The Acolyte gave one of the most interesting Star Wars legends a cameo

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for season 1 of Star Wars: The Acolyte.]

Darth Plagueis made his live-action debut thanks to the finale of the first season of The Acolyte. The show didn’t mention the Sith Lord much, opting instead to simply show him peeking out from behind a rock and observing the Stranger (Manny Jacinto) and his future Padawan Osha (Amandla Stenberg). Still, it’s a pretty monumental moment for longtime nerds who know the story of Darth Plagueis the Wise by heart.

Plagueis was first introduced by then-Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who killed Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

According to Sheev’s story, Plagueis was a powerful master of the Force who eventually became so strong that he gained the ability to use the Force to manipulate life itself and grant himself immortality. This immortality came with a small caveat, however. It only came about by transferring Plagueis’ consciousness into a new vessel, rather than granting his own mortal body eternal life.

What Sheev (also known as “the future Emperor Palpatine”) doesn’t tell Anakin, of course, is that Plagueis was also Sheev’s master, and that Sheev has learned all of the wise master’s tricks and even improved on them – for example, the Plagueis Transmission is Palpatine’s way of keeping himself alive for the events of . The Rise of Skywalker.

More importantly, Anakin himself was a pure creation of the Force, and it was never officially revealed who was behind it. Perhaps it was the Force itself. Perhaps it was Sheev who wanted to make Anakin the perfect apprentice. Or perhaps it was Plagueis himself, which could explain why he was in The Acolyte

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The AcolyteThe entire plot revolves around twins Mae and Osha, who are two parts of one soul, a life force that was seemingly more or less created by a coven of witches using the Force—with a little help from a vergence. But with the last-minute revelation that Darth Plagueis was nearby, it seems very likely that the Sith Master was secretly working behind the scenes to create a perfect vessel for himself.

Image: Topps/Lucasfilm via Wookiepedia

After all, there is nothing better than transferring your consciousness to a blank page where the Force is strong. Or perhaps Mae and Osha were his practice exercises to create a complete life before he created Anakin as his true successor?

Either way, at least some of these questions will surely be answered in The Acolyte Season 2, if it ever happens. But for now, Star Wars superfans will have to be content (or extremely dissatisfied) with finally seeing Plagueis in the flesh.