Darth Plagueis
In Revenge of the Sith, Chancellor Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker “the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise,” a Sith Lord who makes a brief appearance in The Acolyte. The name “Plagueis,” which suggests the word “plague,” is ironic at first but ultimately fitting.
It is ironic that his name connotes a deadly contagious disease, because, in Palpatine’s dubious telling of the story, Plagueis “could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life.” Supposedly, “he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.” A character whose name suggests widespread death is said to have known an antidote for death for a precious few.
Ultimately, Plagueis lives up to his name. His legend so infects Anakin’s imagination – desperate as he is to find a way to save his wife – that he is willing to do anything to gain Plagueis’s power over life and death. As Darth Vader, Anakin becomes the plague by which Palpatine wipes out the Jedi Order.
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Characters: Darth Plagueis
Shows: The Acolyte
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Concepts: death / names / sickness and disease
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