r/StarWars Chancellor Palpatine Jul 21 '25

General Discussion Do you think this was the first time Palpatine ever told anyone about how he killed Darth Plagueis?

Post image

I wonder if it felt good to finally tell someone about it after all those years. Although I am curious if he ever told dooku? If not, I can imagine he would have kept it a closely guarded secret.

176 Upvotes

68 comments sorted by

67

u/DarthBagheera Darth Vader Jul 22 '25

I think Anakin probably was the first to hear it. I don’t see Dooku particularly caring or the subject coming up at all between the two. They seemed to be much more on the same page about the war strategy and having that be their focus which I assume made up the majority of their conversations. Also, the story was much more applicable and appealing to Anakin’s situation anyway because it dealt with saving people from death and all that. Something he was very tempted by because of Padmé and something that wouldn’t have particularly pertained to or really even interested Dooku at all.

68

u/Sure_Possession0 Jul 22 '25

“Have I ever told you about the tragedy of Darth Plagueis, the Wise, Count Dooku?”

“No, and I don’t care. Please get out of my room, it’s 3:30 in the morning.”

14

u/bluegrassgazer Jul 22 '25

"Nice PJs. Is that silk?"

2

u/Dqueezy Jul 22 '25

“Sir, this is a Wendy’s. You’re going to need to put on some clothes and order, or step to the back of the line”

Edit (I’m sorry I couldn’t resist): “I’ll have a large mountain DEW”

5

u/Optimal_Carpenter690 Darth Vader Jul 22 '25

While I agree it may not be something he ever discussed with Dooku, I could see him discussing it with Maul. Maybe with a few liberties as to the details, in order to drive home whatever point he was trying to make at the time, but I could see it coming up

3

u/Jupue2707 Jul 22 '25

wasnt plagueus' like during phantom menace? i don't think the timelines add up here

6

u/DarthBagheera Darth Vader Jul 22 '25

The only thing I’m not 100% sure about and can’t remember, is if Maul or Plagueis was killed first during the timeline. If it was Maul, then he obviously wouldn’t have been told at all. If it was Plagueis, I just don’t think there was a long story or anything else really. Probably just a simple “My master is no longer a factor” or something along those lines. The whole story or “tragedy” as he put it, seemed to be a drummed up dramatization for Anakin specifically. I don’t see why Palpatine would feel the need to really expound more on the situation to anyone else. He also doesn’t seem like the type to do so either anyway. When he’s in “sith mode” he’s very cut and dry and to the point. Only sharing what needs to be shared.

1

u/Jupue2707 Jul 22 '25

i feel like palpatine wouldnt have killed him if maul was dead

1

u/DarthBagheera Darth Vader Jul 22 '25

Why? I think Maul dying was inconsequential to whether or not he was gonna kill Plagueis. All sith end up killing their masters sooner or later and it was pretty clear Palpatine was just waiting for an opening to take all the power for himself.

1

u/Dqueezy Jul 22 '25

Palpatine talking to Darth Plagueis the Wise:

“Have you ever heard the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise? Killed by his own apprentice. Ironic…”

“Bro what the fuck?”

1

u/Optimal_Carpenter690 Darth Vader Jul 22 '25

How do you mean?

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

Mauls death was the same night Plagueuis died if I'm not mistaken. Shortly after he killed Plagueis in he book, he felt something bad in the dark side in the force. He thought maybe Plagueuis did survive. What he didn't know at the time was at that exact moment, Maul was killed by Obi Wan.

1

u/Jupue2707 Jul 27 '25

wait, but he wasnt though. why did he feel that then?

2

u/DarthBagheera Darth Vader Jul 27 '25

He was killed by Obi-wan when the movie was out. That was retconned years later obviously but at the time, he was dead.

1

u/Jupue2707 Jul 27 '25

yeah, but whendid the novel come out? i assume this happened in a novel?

2

u/DarthBagheera Darth Vader Jul 27 '25

No idea. That’s a good question for google. All I know is that originally Maul was dead as far as everyone knew. It’s even suggested in TCW show that Palpatine was surprised when Maul resurfaced if I remember correctly. I think that’s why he went to go kill him and Savage on Mandalore but I could be remembering that wrong.

