Star Wars Darth Plagueis Prequel Hailed As 'Masterpiece'

The Star Wars universe has grown to expand significantly since the original trilogy dropped back in the late-70s, with the full timeline now encompassing several millennia and thousands of characters, planets and factions.

One of the more intriguing tidbits to emerge from the franchise comes during the concluding film of the prequel trilogy, Revenge of the Sith. Chancellor Palpatine, who continues to secretly operate as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, sets out to make Anakin Skywalker his apprentice, turning him to the dark side in the process.

As part of this, he tells the frustratingly brief version of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. In it, Plagueis is described as a Sith Lord of previously impossible power, able to manipulate midi-chlorians to reverse death and even create life from scratch.

Unfortunately for him, and the reason this tale is referred to as a tragedy, Plagueis was unable to save himself from death at the hands of his usurping apprentice who, as it turns out, was none other than Sidious himself.

Sadly that's where the juicy details ended for us fans at the time, with the exact events leading up to Plagueis' death remaining a major mystery for the franchise. Fortunately, Star Wars Legends has filled in the gaps somewhat, with many fans hailing it as a "masterpiece".

Though it isn't strictly canon (as none of the books in the Legends series are following Disney's purchase of the property), that hasn't stopped many praising the direction the novel took and backing up its version of events as highly plausible.

"It’s my favorite SW book. Granted the sample size is small as I haven’t read that many of the novels but this one was just so good," one user said.

Another simply added, "It should be Canon though. It's so damn good."

Contentious background aside, if you're a Star Wars fan and yet to delve into the backstory of one of the series' most mysterious and intriguing figures, the novel remains the best way to do it.