Star Words: Episode III, Part 22

[matril]

So Anakin goes and dutifully reports the Chancellor's secret to Master Windu. The news makes Mace all the more determined to go and confront Palpatine. Whether this is a wise decision, and whether it's wise or a fatal mistake that he tells Anakin to stay and wait in the Council Chamber, are questions I'll explore in later entries. For now, we'll focus on the brief iconic line that Palpatine utters when the Jedi declare their intention to arrest him and that his fate will be decided by the Senate.

"I am the Senate."


This statement is chillingly potent for two main reasons. First, it shows how Palpatine is a full-fledged megalomaniac, considering himself the literal embodiment of power and authority. Second, we know that he really has gained enough power and influence that his will is the Senate's will. If he wants to discredit the Jedi and call for their mass execution, the Senate will go along with it. If he wants to crown himself Emperor, the Senate will obey. This is the horrifying reality of Anakin's "someone wise," the emergence of totalitarian rule over the galaxy. It's been coming on slowly, gradually, unnoticed by all but a few until it's too late.

Let's also consider the quotability of this line and its manifold comical possibilities. "I am [insert whatever phrase here]!" in snarling, vicious tones. "Could you please set the table?" "I am the table!" and so on and so forth. Everything Palpatine/Sidious says from here on is delivered with a deliciously hammy evilness. You can tell he's basking in the long-awaited chance to show his true nature, fully embracing his cackling wickedness. Ian McDiarmid sure has a lot of fun in this film.

Next, the words that ultimately doom Mace Windu...

Comments

[krpalmer]

In the days of Saga Journal, I got to contemplating an essay titled "I Am The Senate," delving into history to find examples of "government by the many" threatening to become "government of the one." Whether unfortunately or fortunately, everyone else contributing to the journal stopped discussing it before I could really get started. Anyway, I've looked to the Senate voting emergency powers and turning on Valorum beforehand as examples of "as a whole, the Senators are relinquishing their own power," if only with the ambiguous feeling that's a preemptive response to demands "that it's shown, or it didn't happen" (although there's the whole "heads you lose, tails we win" matter of just complaining about "political exposition.")