The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise

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About

The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis "The Wise" is a copypasta originating from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. It has gained popularity online as a meme among Star Wars fans, particularly alongside the rise of prequel memes.

Origin

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Chancellor Palpatine, secretly Darth Sidious, tells Anakin Skywalker a legend to lure him further to the dark side of the force, as Anakin was having visions of his wife, Padmé Amidala, dying in childbirth. The legend is about a Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Plagueis The Wise, who could influence midichlorions to prevent people from dying. However, he taught his apprentice all he knew, and then the apprentice killed him while he was asleep. Palpatine finds the legend ironic because while Darth Plagueis could save others from death, he could not save himself.

Palpatine: Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise?

Anakin: No?

Palpatine: I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life… He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.

Anakin: He could actually save people from death?

Palpatine: The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

Anakin: What happened to him?

Palpatine: He became so powerful… the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself.

Anakin: Is it possible to learn this power?

Palpatine: Not from a Jedi.

In the copypasta, Palpatine's last line and all of Anakin's are removed.

Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise? I thought not. It's not a story the Jedi would tell you. It's a Sith legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life… He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying. The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. He became so powerful… the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself.

Spread

On March 7th, 2016, the copypasta was uploaded to Reddit under the subreddit r/copypasta.^[1] On May 14th, 2016, it was posted on the Facebook site "Best of Star Wars Memes", which has, as of January 2017, over 850.000 likes.^[2] It is often referenced on r/PrequelMemes^[3] where it also appears in the sidebar. On January 17th, 2017, YouTuber Cal Haney uploaded a song version of the copypasta on his channel.^[8]

Star Wars Celebration 2017

On April 13th, 2017, Ian McDiarmid participated in the "40 Years of Star Wars Panel" at the Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando, Fl. During the panel, he described the Darth Plagueis scene as the most "deliciously evil" one he performed.^[4] He said,

"Of all of the deliciously evil scenes--and there are many--the one that stands out for me is in Revenge of the Sith. And that's when we all get to go to the opera. George [Lucas] will remember that he wrote that scene originally in another office [set]… and then he said, 'No, I think we should go somewhere else for a change.' So we went to a theater and the reason I liked that so much is because I'm a theater actor too, but more than that Hayden and I could really sit down and from my point of view anyway, have an evil chat. And I think it's one of the longest dialogue scenes in the whole of the saga."

That day, while participating in the "Tales from the Dark Side Panel," he discussed the scene further (shown below).

The interview (shown below) became very popular on Reddit as three threads about the interview made the front page.^[7] The thread "For those who watched Ian McDiarmid at Star Wars celebration"^[6] received more than 900 points (99% upvoted), and the thread MFW they played the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis at Star Wars Celebration received more than 800 points (100% upvoted).^[5]

Various Variations

Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Lit? It's a Stoner legend. Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Stoners, so high and so lit, he could use the Force to influence the marijuana to create…blunts. He had such a knowledge of the Lit Side, he could even keep the ones he cared about…from being caught by the police. He became so high, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his blunt…which, eventually of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his friend everything he knew. Then his friend called the police while he was sleeping. Ironic. He could save others from the police…but not himself.

Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Jar Jar the Clumsy? It's a Sith Legend. Darth Jar Jar was a Dark Lord of the Sith so clumsy and so stupid, he could use the force to influence the midichlorians to create… Poodoo. He had such a lack of knowledge of the Dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about… From stepping in icky icky goo. He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was the bigger gooberfish… Which of course he swam away from. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice absolutely nothing, and his apprentice appointed him a senator of Naboo. Ironic. He could save others from poodoo… But not himself.

Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Dat Boi the Wise? It's a Memer legend. Dat Boi was a Dark Frog of the Reddit, so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the reddit posters to create…memes. He had such a knowledge of the Meme Side, he could even keep the memes he cared about…from dying. He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power…which, eventually of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice, everything he knew. Then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic. He could save other memes from death…but not himself.