TPM Radio Drama - Possible Contradictions

[Joe]

I just read over The Phantom Menace radio drama, which as I recall is considered top level canon. I found it to be very informative, but I found a few things that may conflict with the movies...

1) Palpatine's name. It is Augustus Ethril Palpatine in the radio drama; I
thought it was simply Senator Cos Palpatine.

2) Near the end of the radio drama, after the Trade Federation armies
have been defeated, Darth Sidious contacts Nute Gunray, assures him
that he will guarantee that he will not be made to pay for his actions
and reveals his whole plan; the Trade Federation was a body given
the task of regulating trade in the more remote places of the Republic,
and with it's influence diminished, the Republic would take over this
task by itself, exerting fairly strong, oppressive control and causing
many of the Outer Rim systems to revolt, as well as commercial
interests throughout the Galaxy. This is exactly what happens in
AoTC. One thing bothers me, however; in AoTC, it appears that
Sidious really has used and abandoned the Trade Federation; is
it possible that is is still manipulating the actions of the Trade
Federation and pretending to be helping it, given the revelation from
the radio drama.

I don't know if any of this has ever been discussed here, I'm just interested to hear what other people think about this.

[Master of Ossus]

Palpatine has not abandoned the TF in AotC, but his relationship with them has become more interesting and is a source of debate between me and my fiancee.

I think that Palpatine never actually severed his connection with the TF, and that they are following Count Dooku because Sidious/Palpatine told them to. In short, I think that Dooku was lying about that when he talked to Obi-Wan. My fiancee believes that Sidious severed their connection, and then chased them into Dooku's hands in order to rid himself of them. This would, according to her, have been an attempt to prevent their actions from being traced back to him. I can see where she's coming from, I just don't know if it's true or not.

I really don't see a way to solve this conundrum effectively, just going on what we have. I suspect (but do not know), that the answer will be more fully revealed by Episode III.

[Joe]

Given the fact that the Trade Federation has managed to stay out of trouble over the last ten years, never having to pay for its actions, I think it's obvious that Sidious has been in league with the TF for most of these years. If he did sever the relationship, it would have to have been quite recently.

Another interesting thing from the radio drama; the TF attempts to contact Sidious during the Senate hearings on Naboo, but can't reach him. Unless Lucas has got some bizarre twist in store for us in EpIII, I think that pretty much verifies his identity.

[Tychu]

where did you people hear about TPM radio drama? and where can you buy it?

[Joe]

You don't have to buy it, you can read it here:

http://www.theforce.net/timetales/

Just scroll down.

[Howedar]

I just read over The Phantom Menace radio drama, which as I recall is considered top level canon.

The movies are the highest canon. Radio dramas are after movie novellizations.

[Joe]

But the radio dramas do fall directly under GL's vision for the SW universe, don't they? I thought they were the same level as the books...

[SirNitram]

But the radio dramas do fall directly under GL's vision for the SW universe, don't they? I thought they were the same level as the books...

They are above the books, and just below the Movie novelizations.

[Cal Wright]

Movies
Scripts
Novelisations
Radio Dramas

Other EU shit

I feel the ICSs and VDs should be higher than EU. I haven't seen anything official on that. However, they work directly with the movies.

[Master of Ossus]

The ICS and VD are above the EU, but do not have canon status. They are above the EU because they are closer to the movies than most of the EU material is, and the farther one gets from the movies, the less reliable the SW source is. Thus, the VD and ICS can override material from the EU, if there is a contradiction, however if they are contradicted by canon then they must yield.

[Cal Wright]

Thank you. Intelligence is always appreciated. Now, if we can clone you. Kill KJA and put your clone in his place.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Palpatine's name is Augustus Ethril Palpatine?

Cool. It has a nice ring to it.

[RayCav of ASVS]

1) Palpatine's name. It is Augustus Ethril Palpatine in the radio drama; I
thought it was simply Senator Cos Palpatine.

At least it's better than the EU's Gelregarde Palpatine, which BTW IS A GOD DAMN FUCKING GIRLS NAME, DAMNIT! STUPID EU FAGGOT WRITERS!

BTW no offense to our esteemed homosexual members

[Ender]

I have never heard of any of these names for Palpatine before.

Sources?

And I like Augustus, another connection to empires in the past that have risen and fallen.

[Joe]

Read over the radio drama for the Augustus Ethril name. It's in Chapter 12, near the end.

The name Cos, I can't give you a clear reference. I remember when checking Episode II's IMDB entry earlier this summer, they had Palpatine listed as "Supreme Chancellor Cos Palpatine," but it's different now. I've also heard that name could be found in one of the earlier scripts.

[Robert Treder]

Uh, I don't mean to pop your collective balloon, but the Phantom Menace radio drama isn't canon at all.

It's written by McElroy; it's just his take on what a radio drama of the movie would be like. I mean, it's great fun and all, but it's not canon.

The radio dramas for the OT are canon, but those actually aired on the radio. This one is just a fanfic.

The Timetales site is great; it presents all the facts and then has plenty of fun speculation, but it always tells you it's speculation, even in the case of the radio drama. Look at the top of the page in the radio drama *.doc file. What do you see? That's right: the author's name, and it's Christopher McElroy.

[Publius]

As it happens, his full name as of The Phantom Menace was Senator Palpatine. As of Attack of the Clones, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. As of A New Hope, Emperor Palpatine. That is all.

His surname -- Palpatine -- is all that is known. His given name has never been mentioned at any point. The popular idea that his given name is Augustus is (in part) inspired by the title "Augie's Great Municipal Band," which is the closing music to Episode I (Augie's Great Municipal Band is also evidently an actual organisation, which performed at the ceremony seen at the end of the film) -- the assumptions being (a.) that the band has some connection with Senator (then Supreme Chancellor) Palpatine; and (b.) that "Augie" is an abbreviation for "Augustus."

The other most commonly seen given name, Cos, is also wholly unofficial. It is based on the fact that in much earlier scripts, the ruler of the Empire was a mustachioed gentleman named Cos Dashit, who ruled from the capitol of the Empire, Alderaan. For some reason, many interpret the fact that this character is vaguely analogous to the Emperor as meaning that the Emperor must have the same given name. In any event, his given name is not Cos.

Note: This is why resources like the IMDB should generally be taken with a grain of salt -- in this case, a grain of salt approximately the size of the Chrysler Building.

Publius