The TRAGEDY of DARTH PLAGUEIS THE WISE: The Murder of a SITH Master | Star Wars Legends Explained

The TRAGEDY of DARTH PLAGUEIS THE WISE -The Murder of a SITH Master -The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise was a "Sith Legend" that was shared with Anakin Skywalker by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, who was secretly Darth Sidious. The tale told that Darth Plagueis, Sidious' Sith Master was so powerful and so wise that he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life—which Plagueis could in fact do, and even save others from death, which he proved by killing and bringing back to life his own master's secret apprentice, Darth Venamis. The tale also told that the only thing Plagueis was afraid of was losing his power, which he ultimately did, as he attempted to end Darth Bane's Rule of Two and make his apprentice, Sidious and himself immortal through his experimentation with the midi-chlorians. Plagueis trusted his apprentice and thought Palpatine wouldn't assassinate him as they shared a "bond", however, the Dark Side of the Force told the—at that time senator of Naboo—senator to take his place as the ruling Sith Lord, which he did as he tortured Plagueis and ultimately killed the Muun. According to Palpatine, what made it a tragedy was the irony that he could not save himself from his death, despite being able to save others. When Palpatine told this story to Skywalker, Skywalker countered that it was only a tragedy for Plagueis, and for the apprentice it was a happy ending. Palpatine later revealed that he was the unnamed apprentice, and that Plagueis' ability had been real. This was one of the steps towards turning Skywalker to the dark side of the Force. The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise was a so-called "Sith legend" that recounted the murder of Darth Plagueis by the hand of his own apprentice, Darth Sidious. Toward the end of the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine recounted that tale to the troubled Jedi Anakin Skywalker in his private box at the Galaxies Opera House in hopes of luring him to the dark side of the Force. In fact, Palpatine was none other than the public persona of Darth Sidious, and he only framed the tale of Plagueis' murder as an old legend so as to avoid suspicion when in reality, he had only recently murdered his master. Darth Plagueis-also known as Darth Plagueis The Wise-was a Dark Lord of the Sith who was trained by the Sith Master Darth Tenebrous. Darth Plagueis was master to the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, aka Sheev Palpatine-who want on to become chancellor of the Republic, before toppling both the Jedi Order and Republic and leading the Galactic Empire as Emperor. Darth Plagueis and Palpatine—who took the Sith moniker Darth Sidious—worked together for years, as Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious tried to unlock the secrets of immortality. While training Sidious, Darth Plagueis taught him that two Sith were required for their perilous machinations. So, if they worked together in accordance to the Rule of Two, with one of them serving as a bait for the dark side of the Force and the other as a vessel, they would succeed in acquiring the ability to harness the full power of the dark side. Darth Plagueis conducted research into bioengineering and experimenting with his ability to influence the midi-chlorians to create life and to execute the Sith Order's long-percolating plan of supplanting the Galactic Republic with a new Sith Empire. In doing so, Darth Plagueis acquired considerable knowledge of the Force and the dark side. Under the tutelage of Darth Plagueis, Darth Sidious was appointed to the Galactic Senate as the Senator of Naboo. And as Sidious played the part of Galactic Senator, Darth Plagueis was still teaching him the ways of the dark side of the force, in accordance with the Sith Rule of Two philosophy. Darth Plagueis, remembered as Darth Plagueis the Wise, was a male Muun Dark Lord of the Sith and heir to the lineage of Darth Bane.

"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. He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."
―Palpatine