Emperor ' s Tower / Legends The so - called Emperor ' s Tower served as the residence , seat of power and command center of Emperor Palpatine , leader of the Galactic Empire , aboard the second Death Star battlestation . Designed by Bevel Lemelisk and inspired by the spires of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant , its penultimate story had a quadripartite structure , housing a giant holomap , a throne room , private quarters and a docking ring . It was destroyed along with the rest of the Death Star during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY . Description . A 100 - story spire that rose from the northern pole of the second Death Star , the so - called Emperor ' s Tower served as a special command center from which Palpatine could survey the intended targets of his moon - shaped , 160 kilometers wide battlestation . Although a windowless , armored chamber hidden in the depths of the Death Star would have been a better strategical choice , Emperor Palpatine ' s great sense of the dramatic favored a more spectacular structure . By sitting from the top of his colossal needle , the Emperor had the highest vantage point on the battlestation and made a statement of his superiority . The Emperor ' s Tower was designed to be reminiscent of the southwest spire of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant , where the High Council of the Jedi Order used to convene . However , Palpatine ' s tower was isolated , while the Jedi Council ' s spire was only one of the five that crowned the Temple . That difference showed that Palpatine was entirely in control of his Empire and did not answer to any council . Given the importance of its resident , the Emperor ' s Tower was protected by an unusually large concentration of XX - 9 heavy turbolaser turrets , all with improved fire control and placed at intervals of as little as a few hundred meters . Additional defenses included ion cannons , overlapping deflector shield generators , and TIE / LN starfighter patrol patterns . In addition , the tower itself received the most heavy shielding of the entire station , and its hull was doubly reinforced so as to ensure that it was protected from incoming artillery . All in all , the north pole of the second Death Star was one of its most heavily guarded areas , ensuring that it was virtually impenetrable from the outside . In addition , an emergency throne room was located within the armored sphere just below the tower , in the event that the tower itself suffered structural damage . For internal defenses , the corridors leading to the throne room and royal quarters as well as the tower itself were loaded with traps and various other security measures , with any personnel approaching the corridor leading to the tower ' s restricted turbolift being required to punch in an identifying code before entering the trap - filled passageway . The penalty of failing to identify themselves properly were subject to either immediate capture or being instantly killed by laserfire . A large , open shaft that plunged deep into the station ' s reactor core housed a cluster of four turbolifts than ran the length of the tower . The penultimate story of the tower was a four - lobed compartment that acted both as a command center and a private sanctum . One lobe contained a docking ring that allowed visitors ' starships to moor at the isolation tower . Opposite the mooring area was a vast room containing a giant holomap of the Empire . That map highlighted planets and solar systems that were to be conquered or chastised . A third lobe housed the Emperor ' s Throne Room , and a fourth one contained a luxuous receiving area as well as Palpatine ' s private sleeping chamber . The tower ' s summit was covered in sensors and communications arrays , and was crowned by a girdle of laser cannons . The main area itself was also split into three levels : The gantry stretched above the central floor , the throne room itself , and the royal living quarters and the quarters for the Emperor ' s personal bodyguards . Depending on whether either the throne room itself or the royal apartment were occupied , it was guarded either by four squads of stormtroopers ( unoccupied ) , or by the same amount of squads for the Imperial Royal Guard ( occupied ) . History . The construction of the second Death Star was ordered by Emperor Palpatine in 0 BBY , while a first , smaller Death Star had just been completed . Ironically , that first battlestation , however , was destroyed at the hands of Luke Skywalker shortly after Palpatine issued the construction order . Because of that drawback , many facets of the original design were altered . As part of that redesign , Palpatine had his chief designer , Bevel Lemelisk , construct a special command center for the second Death Star . In order to appeal to the Emperor ' s sense of theater , Lemelisk suggested the addition of a tall tower at the northern pole of the new battlestation . Around eight months after the loss of the first Death Star , the isolation tower had been completed , as the Emperor granted an audience to Senior Captain Thrawn in its throne room area .