"Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise?" - Palpatine
efore Darth Sidious, there was Darth Plagueis the Wise. Many Sith Lords reigned before him, but it’s the story of the Muun that stands out as one of the most tragic.
This ruthless Sith had one goal: To rule the galaxy, with the full power of the dark side, forever.
Ironically, Plagueis’s plans for this eternal dictatorship did not end when his apprentice abruptly ended his master’s life. Sidious attempted to continue Plaugueis's quest for immortality … despite the fact that the Jedi would eventually figure out how to do just that all on their own when the Sith never could.
While Darth Plagueis only physically appears in two books in the Expanded Universe -- Darth Plagueis and Darth Maul: Lockdown -- there have been plenty of other stories that take place during the events of Plagueis’s rise to power.
Therefore, if you’re curious about Plagueis’s larger role in the later Star Wars events you know, the following books can add to the overall lore and give you all the background material you’ve been looking for.
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Books in this Collection
Darth Plagueis
Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? It's a sprawling tale that establishes several important origin stories for characters fans know well. Readers learn how Plagueis seduced Palpatine to the dark side and how their alliance led to the Sith apprentice’s ultimate betrayal of his master. This is how darkness truly began to rise.
Darth Plagueis: Like all Sith Lords before him, he craves absolute power. But like no Sith Lord ever, he possesses the ultimate power—over life and death.
Darth Sidious: In secret he masters the power of the dark side, while publicly climbing to the highest government office.
One desires to rule supreme; the other dreams of living forever. Together, they will destroy the Jedi and rule the galaxy. Unless merciless Sith tradition becomes their undoing. . . .
The Wrath of Darth Maul
Forged by rage.
Taken as a child and trained in the ways of the Sith, he became the apprentice to the greatest evil the galaxy has ever known….
Honed by the dark side.
After years of plotting in secrecy, he and his Master will take revenge on the Jedi Order—and the once-mighty Republic will tremble….
The savage story of Darth Maul has been shrouded in mystery—until now.
Episode I Adventures #1: Search for the Lost Jedi
Episode I Adventures #2: The Bartokk Assassins
Episode I Adventures #3: The Fury of Darth Maul
Episode I Adventures #4: Jedi Emergency
Jango Fett: Open Seasons
He was born a poor farm boy on a forgotten planet in the galaxy's Outer Rim. Taken under the wing of a wise mentor after the violent death of his family, he would rise up to lead a band of fighters struggling for survival against a dark force that threatens to wipe them out completely. His name would become known throughout the systems, and his legacy would change the galaxy forever. But his name isn't Skywalker… it's Jango Fett! The Sith have begun the final maneuvering in their quest to take over the galaxy and are looking for the perfect specimen to take part in their secret experiments. Lord Tyranus may've just found a prime candidate in Jango. Recounting Jango's story from his early days on the Fett farm, through the annihilation of the once proud Mandalorian warriors, to his transformation into the galaxy's most feared bounty hunter. Open Seasons offers an in-depth look at the most exciting new character from Attack of the Clones, and details the beginning of the infamous Fett legacy—one that would come back to plague the Rebellion a generation later.
Jedi Council: Acts of War
Even in the days before the shadow of the Phantom Menace falls upon the Republic, the rule of the Senate is no guarantee of peace. When conflicts arise, it is the duty of the Jedi Knights, under the guidance of the Jedi Council, to protect the innocent and restore order. When the warlike Yinchorri threaten the stability of the Republic, a Jedi task force led by Mace Windu and including Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi is sent to the Yinchorri system to settle matters, and they soon find themselves facing overwhelming odds on three different worlds.
