Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Chapter XV: Tragedy of Darth Plagueis
Tragedy of Darth Plagueis[]
This is the Galaxies Opera House, located in the Uscru entertainment district. This is also the location of Episode II's Outlander Club, although Galaxies is described as being in a more up-scale area of this district. The name may have been inspired by or could be a reference to the Massively Multiplayer Online RPG, Star Wars: Galaxies. This venue also appears in the non-canonical comic, Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace. Signs seen outside include parodies of advertisements for The Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof, The Lion King, Wicked, and Annie.
Galaxies is a veritable smorgasbord of Coruscanti glitterati. At the main entrance, opera patrons include, from left to right:
- Two Otolla Gungans in conversation underneath the arch
- Opula Deget with a male Human
- A BD-3000 luxury droid
- A Swokes Swokes with a Human
- The Sy Myrthian Brookish Boon
- Boon, a character established on the HoloNet News website, is erroneously identified as a female in the Episode III Visual Dictionary, and his name is also misspelled "Brookish Boone".
- Duke Teta and his Twi'lek wife, Koyi Mateil, climbing the staircase
- It is possible that Koyi was named after two established Twi'leks; Koyi Komad from the X-wing: Rogue Squadron comics, and Casandra Mateil from Knights of the Old Republic. The Duke's name may have been inspired by Empress Teta from the Tales of the Jedi series.
- A Gran
- The Rodian Greeata Jendowanian at the foot of the stairs
- Greeata will later be seen in Episode VI, as part of the Max Rebo Band. She was added in the 1997 Special Edition.
- A Sullustan climbing the stairs
- This Sullustan was referred to during production as "Nien Nunb", after the most famous member of the species, who appeared as Lando Calrissian's copilot in Episode VI. This led to fans speculating that Nunb himself, and his puppeteer Mike Quinn, would appear in the film.
- Three pachyderm-like Pacithhip making their way into the venue
- "Captain" Dannl Faytonni escorting a female Human up the stairs
- Dannl Faytonni is a Tuckerization of actor Anthony Daniels, AKA C-3PO. Faytonni previously appeared in the Outlander Club in Episode II, here as a Lieutenant, although related material reveals that both ranks are phony, as he was only posing as a Republic officer.
- Anakin Skywalker, racing from his DC0052 Intergalactic airspeeder
- Three more Otolla Gungans in conversation
- A Vurk dignitary and an Ongree at the foot of the stairs
- The Vurk appears to be Senator Sweitt Concorkill, who is seen moments later as one of Palpatine's guests, while the Ongree appears to be wearing Jedi robes—indicating this might be Councilor Coleman Kcaj.
- A gathering of Humans are present near the docking area
- These Humans are actually members of ILM, who appear a few moments later in the viewing box to the right of Palpatine's.
- Two Otolla Gungans are seen as Anakin races up the stairs, one of which is speaking with a BD-3000 luxury droid
- A Mon Calamari can also be seen at the top of the stairs
The hallway leading into the viewing boxes is similarly clogged with all manner of beings, including, from left to right:
- Senator Chi Eekway speaking with Baron N. Papanoidia
- As previously established, Eekway is portrayed by Katie Lucas. Here, she appears with her father, George Lucas, marking the first time the creator of Star Wars has appeared in the saga. His name is likely a play on "Papa (father) Nerd".
- Rystáll Sant speaking with a humanoid
- Rystáll will later be seen in Episode VI as part of the Max Rebo Band. She was added in the 1997 Special Edition.
- Senator Terr Taneel speaking with Son Halliikeenovich, who hoped to marry her
- As previously established, Taneel is portrayed by Amanda Lucas. Here, she appears with her real-life boyfriend[1].
- Waks Trode with fellow Ishi Tib, Gume Saam, Senator of Tibrin
- Three Bith
- A Quarren and a red-skinned (Lethan) Twi'lek
- Two Aqualish
- Horox Ryyder, an Anx and the former Senator of Gravlex Med
Finally, the stage area itself is already packed with opera patrons. Those assembled in Palpatine's viewing box, and the box to its right, are most identifiable. From left to right:
- Romeo Treblanc, owner of Galaxies, flanked by two female Humans
- Treblanc was portrayed by Animation Director Rob Coleman. The name, created by "Captain Yossarian" as part of the What's the Story? feature on The Official Site, is an anagram of "Robert Coleman". The character's backstory was provided by "Master Ki-Aaron-Mundi".
