Star Wars has no shortage of villains, but from the beginning of the Skywalker Saga to the end, Darth Sidious remains the ultimate evil. Years of meticulous planning and backstabbing led him to the role of Emperor Palpatine for 24 years before his eventual return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But out of all of his years in power, did he ever do anything good for the galaxy?
From the moment Palpatine began to plot his takeover, nothing he did was out of the goodness of his heart. Everything would transpire in a way that would give him power, and any niceties were a way to fool his enemies into underestimating him. Yet, in order to keep the galaxy on his side, Palpatine was still forced to do some good things, even if he would go about them in the evilest ways possible.
The first and best example of this is the ending of the Clone Wars. By the time of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, the war had gone on for three years, and most of the galaxy got fed up with it. But suddenly, within a single day, Palpatine became Emperor and announced the end of the war. With all the Separatist leaders dead, battle droids shut down, and Clone Troopers no longer fighting, it seemed like Palpatine had pulled a miracle victory out of nowhere. Of course, it doesn't really count when he was pulling the strings on both sides the entire time, but still, people were happy.
While Palpatine had seamlessly slipped into the role of Emperor, he knew he still had to keep up appearances. So, soon after he gained power, he began creating jobs across the galaxy. Most were to join the Imperial army, although factories building military vehicles also opened up and prospered. Again, this was all so Palpatine could gain more power and have billions of people across the galaxy rely on the Empire for jobs. However, it also helped solve numerous poverty issues across many planets.
The novel Star Wars: Tarkin explained that many places across the galaxy were prospering under the Empire's rule. And that wasn't a lie by Tarkin, as he truly believed the Empire was doing more good than bad. However, he failed to mention that for every planet that was doing well, countless others dealt with forced occupation.
But Tarkin wasn't the only one who believed in the Empire, as many people realized how corrupt and useless the previous regime really was. While in power, the Republic would allow planets to get invaded as the higher-ups sat around and discussed a course of action. And until the Clone Wars, they didn't even have an army or police system for protection, relying on the Jedi alone to help out around the galaxy.
So, while Palpatine never had good intentions, not everything he did was entirely evil. At least for the first few years under his rule, people were happy about his new Empire, and a few things did improve. But as Palpatine got more comfortable in his role, he tightened his grip, which caused the Rebel Alliance to fight back.
