Star Wars: Timelines, a book dedicated to fleshing out the expansive record of Star Wars events, has confirmed the details that led Palpatine up to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The book – written by Kristin Baver, Jason Fry, Cole Horton, Amy Richau, and Clayton Sandell – has been widely praised for its attention to detail concerning the Star Wars timeline. From the stories told by George Lucas to the extreme expansion of Star Wars that has come under Disney's leadership such as The Mandalorian, Star Wars: Timelines admirably maps out many characters' journeys and when exactly they took place.
This extended to a character whose past has been shrouded in mystery since his first appearance in the franchise: Emperor Palpatine. Before The Phantom Menace, all that was known of Palpatine was his brief tutelage under Darth Plagueis and the former's murder of the latter. Through Star Wars: Timelines, Palpatine's timeline has been greatly focused on, detailing plenty of interesting elements about his life prior to Episode I of the Skywalker Saga.