- Treblanc's female guests are portrated by Visual Effects Producers Jill Brooks and Janet Lewin.
- Ottegru Grey
- Grey was portrayed by Visual Effects Supervisor Roger Guyett. The name, created by "Valin Kenobi" as part of the What's the Story? feature on The Official Site, is an anagram of "Roger Guyett". The character's backstory was provided by "Nex: the T is Hott!!" and "magicofmyth2".
- Onara Kuat
- Kuat was portrayed by Visual Effects Executive Producer Denise Ream. The character's name and backstory were created by "Darth NTM" as part of the What's the Story? feature on The Official Site.
- Tannon Praji
- Praji was portrayed by Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll. The character's name and backstory were created by "Nex: The T is Hott!!" as part of the What's the Story? feature on The Official Site. He was intended by the author to be the uncle of Commander Praji, who appeared in Episode IV, though this element was left out of the final Databank entry.
- Palpatine with Staff Aide Sly Moore
- Mas Amedda
- Two Royal Guards
- Senator Sweitt Concorkill of Sembla
- Janu Godalhi can be seen walking on the level below Palpatine's box
- Godalhi was portrayed by Pablo Hidalgo, Internet Content Manager on The Official Site. The character's name and backstory were created by "TalonCard86", "gohan316427", and "General Tarfful" as part of the What's the Story? feature on The Official Site. The character's surname name was derived from reversing the syllables of "Hidalgo", while his forename is an anagram of Pablo's father's name, Juan.
Other beings present at the opera house include:
- Ulfor Bombaasa
- Led Daragon
- Delva Racine
The current production held at Galaxies is called Squid Lake, and performed by the Mon Calamari Ballet. The name is a play on Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. Another title given during production of the film was Das Squid[2]. The figures dancing within the water globes are Mon Calamari.
The Clone Intelligence units mentioned by Palpatine are designated Null-6 (or "Kom'rk") and Null-10 ("Jaing").
Palpatine dismisses his aides and guests with a line ("Leave us") that will be repeated to his Royal Guards when Luke Skywalker is brought before him in Episode VI. Here, however, the Red Guards remain throughout the show.
This scene was originally set in Palpatine's office, though George Lucas suggested a change of location as that environment was already featured in many other scenes. The set was comprised simply of bluescreens and several chairs for the actors to sit in[3].
Palpatine's line to Anakin, "search your feelings. You know, don't you?" is very similar to his line to Vader in Episode V: "Search your feelings, Lord Vader. You will know it to be true". The latter was added to the 2004 DVD release of the film. Vader also paraphrases the line to his son near the end of the film.
The identity of Palpatine's Sith Master is revealed here, although it is not explicitly stated Palpatine was actually taught by Darth Plagueis at any point in the film. The novelization, however, confirms this to be the case.
The circumstances of Anakin's apparent "virgin birth" are called into question here, with Palpatine's revelation that Plagueis could influence the midi-chlorians to create life. It appears that Palpatine is obliquely referencing Anakin here, suggesting that either Plagueis, or possibly himself, created Anakin—and if so, then Palpatine may have been intending for Anakin to become his apprentice for longer than originally believed. However, in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Palpatine reveals that, had Anakin died on Mustafar, he would have had to find a way to influence the midi-chlorians to bring another potential apprentice into being. This still leaves the possibility of Plagueis's influence; something that may be covered in an upcoming novel by James Luceno, detailing the character.
Palpatine secudes Anakin to the dark side by informing him that Darth Plagueis could keep the ones he cared about from dying. However, he later reveals that he and the newly-christened Darth Vader would have to work together to learn the secret, implying that either Plagueis did not actually possess this knowledge, or else never taught it to his apprentice—despite Palpatine's claim to the contrary.
Music[]
"Palpatine's Teachings" plays through the scene. It is unknown whether the male voice heard in the scene is intended to be noumenal (heard only by the viewer, as part of Squid Lake) or phenomenal (actually heard by the characters in the scene).
References[]
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