'Star Wars' Reveals First Official Images of Darth Plagueis The Wise

Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? If you are a Star Wars fan or a fan of prequel memes you certainly have. The iconic scene from Revenge of the Sith, in which Sidious uses a story of his master's power to seduce Anakin Skywalker to the dark side, has spawned numerous other stories detailing the lore of the Sith. Chief among these is James Luceno's novel Darth Plagueis which tells the story of the Muun Sith Lord meeting his apprentice, Sheev Palpatine and continuing the Sith Grand Plan, set forth by Darth Bane a millennia before the rise of the Empire. This lineage of Bane is detailed and expounded upon in the new book; Secrets of the Sith.

While Luceno's novel is widely acclaimed by Star Wars fans as a faithful prelude (and briefly concurrent) story to Phantom Menace it was unfortunately relegated to the non-canon "Legends" category when Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012. While Plagueis and other novels were never officially cannon, the firm classification of their stories and events as outside the Skywalker Saga was a disappointment to many fans. Excluding Luceno's novel from the primary movie storyline left Darth Plagueis the Wise as a bit of a mystery to fans. Fortunately, with books like Secrets of the Sith and the upcoming Acolyte Disney+ series, more may become known about "secrets only the Sith knew". For now, we will have to be satisfied with the first canon image of Darth Plagueis.

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Secrets of the Sith reads like a tome of the dark side, assisting Dark Lords in the instruction of new students, apparently written by Darth Sidious himself. With Palpatine as the narrator, there is no telling what darkness could be held within these pages. The book also appears to be full of detailed and creative illustrations of the servants of the dark side. In one such illustration, Palpatine details the Force Dyad, a rare link connecting two powerful Force-sensitives, in this case, Kylo Ren and Rey. The image (which can be seen below) shows the succession of power from a Sith Lord to their apprentice, keeping with Darth Bane's "Rule of Two". With this in mind, there is only one possible identity for the mysterious hooded figure looming behind Emperor Palpatine; Darth Plagueis.

It is somewhat curious that the book doesn't give us a more detailed look at the Sith Lord, especially given the rich lore surrounding Plagueis. As a Muun, Plagueis sported many distinct features that would have made him unmistakable in this illustration, even before his jaw was taken by a Maladian assassin's blade. The pale, pinkish skin of a Muun and tall, domed head would have been telltale signs, not only that this was indeed Plagueis, but that Lucasfilm was honoring the Legends vision of the character. This may not be in the cards, however, as Lucasfilm has not been shy about taking inspiration from, but moving in an altogether different direction than the Expanded Universe content.

While "the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise" will continue to be an iconic part of the universe, we may be in for a long wait before we learn more about the man (or Muun) behind the midi-chlorians. Star Wars has been the champion of the slow-burn with recent projects, building up hype and excitement before a big reveal or story moment. Here's hoping that this shadowy, secretive, silhouette is a harbinger of bigger Plagueis reveals to come.

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Written by Weston Erickson

Source: The Direct

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