Palpatine's policy on other force users

[FaxModem1]

Okay, in the second Ewok movie, the Battle for Endor, the Ewoks along with their human friends, are terrorized and brutally killed by Sanyassan Raiders, who are hunting for the 'power of the stars', as said by Charal, a force witch. In reality, it's a star cruiser's power drive, and these raiders murdered the people for nothing, but what's important is that on Endor, where the Death Star's shield generator is being built, there is a somewhat notable force user there holding influence over an army.

Wouldn't that be something Palpatine wouldn't tolerate, or did he just not care about force users meddling in his territory?

[Borgholio]

Palpatine wasn't omnipotent, regardless of what he might want you to think. He was unable to find all of the Jedi even with Vader's assistance, and there were some things that downright terrified him. He did recruit force-users as servants and hired guns. For instance, wh visited Dathomir to recruit Darth Maul, but never did he try to exert any influence over the Nightsisters because they would rip him a new asshole.

So in the case of Endor, there are three possibilities.

1. He knew about it and considered the force-user an asset so let him continue.
2. He didn't know about it. Remember, he was only at Endor for a short time before his death, and much of that time he was focused on Luke and the upcoming battle with the Rebel fleet. That may have been enough to distract him.
3. He knew about it, but was afraid. I find this unlikely because only Yoda and Mace had enough power to defeat Palpatine, and it would have taken several high-ranking Nightsisters to defeat him.

[The Romulan Republic]

Why couldn't Palpatine defeat the Nightsisters? Its not like he had to go to Dathomir and duel them. Why not just send a fleet of ISDs to bombard the planet?

Edit: as I recall, Dooku was willing to attack Dathomir in The Clone Wars.

[Borgholio]

It's been awhile since I read any of the EU, but I recall an instance where they were able to use the Force to drag starships out of orbit. I think they did that with a Jedi starship.

[The Romulan Republic]

Could they do it to a whole fleet?

[Gaidin]

Just for sheer analysis, half the equation for Palpatine wouldn't be about pure power anyway. Not that I'd be shocked if the Nightsisters could pull a capital ship out of orbit in a concerted effort, but in the end Palpatine was also a control freak and the Nightsisters were independent. Even if he took the weakest Nightsister from that planet, she'd eventually strike out on her own and he'd have a dark force user on what he considered a rampage through the galaxy that used to be his enforcer. Instead of using his other enforcers for useful things, he now needs to send them to find and put her down.

[atg]

Even if they could do it, would the Nightsisters want to pull something like an ISD out of orbit? A 1.6km ship smashing into a planet from orbit is going to screw something up on the planet.

[Pelranius]

Well, the Nightsisters couldn't stop Zsinj from parking his fleet about Dathomir (or the first Iron Fist from stranding them).

[Kreller1]

Also, destroying an ISD like that is going to attract the unwanted attention of a large chunk of the Imperial fleet.

[Gaidin]

I'm not sure that bit would really bother them. Their attitude was generally along the lines of 'bring it'.

[FaxModem1]

Apparently Charal was even in the Empire's field report on Endor, as the writer of it, Pfilbee Jhorn, met her and remarked on her:

"The Force witch Charal, who called herself a Nightsister, freed us after promise to take her with us when the retrieval ship homed in our beacons."

So, unless Palpatine didn't read the report, he would have known there was a Force Witch there where he was building the shield generator for his ultimate weapon.

[RogueIce]

but never did he try to exert any influence over the Nightsisters because they would rip him a new asshole.

If Grievous and his droids could handle them, I'm reasonably confident Palpatine with the Imperial military could as well. Especially if Vader were around.

[Havok]

You are all assuming Palpatine cares.

This is the equivalent of the Pope, after destroying the hated Muslim religion, caring about a single priest in a fifth world country that kinda sorta has a belief system similar to Islam, but is presiding over a church of cats.

If they aren't a threat and don't even want to venture out of their comfort zone let alone leave the planet, let 'em do their thing.

[FaxModem1]

More like a church on a deserted island, that the Pope is just about to build his new naval base on. Palpatine should care, if only because he's about to put his stuff there, and harassment from someone with force powers and an army would not be an ideal environment for construction crews.

[Pelranius]

I'm not sure that bit would really bother them. Their attitude was generally along the lines of 'bring it'.

They never demonstrated the ability to pull any of Zsinj's ships out of orbit (in fact, he vaped the shuttle with the senior most Nightsisters on it during a double cross).

[Gaidin]

True. But I was more talking about the Nightsisters' attitude. They never seemed like ones to walk away from a fight. It seems like you'd have to break them into submission more than scare them into submission.

[Pelranius]

I suppose Palpatine could have dealt with them if he really wanted to, but since he apparently had all the dark siders he really needed, it was probably just more convenient to ignore the Nightsisters than to bargain with them.

