10 Star Wars "Plot-Holes" That Really Aren't

10. Why Did The Jedi Not Sense The Dark Side Around Palpatine?

The Plot-Hole:

The Jedi meet with Palpatine face-to-face yet do not sense that something is off.

But...

Actually, the Jedi did. During the Jedi War Council in Revenge of the Sith Mace Windu states that, “the Dark Side of the Force surrounds the Chancellor,” and none of the Jedi in attendance, among whom are his fellow council members, Yoda and Ki-Adi Mundi, disagree with him. This distrust is nothing new: in Attack of the Clones, Yoda is also clearly suspicious of Palpatine.

But why the inaction?

Again, the War Council provides a clear explanation. Put simply, the Supreme Chancellor is the democratically elected head of the Republic. Apart from the fact that accusing a man subject to such intense scrutiny of being a Sith Lord would be laughable, arresting him without proof would be tantamount to treason.

Worse, as stated by Windu, the Jedi would be compelled to take control of the Senate – in essence, the Republic itself – to ensure an orderly transition of power. From the citizen’s perspective this would leave them at the mercy of an already unpopular, quasi-religious order composed of super-powered individuals.

Palpatine had brilliantly outmanoeuvred the Jedi, placing them in a vice between their commitment to destroying the Sith on the one hand, and their commitment to upholding democracy on the other. Whatever the choice, they lost.

But faced with the threat of a Sith at the helm of the Republic they were forced to act, and tragically Order 66 became inevitable.