I'm curious about the following excerpt from the Tarkin novel: [Sidious and Tarkin] had met several years after Sidious -- still an apprentice of Darth Plagueis at the time -- had been appointed Naboo’s representative to the Republic Senate. So does that mean Sidious killed Plagueis after being elected Senator of Naboo ?
Pretty sure Plagueis was still alive during phantom menace according to the old canon. I don't know about the new canon.
Yeah that's true. I know technically it's legends now, but in the book Darth Plagueis (which was great BTW), it wasn't until after Sidious had sent Darth Maul to hunt down Qui-Gon and company that he finally killed Plagueis. In fact IIRC, it was either right before or right after he was nominated to be Chancellor of the Republic. Again this was a great read-and I don't remember any direct "encroachments" on the storyline with NewCanon so far, so it could still be a legit read even now. At least so far.
I'd love for them to update that novel with some changes to make it canon. I know James Luceno, isn't against it!
Several elements from the Plagueis novel are brought into canon in Tarkin (114D, some of his lessons to Sidious, etc.). It's currently the most extensive source on Plagueis in canon. I don't think you could reintroduce the original novel into canon, as a lot of it was written to fit into the old EU, but I'd like to see something like a 'Palpatine' novel (keeping the current character-based novel trend) include Plagueis as a major character. One think I definitely would like to see changed from Legends is Plagueis still being alive by the time of Phantom Menace, as it really undermined Maul's position as Sidious' apprentice.
Not just Maul's position as a Sith Lord, but the whole concept of the Sith as established in the movies.
I actually kind of like how Plagueis was portrayed to be still alive up until the later events of TPM, cos IMO it makes Darth Sidious' deceptive actions that much more scheming and conniving. Also it kind of makes me see TPM in a different way-knowing that Plagueis is watching as Sidious is walking with Maul on Coruscant, as he's talking with him about "finally revealing themselves to the Jedi/having revenge." And then later, when Palpatine arrives on Naboo to tell Padme he was just elected Chancellor, knowing he also just killed Darth Plagueis...very deceptive stuff!
You can still have all that character stuff without having it be connected to EP1. Don't get me wrong, I love the machinations we see Palpatine and Plagueis perform, but they don't have to be connected so closely to the events in the films. If it where up to me, I'd tell Luceno to set this hypothetical 'Palpatine' novel at some 15-20 years before Episode 1, so that when Palpatine approaches Mother Talzin over potentially taking her as his Sith apprentice and then kidnapped toddler Maul instead he already has or was about to kill Plagueis (Maybe even using Nightsister techniques? He did say that he killed Plagueis in his sleep ...) Plagueis is still largely undefined in canon, not even his species, and unlike when Luceno wrote the Plagueis novel for the Legends continuity, there is is far greater freedom for new material right now. As much as Plagueis is one of my favorite Star Wars novels, it is close to impossible to actually recommend it to anyone, as it is stuffed to the brim with references to previous Legends material, all the way back to the Thrawn Trilogy.
True that it contains a lot of references...but what references are there in that book that specifically encroach on the current NewCanon? I don't recall any direct contradictions to what we've seen so far...?
My personal headcanon is that Plagueis died shortly before Anakin was born. Darkness rises, and light to meet it. Also regarding Plagueis' species:
I was refering to the references making it a harder read for newcomers (which I was when I first read the book). I still enjoyed it because its subject matter (the workings of the Force and politics) were of great interest to me, but I definitely got lost amongst the many references to previous EU material. In style, the Plagueis novel reads like a historical fiction novel, with the difference being that the history it's set in itself is fictional. As far as the novel's relationship to the new canon, the only real big contradiction is Maul's backstory as presented in the book does not fit the one in The Clone Wars. There is also the minor issue of Palpatine not having a first name (because it hadn't been decided), and perhaps some more smaller things. The larger issue is it's deep connection with Legends, meaning that while the novel itself doesn't contradict the current canon, a lot of the things it references are no longer part of continuity.
