Darth Plagueis lives! The finale of The Acolyte finally brings the iconic Muun Sith Lord back to Star Wars and presents him in live-action for the first time, even if just for a few seconds and shrouded in darkness. It’s a brief, but striking moment, as he watches Qimir (Manny Jacinto) and Osha (Amandla Stenberg) depart for the planet Brendok. Not much is known about him in canon, other than this and the tragedy that Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) tells Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. There is, however, there is a great story in the Legends continuity all about him and Darth Sidious: James Luceno‘s 2012 novel Darth Plagueis, which provides great insight into who Plagueis is, as well as what his intentions for the future are.

Darth Plagueis Has a Unique Take on the Rule of Two

By the time the novel begins, over a thousand years have passed since Darth Bane created the Rule of Two. Darth Plagueis is on Bal’demnic with his master, Darth Tenebrous, inspecting a cortosis mine the Bith has acquired as part of his plan to eventually go against the Jedi. When the cave they are in collapses, Plagueis seizes the opportunity to kill his master and become the dominant Sith in the galaxy. Tenebrous was rather mean to his apprentice and way too revering of the past, something Plagueis secretly never agreed with.

When Tenebrous dies, Plagueis had already been experimenting with midi-chlorian manipulation, and even tries to experiment on his master before he dies for good. His own plan has always been to master the secret to immortality and conquer death, thus becoming a Sith master forever. In this sense, he believes that the Rule of Two has become obsolete, a constraint that prevents the Sith from achieving their Grand Plan of galaxy domination — another of Darth Bane’s creations. To achieve this goal, Plagueis believes that he will need an apprentice. The idea, then, is that he and his apprentice indulge in eternal life together while ruling the galaxy forever.

Another important thing about Darth Plagueis is that, although a fully-fledged and powerful Sith, he thought the old doctrine of power and conflict was also obsolete. Plagueis has always been a being of science and knowledge, and the notion of people from the same group killing one another for power seems almost savage and alien to him, although he had to do it to his own master. Still, he believed that Darth Tenebrous would be the last of the old Sith that still followed the ancient dogmas. Of course, this doesn’t end well for Plagueis himself. Interestingly enough, though, Tenebrous himself broke the Rule of Two by training a secret apprentice, Darth Venamis, whom Plagueis also kills.

Plagueis Wants To Achieve Immortality Through Midi-chlorian Manipulation

Image via Lucasfilm

Love them or hate them, midi-chlorians exist in Star Wars, and they work perfectly in Darth Plagueis. They are microorganisms that “quantify” someone’s connection to the Force, and live inside their cells. In the novel, they are even described as “symbionts,” which is also how Torbin (Dean-Charles Chapman) talks about them when he is describing young Mae (Leah Brady) and Osha’s (Lauren Brady) m-count in The Acolyte. The more midi-chlorians live inside a being, the better they can assimilate the Force and grow powerful with it.

What Darth Plagueis studies in his novel is how to manipulate midi-chlorians to create and prolong life, as well as revive dead beings. This is because midi-chlorians are beings themselves, not part of any cellular structure. If humans and aliens of all species can be controlled and manipulated through the Force, it’s no different with midi-chlorians. The microorganisms, in turn, work as a conduit of the Force, keeping their host alive. Plagueis revives Darth Venamis multiple times during his research, for example, until the Bith’s organs literally can’t hold it anymore and his body ceases to work altogether.

Plagueis Sees No Difference Between His Public Persona and His Identity as a Sith

An interesting thing about Sith Lords and Dark Side users in Star Wars movies is how they are perceived through different personas, like Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader (James Earl Jones), or Ben Solo and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Palpatine himself may have a public persona, but he doesn’t have separate personalities. This comes from Darth Plagueis, who also had a public persona. For both of them, though, those are merely tools to achieve their goals as Sith Lords, not ways of denying a previous identity.

Plagueis operates officially as Hego Damask, an entrepreneur from Muunilinst who owns the huge Damask Holdings. It’s through business that Plagueis gathers his political capital, given his connections with the Banking Clan and Trade Federation, both of whom have representatives in the Galactic Senate. The incident on Bal’demnic, for example, was supposedly an assassination attempt led by a rival conglomerate, but Plagueis soon turns it in his favor by acquiring a vein of plasma on Naboo. This is when he comes into contact with Palpatine, who then is a young politician who leaks confidential information to him.

Palpatine comes from an influential family on Naboo, but they have diverging views on whether the planet should become more active in the galactic system, or remain an isolationist system. Eventually, with Plagueis as his mentor, Palpatine kills all of his own family, setting in motion the events that would culminate with him becoming Naboo’s representative in the Senate, and the election of young Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) as queen. Palpatine retains his public persona, but, like his master, acts only for the benefit of his own plans, which he keeps secret from Plagueis.

Together With Palpatine, Plagueis Sets in Motion the Events That Start the Clone Wars

The story of Darth Plagueis spans decades, and ends well into the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Plagueis is aware that Palpatine has an apprentice of his own in Darth Maul (Ray Park), but doesn’t worry about it, as he knows the Zabrak isn’t powerful enough to go against the Jedi in his way. During the Battle of Naboo, the Senate elects Palpatine as its new Chancellor, paving the way for Plagueis and him to rule the galaxy together forever, as per his own take on the Grand Plan.

Plagueis and Palpatine’s influence is at an all-time high; Palpatine sees in Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) an influential ally for them, while Plagueis influences Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas to come up with the idea for a clone army for the Republic. This is in line with the Sith’s own plans to conquer death, essence transfer being a viable alternative (or even complement) to midi-chlorian manipulation. In the years previous to this, however, Plagueis had also grown paranoid. The nature of his research and successive business-related assassination attempts made him more afraid than ever for his own life, to the point where he completely renounced sleep. His deep dive into the dark side contributed a lot in this sense, and when Plagueis learns of the existence of Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), he is sure the boy was created by the Force to compensate for his and Palpatine’s meddling with the dark side.

After the election, however, Palpatine meets Plagueis in his luxurious Coruscant apartment and makes sure his master is relaxed and inebriated enough to fall asleep without noticing. By then, Palpatine is sure that Plagueis has already mastered the secret to immortality, but he hasn’t. Plagueis, who always deemed Sith dogma such an outdated practice, is killed by an apprentice who took the time to learn and act on it. If Darth Plagueis is anything to go by, Qimir and Osha are in for a lot of trouble with Plagueis, whose reign seems to be just beginning.

The Acolyte is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

Plagueis and Palpatine’s influence is at an all-time high; Palpatine sees in Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) an influential ally for them, while Plagueis influences Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas to come up with the idea for a clone army for the Republic. This is in line with the Sith’s own plans to conquer death, essence transfer being a viable alternative (or even complement) to midi-chlorian manipulation. In the years previous to this, however, Plagueis had also grown paranoid. The nature of his research and successive business-related assassination attempts made him more afraid than ever for his own life, to the point where he completely renounced sleep. His deep dive into the dark side contributed a lot in this sense, and when Plagueis learns of the existence of Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), he is sure the boy was created by the Force to compensate for his and Palpatine’s meddling with the dark side.