10 Smartest Decisions In Star Wars History
9. Maul Kills Qui-Gon Jinn - The Phantom Menace
Chalk this up to being more a "happy accident" than a conscious decision to alter the course of the galaxy, but there's no denying killing Qui-Gon was the smartest thing Palpatine himself probably doesn't even realise he accomplished.
Clone Wars producer Dave Filoni has previously spoken at length about how Duel of the Fates is secretly Star Wars' most important scene back in 2020, and the evidence - now of course backed up by expanded material from the books and animated shows - more than lends itself to his reasoning.
Qui-Gon Jinn is essentially the only Jedi who sees where the order is heading at the time of The Phantom Menace. He's also a bit of a maverick, a scholar with a true reverence for the Force and a curiosity for prophecy first stoked by his master Count Dooku decades earlier.
Perhaps more important however are Qui-Gon's fatherly qualities. He's the father figure Anakin desires and would've happily trained him away from the Jedi had they refused him. Qui-Gon's death seals Anakin's fate though: he's trained by Obi-Wan, who's less a father and more a brother, and is isolated by Palpatine, who exploits the Jedi Order's secrecy to his own benefit.
Had Qui-Gon lived, there's a chance Anakin may never have turned.