Darth Maul (2000)
In hiding for generations, the evil Sith have waited for the precise moment to reveal themselves and take vengeance upon the Jedi Order. But in the final days before the Trade Federation blockade of the planet Naboo sets into motion the Sith plan for the overthrow of the Republic, the scheming Sith Lord Darth Sidious becomes concerned about the potential interference by the criminal syndicate Black Sun, a vast and powerful organization feared throughout the galaxy. Sidious cannot allow anything or anyone to hinder his purpose, and so he unleashes his merciless apprentice, the death-dealing destroyer, Darth Maul, to eradicate his adversaries - as only a master of the dark side can! Star Wars: Darth Maul is the first-ever graphic-novel adventure of the ultimate Sith enforcer, an explosive tale of intrigue, mystery, and blistering action. Collecting the action-packed four-issue comic series.
Darth Maul: Saboteur
The Sith have been extinct for a millennium. At least…none have been seen. But the finest Sith are as patient as they are ruthless, and Darth Maul is no exception. Sent on a covert mission to fuel a vendetta between rival mining companies, Maul hopes to strengthen the Trade Federation, please his master, and get one step closer to revealing himself to the Jedi…and having revenge.
This short story by James Luceno gives a bit more backstory to the mysterious black-clad figure fans meet in The Phantom Menace and, in the process, proves that Maul’s mind was every bit as sharp as his saber.
On the distant planet Dorvalla, precious ore is mined by two competing companies: InterGalactic Ore and Lommite Limited. Neither rival suspects that they are central to a sinister plot masterminded by Darth Sidious, Lord of the Sith, himself.
Dispatched by Sidious on his very first solo mission, Darth Maul infiltrates Lommite Limited. There, his unique gifts of deception and subterfuge will set off an explosive chain of events that could destroy both companies, leaving them ripe for takeover by the Trade Federation. But a vengeful Lommite Limited Manager with his own thirst for retaliation against InterGal could blow Maul's cover — and all of Sidious's fiendishly laid plans.
Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
Plans for the Trade Federation’s blockade of Naboo is at risk of being compromised, so Darth Sidious sends his skilled apprentice to Coruscant to take care of the problem. Completely loyal to his master, Darth Maul vows to crush any threat that is prone to delivering their secret agenda to the Jedi.
Shadow Hunter is a spectacular display of a Sith apprentice’s devotion to their master. Darth Maul had been trained by Darth Sidious since he was a child, and it shows in the way he hunts his prey and fuels on his anger to finish the job.
For the infamous, power-hungry Sith, beholden to the dark side, the time has come to rise again.
After years of waiting in the shadows, Darth Sidious is taking the first step in his master plan to bring the Republic to its knees. Key to his scheme are the Neimoidians of the Trade Federation. Then one of his Neimoidian contacts disappears, and Sidious does not need his Force-honed instincts to suspect betrayal. He orders his apprentice, Darth Maul, to hunt the traitor down.
But he is too late. The secret has already passed into the hands of information broker Lorn Pavan, which places him right at the top of Darth Maul’s hit list. Then, in the labyrinthine alleyways and sewers of Coruscant, capital city of the Republic, Lorn crosses paths with Darsha Assant, a Jedi Padawan on a mission to earn her Knighthood. Now the future of the Republic depends on Darsha and Lorn. But how can an untried Jedi and an ordinary man, stranger to the powerful ways of the Force, hope to triumph over one of the deadliest killers in the galaxy?
Maul: Lockdown
Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious discover a way to annihilate the Jedi before they can even comprehend that the Sith still exist. But this plan involves a certain nuclear device, so the Sith Lords send their deadly apprentice to a prison colony to find the merchant who owns it. While Maul dukes it out with the prisoners in a fight-to-the-death contest in search for the target, Plagueis and Sidious plot against each other in how they'll use the weapon for their own personal gains.
Darth Maul is a favorite among many when it comes to Sith characters, and the merciless brutality he displays like that in Maul: Lockdown is probably why. Author Joe Schrieber has effortlessly integrated the genre of horror into the Star Wars universe, and using the most menacing-looking character to do it calls for a bloody good time.
It's kill or be killed in the space penitentiary that houses the galaxy's worst criminals, where convicts face off in gladiatorial combat while an underworld gambling empire reaps the profits of the illicit blood sport. But the newest contender in this savage arena, as demonic to behold as he is deadly to challenge, is fighting for more than just survival. His do-or-die mission, for the dark masters he serves, is to capture the ultimate weapon: an object capable of obliterating the Jedi and conquering the galaxy.
