History Literature / DarthPlagueis

* BetterTheDevilYouKnow: Dooku invokes a political variation of this Trope while having lunch with Palpatine just before the Election. This is why the High Council subverted the authority of the Senate and sent Jedi to resolve the Naboo Blockade at Valorum's secret request (despite him being politically barred from doing so after the Eriadu Trade Confrence disaster). As Luceno previously set up during the ending of ''Cloak of Deception'', Yoda and the others are continuing to are continuing to support Valroum's Administration in these troubled times because he's a known quantity, whereas his potential succesors (Teem, Antilles, and Palpatine) have yet to disclose their true agendas.

* WrongGenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Veruna's abdication after the Sojurun debacle. He forefeits all his political power and goes into exile, hoping that keeping his head down and not causing any further trouble for Palpatine and Damask will protect him from any retribution. And if his enemies were an ordinary corrupt banker and politician, that ''might'' have worked. Alas for Veruna, his enemies are also secretly Sith Lords and they ''will' have their pound of flesh from Veruna come what may and hell to pay.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Deconstructed. Once Sidious becomes Naboo's Senator (and even before while serving as one of Naboo's Ambassadors), he and Damask go to great lengths to invoke and exploit this Trope for all its worth. Their LongGame to get a Sith into the Chancellorship depends on Palpatine being seen as an honorable public servant who's managed to "miraculously" avoid scandals and imbroglios over the course of his long storied career. However, they also have to walk a ''very'' fine line to ensure Palpatine remains seen as respected moderate and a career politician. They ''can't'' risk him looking like a zealous reformer (like Bail Antilles, which is what ultimately dooms his candidacy for the Chancellorship), nor can Palpatine's seem ''too'' interested in the political intrigues and schemes of his colleagues (which the Sith can exploit), lest it start drawing unwanted attention and scrutiny to the Naboo Senator.
** The trope also, ironically, is part of why Dooku becomes suspicious of Palpatine by the time of their penultimate meeting before the Election. Palpatine's careful PR branding's good enough to fool the Chancellor or a [=HoloNet=] exposé. But if you start looking past the public image with ''real'' scrutiny, there's surprisingly very little actual information of real substance. As Dooku points out, what does anyone ''really'' know of Palpatine besides his voting record or that he lives at 500 Republica? Dooku correctly guesses there's much more to Palpatine than meets the eye. [[spoiler:Between this and his observations about how Palpatine's benefiting politically from the Naboo Blockade, it's heavily implied this is why Dooku's either correctly deduced Palpatine is a Sith, or at least put him on the list of suspects.]]

** The trope also, ironically, is part of why Dooku becomes suspicious of Palpatine by the time of their penultimate meeting before the Election. Palpatine's careful PR branding's good enough to fool the Chancellor or a HoloNet exposé. But if you start looking past the public image with ''real'' scrutiny, there's surprisingly very little actual information of real substance. As Dooku points out, what does anyone ''really'' know of Palpatine besides his voting record or that he lives at 500 Republica? Dooku correctly guesses there's much more to Palpatine than meets the eye. [[spoiler:Between this and his observations about how Palpatine's benefiting politically from the Naboo Blockade, it's heavily implied this is why Dooku's either correctly deduced Palpatine is a Sith, or at least put him on the list of suspects.]]

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Once Sidious becomes Naboo's Senator (and even before while serving as one of Naboo's Ambassadors), he and Damask go to great legnths to invoke this Trope. Their LongGame to get a Sith into the Chancellorship depends on Palpatine being seen as an honorable public servant who's managed to "miraculously" avoid scandals and imbroglios over the course of his long career. However, they also have to walk a fine line to ensure Palpatine remains seen as a political moderate and not a zealous reformer (like Bail Antilles, which is what ultimately dooms his candidacy for the Chancellorship).
** However, it also gets deconstructed, as it's part of why Dooku becomes suspicious of Palpatine [[spoiler:and is implied to have guessed he's the Sith Lord]]. Once you seriously look past the public image of Palpatine as a quiet, honorable and dedicated public servant, there's surprisingly very little actual information of real substance. What does anyone ''really'' know of Palpatine besides his voting record or that he lives at 500 Republica?

** Ironically, Palpatine then does the exact same thing with Anakin at the end of the novel. He ignores Plagueis' concerns (and whatever ones he personally had) because Anakin's power and flaws are perfect for Sith exploitation (and the prospect of slowly, carefully corrupting the Jedi's Chosen One beneath their own noses is just too good to pass up).

** Although this happens when Palpatine is [[spoiler: Killing Darth Plagueis, he does tell his master that he is genuinely grateful for Plagueis teaching him and admits that he couldn't have secured the Chancellorship without his help.]]

