When Anakin Skywalker sealed the deal to become a Dark Lord of the Sith, he did it with the caveat that Emperor Palpatine would help him “save Padme’s life.” And to do this, Palpatine promised that he and Anakin would “work together” to “discover the secret.” But, Palpatine implied, that would all come later, because in the short term, there was a ton of housekeeping to attend to, namely: slaughtering all the Jedi, destroying democracy, and building the Empire. And so, Darth Vader’s one condition of joining the Dark Side, to prevent Padme’s demise and maybe bring her back to life, was Palpatine’s ultimate bait and switch. Basically, Anakin took a job that promised him some health benefits for his dependents that extended beyond the grave. Then, when those benefits didn’t materialize, he took the job anyway.
But why? Or, more to the point, did Darth Vader ever try to ask Palpatine to deliver on his Sithy promise? And, did anyone in the Empire really understand that Vader was once Anakin? The answer to those questions, coming two decades after the release of Revenge of the Sith, can be found in the new Star Wars novel by Adam Christopher, Master of Evil.
