Palpatine's] side." Luke, with his potential, is a treat that seems irresistible to both Sith lords. They are willing to take risks to gain even greater power and with Luke, that risk-taking finally backfires in the most fatal of ways, bringing about the end of the Sith.
However, the rift does not mean that the bond between Vader and the Emperor is a mere working relationship. "I must obey my master," is what Vader tells Luke. It suggests there is a connection that has lasted strong through twenty-odd years. The particulars of the bond are anyone's guess, but its existence and strength undeniable. The Return of the Jedi novelisation has, among many such passages, this to say about it:
Vader's pulse and breathing were machine-regulated, so they could not quicken; but something in his chest became more electric around his meetings with the Emperor; he could not say how. A feeling of fullness, of power, of dark and demon mastery -- of secret lusts, unrestrained passion, wild submission -- all these things were in Vader's heart as he neared his Emperor. These things and more.
Lust. Passion. Submission. Power. Sith love -- it's a many-splendored thing.
THE FANDOM, THE SHIP, AND ME
Considering the canon evidence, it is surprising how little Palpatine/Anakin (or Emperor/Vader) ship speculation and fanfic there is.
One can be led to suspect this has less to do with subtext -- or even text! -- but rather, it is due to the particulars of the pairing itself. As a true May-December relationship, it's cross-gen possibly to the point of discomfort: Palpatine is, according to most timelines, 41 years older than Anakin. By the time Revenge of the Sith rolls around, Palpatine is understood to be over 60 years old, and there is, one can assume, certain resistance to imagining people in the same age bracket as one's grandparents in a state of undress and/or having sex.
Furthermore, the relationship is founded on a basis of inequality: the Sith operate as a Master-Apprentice pair, with Palpatine having the upper hand in the power structure of the relationship. It is the nature of the Sith to want things, be selfish, and focus firstly on gaining power; in this light, the idea of love (unselfish, benevolent devotion) is an antithesis of the Palpatine-Anakin relationship. It is about the lust, rather than love -- lust for all things, for more power, and it's this same lust that finally brings about the end of both their lives and their relationship in Return of the Jedi.
Additionally, after the events of Revenge of the Sith, one is essentially shipping a wheezing, quadruple-amputee machine-man with a decrepit, decaying old man whose face resembles the backside of a vulture. The visuals are not attractive, and the mechanics of intimacy can be a creative challenge.
However, I do not care. It is the awful wrongness, the open lust for power, and the tragic end that is already known to us that draw me to the ship. As such, it's a very cerebral affair: it's the seduction that interests me, not the smut. The potential for UST is limitless. Palpatine is a silver-tongued snake, Anakin his willing victim, and the mastery of nuances Palpatine exhibits is the big turn-on. (This perception is of course aided by Ian McDiarmid's at times subtle, at times delightfully scenery-chewing performance as Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, which is really what initially made me go "Eureka!" over the subtext and then drew me to the pairing. I mean, they go to the ballet together, fer chrissakes! ;)
One can also easily see dominant/submissive undertones in the relationship, yet BDSM and non-con themes in fiction are (AFAIK) a rarity. Perhaps this is testament to the cerebral nature of the seduction and the relationship -- it's all about the mind games and the fact that at least to me, voluntary submission is a more powerful theme than non-consensual submission. Loyalty and devotion that are as freely given as Anakin's are have to be enthralling, not to mention extremely erotic. It's nasty, verboten, dirty, and it pushes every slash button in me.
RESOURCES
Since it's been but a few months since the canon became complete, it's understandable that the number of stories within the Palpatine/Anakin ship is small, but archives are growing furiously. I'm hesitant to offer too many fic recommendations because, alas, I've read only the occasional story (as often happens to me when writing in a ship).
The LJ central for Palpatine/Anakin is unlimitedepower, which has a web site with a fiction archive. I can also direct you to my ship manifesto opinion post where I asked, among other things, for recs. Outside LJ, the seminal fan fiction appears to be Veronica Wilson's stories (written before the prequels came out, mind you) on the Vader/Emperor relationship, some of which can be found here.
