Emperor Palpatine is arguably the most important character in the Star Wars mythos. His sinister machinations shaped the Skywalker saga: manipulating the events of the prequel trilogy from behind-the-scenes, ruling the galaxy in the original trilogy, and eventually executing an unlikely resurrection in the last of Disney’s sequels.

But what about the man under the hood? Much of Palpatine’s life remains a mystery. We know he was born Sheev Palpatine on Naboo eighty-two years before the Battle of Yavin to a noble family, was taken on as a Sith apprentice by Darth Plagueis, and then pursued a career in galactic politics. But other than those skeletal plot details, everything else is hazy.

But there’s an excellent idea being discussed on r/StarWars that’d clear away the fog from Palpatine’s story:

Replies point out that an excellent basis for this would be the Legends (and thus non-canon) novel Darth Plagueis. This 2012 book reveals how Plagueis and Sidious’ relationship worked, as well as a rundown of his political machinations and how he trained Darth Maul. Palpatine is such a fantastic villain that we take grim satisfaction in watching him win, so seeing him outwit stuffy Galactic Senators with his Dark Side trickery would be a fun ride.

The only fly in the ointment would be finding someone to play young Palpatine. Ian McDiarmid is so closely associated with the part it’d be difficult for someone to fill his shoes, though replies suggest Tom Hiddleston, Matt Smith, or Jamie Campbell Bower would nail the part.

But there are naysayers pointing out that this would be yet another Star Wars TV show with no stakes, as we know the end of the story.

Then again, that didn’t stop people from enjoying Obi-Wan Kenobi so perhaps they could make it work.

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