Darth Plagueis

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Darth Plagueis
Star Wars character
Darth Plagueis
Portrayed by	N/A

Position	Dark Lord of the Sith
Homeworld	Unknown
Species	Muun
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Order of the Sith Lords

Darth Plagueis (the Wise) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, who is mentioned in passing during Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Plagueis also appears in Expanded Universe material.

1 History
2 Philosophy
3 References
4 External links

[edit] History

Darth Plagueis was a Sith Lord who, according to legend, had discovered a way to manipulate midi-chlorians to prevent death and create life. However, his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Although it is never officially stated in the cinematic release of Revenge of the Sith that Plagueis was Darth Sidious' master, the official Star Wars Databank characterizes him as such. This information is included in the film's novelization, in which Sidious says, "Darth Plagueis was my master... before I killed him." It is also mentioned in the Star Wars novels Labyrinth of Evil and Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader. "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise", as related by Palpatine, is the only example of in-universe literature contained within the six Star Wars films.

In Revenge of the Sith, Sidious, in his civilian appearance as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, recounts Plagueis' story to Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker in order to lure him further toward the power of the dark side of the Force. Palpatine's explanation of Plagueis's power to Anakin was as follows:

“

Palpatine: Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?
Anakin Skywalker: No.
Palpatine: I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life [Palpatine looks at Anakin]... He had such a knowledge of the dark side he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.
Anakin Skywalker: He could actually save people from death?
Palpatine: The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be... unnatural.
Anakin Skywalker: What happened to him?
Palpatine: He became so powerful the only thing he was afraid of was...losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic; he could save others from death, but not himself.
Anakin Skywalker: Is it possible to learn this power?
Palpatine: ...Not from a Jedi.

”

There is no dispute that Sidious claims this as a Sith Lord power (requiring sufficient wisdom and mastery); the dispute is whether Sidious was speaking truthfully that his master, Darth Plagueis, actually possessed this power, or whether Sidious lied in order to seduce Anakin to the dark side. If Darth Plagueis did have this power, many Expanded Universe sources have suggested it is possible Plagueis created Anakin in this fashion in the womb of Shmi Skywalker, and that Sidious was aware of Anakin's conception. This would explain how Anakin could have been born of a virgin, how Anakin had the highest midi-chlorian count ever recorded, and how and why Sidious/Palpatine took an interest in the boy the moment they met. If this ability does exist, as some Expanded Universe material implies, it is the only Sith Lord ability and Dark Side power that is arguably "good", and can result in positive consequences, as it can be used to keep "those [the Sith Lord] cared about" from dying (if indeed a Sith Lord is capable of caring for anyone). However, considering it is essentially necromancy, and thus an interruption of the natural flow of the Force, it is arguable this power is still within the bounds of the Dark Side. If this power is real, it is ironic that the dark side of the Force, so often used to take life, can be used to both create life and sustain it. According to Sidious, Darth Plagueis was the only Sith Lord with the wisdom, knowledge, and power to (fully) master this ability.

Despite Palaptine's claim that Plagueis taught his apprentice everything he knew, this was later proven to be false. Upon ordaining Anakin as Darth Vader, Sidious admitted that to cheat death was "a power only one has achieved," explicitly stating that Plagueis had not imparted this knowledge to his apprentice. In the Revenge of the Sith novelization Sidious contemplates these matters after rescuing the horribly injured Vader, ruminating that it was quite possible that he would never be able to discover the secret of conjuring life from nothing. This was one of the primary reasons that Sidious did not leave his fledgling apprentice to die on Mustafar; maimed though he was, it would have been virtually impossible to find another apprentice half as powerful as Vader.

[edit] Philosophy

In the Expanded Universe novel Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, a "sequel" to Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine muses on Plagueis' philosophy of the Force (he also explicitly identifies the late Sith Lord as his former master). Plagueis' philosophy is recounted as follows:

“

Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you. Tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know what I must force you to face. Tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you. And tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you.

”

This quote is very much the same struggle that Jacen Solo goes through in his transformation into Darth Caedus. As told from the decyphering of the Sith Knotted History Relic.