[NeoGoomba]

I would guess Palpatine doesn't care about the Nightsisters because they have nothing to offer that he or his own agents couldn't provide anyways Do they have any techniques or methods of utilizing the Force that stand out at all? I haven't read any of the EU with them in it (except Battle for Endor. And I don't see Palpy giving a shit about turning into a crow).

[Eternal_Freedom]

If anything, the Nightsisters and the other Force Witches are worse, since they consider it magic and think force powers don't work without singing spells.

[Pelranius]

If anything, the Nightsisters and the other Force Witches are worse, since they consider it magic and think force powers don't work without singing spells.

Well, at least that makes it a lot harder for them to sneak up on Palpatine or Vader.

[Solauren]

Palpatine probably didn't give a crap about the Force Witch on Endor.

Any construction project like the Death Star II, you have some defense ships nearby.

Problem: Force-Witch and rag-tag army threatening the construction workers?
Solution: Order one of the defense ships to open fire on the army from orbit (possibly with a full power Turbolaser bolt), and restart the shield generator site somewhere else. Delays the trap for a bit.

Also, I was always under the impression that The Ewok Adventure and Battle for Endor happened prior to Return of the Jedi (I fully admit, I could be wrong), and that's why Wicket, when he saw leia, realised she could be friendly. Kinda looked like his departed friend. Heck, might have even known where she was!

As for the Witches of Daithimor; They were stuck on the planet they were on, and therefore a non-issue. The Clone Wars also speaks of old alliances between the Nightsisters and the Sith. He might have decided "Okay, they're stuck on the planet, but keeping my prison under thumb, and giving the Light-sider witches problems. I'll leave them alone unless they become a problem."

[Ralin]

I would guess Palpatine doesn't care about the Nightsisters because they have nothing to offer that he or his own agents couldn't provide anyways Do they have any techniques or methods of utilizing the Force that stand out at all? I haven't read any of the EU with them in it (except Battle for Endor. And I don't see Palpy giving a shit about turning into a crow).

I don't remember the details, but I'm pretty sure they were able to do weird shit that other Force-users didn't understand. Palpatine may not have ever needed to turn into a crow, but he'd presumably think that it was interesting that the Nightsisters could do that, and given that they weren't actively causing him any problems I'm guessing he just decided to keep them around on the off-chance that they ever became useful for some reason. Not like he can't just raze the planet or whatever if they got uppity.

[FaxModem1]

Palpatine probably didn't give a crap about the Force Witch on Endor.

Any construction project like the Death Star II, you have some defense ships nearby.

Problem: Force-Witch and rag-tag army threatening the construction workers?
Solution: Order one of the defense ships to open fire on the army from orbit (possibly with a full power Turbolaser bolt), and restart the shield generator site somewhere else. Delays the trap for a bit.

This has the potential to be a comedy sketch.

Imperial officer: "Sir, the Marauders have slaughtered and raided our construction site, again."

Imperial Captain: "The Emperor says to blast it apart, and build over it."

IO:"But sir, this is the seventh time we've done this. Wouldn't it just be easier to hunt them down and shoot them? We know where they are, what they can do. Kriff, we even had the scouting team get captured by them before they were released by the force witch on the condition that she get a ride off the moon. Couldn't we just kill them or taxi them somewhere else, sir?"

Captain: "Orders are orders, blast the shield site and rebuild it somewhere else."

Star Destroyer shoots a single turbolaser at the site, and then sends a shuttle down to the planet to rebuild the shield generator.

[Murazor]

Because of the haphazard way in which the EU was constructed, there is no consistent portrayal of how Palpatine deals with other Force users. Some he slays outright (see most Jedi), some he turns to his service (too many examples to count), some he contains but otherwise leaves alone (case in point Gethzerion), some he ignores or, in the case of those who have stuff he wants, he either bribes (see Rokur Gepta) or tortures (see the nameless Jedi who taught him spirit transference powers).

[Pelranius]

Palpatine probably didn't give a crap about the Force Witch on Endor.

Any construction project like the Death Star II, you have some defense ships nearby.

Problem: Force-Witch and rag-tag army threatening the construction workers?
Solution: Order one of the defense ships to open fire on the army from orbit (possibly with a full power Turbolaser bolt), and restart the shield generator site somewhere else. Delays the trap for a bit.

This has the potential to be a comedy sketch.

Imperial officer: "Sir, the Marauders have slaughtered and raided our construction site, again."

Imperial Captain: "The Emperor says to blast it apart, and build over it."

IO:"But sir, this is the seventh time we've done this. Wouldn't it just be easier to hunt them down and shoot them? We know where they are, what they can do. Kriff, we even had the scouting team get captured by them before they were released by the force witch on the condition that she get a ride off the moon. Couldn't we just kill them or taxi them somewhere else, sir?"

Captain: "Orders are orders, blast the shield site and rebuild it somewhere else."

Star Destroyer shoots a single turbolaser at the site, and then sends a shuttle down to the planet to rebuild the shield generator.

That makes the Palpatine-Thrawn conversation in Choices of One even funnier.