11 Things Star Wars Has Revealed About Darth Plagueis, Palpatine's Master

Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Acolyte episode 8.

Summary

• Darth Plagueis, the master of Palpatine, has officially entered Star Wars live-action in The Acolyte.
• Plagueis’ timeline is somewhat unclear, though The Acolyte has stretched it by a significant amount.
• Much of Plagueis’ Legends background has been made canon, and this could continue in future Star Wars stories.

Darth Plagueis, Palpatine (Darth Sidious)’s master, has finally made his live-action debut in Star Wars: The Acolyte, and here’s everything that Star Wars canon has revealed about the Sith Lord thus far. Plagueis’ backstory was first hinted at in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, with many hoping the upcoming Star Wars TV shows would reveal more. Most of Plagueis’ history is now Legends, relegating much of Plagueis’ story to a separate continuity. However, certain aspects of Plagueis’ story remain intact, and canon sources have continued to add more information about his role – including The Acolyte.

This includes a timeline of major events in Plagueis’ life, his relationship with Palpatine, and how his story ended. Though not as detailed as the Legends universe, these bits of information paint a clearer picture of an important character and add depth to Palpatine’s story. Palpatine was the true villain of the Skywalker saga – and may continue to be in upcoming Star Wars movies – but many of his plans trace back to Plagueis. Here are 11 things Star Wars has revealed about Darth Plagueis in canon and how they may shape his story going forward.

11 Plagueis’ Species

The species of Plagueis is one of the few elements of his character that have been revealed

Darth Plagueis’ live-action appearance in The Acolyte confirms that he was a Muun. George Lucas was the one who suggested that Plagueis was a Muun when creating the character, and author James Luceno chose to honor that in the novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis. This was confirmed to still be canon in the sourcebook Endless Vigil for the roleplaying game Star Wars: Force and Destiny.

Before The Acolyte, Plagueis had only been shown with a hood masking his face in Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith. The brief glimpse of him shown in the live-action Star Wars TV show is also somewhat shadowed, but it’s clear that he’s a Muun. There’s no doubt now that this is Plagueis’ species, creating the most perfectly eerie appearance for a character of Plagueis’ amount of menace.

10 Plagueis’ Age

Plagueis was alive during the High Republic era, which potentially makes him hundreds of years old

Darth Plagueis’ age has never been known for certain, not even in Star Wars Legends, though the latter approximated that he was born between 147 and 120 BBY – which is almost exactly 100 years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The Acolyte, however, has made this impossible. It’s now shown that Plagueis is completely grown around 132 BBY, when the show takes place.

This means Plagueis was likely born at some point during the High Republic era, the golden age of the Jedi and the Republic, and that he is at least a hundred years old by the time he dies by Palpatine’s hand. The Acolyte has certainly made Plagueis older than his Legends counterpart, but this isn’t a difficult adjustment to make. Seeing as species age differently in Star Wars, it’s very possible that Muun live to be much older than humans or other species are.

9 Plagueis’ Sith Master

The Master of Plagueis has also been confirmed in canon

Darth Tenebrous trained Plagueis in the ways of the Sith, and a certain clue hints that his canon history may be similar to Legends. Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon suggested that Tenebrous designed the Scimitar, Darth Maul’s starship in The Phantom Menace. This is in line with Tenebrous’ Legends history as a starship engineer.

Legends depicted Tenebrous as a male Bith named Rugess Nome, though it is unclear if this is still canon. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s Visual Dictionary did confirm that the 26th Legion of Palpatine’s Sith Eternal was named after Tenebrous. Tenebrous was neither seen nor mentioned in The Acolyte, which means Plageuis had likely already overthrown Tenebrous by the time of the Star Wars TV show.

These various canon references seem to confirm that Tenebrous trained Plagueis in the main Star Wars timeline.

8 When Palpatine Became Plagueis’ Apprentice

The forming of Master and Apprentice has been revealed

Star Wars canon has hinted that 65 BBY is when Palpatine became Plagueis’ apprentice in the timeline, making him roughly 19 years old. Star Wars: Timelines confirmed that Naboo’s plasma refinery complex was constructed in 65 BBY by a company owned by Damask, Darth Plagueis’ alter ego in Legends. Star Wars: Darth Plagueis originally had Damask meet Palpatine shortly after arriving on Naboo, meaning the same thing likely happened in canon.

Having Palpatine start his Sith journey at 19 years old also mirrors characters like Luke Skywalker and Rey beginning their Jedi quests at the same age. This made Palpatine the ideal age to tap into his full potential and also still fall victim to the Sith Lord’s manipulation. It’s still unknown exactly how long the two trained together, though this may be revealed later on.

7 When Plagueis Helped Palpatine Become Senator

Plagueis was instrumental in Palpatine’s rise to political power

With Palpatine representing Naboo and Plagueis advising him from the shadows, the two successfully engineered the Trade Federation blockade.

In addition to teaching Palpatine the ways of the Sith, Plagueis helped his apprentice cultivate skills as a politician, leading to Palpatine becoming Naboo’s senator in 52 BBY. This was revealed in Star Wars: Timelines, and it gave Palpatine a full twenty years to become a successful career politician. He was then able to carefully manipulate events behind the scenes to get what he wanted.

