In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, there was one Jedi Palpatine feared above all the others. In general, the most feared Jedi tend to be the most powerful; the Separatists must have been deeply afraid of any mission led by General Skywalker, while Yoda or Mace Windu could dominate an entire battlefield without reinforcements. But there’s so much more to being a Jedi than just raw power.
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In canon, the point was proven by Jedi archivist Jocastu Nu. Despite lacking the kind of power you see among members of the Jedi Council, she survived Order 66 and secreted away archives that helped Luke Skywalker reestablish the Order. In Legends, though, there was one Jed who Palpatine truly feared. Not because of his wisdom, but rather because of political connections.
Why Palpatine Was So Afraid of Ronhar Kim
Jedi Master Ronhar Kim hailed from Palpatine’s homeworld of Naboo, and for years was unwittingly one of the Sith Lord’s greatest assets; a high-ranking Jedi who talked freely with Palpatine, giving him insight into the workings of the Council. Kim’s father was the Naboo senator, and he tried to talk Kim into leaving the Jedi after the rest of his family was tragically wiped out. Though Kim didn’t know it, the Sith were quietly killing off the entire family so Palpatine could enter the senate as the new ambassador. Kim met Palpatine himself at his father’s funeral, and the two became friends. Or, at least, that was how Kim thought of it.
Kim and Palpatine remained close for over a decade, and were still political allies during the Clone Wars. To Palpatine’s (secret) horror, Kim believed Count Dooku’s claims that a Sith Lord was hidden in the Republic Senate; he proposed running midi-chlorian tests on every senator and government official. Naturally, this was an idea Palpatine could not support, and he tried to discourage Kim. Ironically, Palpatine realized Kim’s political connections had become a problem – the very connections that had allowed the Sith to manipulate him for so many years.
This one Jedi Master came within a hair’s breadth of exposing Palpatine. If he’d just pushed his idea, he’d at least have goaded a response from Palpatine that would have generated suspicion. Instead, he agreed to hold off, and headed on a mission. It was one engineered by Palpatine himself, who set up an entire battle of the Clone Wars just to kill a single Jedi. Even Yoda didn’t get that kind of treatment from the Sith.
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