This enigmatic Star Wars prequel scene may be worth revisiting before The Rise of Skywalker

Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? It's a story that could be worth revisiting before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Director J.J. Abrams has said the new film will serve as a finale to all nine episodes of the Star Wars Skywalker saga. If that's the case, one scene from 2005's Revenge of the Sith is a prime candidate to become relevant again.

During the finale of George Lucas' prequel trilogy, Chancellor Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker the story of a Sith Lord named Darth Plagueis who, Palpatine says, could "use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life." Palpatine goes on to claim that Plagueis was so powerful, he "could even keep the ones he cared about from dying." He also mentions that Plagueis "taught his apprentice everything he knew," and supplementary material later explained Palpatine himself was actually Plagueis' apprentice.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Anakin ultimately turns to the Dark Side largely so he can learn this power, but Palpatine at this point tells him that "to cheat death is a power only one has achieved." Cut to decades after this scene, and Anakin would seemingly kill Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. Yet somehow, Palpatine has returned in The Rise of Skywalker.

So could The Rise of Skywalker call back to this Plagueis scene in its explanation of how Palpatine managed to cheat death, assuming he truly is still alive? It seems possible. Writer Chris Terrio has cited "some of the lore of Palpatine and the Sith" as helping to set up his mysterious return in this film. Plus, when director J.J. Abrams was asked to name his favorite scene from the prequels, what did he choose? The Plagueis conversation.

We shall see when The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on Dec. 20. Refresh your memory on the scene from Revenge of the Sith scene on YouTube.