Star Wars: The Acolyte Showrunner Breaks Down That Shocking Sith Cameo

Leslye Headland sheds new insight into that unexpected appearance.

By Patrick Cavanaugh

For nearly 20 years, fans have been curious about Darth Plagueis, thanks to a pivotal exchange between Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, and while the figure has been explored in the Legends corner of the franchise, Star Wars: The Acolyte finally brought him into live-action. The figure did little more than step out of the shadows, so while novices to Star Wars were left to speculate about the character's identity, showrunner Leslye Headland recently confirmed theories about his identity and also shed insight into how the appearance came to be. Whether we'll see more of Plagueis in a Season 2 of the series is yet to be confirmed.

WARNING: Spoilers below for Star Wars: The Acolyte

In addition to the season finale having a cameo from Plagueis, the episode also included a cameo from Yoda in the final shot, with Headland confirming she considered having Plagueis appear in the final scene instead.

"Plagueis was always in the finale, in every version," Headland revealed to IndieWire. "There was a version where he was the button of the finale [instead of Yoda] ... You want to feel Osha's triumph. You want to feel her joining forces with The Stranger. Plagueis stepped on [that moment]."

The moment was exciting for longtime Star Wars fans, but it also raised an important question, which relates to how the Sith operate by a rule of two; there's always a master and there's always an apprentice. With The Stranger recruiting Osha to join him, we're left to wonder who will prevail as the master and the apprentice between Plagueis, The Stranger, and Osha.

"Even though [Osha and The Stranger] are standing there, sort of looking out at the sunset, ready to conquer the world, the tragedy is we know they don't," Headland admitted. "We know there can only be two. We know Plagueis is there. We know that these two are doomed in some way. So to me it's a bittersweet tragedy, this foreboding ending. But that's because I know about the Sith lineage and all these other things, whereas I think a different subset of the audience can be like, 'They're married!'"

The only clue that audiences had about the mysterious figure and his significance was based on Legends illustrations of Plagueis, which Headland drew from to craft the look of the character. She also noted how, while a number of Sith figures have showcased their physical power, Plagueis offered the chance to highlight other ways in which a nefarious figure could persist.

"Obviously the species has been determined, if not by [Star Wars] canon, then by Legends and definitely by head-canon for everybody. So when we were designing him and talking about his appearance, it was a lot of Crimson Peak' of Guillermo del Toro," the showrunner detailed. "They're not running the First Order. They're not running the Empire. They're not the Chancellor of the Senate. They're hiding out ... The Sith [in this time] are fighting for survival."

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Season 1 of Star Wars: The Acolyte is now streaming on Disney+. The series has yet to be renewed for a Season 2.

What did you think of the cameo? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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