With an iconic crack to his voice, Palpatine delivered a line in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith that lives on in hearts, minds and memes: “Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?” At the time, it was a hook into Anakin’s vulnerability and a little insight into Palpatine’s own history, with a hint of tantalizing mystery. How was Palpatine trained? And when exactly did he make the decision to kill his own master?
The 2012 Star Wars novel Darth Plagueis by James Luceno originally detailed the life and ultimate fate of the titular Sith lord, but it was published before the Disney buy-out and was soon relegated to Legends. However, a newly released book, Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith, revisits Plagueis and records a confirmation by Palpatine of how and when he killed his master.
Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith is written from the perspective of none other than Sheev Palpatine himself (as his Darth Sidious identity), and it eventually details the moment that he turned on and murdered Darth Plagueis, as all Sith are wont to do to their masters at some point:
“As a dark apprentice, I sensed that the Galactic Republic was in disarray. Its delegates held no interest in the common good. They would be easy targets for my influence. Serving as a senator, I manipulated their greed in my favor. With each new act of legislation, I rose through their ranks. Total control of the galaxy’s governing body drew ever closer. But ascension in the Senate would not be enough. My master, Darth Plagueis, had served his purpose. I struck him down, claiming his place as the one true master of the Sith.”
This one paragraph holds a lot more information than it would seem in just a few lines. Here, Palpatine confirms that he was still in training as an apprentice and under the tutelage of Darth Plagueis as he began his career in the Senate, coinciding — most likely — with the start of events in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, when Palpatine was the rising star Senator from Naboo, eventually becoming Chancellor by the movie’s end. Of course, Palpatine only rises to the rank of Chancellor because of the invasion of Naboo, his homeworld, and a conflict that he created as Darth Sidious. Always cunning and ambitious, Palpatine orchestrated his rise in the Sith to coincide with his rise in political ranks.
This also means that when Palpatine makes his film debut, he has already granted himself the rank of Sith Master and planed for his own apprentice, albeit one easier to manipulate than himself. It also makes the deed itself much more explicit and gives a concrete reason as to why Darth Plagueis was nowhere to be found in any of the prequels. Though it has long been assumed that Palpatine’s gleefully nostalgic retelling of the Darth Plagueis legend to Anakin was in fact his own memories of the event, this canonically confirms it.
Of course, Palpatine’s original intent in mentioning his murder of his master was to entice a malleable and worried Anakin, distressed by his dreams of Padmé’s death, further to the dark side. He does so by hinting that Plagueis had managed to use the Force’s midi-chlorians to create life, suggesting that they could possibly build on those teaching together to save Padmé. However, this is clearly a happening that Palpatine enjoys rehashing, and he is unbothered by Anakin picking up on, the fact, it is a memory and not just a fable.
Lucasfilm also recently announced that their next series of essential Legends books rereleases will include James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis, so it is likely more will be explored in canon as well. This novel, though no longer considered canon, gives readers a history of Darth Plagueis, including his own adherence to the Sith Rule of Two by killing his own master, Darth Tenebrous, mirroring his own eventual death at the hands of his more ambitious apprentice. And though few true details are known about the upcoming Disney+ Star Wars series The Acolyte, there is speculation that it may introduce Darth Plagueis into live-action for the first time.
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