Could the Most Legendary Star Wars Sith Lord Finally Make a Live-Action Appearance in The Acolyte? (2024)

Although there have been plenty of Star Wars entries within the past year, including The Mandalorian Season 3, Ahsoka, The Bad Batch Season 3, and Tales of the Empire, the newest Disney+ series, The Acolyte feels like one of the biggest "event" programs for the series in a long time. Unlike the other entries in the franchise, this will not occur between the Skywalker Saga events but instead will take place 100 years before the first film, Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace. The Acolyte will take place during the High Republic era, a new era of the franchise that began in 2021 as a publication line that included novels and comics.

Since it will be set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace and is said to be focused on the viewpoint of dark side characters, particularly the Sith, many fans have started to theorize that the series could introduce a character only mentioned as a legend within the film and the Star Wars canon: Darth Plagueis the wise, the master of Sheev Palpatine/Darth Sidious who would later become known as the Emperor. Here is how Darth Plagueis could appear in The Acolyte and why we think it seems like a sure thing.

Who Is Darth Plagueis in Star Wars Lore?

The tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. It's not a story the Jedi would tell. It's a Sith legend. These are the inciting words Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Palpatine tells Anakin that he was a dark lord of the Sith that was so powerful that not only could he influence the midi-chlorians (microscopic lifeforms that allow the Jedi to communicate with the Force), but his knowledge of the dark side led to abilities some considered unnatural, including the ability to keep those from dying. These are all meant to attract Anakin to join the dark side, as Anakin knows the midi-chlorians conceived him and wants to prevent his wife Padme from dying after having visions of her dying in childbirth.

Palpatine tells Anakin that Plagueis taught his apprentice everything he knew, which then resulted in the apprentice killing his master in his sleep. Plagueis could stop others from dying, but not himself. While he doesn't say it outright, it is clear the apprentice in question is Palpatine himself, and this so-called legend is a relatively recent event. It is worth noting that in The Phantom Menace, Palpatine is about 52 years old, which means he was not born by the time of The Acoloyte, but his former master might have been.

Plagueis's story was expanded upon further in the novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, written by James Luceno and published on January 10, 2012, just one month before The Phantom Menace would be re-released in theaters in 3D and nine months before Disney would buy Lucasfilm. In 2014, Lucasfilm rebranded most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the first Star Wars as Legends and made them non-canon to the franchise, but previous legends characters like Admiral Thrawn have been made canon, so elements from Plagueis's backstory could be pulled from for the series. What is worth noting is the novel takes place in the later part of Plagueis's life, 50 years before The Phantom Menace, which would then be 50 years after The Acolyte, so elements could still be in play.

Plagueis is revealed to be a Muun, a species of alien first introduced in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones that is commonly associated with the banking clan. He overthrows his master, Darth Tenebrous, and finds his own apprentice, Palpatine. He begins his plans to overthrow the Republic, a plan he will not live to see, but his apprentice will carry over. The novel received positive reviews from critics, and with The Acolyte showrunner Leslye Headland being both a major Star Wars fan and the prequels in particular, there is a good chance she could incorporate many elements of canon into the story.

The Acolyte Might Show a Young Plagueis Being Recruited by His Master

There is a good chance that Plagueis will appear in The Acolyte as a young man, possibly recruited by the mysterious masked villain teased in the trailers. If the mysterious dark side user in the trailer is the overall Sith mastermind, the one for whom Mae (Amandla Stenberg) is working for, it might be Plagueis' master, Darth Tenebrous. Tenebrous is a Bith, the species most famous for being the Mos Eisley Cantina Band in Star Wars. His species' face shape looks more like the dark helmeted figure seen in The Acolyte than that commonly associated with Darth Plagueis's Munn species, one with a longer face.

Leslye Headland said she was fascinated with the Sith Rule of Two, which states that there is always a master and an apprentice. For that dynamic to work, an apprentice must always be scheming against their master and looking to recruit their own apprentice. If the mysterious figure shown in The Acolyte trailer is the master of Mae, she might try to kill him to become a new Sith Lord. That means either she could win, and her apprentice could be a young Darth Tenebrous who will later recruit Plagueis, or that Tenebrous is the figure and Mae will fail, and the series will see Tenebrous take on a young Plagueis, who in the Legends canon was born Hego Damask II, laying the groundwork and lineage of Sith that will train Palpatine and eventually lead to the fall of the Jedi and the Rise of the Empire.

This is all to assume that The Acoltye will adapt the Legends book, which, as of this moment, is not canon. Obviously, the creators could forge their own path, make up new Siths, and even not include Darth Tenebrous. Yet creator Leslye Headland has said some elements from the Star Wars Legends line will make their way into the series. If this is the case, there is a chance that audiences will see the man who will become Darth Plagueis. Only time will tell, but given the timeline and the fact that the series will explore the Sith, there is a good chance Star Wars fans will finally get to see this legendary villain in live-action and place a face to the name. The Acolyte is streaming on Disney+ on June 4.