FINAL WORDS
My undying gratitude goes to all the people at unlimitedepower who shared their thoughts with me: ansketil, asdv, bronzelionel, buzzardsbay, erinpuff, greyvorfeed, lamath, maelicia, mizbitch2you, sansenmage, sugargerbil, sumeragiskank, and zigsternenstaub. Muchas gracias.
References
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi by George Lucas, James Kahn (Atom, 2003)
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, by Matthew Stover (Century, 2005)
The Echo Station Timeline
The Star Wars Databank
Google
Author: pen_and_umbra
E-mail: pen_and_umbra at livejournal dot com
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing: Palpatine/Anakin Skywalker (Emperor/Darth Vader)
Spoilers: For all the movies, incl. Revenge of the Sith
Notes: This is the opinion of one fan, shipper, and writer; opinions about canon readings vary -- as they tend to, when one is interpreting into text a canon very much bound to a visual medium. In other words, YMMV.
Also, my apologies for being a couple of days late with this. Mea culpa.
STAR WARS 101
One of the most well-known fantasy film series in the world, the six Star Wars films are a space opera par excellence. Created by one George Lucas, they mix mythological elements with science fiction and a myriad of morals in a saga that spans almost three decades of film history. At the core of the films is the concept of the Force, as described by Ben Kenobi in A New Hope:
"It is an energy field generated by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together."
The Force has a light side and a dark side, and the struggle between individuals on both sides is the driving force of the story: evil (the dark side, embodied by the Sith) against good (the light side, or simply "the Force", embodied by the Jedi).
The essay timeline will follow the chronological progression within the films, rather than the sequence of film releases: the first three films released (parts IV through VI, often known as the Original Trilogy) chronologically take place after the latter films (parts I through III, called the Prequel Trilogy or simply "the prequels" here). The context is limited to only the films, with quotes from film novelisations offered when they suit the purpose; the Expanded Universe canon is ignored, because analysis there is a road that surely leads to madness.
PALPATINE/DARTH SIDIOUS
Palpatine is the ultimate evil of the Star Wars universe, the blackest of the black. However, he does not presumably start off evil, though little is known about his early years. Upon first filmic encounter, he is Senator Palpatine, a seemingly affable, jocund man, serving as the representative of his home world, Naboo, in the Galactic Senate. Through some behind-the-scenes manoeuvring and mild plotting, he becomes Chancellor Palpatine (later Supreme Chancellor), de-facto ruler of a decaying, corrupt Republic. (Aside: Palpatine is the only name canon gives for him; it's often understood to be a regnal name as per Naboo customs.)
Unbeknownst to all, there is a dark side to Palpatine -- that of Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith. As the reigning Sith master and a maestro of the dark side of the Force, he holds at least two apprentices before Darth Vader and brings about the near-destruction of the Jedi Order, the eternal enemy of the Sith.
With the help of his dual identity, he plays a stratagem that takes years if not decades to complete, engineering a long and brutal war against himself to drive the Senate and the Republic right where he wants them: to utter chaos. The Republic is in a state of disarray and people have lost all faith in their bickering politicians, and it is time for Palpatine to disband the Republic and declare himself as His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire. And so he does -- to thunderous applause.
In appearance, Palpatine starts off as a man of modest looks and genial presence, like one's favourite kindly uncle. Sidious is Palpatine's dark side: lascivious, power-hungry, and ruthless, yet patient. The true face of Sidious emerges when Palpatine fights Jedi Master Windu, the use of dark side power corrupting his flesh as it had corrupted his mind. His face turns into a grotesque mask; that's the face he will wear for the rest of his life as he rules his Empire with an iron fist.
ANAKIN SKYWALKER/DARTH VADER
Anakin Skywalker is a Jedi Knight of extraordinary power, at the height of his power a celebrity and living legend amongst the Jedi. First discovered on the remote planet of Tatooine by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin shows extra-ordinary talent in the Force. According to the last wish of Qui-Gon and against the wishes of the Jedi Council, Kenobi takes Anakin as his apprentice.