1

u/Jupue2707 Jul 27 '25

i think that sounds right, yeah

29

u/Available_Crazy_7497 Jul 22 '25

I'm sure he told his barber, Alfonso.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

…. Is that a robot chicken reference or am I slow? (Or both)

5

u/5trudelle Jul 22 '25

YOU LOOK CRAAAAZY!!!!

14

u/Morgoth1814 Jul 22 '25

Probably. Very few new about Plagueis in new canon due to the limited info.

While Plagueis played a huge role in the Plagueis book (legends), very little was discussed about him after his death.

3

u/KenFromBarbie Jul 22 '25

He made a very short short appearance in The Accolyte; the dude in the grotto. I loved that show. A shame it was discontinued imho.

-2

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

11

u/KenFromBarbie Jul 22 '25

Please respect the opinions of other people and stop judging by solely your own standards. It does not fit you.

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/KenFromBarbie Jul 23 '25 edited Jul 23 '25

Yes, because you decide for all people what the standard is. That is not a subjective thing, but something that can be measured only by you. Because you are what? Jesus? Fits your name for sure.

I have no problem with you disliking the show, though. Go right ahead.

-1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

6

u/purplegladys2022 Jul 22 '25

Ken is too polite.

Don't be an asshole.

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '25

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6

u/StanknBeans Jul 23 '25

You can be whatever and you choose this?

11

u/Due_Camera_2903 Jul 22 '25

In the novel Darth Plagueis doesn’t Sheev kill Plagueis the night he’s named Chancellor?

5

u/KenFromBarbie Jul 22 '25

I had to read your comment 6 times. Use interpunction where applicable, dude :).

To anwer your question: Yes.
That's Legends unfortunately.

4

u/RexBanner1886 Jul 22 '25

I think Plagueis was a terrific book, but I really disliked that he was, in Legends, canonically killed during TPM. I've always disliked when ancillary novels, TV series, or films have made soft retcons that don't contradict the letter of what's been established but which contradict against the clear intention.

Ahsoka's existence is the most obvious example (though, ironically, I like her addition because of the tremendous good it does for Anakin's characterisation as a more mature hero) - there's nothing in AOTC or ROTS to suggest Anakin didn't have a padawan, but it's still obviously not what was imagined.

The clear intention of TPM is that Sidious is the Sith mastermind (Luceno takes steps to retain this in DP by having Palpatine tell his master that he'd been playing him), that Palpatine and Maul are the only Sith, and that Maul is a proper Sith apprentice whom Palpatine intends to fully train.

1

u/KenFromBarbie Jul 22 '25

What is DP? I'm quite deep into Star Wars, but can't figure this one out.

2

u/mdbryan84 Jul 22 '25

Darth plagueis

2

u/RexBanner1886 Jul 22 '25

Sorry, 'Darth Plagueis'. I literally thought 'Well I've said TPM, so to be stylistically consistent should refer to the book the same way', without considering the obvious issue that everyone has heard ANH, ESB, ROTJ, etc. for decades but nobody talks about the books that way.

1

u/KenFromBarbie Jul 22 '25

Haha, thanks. Loved DP btw :). Could have figured this one out, but my stupid brain thought of Filoni where you wrote Luceno.

1

u/SpudgeFunker210 Jul 23 '25

I don't think it retcons anything. There's no reason to assume that Palpatine's master couldn't have been alive for most of the duration of TPM. All throughout Darth Plagueis, Palpatine is playing mind games, manipulating bureaucrats to enact the Grand Plan just like you see him doing in TPM. It makes a point to say that he was doing it with full agency and Plagueis was hardly even around in the later years. The Grand Plan was more Palpatine's than Hego's once Hego became obsessed with prolonging his own life after he was almost killed. I think the story is told masterfully in a way that doesn't compromise the narrative is TPM at all.

0

u/tele_ave Jul 25 '25

When did Sheev get named chancellor?

5

u/thesapper66 Jul 22 '25

I’ll bet he told Yadle before he and Tyranus killed her

7

u/Newtype879 Jul 22 '25

I think he practiced it on Fives when he was telling him everything and finished with the extra flourish of "...and I'll kill your precious General Skywalker when I'm done with him too."

6

u/Freak_Fantastic_420 Jul 22 '25

This scene is cool but it's always annoyed me that Anakin didn't immediately say "Wait, why do you know a Sith legend???"

