Emperor

Say what you will about Star Wars‘ Emperor Palpatine, but the guy sure knew how to play the long game. Prior to The Phantom Menace, he concocted a sinister plan to slowly take control of the Galactic Senate, dismantle the Jedi Order, and install himself as an all-powerful Imperial ruler. Then, as we saw in the prequels, he executed it almost flawlessly. After that, things fell apart surprisingly quickly. The Empire lasted only 24 years before the Rebels’ decisive victory at the Battle of Endor, which saw the second Death…

Sponsian gold coin, c.260-c.270 CE (obverse). Credit: The Hunterian, University of GlasgowAccording to recent University College of London research, a gold coin long regarded as a fake appears to be authentic and portrays a long-lost Roman emperor named Sponsian.A recent study conducted by the University College London (UCL) suggests that a gold coin long thought to be a forgery depicting a long-lost Roman emperor by the name of Sponsian is really authentic.The coin was discovered in Transylvania, in modern-day Romania,…

History is full of artifacts that later turn out to be fakes, but very occasionally the opposite can happen. New analysis of ancient Roman coins long dismissed as forgeries has found they appear to be authentic, revealing a previously unknown Roman emperor.The coins in question were unearthed in Transylvania in 1713, and feature a portrait of a man’s face with the inscription “Sponsian.” That name doesn’t match any known Roman emperor or any other historical figure, and that, along with the crude craftsmanship and…

It took the team from the Loria research lab six months to crack the letter's code. A team of researchers has cracked a five century-old code which reveals a rumored French plot to kill the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V. Charles was one of the most powerful men of the 16th century, presiding over a vast empire that…

Sam Bankman-Fried was supposed to be different than the run-of-the-mill crypto types. He was this wunderkind with a preternatural gift for math. Sam Bankman-Fried was supposed to be different than the run-of-the-mill crypto types. He was this wunderkind with a preternatural gift for math who had quickly built a crypto empire and then shrewdly expanded it during the worst of the industry's meltdown this summer. So the sudden collapse of his crown jewel -- the crypto exchange FTX.com, which now needs a bailout from…

Credit: Lucasarts Star Wars really does need a What if…? series as another hypothetical scenario is making waves on Reddit. But unlike previous instances where it involved characters turning into the dark side or if no one turned evil at all, fans now wonder what if Mace Windu killed Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. The question was asked by Reddit user u/nojunkpeter on the r/StarWars subreddit. For those who need a refresher, Mace Windu was about to arrest Emperor Palpatine. But when Anakin…

Emperor Palpatine is arguably the most important character in the Star Wars mythos. His sinister machinations shaped the Skywalker saga: manipulating the events of the prequel trilogy from behind-the-scenes, ruling the galaxy in the original trilogy, and eventually executing an unlikely resurrection in the last of Disney’s sequels. But what about the man under the hood? Much of Palpatine’s life remains a mystery. We know he was born Sheev Palpatine on Naboo eighty-two years before the Battle of Yavin to a noble…

| Many fans out there have been unimpressed by Lightyear, which is sad as the movie impressed the hell out of me. It seems like many people were confused about what the film was about going to be about. To sum it up, Lightyear is the movie in the Toy Story world that inspired the creation of the Buzz Lightyear action figure. I am sure some people were sad that Tim Allen did not return, and while I did love Chris Evans, I guarantee many more people would have seen the movie just for OG Buzz. Some aspects of Lightyear…

Just about every week brings something new to Destiny 2, whether it's story beats, new activities, or interesting new combinations of elements that let players devastate each other in the Crucible. Iron Banter is our weekly look at what's going on in the world of Destiny and a rundown of what's drawing our attention across the solar system.We've had a couple weeks now to delve into Duality, the first of two new dungeons Bungie previously announced would come to Destiny 2 this year, and like many, I've…

Denis Villeneuve has decided that the legendary Christopher Walken is intimidating enough to give Timothée Chalamet’s Paul Atreides a run for his money in the upcoming Dune: Part Two. Per Deadline, the celebrated actor is joining the star-studded cast of the sequel to portray Shaddam, one of Paul’s many enemies in Frank Herbert’s Dune. With the god-emperor out of the way, Villeneuve has now nailed the most important parts of the royal household after casting Florence Pugh as Shaddam’s daughter, Princess Irulan. The last…