With Palpatine representing Naboo and Plagueis advising him from the shadows, the two successfully engineered the Trade Federation blockade. As presented in The Phantom Menace, this blockade became the inciting incident for what would eventually lead to Palpatine’s reign over the galaxy. The conflict ended with Palpatine’s ascendancy to the Chancellorship, his first step to eventually becoming Emperor.

6 Plagueis Could Manipulate The Midi-Chlorians

Plagueis held a power many considered to be unnatural and impossible

Though originally designed as a lie that Palpatine used to manipulate Anakin, Star Wars canon has confirmed that Plagueis could indeed manipulate the midi-chlorians. Plagueis’ study of the microscopic lifeforms gave him a greater understanding of the Force. This allowed him to save others from death and even induce the midi-chlorians to create life.

The Legends continuity even speculated that Plagueis’ tampering with the Force is how Anakin Skywalker was created, though this has never been officially confirmed. The Acolyte has teased that Plagueis may have learned how to do this from Mae and Osha, twins who were seemingly created by a Force vergence on Brendok. Despite his best efforts to extend his own life, Plagueis was ultimately unable to save himself, dying in his sleep at Palpatine’s hand.

5 Plagueis Was Obsessed With Becoming Immortal

The Dark Lord of the Sith had one true goal that eclipsed all others

The Sith’s main objective was to destroy the Jedi Order and bring an end to the Republic. Plagueis, however, was just as committed to achieving immortality for himself. Plagueis manipulated the midi-chlorians into preserving life because he thought it would enable him to discover the secret of extending his own life indefinitely.

He experimented with other dark side practices along the way, some of which would later benefit his apprentice. Plagueis gained a great deal of power through his studies, but he also feared that he would lose it, which eventually came true when Palpatine betrayed and killed his master. It can be assumed that his knowledge of Mae and Osha’s creation and existence became a source of his experimentation early on, though any potential follow-up in The Acolyte season 2 will have the final word on this.

Palpatine ironically inherited his Master’s goals, seeking to preserve his life long after the original trilogy.

4 Plagueis Attempted To Create A Force Dyad

The sequel trilogy’s Force Dyad stemmed from Plagueis himself

Palpatine immediately deduced that Rey and Ben Solo were a dyad in the Force because Plagueis had attempted to form his own. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – Expanded Edition by Rae Carson revealed that Plagueis tried creating a Force dyad with Palpatine. Later on, Palpatine attempted to forge a similar bond with Anakin, but neither were successful.

Plagueis’ obsession with becoming immortal explains why he would have attempted such a feat, seeking power like life itself. Palpatine eventually proved this when he stole the power of Rey and Ben’s bond to restore himself, though he was subsequently defeated by Rey. The connection between Mae and Osha in The Acolyte may have been an inspiration for this, as their shared consciousness seems to have created a natural Force Dyad on its own.

3 Palpatine Survived Because Of Plagueis

Palpatine’s Return of the Jedi survival was possible because of his Master

After falling to his apparent death, Palpatine survived by transferring his spirit into a clone body, a technique he learned from Plagueis. The Secrets of the Sith explained that Essence Transfer was one of the many abilities that Plagueis explored in his quest for immortality. Star Wars canon made clear that this is what Palpatine was referring to when he told Anakin and later Kylo Ren that “the dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.”

This, however, didn’t provide all the answers for Palpatine. The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Bad Batch have since revealed just how difficult it is to complete Force cloning, which is necessary for Palpatine to transfer his essence into another Force-sensitive body. Not only that, but Palpatine wanted to retain his same amount of power, which made this even more difficult to do – and is likely why Plagueis failed to succeed at this before Palpatine killed him.

2 When & Why Palpatine Killed Plagueis

Palpatine’s motivations for killing his Master have been revealed

The canon version of Plagueis’ murder has yet to be depicted in detail, but Star Wars has hinted at when and why Palpatine killed his master. The Secrets of the Sith includes a passage that implies Palpatine killed Plagueis during his rise in the Senate, but before becoming Chancellor. Palpatine shares the thoughts he has behind his master’s murder in this excerpt.

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 also ties into Palpatine’s motivation for killing Plagueis. He truly believed he had outlived his usefulness and set up Palpatine’s future sacrifice of any Sith that he no longer needed. This, conveniently, left Palpatine alone with the secret of potential immortality, which continued to be his own personal obsession.

1 Most Of Plagueis’ Legends History May Still Be Canon

Many of Star Wars Legends’ Plagueis stories are yet to be contradicted in canon

Only a few pieces of Plagueis’ story from Legends are canon, but this implies that most of it may have actually happened. Star Wars: Darth Plagueis is perhaps the most popular and acclaimed Star Wars book ever written. Later, it was re-released as part of the Essential Legends Collection.

It would make sense to keep one of the franchise’s most popular Legends stories relatively intact.

Damask Holdings on Naboo, the account of Palpatine’s plan before The Phantom Menace, and even Plagueis’ droid 11-4D all carry over from the Legends universe. It would make sense to keep one of the franchise’s most popular Legends stories relatively intact. This means that several elements revealed about Plagueis in Star Wars canon can be taken from his Legends stories, and that The Acolyte is only the start of this trend.

The Acolyte episode 8 is now streaming on Disney+.