Under Kenobi's tutelage, Anakin grows into a headstrong, temperamental man, at times chafing under the restrictions the Jedi, mistrustful of him, seem to place on him. He also has a secret: he is married to Padmé Amidala, even though attachments of any nature, least of all romantic, are forbidden by the Jedi code.
It is through Padmé and his deep, desperate (and at times, obsessive and possessive) love for her that Anakin falls to the dark side. After a prophetic dream where Anakin sees Padmé dying in childbirth, he is distraught -- he once failed to save his mother from death, and now fears he is unable to save Padmé, too. He searches for a way with which to save her and Palpatine offers him one. The catch is, it's a Sith technique. When he finds out that Palpatine is a Sith lord, Anakin is conflicted between duty and wanting to save Padmé. His love for her prevails and Anakin runs off to save Palpatine's life -- and through that act, falls to the dark side of the Force. Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and apprentice to Darth Sidious.
As Vader's first act as a Sith Lord, he and Palpatine brutally murder almost all of the Jedi. Upon this news, Kenobi, who is amongst the survivors, goes off to hunt down his former apprentice. During the fight, Vader is gruesomely wounded and Kenobi leaves him for dead. However, Palpatine finds him still alive, if barely so, and repairs him into the helmeted, black-clad machine of a man most familiar to audiences.
For over twenty years, Vader serves as the Emperor's capricious, fear-inducing right-hand man, commanding the Imperial navy in search of the last of the Jedi and crushing uprisings against the Empire all around the galaxy. However, the Rebellion, intent on restoring the Republic, grows in strength through the years, scoring major victories, e.g. the destruction of the Emperor's most fearsome weapon, the Death Star. Amongst the rebels is Luke Skywalker, Vader's son that he never knew he had. Through him, Vader comes to see the error of his ways and kills the Emperor, mortally injuring himself in the process. He dies in Luke's arms.
THE RELATIONSHIP: CANON
Undeniably, the canon itself presents a long-term relationship of extra-ordinary durability and dedication.
Their first meeting takes place during The Phantom Menace, when Anakin is but nine years old. The newly elected Chancellor Palpatine briefly meets him and says, "And you, young Skywalker. We shall follow your career with great interest." Fateful words.
By the time Attack of the Clones rolls around, it seems Palpatine has indeed kept his promise: Anakin speaks of him in a manner that indicates he has great trust and admiration for him, calling him "a good man". This relationship, however one wishes to view it, is definitely there and something that's well-known to people around Anakin -- in fact, when the Jedi Council wish for Palpatine to do something, they dispatch Anakin to talk to him. Anakin speaks of the guidance Palpatine has given him; in turn, Palpatine waxes poetic about Anakin becoming the greatest of Jedi the galaxy has ever seen.
Revenge of the Sith offers the meat of the relationship. Through the film, Palpatine whispers poison into Anakin's ear, undermining the influence of the Jedi by questioning their methods. He also offers Anakin something that he finds irresistible: unlimited power. A telling passage from the Revenge of the Sith novelisation (pp. 280-282) tells us a lot. In it, Palpatine promises Anakin anything he wants -- a Senatorial apartment, the Corellian system.
"And in exchange?" [Anakin] asked, finally. "What do I have to do?"
"You have to do what you want."
As simple as that: Palpatine invites Anakin to follow his instincts, make up his own mind, to follow his conscience. The depth of Palpatine's faith in his apprentice-to-be and the risks he is willing to take are enormous.
[Palpatine's] hands opened, still at his sides. "Anakin, when I told you that you can have anything you want, did you think I was excluding my life?"
This is how much Palpatine is willing to risk to get Anakin on his side. His gamble pays off: to save the life of his wife, Anakin turns to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader, Palpatine's new apprentice:
Anakin opened his eyes and turned his gaze fully upon the grotesque features of Darth Sidious. He didn't even blink.
As he looked upon that mask of corruption, the revulsion he felt was real, and it was powerful, and it was--
Interesting.
[...]
"Kneel before me, Anakin Skywalker."
Anakin dropped to one knee. He lowered his head.
"It is your will to join your destiny forever with the Order of the Sith Lords?"
