Are Senator Palpatine and Darth Sidious the same person?
Officially the relationship between Palpatine and Sidious is still unknown. Unofficially however, all evidence points toward the two characters being one in the same. Actor Ian McDiarmid, who played The Emperor in Return Of The Jedi, also played Senator Palpatine and Darth Sidious. A question still remains, however, since no one at Lucasfilm will come right out and confirm it. Another doubt comes from the novelization of TPM. In it, the connection between the two characters is much more ambiguous.
