Star Wars Pinpoints the First Time Yoda Senses Palpatine as Sith

Star Wars fans might have sensed that Senator Palpatine was up to no good in the first few films of George Lucas Star Wars prequel trilogy, but it turns out that Darth Sidious was pretty much an expert at hiding in plain sight, working in the limelight as a Republic Senator that cultivated close ties with the Jedi.

It certainly took a while for the Jedi to notice that something was amiss. Thanks to E.K. Johnston's new Star Wars novel, Queen's Peril, fans get to learn about the first moment when Jedi Master Yoda sensed something different in Palpatine (via Screen Rant).

Set immediately before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, the book features a key scene where Palpatine walks in on Yoda while the Jedi Master is meditating. Then and there Yoda senses an absence in the Force, something which could only be described as nothingness.

"The light surrounded him, the dark a comfortable distance from the limits of his perception. And yet there was something; rather, there was nothing. And it eluded him completely," the book reads.

Though the Jedi Master shrugs that feeling off, Yoda is actually sensing Palpatine concealing the dark side inside of him.

Darth Sidious really has a whole lot of power. While Yoda believes that the darkness that the Jedi is searching for is far, far away, the truth is it's been so close to the Jedi all along. In the end, Yoda and the rest of the Jedi fail to realize that Palpatine was a Sith all along, leading to the Jedi Order's demise.

The Skywalker saga is available for streaming on Disney+.

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