There was no hesitation. "Yes."
In a twist of fate, influenced by the dark side and drunk on power and paranoia, Vader assaults Padmé. When she dies, Vader is led to believe he killed her, and this completes his fall. Anakin Skywalker is truly dead.
A New Hope is the only one of the films that does not feature the Emperor. Through it and at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, Vader appears as the Emperor's most trusted aide, doing his ruthless bidding all over the galaxy -- indeed, having done so for twenty-odd years.
It is during Empire that a rift appears, in the form of Luke Skywalker. Vader offers to turn him to the dark side and the Emperor approves -- but instead of doing just that, Vader asks Luke to join him so that they may defeat the Emperor and rule the galaxy together. As any good hero does, Luke chooses apparent suicide over turning to the dark side.
In Return of the Jedi, the Emperor is lenient in allowing Vader to pursue his son, yet at the end, it is revealed that he wants Luke to replace Vader as his apprentice. The plan fails when Luke succeeds where his father failed: he refuses to turn to the dark side. Palpatine is destroyed and Darth Vader becomes Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight, once more.
THE RELATIONSHIP: INTERPRETATIONS
The Palpatine-Anakin relationship is arguably the linchpin of the entire saga: the tale is the rise, fall, and redemption of Anakin Skywalker, and Palpatine plays a major role in all the phases of his life. It can be construed to be a father-son relationship gone horribly wrong... or it can understood to be a tragic, compelling love story of the ultimate evil and their selfish wants, mutual lust for power, and filthy, destructive desires.
The key word in the relationship is seduction. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is seduced by the dark side of the Force, as much as Palpatine is seduced by the power potential inherent in Anakin; Palpatine covets Anakin and his power, as much as Anakin covets the power Palpatine is promising him. To this end, in his pursuit for Anakin, Palpatine appears as a kindly old mentor, a steadfast friend, and a puppetmaster extraordinaire: he pulls strings with delicious, bewitching precision, always telling Anakin exactly what he wants to hear, whilst always driving a wedge between Anakin and his fellow Jedi.
This seduction is a fascinating dance to watch. Palpatine cultivates a friendship of obvious intimacy: Anakin comes to him with his worries, secure in the knowledge that he will be listened. With no more than carefully placed words and the strength of his suggestions and some judicious lies, he turns Anakin to the dark side, transforming a conflicted man into a genocide machine.
Palpatine holds great affection for his apprentice-to-be, that much is obvious. There is a lot of touching going on, both in the films and in the novelisations; after Vader's fall, when Kenobi has left him for dead, Palpatine senses that Vader is in trouble half a galaxy away (!) and rushes to rescue him. In the scene on Mustafar where Palpatine finds Vader, kneels down, and gently rest his hand on Vader's forehead, is a touching moment of silence and devotion. Palpatine takes Vader with him and constructs him anew, building him into a fear-inspiring half-man, half-machine that is to be the public visage of his apprentice.
Where A New Hope continues the story, it is over twenty years later, and Vader is still at the Emperor's side. This is testament to both Vader's importance to the Emperor (Sith masters seem to change apprentices like socks, yet Vader persists for decades) and his devotion to his master. The relationship has obvious power-play overtones: Vader's favoured form of greeting is to kneel and ask, "What is thy bidding, my master?"
Through the Original Trilogy, the sense of the decay in the Vader-Emperor relationship grows stronger. The first hint is when Vader suggests Luke should join him so that they can defeat the Emperor -- an act that is reciprocated when later on, Palpatine encourages Luke to kill Vader and "take [his] father's place at [Palpatine's] side." Luke, with his potential, is a treat that seems irresistible to both Sith lords. They are willing to take risks to gain even greater power and with Luke, that risk-taking finally backfires in the most fatal of ways, bringing about the end of the Sith.
