Darth Vader stands at the top of a deep list of memorable villains from the Star Wars franchise. And yet, the Emperor viewed him as eminently disposable, tossing him aside like Maul and Dooku once a more appealing alternative arose. Palpatine confesses as much when he admonishes Luke to kill Vader and take his place in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, admitting a profound disappointment in his former apprentice.
This is in keeping with what fans know about the Palpatine and Vader. Indeed, Anakin Skywalker was much more powerful than Darth Vader, and the Emperor intended him to be his right hand. Instead, he was cast aside like Maul and Dooku were, neither of whom held quite the reverent position among fans that Vader did. Palpatine clearly considered him just as disposable as they were, and considering his plans for Anakin, that likely came as a colossal letdown.
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George Lucas admitted as much about Palpatine during a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone. “He tries it with anybody he thinks might be more powerful, which is what the Emperor was looking for in the first place: somebody who would be more powerful than he was and could help him rule the universe,” he explained. That logic is certainly in line with Palpatine’s treatment of his other apprentices. Maul was used as little more than an attack dog Palpatine sent against the Jedi in hopes of picking one or two of them off. Dooku, on the other hand, while more sophisticated in his machinations, was a means to an end for his master, serving as his catspaw until Order 66 when Anakin would take his place for good.
All of that fell by the wayside during Anakin’s duel with Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Vader’s extensive injuries left him weaker than he was before and less powerful than the Emperor, which reduced his utility as a servant. Though still quite strong in the Force, Vader remained a shadow of his former self, which naturally led the Emperor to covet Luke for the role he had always intended for Anakin. Luke’s defeat of Vader in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi was proof of that, and without the same injuries that his father suffered, his power remained undiminished. That made him an ideal replacement and had Luke turned, Vader would have been cast into the ash heap along with his two predecessors.
Ironically, Palpatine’s dismissal might have played a part in the climax of Return of the Jedi, where he utterly ignores Vader in favor of destroying Luke. That lets Vader turn against him at last, and destroy him despite his weakened state. Palpatine similarly dismissed his previous apprentices without valuing their strengths, either. Dooku, though somewhat hobbled by age, proved every bit a match for Anakin until the very end, while Maul, for his part, became a powerful figure in his own right after leaving Palpatine’s side.
The Emperor was never guaranteed the throne, and Jedi like Mace Windu came dangerously close to ending his ambitions all on their own. That’s partially why he kept his options open with his apprentices, pitting them against each other in order to claim whoever survived mitigated the risk of losing. That lost him Anakin Skywalker’s power, and ultimately his own life — a fact that his two previous apprentices could have warned him about.
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