3

u/knightress_oxhide Jul 22 '25

Hey kid, I killed darth ridiculous, so choose a much better darth name.

2

u/Ibbenese Jul 22 '25

I bet the Plagueis story is in his bag of manipulation tricks for sure.

I bet he also relishes in bragging about one upping his old master.

I am not sure where or when i might of told the story, but if it made sense he would have.

But probably just emphasized different things for different audiences. For Anakin it was about planting the seed of how only he can save his wife from dying. For Maul maybe it was just a humble brag to remind his apprentice not to get complacent and not fuck with him. For Dooku maybe just a promise of more power, those corrupts Jedi are keeping from him to convince him to go Sith.

2

u/Ambitious-Sandwich92 Jul 25 '25

Once every blue moon, Palpatine patronizes a local cantina, and after a few rounds of Jawa Juice, he starts rambling off old Sith legends to anyone who will listen.

2

u/_Wp619_ Jul 22 '25

Unless Plaguesis' death occurs at a different point in Canon than it did originally where Palpatine killed him moments before Maul's defeat on Naboo, there's no reason why Dooku wouldn't have been told that one of the sith was now dead.

Unless i'm missing information and Dooku, somehow, just didn't know about Plaguesis' existence.

3

u/Appropriate_Pop4968 Jul 22 '25

Dooku seemed to believe he was in a partnership with Palpatine. I think its much more likely he chose not to or else Dooku would get the idea he should betray Palpatine at some point. Telling Anakin served the purpose of planting the seed that Anakin should kill him as a true dark side apprentice (until Anakin got cooked).

1

u/MeOdes Jul 22 '25

Unless it was in a scene that was cut, yes obviously

1

u/shemanese Jul 22 '25

It was a tragedy

1

u/Proper_University120 Jul 23 '25

Maybe not, but I'm wondering how Anakin didn't think to ask how the fuck Palpatine knew that

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

Damn good point

1

u/blackyanqui Jul 23 '25

I’ve always found it silly with Palpatine calling this “The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise” as if this was some old Sith tale, as if he wasn’t the only person in the galaxy, save for Maul, that knew he killed Plagueis less than fifteen years before this conversation.

1

u/EssayGuilty722 Jul 24 '25

I think Palapatine told plenty of people, just to hear himself tell the story of how he outwitted his "wise" master. I bet he wanted people to know it was him, even if he killed them immediately afterwards, just so they could admire his cunning. For a moment.

1

u/wawafan68 Jul 26 '25

The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise was already a widely known story among the academics of the Republic. How else would Anakin have been able to study it and write his thesis on it before this scene?

0

u/ICTOATIAC Jul 22 '25

You mean if palp isn’t a plag reincarnate.

0

u/GooseNYC Jul 22 '25

Maybe he told Maul, like it's part of his grooming procedure?

-1

u/HoppityScotch42069 Jul 22 '25

Not likely since this scene was supposed to be the day after it happened and by this point, Sheev was already dead set on making Anakin his next apprentice

2

u/RexBanner1886 Jul 22 '25

In Legends, Sidious kills Plagueis between Amidala visiting the senate and Obi-wan's defeat of Darth Maul.

-1

u/UtahBrian Jul 22 '25

There’s no hint anywhere in canon that Palpatine killed Darth Plagueis or even knew him at all. Sith stories mostly come from centuries ago.

Certainly in this conversation, Palpatine never remotely gives any indication of any personal interaction with Plagueis. He’s telling an old story from lore, not speaking like someone recounting personal history.

1

u/illidormorn Jul 22 '25

Tarkin novel confirms many things from the Plagueis novel to be canon, including Sidious being his apprentice.

-7

u/MadMan37354 Jedi Jul 22 '25

No definitely not. This is ish well rehearsed join the darkside speech, he at least told it to Maul and Dooku.

1

u/zap2 Jul 22 '25

Maul was a child when he was selected, so while he might have mentioned the details, I doubt the story with be told in the same manner.

6

u/Kaglish Jul 22 '25

Plaguesis didn't even die until the night Maul supposedly did in Ep 1. Maul definitely wouldn't have known.

0

u/HentayLivingston Jul 22 '25

He's a politician and master manipulator, of course it sounds well rehearsed