However, the rift does not mean that the bond between Vader and the Emperor is a mere working relationship. "I must obey my master," is what Vader tells Luke. It suggests there is a connection that has lasted strong through twenty-odd years. The particulars of the bond are anyone's guess, but its existence and strength undeniable. The Return of the Jedi novelisation has, among many such passages, this to say about it:
Vader's pulse and breathing were machine-regulated, so they could not quicken; but something in his chest became more electric around his meetings with the Emperor; he could not say how. A feeling of fullness, of power, of dark and demon mastery -- of secret lusts, unrestrained passion, wild submission -- all these things were in Vader's heart as he neared his Emperor. These things and more.
Lust. Passion. Submission. Power. Sith love -- it's a many-splendored thing.
THE FANDOM, THE SHIP, AND ME
Considering the canon evidence, it is surprising how little Palpatine/Anakin (or Emperor/Vader) ship speculation and fanfic there is.
One can be led to suspect this has less to do with subtext -- or even text! -- but rather, it is due to the particulars of the pairing itself. As a true May-December relationship, it's cross-gen possibly to the point of discomfort: Palpatine is, according to most timelines, 41 years older than Anakin. By the time Revenge of the Sith rolls around, Palpatine is understood to be over 60 years old, and there is, one can assume, certain resistance to imagining people in the same age bracket as one's grandparents in a state of undress and/or having sex.
Furthermore, the relationship is founded on a basis of inequality: the Sith operate as a Master-Apprentice pair, with Palpatine having the upper hand in the power structure of the relationship. It is the nature of the Sith to want things, be selfish, and focus firstly on gaining power; in this light, the idea of love (unselfish, benevolent devotion) is an antithesis of the Palpatine-Anakin relationship. It is about the lust, rather than love -- lust for all things, for more power, and it's this same lust that finally brings about the end of both their lives and their relationship in Return of the Jedi.
Additionally, after the events of Revenge of the Sith, one is essentially shipping a wheezing, quadruple-amputee machine-man with a decrepit, decaying old man whose face resembles the backside of a vulture. The visuals are not attractive, and the mechanics of intimacy can be a creative challenge.
However, I do not care. It is the awful wrongness, the open lust for power, and the tragic end that is already known to us that draw me to the ship. As such, it's a very cerebral affair: it's the seduction that interests me, not the smut. The potential for UST is limitless. Palpatine is a silver-tongued snake, Anakin his willing victim, and the mastery of nuances Palpatine exhibits is the big turn-on. (This perception is of course aided by Ian McDiarmid's at times subtle, at times delightfully scenery-chewing performance as Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, which is really what initially made me go "Eureka!" over the subtext and then drew me to the pairing. I mean, they go to the ballet together, fer chrissakes! ;)
One can also easily see dominant/submissive undertones in the relationship, yet BDSM and non-con themes in fiction are (AFAIK) a rarity. Perhaps this is testament to the cerebral nature of the seduction and the relationship -- it's all about the mind games and the fact that at least to me, voluntary submission is a more powerful theme than non-consensual submission. Loyalty and devotion that are as freely given as Anakin's are have to be enthralling, not to mention extremely erotic. It's nasty, verboten, dirty, and it pushes every slash button in me.
RESOURCES
Since it's been but a few months since the canon became complete, it's understandable that the number of stories within the Palpatine/Anakin ship is small, but archives are growing furiously. I'm hesitant to offer too many fic recommendations because, alas, I've read only the occasional story (as often happens to me when writing in a ship).
The LJ central for Palpatine/Anakin is unlimitedepower, which has a web site with a fiction archive. I can also direct you to my ship manifesto opinion post where I asked, among other things, for recs. Outside LJ, the seminal fan fiction appears to be Veronica Wilson's stories (written before the prequels came out, mind you) on the Vader/Emperor relationship, some of which can be found here.
FINAL WORDS
My undying gratitude goes to all the people at unlimitedepower who shared their thoughts with me: ansketil, asdv, bronzelionel, buzzardsbay, erinpuff, greyvorfeed, lamath, maelicia, mizbitch2you, sansenmage, sugargerbil, sumeragiskank, and zigsternenstaub. Muchas gracias.
References
Star Wars: Return of the Jedi by George Lucas, James Kahn (Atom, 2003)
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, by Matthew Stover (Century, 2005)
The Echo Station Timeline
The Star Wars Databank