Sith Lords Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious are determined to possess the prize. And one of the power-hungry duo has his own treacherous plans for it. But first, their fearsome apprentice must take on a bloodthirsty prison warden, a cannibal gang, cutthroat crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and an unspeakable alien horror. No one else could brave such a gauntlet of death and live. But no one else is the dreaded dark-side disciple known as Darth Maul.
Cloak of Deception
It may be lonely at the top…but it’s also dangerous. Chancellor Valorum learns that fact when a terrorist group makes an attempt against his life. However, there is no shortage of enemies for the leader of the Republic, and Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are soon assigned to the case. As arguments spark in the Senate and the jockeying for power intensifies, it seems that someone must be benefitting…but who?
James Luceno delivers a story filled with conspiracy, duplicity, and political intrigue as he fleshes out the character of Chancellor Valorum and enlightens readers to just some of the turmoil that ultimately led to the vote of no confidence in his leadership.
Mired in greed and corruption, tangled in bureaucracy, the Galactic Republic is crumbling. In the outlying systems, where the Trade Federation maintains a stranglehold on shipping routes, tensions are boiling over?while back in the comfort of Coruscant, the hub of civilized space and seat of the Republic government, few senators seem inclined to investigate the problem. And those who suspect Supreme Chancellor Valorum of having a hand in the machinations are baffled?especially when Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi foil an assassination attempt on the Chancellor.
With the crisis escalating, Valorum calls for an emergency trade summit. As humans and aliens gather, conspiracies sealed with large sums of money run rampant, and no one is entirely above suspicion. But the greatest threat of all remains unknown to everyone except three members of the Trade Federation who have entered into a shadowy alliance with a dark overlord. While the trio will be content with more money and fewer problems, Darth Sidious has grander, far more terrifying plans.
It is a time that tests the mettle of all those who strive to hold the Republic together?none more so than the Jedi Knights, who have long been the galaxy's best hope for preserving peace and justice. Yet despite their most valiant efforts, the meeting will explode into fiery chaos beyond everyone?s worst fears . . .
Tarkin
Compared with other villainous characters in the Star Wars universe, very little is known about Grand Moff Tarkin. Yet he remains one of the most hated Imperials of all time. He’s the one who gave the command that left Alderaan in ruins. He is unsympathetic and menacing. A man of true evil.
Leave it to James Luceno to craft a Wilhuff Tarkin origin story audiences never knew they needed. Five years after the birth of the Empire, we meet a man who has yet to rise through the ranks to become the tyrant we know he will become. Tarkin’s refusal to let anyone or anything stand in his path will get him exactly where he wants to go … but not without cost.
He’s the scion of an honorable and revered family. A dedicated soldier and distinguished legislator. Loyal proponent of the Republic and trusted ally of the Jedi Order. Groomed by the ruthless politician and Sith Lord who would be Emperor, Governor Wilhuff Tarkin rises through the Imperial ranks, enforcing his authority ever more mercilessly . . . and zealously pursuing his destiny as the architect of absolute dominion.
Rule through the fear of force rather than force itself, he advises his Emperor. Under Tarkin’s guidance, an ultimate weapon of unparalleled destruction moves ever closer to becoming a terrifying reality. When the so-called Death Star is completed, Tarkin is confident that the galaxy’s lingering pockets of Separatist rebellion will be brought to heel—by intimidation . . . or annihilation.
Until then, however, insurgency remains a genuine threat. Escalating guerrilla attacks by resistance forces and newfound evidence of a growing Separatist conspiracy are an immediate danger the Empire must meet with swift and brutal action. And to bring down a band of elusive freedom fighters, the Emperor turns to his most formidable agents: Darth Vader, the fearsome new Sith enforcer as remorseless as he is mysterious; and Tarkin—whose tactical cunning and cold-blooded efficiency will pave the way for the Empire’s supremacy . . . and its enemies’ extinction.