# Let The Hate Flow Through You Emperor Palpatine's sinister invitation to Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi got a second life online as bait, with 4chan and Tumblr posters slapping the line onto Palpatine stills whenever they wanted to fan a flame war. By late 2011 the image macro was a staple of internet arguments, and by December 2012 it fused with Grumpy Cat to become one of the era's go-to trolling reaction images. ## Origin The line comes from the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, delivered by Emperor Palpatine while trying to turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side[5]. In the scene, Palpatine goads Luke into channelling his anger over the fate of his friends, framing hatred as the doorway to dark side power[1]. A clip of the exchange is preserved on YouTube[6]. The quote had been archived by Star Wars fan communities and film quote databases for years before it broke out as a meme, including entries at Quotes.net and the Star Wars Wiki[3]. - **Platform:** Return of the Jedi (film source), 4chan / Tumblr (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2011 ## Overview Let The Hate Flow Through You is an image macro built around a single frame of Emperor Palpatine, usually captured mid-cackle from the Death Star throne room scene[1]. Posters drop it into heated threads as bait, essentially telling the person they are arguing with that their anger is exactly what the poster wants[2]. The tone is smug rather than sincere, which is what makes it work as a trolling reaction rather than a straightforward Star Wars reference. Most variants stick close to the standard image macro template: a still of Palpatine with the line rendered in white Impact text[3]. Some swap the wording slightly ("Yes, let the hate flow through you") or replace Palpatine's face with another character while keeping the caption intact, which is how the format later crossed over with Grumpy Cat[4]. ## How It Spread The image macro form took hold on 4chan and Tumblr, where posters used the Palpatine still to bait people already mid-argument[3]. Between late 2011 and early 2012, users uploaded a cluster of Let The Hate Flow Through You variants to Meme Generator, which fed the format back out to a wider audience[1]. In December 2012, as Grumpy Cat's popularity was taking off, the template crossed over with the cat: at least two macros swapping Palpatine's face for Tardar Sauce circulated on 9gag and Imgur[2]. The 9gag post picked up more than 37,000 points and the Imgur upload passed 85,000 views, giving the older Palpatine macro a fresh push through a completely different meme ecosystem[4]. ## How to Use Typical usage is as a reply image in an argument, not as a standalone joke. Common convention is to post the Palpatine macro when someone is visibly angry, framing their reaction as feeding into whatever the original poster wanted. Variants often keep the caption locked and swap the face, with Grumpy Cat being the best-known substitution[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Let The Hate Flow Through You? It is an image macro of Emperor Palpatine paired with his Return of the Jedi line, used online as bait during flame wars and heated arguments[1]. ### Where did Let The Hate Flow Through You come from? The quote is from the 1983 film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, spoken by Palpatine while tempting Luke Skywalker toward the dark side[5]. ### What does Let The Hate Flow Through You mean? Online it functions as a smug reply that frames someone's anger as exactly what the poster wanted, turning their outrage into the joke[3]. ### How do you use Let The Hate Flow Through You? Post the Palpatine macro (or a face-swap variant) as a reply when another user is visibly angry mid-argument[1]. ### Is Let The Hate Flow Through You still popular? It is a classic 2011 era image macro that stayed in circulation through the 2012 Grumpy Cat crossover on 9gag and Imgur[2]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oy6DwHAi70]() 2. [https://imgur.com/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/let-the-hate-flow-through-you]() 4. [https://9gag.com/]() 5. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/]() 6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Oy6DwHAi70]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/let-the-hate-flow-through-you Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library