Did General Grievous Know Palpatine Was Darth Sidious?

If there was someone who was a thorn in the side of the Jedi during the Clone Wars era of Star Wars, it was General Grievous because he was far too powerful for most Jedi to handle, even though he didn’t have the use of the Force. As a cyborg that had mechanical enhancements that allowed him to become a stronger warrior, Grievous trained in the ways of the lightsaber under Count Dooku. He was able to become stronger than most Jedi because of his four arms and his innate skills as a fighter. That was why he was one of the top generals of the Separatists that were working for Darth Sidious and the Sith. But did General Grievous actually know that Palpatine was Sidious?

General Grievous didn’t know that Palpatine was Sidious because they hardly ever spoke to one another. On top of that, Grievous didn’t know anything about what Sidious was planning during the Clone Wars and what he had in store for him and the other leaders of the Separatists.

Only a few people were aware of Palpatine’s true identity, and Grievous was not one of them. Most of the people who were privy to the secrets of the Supreme Chancellor were smart and ambitious enough to help him rise to the top of the galaxy. Grievous, however, was simply just a dog that Darth Sidious used to his advantage. Now, let’s look at how and why General Grievous didn’t know about Palpatine’s true identity. 

Grievous Was Entirely In The Dark

Introduced as one of the most important characters of the Clone Wars era because of his role as the leader of the clone army of the Separatists, General Grievous was a formidable character that both Darth Sidious and Count Dooku relied on in the wars against both the Jedi and the Republic. Of course, the reason why Grievous was reliable was the fact that he had incredible fighting skills.

He was neither Jedi nor Sith. In fact, he wasn’t even sensitive to the Force. But General Grievous was a strong warrior that underwent cybernetic enhancements to become a cyborg with four robotic arms. Dooku also trained him in the Jedi way of fighting using a lightsaber, and that was why he was strong enough to take on Jedi Masters and kill several Jedi Knights.

But while Grievous was so important to the Separatists due to his strength as a warrior, he wasn’t one of the people that were actually aware of Darth Sidious’ true identity. In fact, throughout the events of Star Wars: Clone Wars and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, the interactions between Grievous and Sidious were quite minimal. Most of the time, the one that Grievous answered was Count Dooku, who was the one that led the Separatists.

Yes, Grievous didn’t know that Darth Sidious was Supreme Chancellor Palpatine the entire time. In Revenge of the Sith, he even kidnapped the Supreme Chancellor from Coruscant because this was part of the plot between Sidious and Dooku to force Anakin to tap into his inner darkness. The entire time, he wasn’t aware that the man that he kidnapped and tried to keep away from the Jedi during the Battle of Coruscant was the master of the man that he was answering to during the entire events of the Clone Wars.

It was also worth noting that Darth Sidious contacted General Grievous near the end of the war and just before Obi-Wan Kenobi hunted the cyborg down to defeat him and end the Clone Wars. In their conversation, it was clear that Grievous didn’t know anything about what Palpatine had been plotting in secret because he simply told the general of the droid army to stand by. And when Grievous realized that Sidious didn’t even care that Count Dooku had been killed, that was when it was clear that he knew nothing about what was happening in secret around him.

That means that General Grievous, like all the others, was simply a pawn in the larger game Palpatine was playing. He only used Grievous to weaken the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars and to put himself in the position to take over the Republic as the emperor of the galaxy. And when Palpatine fed Grievous to Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Republic, it was obvious that he had no more use for him.

But while Palpatine also used Count Dooku for his own gain, the difference was that General Grievous wasn’t even aware of the identity of the Sith Lord that had been ordering him and the other Separatists around. He was one of the many victims of the manipulative and deceptive ways of the dark lord of the Sith.

Did Anyone Find Out That Palpatine Was Sidious?

Of course, during the final days of the Jedi Order, Palpatine revealed to Anakin his true identity as the dark lord of the Sith. He wanted Anakin to know who he was so that the Jedi Knight would become more confused about his feelings and eventually fall to the dark side. But others already knew about Palpatine’s secret identity.

Count Dooku was one of the first people aware of Palpatine’s identity as a Sith Lord. It was revealed in the events of Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi that Count Dooku was already aware that Palpatine was Sidious because he had been working with him behind the scenes during the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. And when Dooku killed Jedi Master Yaddle, his conversion into Palpatine’s apprentice was completed.

There were also others aware of his identity. It goes without saying that Darth Maul was aware of Palpatine’s true identity the entire time. Why he never told the Jedi when he returned during the events of the Clone Wars is unknown. But it’s not as if the Jedi Order would have believed him anyway.

Mas Amedda, a high-ranking official working as the right hand of Palpatine during his time as the Supreme Chancellor and as the emperor, was aware of his identity as the dark lord of the Sith. Palpatine told him that he was a Sith Lord shortly after becoming the Republic’s Supreme Chancellor. Amedda’s hunger for political power was the reason why he was loyal to Palpatine even though he knew his true identity. And Darth Sidious told Amedda who he was because he knew he could rely on him due to the politician’s lust for more political power.

There was also another one in the form of Sly Moore, an Umbaran woman often seen near Palpatine. She was the Senior Administrative Aide and Chief of Staff for Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine but was secretly sensitive to the Force. Palpatine used her gifts in the Force to gain more political power in the Senate as she could influence the decisions of the other senators and even learn about the secrets that some of the other politicians had.

Basically, those Palpatine told about his secret were those he knew he could rely on to help him gain more power while he was sitting on the chair of the Supreme Chancellor. Of course, his apprentices also knew who he was because they often worked together. But General Grievous wasn’t aware of Palpatine’s true identity as a Sith Lord because Darth Sidious had no purpose to reveal to him who he was. After all, Grievous was simply a dispensable pawn for Palpatine.