When we last left off, a little light was shed on the beginnings of Palpatine and the earliest formation of his grand scheme to conquer the galaxy and destroy the Jedi. He realized that a path of political power was the key to rise: only by combining that power with the Dark Side could he hope to succeed. Much like the tyrants of old, he would be legitimately elected, and then with the power foolishly given up to him would he be able to reveal his true Sith nature.

But his decades-long plan could not come to a head just yet. Until Palpatine removed his master, his dreams of power were but delusions of grandeur. As is the way of the Sith, Palpatine had to strike down Plagueis and become the Sith Lord himself. Like all Sith apprentices before him, he waited until his power increased and his master's power waned; then the moment of truth would be realized.

Yet, this begs the question: who exactly was Darth Plagueis, and what can we derive from what little information exists?

There actually is much we can learn about Plagueis, more than most fans realize. First, let me present Palpatine's tale to Anakin, word for word:

Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? No? 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.... He had such a knowledge of the dark side he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.

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. How ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself.

Just from this tale we can infer much. Firstly, Palpatine lied in his seduction of Anakin. This is no "Sith legend". It is the true account of Palpatine and his Master. It also teaches us much about the nature of the Force, as Luke Skywalker himself once spoke. No ability is inherently evil, it is the use to which it is put that is evil. Plagueis indeed had the ability to extend and create life, an ability seemingly closer in line with the light side. Yet, this was not a true immortality, it was a technique closer to the artificial, an unnatural prolonging of life, much like the abilities of the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings. Life could be extended, yet in an accursed, unnatural way. Plagueis' name itself can even support this, for a "plague" can suggest this artificial technique: life through the Dark Side.

One can only wonder what the physical appearance of Plagueis was: perhaps the pale and sickly look of one who has drawn too much on Dark Side power, which many Sith masters have exhibited. The prolonging of life must have required a constant draw on Dark Side energy, so great a draw that this could have been Plagueis' undoing: he had to draw so greatly and constantly on this power, that he eventually lost it. The Dark Side is quicker, easier, but not always right. This technique was flawed and not the true path to immortality.

Qui-Gon Jinn, of whom we will speak of in much greater detail in further installments, learned the true secret of immortality: not through greed for life, but through compassion. Only then is immortality through the Force possible. Plagueis' technique was goof for only so long, a quicker and inevitably temporary power.

Palpatine lied about another thing as well: he did not have Plagueis' ability to create life. One wonders why he did not try and learn this ability before he killed his Master. Perhaps when he lost his power he could not teach it. Perhaps it was an ability that could not be learned through teachings, but had to be achieved by the individual. Whatever the case may be, it seems that Palpatine at least learned a method to perpetuate himself and keep him strong. At his death he was approaching 90, and his powers were still great. It can be surmised that a sheer Dark Side willpower combined with at least some semblance of this technique enabled Palpatine to remain. Some have speculated that Palpatine used cloning to keep and endless string of bodies and transfer his mind to them through the Dark Side, but this apparently is discounted. That pre-prequel EU notion doesn't really fit into the modern view of Palpatine and it conflicts with the nature of his post-ROTS Dark Side appearance.

Perhaps the most controversial, debatable, and intriguing aspect of this period is the theory of the creation of Anakin by Plagueis. This has been hinted at and outright stated in several current EU sources, including The New Essential Chronology, Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, and Darth Vader: The Ultimate Guide. This would fit in line quite well, as Anakin was born nine years before TPM roughly in the year 41 BBY (Before The Battle of Yavin). Since Palpatine was elected Senator in 52 BBY, this would mean that Plagueis was still alive when Palpatine was beginning his rise to power.

It has been written that Plagueis, much like Palpatine after him, sensed the time had come for him to take a new apprentice and replace Sidious before he grew too powerful or betrayed him. Therefore, Plagueis created Anakin within Shmi through midi-chlorian influence alone, thus falling in line with Qui-Gon's belief that Anakin had been conceived by midi-chlorians. But sometime afterwards, Plagueis lost his power. That was why he had to teach Palpatine everything he knew, though for whatever reason, Palpatine learned everything but could not achieve Plagueis' power over life. Though this was Plagueis' undoing, he knew he could not let the Sith die and had no choice but to impart his knowledge on Palpatine despite the risks.

His power sapped, and the earliest stages of Palpatine's plan in motion, Plagueis was killed in his sleep. And so it was that Darth Sidious became the sole Dark Lord of the Sith. The time was fast approaching for him to shake the galaxy.

But let me briefly touch on one more thing: perhaps Palpatine was unable to fully learn to create life, (though he managed to prolong it) because it was the will of the Force that Plagueis alone learned that ability. Perhaps Qui-Gon was right: The will of the Force caused Plagueis to learn this power and the Force used him as a conduit to manipulate midi-chlorians into creating the Chosen One. Anakin was born by the will of the Force, and the will acted through Plagueis! More on this in future installments.....



Next Time: Part III: Power Of The Dark Side, Power Of Politics

We will backpedal a little, and look at Palpatine's political rise to power and his schemes in the years before TPM, as well as his own search for an apprentice...........