Palpatine estava absolutamente esperando que seu plano funcionasse. Ele queria que a Federação de Comércio "destruísse" o exército Gungan e capturasse Amidala. Ele esperava que a rainha estivesse perto do exército, mas obviamente Maul soube que seu plano de atacar o palácio foi enfrentá-los lá.
Palpatine tinha total confiança na habilidade de Maul de lutar e derrotar a capacidade do Jedi e da Federação de Comércio de recapturar Amidala. Como ele diz ao Nute Gunray ...
“The Jedi cannot become involved,” Sidious said dismissively. “They can only protect the Queen. Even Qui-Gon Jinn will not break that covenant.” He paused, considering. “This will work to our advantage.”
“I have your approval to proceed then, my lord?” Nute Gunray asked nervously. “Proceed,” said Darth Sidious. His mouth curled into a small smile below his dark hood. “Wipe them out. All of them.” Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: Junior Novelisation
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“Good,” Darth Sidious said. “I will see to it that things in the Senate stay as they are. I am sending Darth Maul to join you. He will deal with the Jedi.” - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: Junior Novelisation
e mais revelador ...
Years of training had gone into the preparation of Darth Maul as a Sith Lord. He had been more than the equal of the Jedi Knights he had faced and should have been able to defeat them easily. It was bad luck and chance that had led to his death, a combination that even the power of the dark side could not always overcome.
Para responder à questão mais ampla sobre a invasão, vale a pena notar que, embora Maul tenha aprendido a natureza enganosa do ataque (através de sua rede de drones espiões) ele não fez nada a respeito , confiando que ambos os lados se matariam.
Whatever the reasons, Maul’s task remained as before: to kill two Jedi. The rest of it—the blockade, the invasion, the counteroffensive—was nothing more than theater. So what if the Trade Federation lost its army and ten thousand Gungans died? Who cared, after all, about Naboo or its young Queen? The real war was, as ever, between the Sith and the Jedi. - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace: Official Novelisation