A Thousand Stars: Episode III, Part 7

We have a brief interlude of Grievous returning to his hideout, with the confirmation that he is in fact reporting to Darth Sidious. Before that, though, take note of something in this shot of his arrival.



See the Viceroy standing hopefully at the right hand corner? And see how Grievous just charges right past him -- and all the other Separatist leaders -- without a hint of acknowledgement?

Then he enters his private conference with Sidious, and the contrast could not be more extreme.



Complete servility. Sidious's image even stands on a raised platform to give him that much more prominence as Grievous grovels and bows. You see, this is how a Sith Lord runs things. We'll witness it in the Empire even more. It is a hierarchy of bullies, with each rank punching down at the guy beneath them. I have no doubt that the Separatist movement includes idealists and reformers with the best of intentions, but unfortunately, they have been misled. The ones actually in charge want only power, and the one at the very top is using that greed to gain all the power for himself.

By the way, I think it's pretty clear that Grievous hasn't the slightest notion of Sidious's double identity. Dooku knew, though he was deceived about Palpatine's plans for Anakin to replace him. But Grievous doesn't show any awareness that the kidnapping of the Chancellor was staged. I suspect that to him, all humans look much the same as each other, and he wouldn't consider the resemblance meaningful. It makes sense in terms of how Palpatine is using him and masterfully playing both sides of the war. But either way, Grievous is yet more proof that there's always a bigger fish.

Next time, dream turns to nightmare...