10 MASSIVE Star Wars Moments You Didn't Even See!

Before he was using the likes of Darth Maul, Count Dooku, and Darth Vader to take over the galaxy, pulling the strings in the shadows throughout the Clone Wars, or cackling in the face of death, Sheev Palpatine was the apprentice of another Sith Lord - Darth Plagueis.

If you know anything about Sith Lords, it's that there can typically be only two. Which means that in order for Palps to rule alongside his own apprentice, he needed to deal with his Master first.

Palpatine would later (somewhat indirectly) explain how he went about doing this in Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, of course, telling Anakin Skywalker all about the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. Though Palpatine would explain that he was powerful enough to use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life, he wasn't strong enough to stop his apprentice from killing him in his sleep.

Plagueis' story and demise were explored in more detail during James Lucino's titular Legends novel. But this vital piece of Palpatine's backstory, a murder that allowed him to become a Sith Master, was an enormous moment only ever spoken about on-screen.

But you never know, maybe a Tales of Young(ish) Palpatine Disney+ prequel series will explore this intriguing part of Sith history in the future. Weirder things have happened.