I recently made a commitment to explore more of the Star Wars Expanded Universe- now known as Legends- the Star Wars canon established by a variety of authors across books, comics, cartoons and videogames, prior to the sale of the franchise to Disney in 2012. Disney proceeded to de-canonize the Star Wars EU in order to clear way to build their own canon, without having to adhere to pre-established lore. However, hardcore Star Wars fans believe that the EU is in fact superior to the Disney canon, particularly in light of the failures of the sequel trilogy.

I decided to start with Darth Plagueis by James Luceno, as it is the book that ties into so much from the prequel trilogy. Published in 2012, it follows the titular main character, beginning 67 years before the Battle of Yavin (Episode 4), and leads directly into the events of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. In fact, the final two chapters of the book take placing during TPM, and the epilogue is set about one month after.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Darth Plagueis, known to the galaxy as Hego Damask, is a Muun, a species known for controlling much of the banking apparatus of the galaxy. At a young age, he was given by his Muun parents to Darth Tenebrous, a Bith who taught him the ways of the Sith, an ancient order wielding the dark side of The Force, in opposition to their light side counterparts, the Jedi. In the eyes of the Republic, the Jedi, and the galaxy as a whole, the Sith have been "extinct" for nearly a millenia since their defeat to the Jedi at the Battle of Ruusan. However, the Sith continued in secret, operating under the Rule of Two, as set forth by the dark lord Darth Bane. The Rule of Two states that there will only be two Sith at any time- a Master and an Apprentice- to curtail the backstabbing and political infighting that goes on within the Sith and focus the dark side energy on just two users. Together, they slowly work to eventually enact the Sith Grand Plan: destroy the Jedi Order, smash the Republic, and restore the Sith to their rightful place as rulers of the galaxy.

However, as the Apprentice grows stronger in the dark side of the Force, and their power surpasses that of their Master, they will betray and kill him in a moment of weakness, assuming his mantle as the Master and Dark Lord of the Sith. And so this cycle continued for nearly 1000 years.

The prologue of the book actually begins with Darth Sidious having just killed Plagueis as the Battle of Naboo rages and Darth Maul is fighting Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui Gonn Jinn. Then, Chapter 1 steps back nearly a half century in time to Plaugueis killing his master, Darth Tenebrous. The remainder of the book is a decades-long tale of political intrigue and plotting. We see Plagueis as he discovers Palpatine, a young university lad from Naboo, and immediately senses the dark side potential in him. Plagueis seduces Palpatine into the Sith ways, manipulating him to murder his aristocratic family, freeing himself from his domineering father's control. Palpatine proceeds to enter politics, first as Ambassador, and then as Senator from Naboo to the Galactic Republic. Together, Plagueis and Sidious secretely engineer crises across the galaxy through a variety of intermediaries, all in an attempt to destabilize the Republic, test the Jedi Order's capabilities, frame their political enemies for corruption and malfeasance, and clearing Palpatine's way to his eventual election as Supreme Chancellor.

The novel is excellent at filling in many of the gaps in the Prequel Trilogy, including:
-Where did the clone army from Kamino come from?
-Darth Maul's origin, and his true role in their plans
-Count Dooku's dissatisfaction with the Jedi Order's complacency regarding Senate corruption, leading to his leaving the Jedi and eventually falling to the Dark Side
-Padme Amidala being elected as Queen of Naboo
-The setup for the Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo during Episode 1
-Anakin Skywalker immaculate conception (strongly implied as a consequence of Plagueis and Sidious' actions)

Another obsession of Darth Plagueis is a quest for immortality. He even takes several years off from the Sith Grand Plan (leaving it to Palpatine to carry out) to experiment on the midichlorians of his test subjects. This story is recounted by Palpatine to Anakin in Episode III: https://youtu.be/05dT34hGRdg

The book culminates in the events of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. As Qui Gonn, Obi Wan, Anakin, Padme and company are engaged in their showdown with the Trade Federation, Plagueis and Sidious are using this crisis they deliberately engineered as a means to have Palpatine elected Supreme Chancellor on a sympathy vote. The night before the election, they are alone at Plagueis' penthouse apartment, drinking wine and practicing Palpatine's acceptance speech, with the intention to introduce Hego Damask as co-chancellor the following morning. And as Plagueis slowly begins to doze off in drunken stupor, Sidious strikes and kills him with force lightning. The Sith imperative is fulfilled.

SPOILERS OVER

If you're a Star Wars fan, this book is excellent and a must-read for any person that isn't illiterate. The only criticism I can provide is that some of the political machinations become confusing, as it's difficult to remember the agendas of each side character Plagueis/Sidious deals with. But then again, they're all nothing more than pawns in the Sith Grand Plan.

I will next be reading the Darth Bane trilogy of books to discover how the Rule of Two began.