WTF are you talking about? The Emperor is awesome. He’s by far the most fun character in all of Star Wars to imitate and he’s endlessly quotable. Plus he just takes so much joy in being pure evil. I mean look how giddy he gets when he says “Everything is proceeding as I have forseen” and then cackles maniacally. It’s just glorious. Ian McDiarmid is awesome. He elevated ROTJ in every scene he was in and he made the prequels watchable. Just some beautiful scenery chewing all around. The only comparison I can think of is when Al Pacino literally played the Devil in The Devil’s Advocate. Just insane over the top evil, but it’s perfect for the character. He basically is the Devil of the Star Wars universe. Not everybody has to have deep characterization and complex motives in a classic good vs. evil fantasy story like Star Wars. Palpatine wants “unlimited power” and that’s really all we need to know.