@ Darth Vegeta-
Yeah, theres alot of underated imperial officers. Theres one I like inparticular, I don't know what became of him and I don't know too much about him. I think his name is Pter Thannas. For an imperial is is actually a very nice guy, and is often sent on diplomatic missions.
Thrawn is perhaps the most tactifully genius of the admirals, that I know of anyways. Considering that he basically overhauled what was left of the imperial factions after Palpatine was supposedly dead, adding shields to tie interceptors, his very daring campaigns, etc., definitely make him a note-worthy character.
As for Vader, you actually brought up an interesting point. I actually think Palpatine didn't trust Vader completely. Palpatine sensed a change in Vader when he was battling Luke the first time.
In a more meaningful way, one could say Vader betrayed Palpatine the moment he realized his humanity and identity of Anakin Skywalker. And it was as simple as meeting his only son for the first time. That was truely the start of the rekindling of his spirit and soul.
I hear that in the ESB novel, after C3PO was shot, that before he was put to the scrap heap, Vader held C3PO's head to his chest in rememberance of the his youth and in having built this cyborg.
So this is just one(two) examples of several that Anakin was not completely lost and still a viable threat. The utlimate proof was the most obvious, and that was in his saving his son and thus saving his own soul and going back to the Light.
Anyways, I think because of alot of these things, Palpatine KNEW Vader was going to turn on him, but he was so caught up in killing Luke that he probably forgot Vader was even there.
"Luke, you can destroy the Emperor, he has forseen this, it is your destiny." Perhaps Palpatine's foresight could only do so much, and the Force wasn't clear to him to the point where it really would happen that Anakin, A SKYWALKER, was to kill him, not necessarily his son.
As powerful as Palpatine is, especially in his ability to predict the future and turn people to the darkside, theres things even he overlooked.
"A small rebel force has penetrated the shield and landed on Endor."- Vader
"Yes, I know."- Palpatine
".......my son is with them..."- Vader
"Are you sure?"- Palpatine
"I have FELT him, my master."- Vader
".......strange that I have not. I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear, Lord Vader?"- Palpatine
"They ARE clear, master."- Vader
Vader could sense what Palpatine could not because he and Luke are family and have a spiritual bond the way a mother does to her childen, that 6th sense mothers tend to have when their children are away. It was vice versa for Luke to his father:
"Your thoughts betray you, father. I feel the good in you, the conflict."- Luke
"There is no conflict."- Vader
Palpatine's whole agenda in pitting Luke and Anakin against eachother was that either way he was confident he would have an apprentice at the end.
If Luke wins (which is what he wants since Anakin is getting older and less capable), then he has a new, young apprentice. This is actually a revelation of something to happen later, in Dark Empire.
If Vader wins, his journey towards the darkside will not only be complete but will be dominated. Anakin will lose whatever is left of his soul. Palpatine wants this because then his suspicion of Vader in his visions will be put to rest and Vader's loyalty will be proven.
As for another oversight, lets not forget the Ewoks. While I'm sure Palpatine sensed life on Endor, he didn't sense it was capable of fighting an army.
Can we chalk all of this up to Palpatine just being really old and his ability to use the Force (while still the best in the known galaxy) has been dimmished? Or perhaps Palpatine allowed all of this in retrospect.
We may never know, but its for reasons like this that Palpatine is my all time favorite character in Star Wars.
@ TLD (if you're even read this far down or skipped it lol)-
Thank you. I'm glad you like it. 🙂