Nooooooooo! (Or, What Was the Emperor Thinking?)
Why does Palpatine tell Anakin that Anakin killed Padme?
Despite a few lines about bringing peace to the galaxy with the dark side and so on, Palpatine mainly uses Anakin's desire to save Padme to turn him. Similarly, Anakin, despite a few lines about peace etc., makes saving Padme his main reason for joining Palpatine.
Then Palpatine tells Anakin that in his rage, Anakin killed Padme.
My first thought after this was, "What the $#@% is Palpy on? Death sticks?" If saving Padme was really the main reason Anakin turned to the dark side, wouldn't finding out that he killed her because he turned to the dark side and let himself be overcome by rage make him NOT want to be on the dark side anymore? "Hmm. Because of the dark side, I killed the one person I can't live without, and I can't bring her back with my new dark powers after all. Palps, you lied to me!" I know it's not like he can just snap his fingers and turn back into what he was before, but we know from ROTJ that he can turn back, and you'd think it would be easier if he did it right at the beginning when he realized what a horrible thing he had done instead of after twenty years of being a Sith.
If Palpatine's smart enough to manipulate thousands of senators, Jedi, and citizens for over a decade, keep himself from getting assassinated during the twenty years he's emperor, and basically always knows how to avoid getting into tight spots in the first place as well as how to get out of them, why does he do something so stupid as giving his newly-turned apprentice a reason to turn on him? Why not say Obi-Wan killed her so Anakin would still blame the Jedi for everything instead of his new master? Or tell him that Padme was weak and wanted to die, she was unworthy of Anakin, she was corrupted by Obi-Wan and the Jedi, he couldn't have saved her soul even if he had saved her body, etc. etc.? Anakin was already turning against her anyway--that might have sealed the deal with no risk to Palpatine.
The only thing I can think of is that he actually believes he's telling the truth. But if he's really all that with the Force, he ought to know better, and anyway, since when does Palpatine tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And in a related question, why did Anakin just scream a bit and then go on merrily serving the Emperor for twenty years?
Despite a few lines about bringing peace to the galaxy with the dark side and so on, Palpatine mainly uses Anakin's desire to save Padme to turn him. Similarly, Anakin, despite a few lines about peace etc., makes saving Padme his main reason for joining Palpatine.
Then Palpatine tells Anakin that in his rage, Anakin killed Padme.
My first thought after this was, "What the $#@% is Palpy on? Death sticks?" If saving Padme was really the main reason Anakin turned to the dark side, wouldn't finding out that he killed her because he turned to the dark side and let himself be overcome by rage make him NOT want to be on the dark side anymore? "Hmm. Because of the dark side, I killed the one person I can't live without, and I can't bring her back with my new dark powers after all. Palps, you lied to me!" I know it's not like he can just snap his fingers and turn back into what he was before, but we know from ROTJ that he can turn back, and you'd think it would be easier if he did it right at the beginning when he realized what a horrible thing he had done instead of after twenty years of being a Sith.
If Palpatine's smart enough to manipulate thousands of senators, Jedi, and citizens for over a decade, keep himself from getting assassinated during the twenty years he's emperor, and basically always knows how to avoid getting into tight spots in the first place as well as how to get out of them, why does he do something so stupid as giving his newly-turned apprentice a reason to turn on him? Why not say Obi-Wan killed her so Anakin would still blame the Jedi for everything instead of his new master? Or tell him that Padme was weak and wanted to die, she was unworthy of Anakin, she was corrupted by Obi-Wan and the Jedi, he couldn't have saved her soul even if he had saved her body, etc. etc.? Anakin was already turning against her anyway--that might have sealed the deal with no risk to Palpatine.
The only thing I can think of is that he actually believes he's telling the truth. But if he's really all that with the Force, he ought to know better, and anyway, since when does Palpatine tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
And in a related question, why did Anakin just scream a bit and then go on merrily serving the Emperor for twenty years?