system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Return of the Jedi] Why did the Emperor want Luke to strike him down?

Sure it would turn Luke to the Dark Side, but then Palpatine is dead!  Seems he'd prefer Luke to kill Vader.
gpt
He didn't want Luke to kill him, he wanted him to *try*. He knew that Vader would protect him, and failing that, Palpatine was confident that his own skills and power would protect him.

What he really wanted was for Luke to give in to his evil urges, battle Vader, and either succumb to the Dark Side, joining Palpatine (and Vader, if he survived) in taking absolute control of the galaxy, or die, ending the single greatest threat to his rule.

As Palpatine saw it, there was no way he could lose. This is, of course, Sith overconfidence, and Sith blindness to the power of the Light Side of the Force. It never occurred to him that Luke might refuse to fight, or that such an act of selflessness would cause Vader to turn from the Dark Side.