** In-universe, and aligning with the setup from the ''Darth Bane'' Trilogy, the Sith have long known that the postRuusan Reformation Republic and Jedi Order would gradually become complacent and slowly begin to decline. The Grand Plan was built with that inevitability in mind, charging the Sith to do what they could to hasten the societal and political decay from the shadows and observe and strike when conditions had finally and sufficiently deteriorated.

** Damask lures Subtext Mining's Executives to Sojurun under the pretense of an invitation to the Gathering. While intending to kill them for betraying Tenebrous, Damask changes his mind after the Gossams offer up Naboo's newly discovered plasma reserves to save themselves. He has them instead stranded in the Tingel Arm until he can verify the plasma's existence and because there may be a further use for them. That further use comes after Subtext retaliates by reaching out to Pax Teem to sabotage Damask Holdings' negotiations on Naboo. Damask responds by retrieving the stranded Gossams, killing them, and dumping their bodies on Subtext's doorstep as a warning to ''not'' fuck with the Muuns. The message works, as Subtext vanishes from the narrative and has no further involvement with Teem's grudge match against Damask.

** After taking the heads of Subtext Mining captive during the Gathering, Damask initially maroons them on a remote world in the Tingel Arm. While he fully intends to kill them eventually, the Gossams are still useful in the interim (be it his investigation into who paid them to take out Tenebrous or the surveying of Naboo's plasma reserves). However, their fates get sealed after Subtext's response to the kidnapping is to reach out to Pax Teem and try to sabotage the Naboo deal. Damask has found their use: kill them all and dump their bodies on Subtext's doorstep as a warning to ''not'' fuck with the Muuns. The message works, as Subtext has no further involvement with Teem's grudge match with Damask.

* WrongGenreSavvy: [[spoiler:Veruna's abdication. He forefeits all his political power and goes into exile, hoping that keeping his head down and not causing any further trouble for Palpatine and Damas will protect him from any retribution after the Sojurun debacle. And if his enemies were an ordinary corrupt banker and politician, that ''might'' have worked. Alas for Veruna, his enemies are also secretly Sith Lords and they ''will' have their pound of flesh from Veruna come what may and hell to pay.]]

** Plagueis, in contrast to the majority of the galactic community, is surprisingly courteous and polite to droids he owns. 11-4D is the only member of the ''Woebegone'' crew Plagueis spares and is nothing but affable to the droid throughout the book.

** Upon revealing his Sith identity to Veruna, Plagueis asks the deposed monarch if he still would've allied with Damask had he'd known the truth. Veruna, without hesitation, says he would've refused. Political power is one thing, but what Plagueis and the Sith represent is far, far worse [[EvenEvilHasStandards even for someone like Veruna]]. While displeased with this answer, Palgueis ''does'' appreciate Veruna's honesty (not that it stops him from killing him).

* DontCreateAMartyr: Acknowledged in-universe when Sidious and Plagueis begin shaping the planned Jedi Purge into what we'll see in the Prequels. Plagueis emphasizes great care has to be taken not to turn the Jedi and any survivors into martyrs if they want to ensure the Galaxy will willingly turn its back on the Light Side of the Force. As the reader know, Sidious will ''masterfully'' achieve this goal with Order 66 and its aftermath.
* DownerEnding: The master who held (or believed to hold) Sidious's leash is dead, and without him, Sidious has secured the chancellorship and is now in
contact with the Chosen One.

** DragonInChief: Palpatine.

** Early on in their training, Plagueis tells Sidious about the occasional corruptive effect the Dark Side has on users. Sidious (still a young man at this point) asks if this means [[EvilMakesYouUgly he's going to turn into some wrinkled, sunken-eyed, raspy-voiced thing]]. Plagueis just shrugs this off, but anyone who's seen the movies will know Sidious is right to be worried.

* HeelFaceTurn: Darth Gravid, sorta.

* ImmortalityImmorality: Darth Plagueis all the way.

* LightIsNotGood: Darth Gravid was one of the few Sith who converted to the Light Side of the Force. Unfortunately, he went cuckoo.

** Ultimately, [[spoiler: Palpatine covers up his murder of Plagueis by passing it off as a mechanical failure of his breathing apparatus.]]

* UsedToBeASweetKid: Utterly averted with Palpatine.

** Veruna also becomes one gradually over the course of the novel. While initially partnering with the Muuns to help secure Bon Tapalo's election (and his own after Tapalo's tenure ends), Veruna becomes increasingly resentful of his patron and done with Damask by the lead-up to ''The Phantom Menace''.

* DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler:Plagueis and Sidious are both left stunned upon learning that Valorum dispatched Jedi to resolve the Naboo Blockade. The reason they didn't forsee this development is because of the fallout from the events of ''Cloak of Deception''. Thanks to the Sith's machinations, Valorum was left prohibited by the Senate from bringing the Jedi or Judicials into any more planetary disputes; to do so would mean taking a ''massive'' political hit (one that could potentially bring down his Administration). Sidious and Plagueis both underestimated Valorum's willigness to put his Chancellorship on the line if it meant doing the right thing (and ironically to help his old friend Senator Palpatine save his homeworld.]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** The Gossam Executives of Subtext Mining accepting Damak's invitation to the Gathering on Sojurun. They admit they were surprised their company ended up on the radar of someone like Damask. They're blinded by greed and the prestige of attending such an exclusive corporate retreat like this. So, it doesn't occur to them until it's too late to truly consider ''how'', or ''what'' they might have done, to get Damask's complete attention -- or that the unexpected invitation came mere weeks after their murder of a Bith who had longstanding public ties to Damask Holdings and its CEO.
** Sidious's manipulations in Naboo politics put Padmé in power and lead to them building the fighter squadrons that turned the tide in the blockade, and his attempt to get Maul to salvage things does little but tip his hand and get his best servant killed. That his long-term plans survive it intact is down to sheer chance.
* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: Kerrred Santhe unknowingly managed to scam a Sith Lord when he pretended to accept making a deal with Rugess Nome, Darth Tenebrous' civilian identity, over a ship designed by Nome only to have his security guards ambush Nome and steal his ship schematics, before producing the ship all for himself, which was incredibly successful and allowed him to buy a great portion of Sienar Technologies. However he also signed his death warrant by doing this, as Tenebrous had Plagueis assassinate him both out of revenge and to cement his alliance with Santhe's rival Narro Sienar.
* DisapprovingLook: Vidar Kim gives one to a young Palpatine when he's joined by Plagueis, under his identity of Hego Damask, clearly disliking the Muun and disapproving of Palpatine's relationship with him.
* TheDragon: Maul to Sidious. Sate Pestage and Kinman Doriana each serve as this in the political arena.
** DragonInChief: Palpatine.

* DidntSeeThatComing: Played with in the attack on the Canted Circle. [[spoiler:The Maladians obviously didn't forsee that the primary Muun target was secretly a Sith Lord. While they're initially caught off guard, the Maladians quickly rally and change tactics without missing a beat (as they've fought Jedi before and know how to take on Force users). They actually come close to taking down Damask before he's rescued by Palpatine and Pestage.]]

* DownerEnding: The master who held (or believed to hold) Sidious's leash is dead, and without him, Sidious has secured the chancellorship and is now in contact with the Chosen One.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: [[spoiler:After learning about the Jedi dispatched to resolve the Naboo Crisis, Plagueis quickly deduces Valorum ''must'' have approached the High Council in secret; otherwise their ally Mas Amedda would've alerted them.]

* DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler:Plagueis and Sidious are both left stunned upon learning that Valorum dispatched Jedi to resolve the Naboo Blockade. The reason they didn't anticpate this is because of the fallout from the events of ''Cloak of Deception''. Thanks to the Sith, Valorum was prohibited by the Senate from bringing the Jedi or Judicials into any more planetary disputes; to do so would mean taking a ''massive'' political hit (one that could potentially bring down his Chancellorship). Sidious and Plagueis both underestimated Valorum's willigness to take the hit if it meant doing the right thing (and ironically to help his old friend Senator Palpatine save his homeworld.]]

** The Maladian assassin who kills Vidar Kim, like Subtext mining, bears her share of unwitting culpability in the eventual Sith takeover. [[spoiler: Despite being warned about Ronhar, she violates direct orders to ''only'' kill Vidar (Pestage speculates she wanted to add another Jedi kill to her resume). Not only does this nearly derail the Sith's plans to seat Palpatine in the Senate, but it also leaves Pestage's Maladian contact utterly humiliated and eager to make it up to his understandably now-angry client. Upon learning Pax Teem took out a contract with another Maladian faction to kill Damask, Pestage's contact relays the intel to him and Palpatine. This allows Palpatine to rescue Damask in time, which not only leads to Teem's death (and the later purging of Palpatine's political enemies on Naboo) but it also ironically ''prevents'' Teem's cabal from successfully and unknowingly assassinating the then-senior Sith Lord (which would have left Palpatine still only partially trained and ill-prepared to execute the final years of the Grand Plan).]]

* PoorCommuicationKills: [[spoiler:This is part of why the assasination of Vidar Kim turns into a near-debacle. Palpatine's instructions, which Pestage relayed to the Maladians, were that Kim's death should be public. What Palpatine ''meant'' (and expected) was that the operative would take the shot when Kim was out in the open at Mezzileen Spaceport. But because Palpatine and Pestage didn't make that clear, the operative interprets the guidelines to mean she should hit Kim while he's ''en route'' (and traveling with a Jedi). So not only does she nearly botch the job and get captured, but the Jedi end up opening an investigation into Vidar's death thanks to Ronhar's presence. Papatine''s ;ef''pissed''