New Disney SW Canon: Palpatine didnt build the empire, a woman did

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Whether or not Emperor Palpatine ever returns, there's no denying that his empire's greatest weakness was having HIM as a leader. Cruel, vindictive, hateful, and detested across the galaxy, it's a miracle Emperor Palpatine took as long as he did to lose all power. But now, Star Wars has revealed the woman who was actually keeping the Empire together all those years, despite its incompetent leader: Imperial Minister Pitina Voor.

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This issue opens with quite a mini-history of Voor’s rise through the ranks of the Empire. She comes from royalty and was forced to marry an Imperial senator at a very young age. After growing tired of his complacency, she coerced him into suicide by feeding him a false rumor Darth Vader was coming for him. Her late husband was so terrified he hung himself. She took his place as a senator and demonstrated her talents of manipulating planets into joining the Empire through fear and propaganda. 

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Every fan is going to want to know the woman born Pitina Mar-Mas Voor, twenty-five years before Sheev Palpatine began his rise to power. Married to a lame duck bureaucrat in the Empire's ruling class of competing officers and governors, Pitina saw history repeating itself. That below all the bravado, intimidation, and posturing... the expansion of the Empire through brute force was killing it even as it spread (running out of both soldiers and money). And Pitina just might have led the Galactic Empire to total success, if not for once crucial weakness: Emperor Palpatine had absolutely no idea how to lead.

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Encouraging her husband's suicide to spare himself a traitor's death at Vader's hand (which was not actually coming), Pitina claimed his position for herself. Acknowledging that Emperor Palpatine may have known the truth of her deception, he granted her influence and position anyway. Which is when she began to enact her true vision for the Empire's successful expansion.

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It’s the classic path-of-least resistance road to totalitarianism: Scare the populace so they relinquish freedom and embrace the oppressor until they realize it’s too late. Voor claims there is much humanitarianism in her actions and that she’s helped the Empire avoid countless conflicts and losses. The reason she wants old Sheev out of the way is due to his tendency to build super weapons and the Sith enforcer he’s unleashed upon the galaxy. Voor wants peace and doesn’t feel Palpatine will ever give that to the galaxy since he’s determined to rule by military might. She also thinks people will never not be afraid of him, which will always keep some sort of Rebellion whipped up. 

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