Emperor Palpatine "Ironic"

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Part of a series on The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise. [View Related Entries]

About

"Ironic is a memorable quote uttered by Senator Palaptine in the 2005 science fiction film Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith. Online, a screenshot of the line being said has been used as a reaction image.

Origin

On May 19th, 2005, the film Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith was released in the United States.^[1] In the film, the character Senator Palpatine tells the character Anakin Skywalker (portrayed by Ian McDiarmid and Hayden Christensen, respectively) "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise," a myth about a man who could bring people back from the dead. During his monologue, Palpatine says, "He became so powerful… the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself."

Spread

On March 31st, 2016, a GIF of Palpatine saying the line was published on the website Tenor.com.^[2]

The following year, on April 24th, 2017, Redditor ^[3] Ritz527 shared the image with the caption "MRW French nationalist Le Pen's subreddit is largely in English." Within two and a half years, the post received more than 11,000 points (81% upvoted) and 650 comments (shown below, center).

On February 22nd, 2018, Redditor^[4] realPalpatine used the image as the punchline to the caption "When you cheat on a test in ethics class." The post received more than 26,000 points ( 95% upvoted) and 175 comments in about a year and a half (shown below, right).