Posted by: Pali
« on: May 23, 2015, 05:42:14 AM »interesting. Still, just a fun little theory i was playing around with. Sure Palpy was coocoo for cocopuffs, BUT the Vong invasion would have been stopped so... Winning?
Well, as Xizer pointed out, the scenario I described above would not have been a guaranteed one. However, that viewpoint is aired a bit in later books, largely by people who don't like Jedi. I'm not sure I'd describe Palpatine as insane, but he was definitely focused purely on his own power, and while he may have sometimes justified his actions to others on such threats as the Vong or the Separatists, all of that was really just intended to get useful people working the way he wanted them to.
So, would the Rebellion failing have prevented the Vong invasion from killing trillions? Maybe. But other factors need to be considered when judging Palpatine's actions as well. On the hypothetical side, what if Palpatine had stopped the Vong, but later turned into something like Darth Nihlus, and ended up draining the galaxy dry of life to feed his own hunger for immortality through the dark side - or if he would have used the dark side to essentially turn most beings into living extensions of his will, such as the Joruus C'boath clone was beginning to do? On the philosophical side, does oppressing trillions in order to save their lives justify the oppression (particularly if the oppressor won't stop oppressing once the threat has been dealt with), or should those beings have the right to determine their own fates, even if they end up dragging themselves or others to their doom?
One of the main things I liked about the character of Thrawn is that he spurs thought: he was a good guy, a character devoted to honor and service, who decided that the answer to the second question was yes - one is justified in imposing his will upon others to save them, to save civilization as it is known. I don't fully agree with that position... but I also don't know exactly how far my disagreement extends, nor does our actual society. We prevent people from harming themselves on the grounds that they are not capable of recognizing the consequences of their actions - unlike Palpatine, Thrawn truly was operating under an extension of this principle, and he makes me wonder how far I think it should go.