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

Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Acolyte episode 8.


Summary

  • Darth Plagueis made his live-action debut in The Acolyte, providing new insights into his life and connections in the Star Wars universe.
  • The Sith Lord Darth Plagueis, who was obsessed with immortality, trained with Darth Tenebrous and had a unique Sith protocol droid named 11-4D.
  • Darth Plagueis attempted to create a Force dyad with Darth Sidious, discovered the ability of Essence Transfer, and indirectly manipulated Anakin Skywalker towards the dark side.


Now that The Acolyte season 1 has finished its run, Darth Plagueis has made his debut in live action for the very first time. While he has made plenty of appearances in Star Wars Legends and has been mentioned in plenty of different texts that describe Darth Sidious, there are few stories that center around Darth Plagueis himself. This is a very exciting possibility for the future of The Acolyte, and hopefully he will make a greater appearance in an upcoming season.

Because he has not made many appearances, there is little known about the Sith’s life, at least in the official Star Wars canon. What his early life was like, how he met his master, and what he was doing during the High Republic Era is all shrouded in mystery. Listed below is everything that has been revealed so far about the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis.


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10 Darth Plagueis Was A Muun

The Muuns Hail From The Planet Scipio

Darth Plagueis is a member of the Muun species, a race not often seen in the Star Wars franchise. They are known for their elongated skulls and faces, as well as their often imposing and incredible heights. They hail from the planet Scipio, an icy planet located in the Outer Rim.

The Muun were known throughout the galaxy because of the fact they managed the InterGalactic Banking Clan. After first debuting in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, several Muun characters made appearances throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars, including the likes of Mak Plain and San Hill. Most notably, Senator Rush Clovis was adopted by a Muun family as a child.


9 He Was Trained By The Sith Lord Darth Tenebrous

And Killed Him In Accordance With The Rule Of Two

Before the training of arguably the most famous Sith of all time, Darth Sidious, Darth Plagueis was trained by the Sith Lord Darth Tenebrous. Although very little is known about Darth Tenebrous, it has been revealed that he was a member of the Bith species. It is also possible that he was the one who created the designs for the Scimitar, Darth Maul’s starship.

Despite the reality that the facts of his life are not something that has been revealed in canon, his death is something that has been well addressed. Darth Tenebrous was killed by his pupil in accordance with the Sith’s Rule of Two, allowing Darth Plagueis to take on a pupil of his own. While it is not yet clear whether The Stranger is an official Sith and a member of the Baneite line, it is certain that Darth Plagueis will have something to do with him and Osha Aniseya somewhere down the line.


Star Wars The Acolyte Darth Tenebrous and Qimir

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8 Darth Plagueis Had A Droid Called 11-4D

It Was A Dedicated Sith Protocol Droid

At some point during his life, Darth Plagueis acquired a protocol droid named 11-4D. This droid was unique, as not only did it have various tools equipped with its systems, but it also had several different arms as well. 11-4D assisted Darth Plagueis and later Darth Sidious in various tasks, including smaller tasks like the retrieval of holovids and larger ones such as overseeing the reconstruction of a Sith shrine for Darth Sidious.


11-4D has only made a single appearance in the franchise, described in James Luceno’s Tarkin novel. Because of this, any time the droid has been shown, it has been in the service of Darth Sidious, not Darth Plagueis. Now that Darth Plagueis has made his way to live action, it is possible that 11-4D could make the same jump later down the line.

7 Darth Plagueis Was Obsessed With Immortality

The Sith Was Desperate To Live Forever

Similarly to his pupil, Darth Plagueis was obsessed with the idea of living forever. He believed that the answer to living forever resided in science as opposed to faith, and because of this, much of his time spent with Darth Sidious was made up of experimenting. These experiments covered a variety of different things, including midi-chlorians.


It is likely that Darth Plagueis had such a strong desire to live forever due to the fact that this was one of the main desires of the Sith as a whole. The Sith were unable to accept the fact that death was a part of the cycle of life, as this was a main belief of the Jedi. This desire to live forever can most clearly be seen in Darth Sidious’ return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, where he is shown to have returned to life through extensive cloning and experiments.

6 Darth Plagueis Could Use The Force To Create Life

He Did This By Manipulating The Midi-chlorians In The Force


One of the most stunning reveals in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was that Anakin Skywalker did not have a biological father. Instead, he was born of the Force, something that seemed like nothing short of a miracle. However, it was implied in the comic book Darth Vader #25 (2017) that Darth Sidious was actually the one to influence the midi-chlorians in a way that created Anakin.

