Emperor Palpatineused every possible tactic to manipulate Anakin Skywalker in theStar Warsprequel trilogy, but his lies about Sith Lord Darth Plagueis were especially twisted. Palpatine understood that Anakin was driven by love and attachment. Anakin’s love for his mother caused him to commit a terrifyingly violent massacre, and his love and fear for his secret wife, Padmé Amidala, sent him spiraling into the darkness.
In perhaps one of themost quoted scenes fromStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine pushes Anakin to the edge by promising him the ultimate secret of the dark side: how to use the Force to save people from death. Anakin’s dreams about Padmé’s mortal fate were traumatizing him, and he was desperate to keep her alive.
“Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? 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 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.”
Of course, we know that Palpatine never actually intended to help Anakin save Padmé. Her death was a driving force behind Anakin’s rage and fear, both of which fueled his hunger for the dark side of the Force and his transformation into Darth Vader.
What stands out to me inRevenge of the Sith’s opera house scene isn’t just thatPalpatine was lying to Anakinabout wanting to save Padmé.What bothers me most is Palpatine’s wording and the cruelty of his reconstructed version of Plagueis’ legacy.
There’s One Big Problem With Palpatine’s Plagueis Tale
AsTumblr user david-talks-swso joyfully pointed out, the Sith are generally incapable of caring about people. They are painfully, disgustingly self-absorbed, motivated solely by their lust for power.“He could even keep the ones he cared about from dying”is a blatant lie, becausea Sith Lord as powerful as Darth Plagueisnever truly worried about or cared for anyone but themselves.
The real tragedy here is that Anakin was so blinded by his fear of Padmé’s death that he couldn’t recognize that Palpatine was manipulating him. Surely, Anakin had learned about the Sith from the Jedi. Was he truly so far gone that he couldn’t see, couldn’t sense, that Palpatine, like all Sith, was twisting the truth for his personal gain?
Though the Jedi’s rules against attachment were, in some cases, much too restrictive, they did hit the nail on the head with Anakin. Palpatine used Anakin’s attachment effectively. Anakin was so desperate, all Palpatine needed at that point were a few pretty, carefully curated words, and the young Jedi Knight was putty in his hands.
Palpatine’s Tale Was Half-True, Though
While Palpatine undoubtedly lied about Plagueis’ reasons for experimenting with the dark side, part of his well-spun tale was true.Plagueis never fully managed to cheat the physical death of his body. He did, however, discover the secrets of essence transfer, a way of preserving his spirit and consciousness by transferring them to another host.
Plagueis may never have discovered how to become immortal in his own body, but he did find a way to preserve the only thing he ever truly loved: himself.
Essentially, this meant the Sith Lord’s mind could live on forever. For all Plagueis’ wisdom, though, he foolishly told his apprentice, Darth Sidious, a.k.a. Emperor Palpatine, about this dark side power, and Sidious killed his Master. He then used Plagueis’ technique to survive in multiple cloned bodies, resulting in his surprise resurrection inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Plagueis may never have discovered how to become immortal in his own body, but he did find a way to preserve the only thing he ever truly loved: himself. That’s not the solution that Anakin was hoping for, however. Time and again,Emperor Palpatineproved just how unscrupulous and horrible he truly was.
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