With Star Wars, it’s often interesting to consider the path not taken. What if Luke Skywalker was actually Luke Starkiller? What if he turned to the Dark Side? What would the Game of Thrones’ creators’ Star Wars trilogy actually look like? With a cinematic universe this big, anything is possible, even the ideas that are left on the cutting room floor.
One of the biggest missed opportunities in Star Wars’ recent era happened in the finale of The Acolyte, the one-season wonder that dove deep into the last days of the High Republic. Because the series was set further back in time than anything else in live-action canon, it was able to show a character we’ve only seen discussed: Palpatine’s old master, Darth Plagueis, who had a silent cameo emerging from a cave.
Now, almost two years later, we’ve learned what the real inspiration for this moment was, and it name-drops another iconic creature.
In the new book The Art of Star Wars: The Acolyte, showrunner Leslye Headland described her approach for the big reveal. “Before we even designed anything, I knew I wanted to do what they did with Gollum in The Fellowship of the Ring,” Headland said. “Where you get a sense of this character, the size of the eyes and his coloring, but I didn’t want to do something in full-on daylight. When you see his hand move, with your point of view being the main character's, it feels like you know about the threat before the main characters do.”
That’s very evident in the series: the outline of Plagueis’ Muun figure is nearly impossible to make out, and he goes completely unnoticed by Qimir and Mae, who are standing only a short distance away. It’s a fantastic moment if you recognize him, but still evocative as an introduction even if you don’t.
Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings are both huge, mythical epics, but they also exist as modern franchises, proven examples of genre filmmaking that keep audiences coming back over and over again. Of course, new chapters in both franchises are bound to borrow from one another.
Originally, this cameo was meant to signal a greater threat lurking in more episodes ahead, but The Acolyte was unfortunately canceled. With no project upcoming that would cover Plagueis’ lifespan, it seems like the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise will continue to be just a story the Jedi wouldn’t tell you.