This is something that he would have learned from his master, Darth Plagueis, through their experiments in the Force. He says specifically that Darth Plagueis was capable of creating life when he tells the story of his master’s death to Anakin in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and their experiments would have led them to that point eventually. It is possible now that The Acolyte seems to be focusing on this aspect of Star Wars lore, and that the idea that started it all began with Osha and Mae Aniseya and their unique birth.

5 Darth Plagueis Tried To Create A Force Dyad With Darth Sidious

This Dyad Failed Where Rey And Kylo Ren’s Succeeded


In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, one of the most important things to happen is the joining of Rey and Kylo Ren in a Force Dyad. The two of them first believed that it was simply the Force that had brought the two of them together. It is later revealed that Supreme Leader Snoke, and by extension Darth Sidious, was the one to link the two of them together.

This Force Dyad stems from an experiment attempted by Darth Plagueis many decades before the beginning of the sequel trilogy. In Rae Carson’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition, it is revealed that this idea stems from the fact that Darth Plagueis attempted to do the very same thing with Darth Sidious and bind the two of them together in the Force. He was, however, unable to create that bond in the Force, but he laid the foundation for Darth Sidious to be successful in the future.


Star Wars dyad explained canon

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4 Darth Plagueis Discovered The Force Ability Of Essence Transfer

This Discovery Was Later Used By Darth Sidious

The Sith ability of Essence Transfer is a dark side ability that allows an individual to transfer their consciousness to another body. Ideally, this could go on indefinitely, allowing someone to functionally live forever. According to Marc Sumerak’s Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith, a book written from the perspective of Darth Sidious, this ability was discovered by Darth Plagueis as a result of his extensive experiments.


As is the case with many of Darth Plagueis’ discoveries, Darth Sidious used this ability in order to cheat death. After he was originally defeated by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi,Project Necromancer was quickly restarted. This allowed him to use the discoveries that Darth Plagueis had made in order to be brought to life once again.

3 Darth Plagueis Knew Of The Stranger And Osha

He Was On The Planet Where The Stranger Trained Osha

In a surprise appearance in The Acolyte finale, Darth Plagueis is shown to have been present during The Stranger’s time with Osha. After the two of them decide to make their way to Brendok, Darth Plagueis can be seen hiding away, having been listening to their conversation. Whether or not he is The Stranger’s master is currently unknown, though it certainly seems like the two of them have something to do with each other.


Because Darth Plagueis’ research and life’s work overlap so much with Osha’s birth, it is possible that she and Mae were the inspiration that led to the creation of Anakin Skywalker. It is known now that he knew of her and was present during her training, even if he was lurking in the shadows. With any luck, viewers will receive answers to this question and many more with The Acolyte season 2.

2 Darth Sidious Murdered His Master

Plagueis Trusted Sidious Despite The Rule Of Two

One thing that has been constant for the Sith throughout all of Star Wars is that there can only be two true Sith at a time. One Sith is meant to be the master while the other studies the way of the dark side from them. This eventually culminates in the pupil killing their master, completing what Darth Bane intended with the Rule of Two and allowing for another Sith to be trained.


Although Darth Plagueis knew this well enough, as he had once killed his own master, he still trusted Darth Sidious enough that he did not think he would kill him. This allowed for his guard to be down so much so that Darth Sidious killed him in his sleep, according to what he told Anakin. At some point, Darth Sidious had learned everything he needed to know from Darth Plagueis, and when he was no longer needed, he was killed.

1 The Tragedy Of Darth Plagueis The Wise Was Used To Manipulate Anakin Skywalker

His Story Helped To Turn Anakin To The Dark Side

In one especially notable moment in Revenge of the Sith, Darth Sidious, who is still acting as Chancellor Palpatine, tells Anakin Skywalker the story of his master’s death. Most importantly, he uses the fact that Darth Plagueis was able to manipulate life through the Force as a way to turn Anakin even further to the dark side. The reason he did this was because Anakin was having premonitions of the death of his wife, Padmé Amidala.


Because of this, Darth Plagueis has always been an important part of Star Wars through his legacy. This was one of the more important manipulations that brought Anakin to the dark side, causing him to obsess even further over Padmé’s death. Perhaps in the next season of The Acolyte, viewers will finally get the chance to know Darth Plagueis aside from how he has been portrayed by Darth Sidious.

All episodes of The Acolyte are now streaming on Disney+.

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