Darth Plagueis

Eleven years later, 54 BBY, Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious train across the galaxy. On Buoyant, they hunt animals while Plagueis lectures on Sith philosophy. Sidious kills a quadruped and absorbs its life energy, after which Plagueis demonstrates the transformative power of Force lightning on living matter.

They refine their lightsaber skills against combat droids on Hypori. For Sidious’s final trial on Kursid, they engage in ritual combat with native warriors. When only one warrior remains, Plagueis executes him, carves out his heart, and eats part of it before giving the rest to Sidious, explaining it as a necessary act of destruction for renewal that reinforces Sith superiority.

Since becoming Darth Sidious, the Sith apprentice has become Naboo’s ambassador in his public identity as Palpatine. In this role, he attends a gala on Malastare with his aide Kinman Doriana. He successfully navigates conversations with Senator Vidar Kim and Senator Pax Teem. When messengers announce that Kim’s wife and sons have died in a starship crash, Palpatine positions himself as a supportive colleague.

At the funeral, Palpatine consoles the grieving senator. Kim reveals that his last surviving son, the Jedi Knight Ronhar Kim, might leave the Order. Palpatine then meets with Naboo’s chief minister, Ars Veruna, and informs him of political difficulties Plagueis has been experiencing as Damask, secretly increasing his own influence at Plagueis’s expense.