Darth Sidious is aptly named. For to Rey's surprise, far from being a scenery chewing villain, he is something of an insidious creeping threat. He doesn't rant and rave, and he is not aggressive in a physical or even verbal sense. But still . . . his looming presence is thoroughly unnerving. Ben once referred to him as the phantom menace of the Old Republic. Rey realizes now what Ben meant. Because Darth Sidious has mastered the subtle art of manipulation and intimidation while exerting very little overt control.
Rey keeps the lightsaber his minion Milo gave her, but it's of little use. The experience on Exogol taught her that she won't defeat Darth Sidious with a laser sword. Striking her foe down in anger only means he wins. But Darth Sidious apparently likes to see her conspicuously armed and ostensibly empowered. He gives her luxurious quarters on his ship, not a prison cell. And when Rey emerges from a long, hot shower that first night, she finds her discarded clothes are gone. In their place, she discovers costly formal garments that she reluctantly puts on. It's either wear the fancy crimson dress or hang out naked in a towel.
She hates dresses, and this one is stiff and heavy. It makes her feel like some ornamental Dark Side doll. But the dress also has a belt to affix the saber she carries. That's useful, at least. So Rey dons the dress, hooks the saber to her waist, and looks in the mirror. There she confronts a reflection of herself that is disconcertingly like the vision she saw on the Death Star ruins. She quickly turns away, unwilling to look any longer.
Darth Sidious alternatively calls her daughter and granddaughter, and treats her like a houseguest. She has the run of his ship, but that gains her little advantage. Rey knows better than to steal a TIE from the hangar bay and attempt to navigate her way out of the black hole she's in. Darth Sidious himself spends hours in deep concentration on the bridge personally directing the navigator on his course. Clearly, deep knowledge of the Force and communion with this goddess person Palpatine claims to be her mother are necessary to avoid death in the Maw. Every glance out the window tells Rey that this trip through the celestial nether regions is far more treacherous than even the flight to Exogol. What is it with Sith Lords and their out-of-the-way ancient space hideaways? It must be a Dark Side thing, she decides.
Darth Sidious invites her to join him on the bridge. Rey refuses, of course. But he continues to be solicitous of her happiness and comfort, with a faux charm that elides over the fact that the last time they saw one another it was during mortal combat. One day, he presents her with a tiny snub nose blaster to secret away in a pocket of her voluminous dress. He wants her to be safe, he tells her. He knows she can take care of herself, but he wants her to have tools for a ready defense. It's all so galling because they both know that the greatest threat to her person is Darth Sidious himself.
Rey shivers once in his presence—it's more from disquiet at what he is telling her than from any real coldness. But that becomes his excuse to present her with a heavy, hooded black cloak that matches his own spooky shroud. Rey has no desire to ape the trappings of the Sith. She immediately returns to her quarters to cast off the literal mantle of Darkness that Sheev Palpatine has lain upon her shoulders in some heavy-handed metaphor.
But sure enough, a few days later she finds herself reaching for the cape. For one thing, it conceals. Rey feels ridiculously conspicuous on the giant warship full of uniformed (and unrelentingly male) personnel. She is tired of being gawked at and whispered about. 'She's Lord Sidious' granddaughter, who pretends to be a Jedi.' Or, 'Look-there's the wife to the Apprentice Kylo Ren.' And with alarming regularity, she overhears, 'She's carrying the next Palpatine.' For it seems that all of these Sith loyalists know that she's pregnant and they seem thrilled with the knowledge. People look first at her face and next at her waistline. It is extremely annoying. More than once, Rey has been tempted to Force choke some guy who looks her over with smug approval like she's some vessel for the future of Darkness. Like her destiny is fulfilled and her role complete as she passively gestates twin babies. The hated cloak neatly avoids those occurrences. The hood shields her face and the folds of the cape hide her figure. It makes it easier to bear the scrutiny.
The cloak is also a strategy. Because a few days into this ongoing nightmare, Rey decides that she needs to bide her time and wait for an opportunity to escape. She can't do it now, but that doesn't mean there won't be a future opportunity. Rey resolves to play along with Darth Sidious' scheme in hopes that he will let his guard down. Perhaps he will reveal useful information if she can lure him into a false sense of security. Ben always said that overconfidence was Sheev Palpatine's weakness.
She's going to have to save herself from this predicament. That point is made very clear when the bond opens and she blurts out the big news only to have eavesdropping Darth Sidious intervene and practically murder Ben. For Sidious—like Luke and like Plagueis—can experience the dyad connection in action. After that near disaster, the battle lines are drawn, and all the combatants are finally out in the open. This conflict is about many things: the course of history, the meaning of the past, and the future of the Force. But it's hard to escape the realization on a very personal level that this is a grand rematch between an upstart Apprentice Sidious and his deposed Master Plagueis fighting for control over the Skywalker family. Rey fears that means she is the crux of the fight. For she is carrying the next generation of Skywalkers. Their fate—her fate—will decide the fate of the galaxy.
It's extremely overwhelming. Rey is just beginning to wrap her head around how she feels about her pregnancy. It's not exactly unwanted, she decides. It's more like very inconvenient. It's also downright terrifying. Frankly, she's not happy about it at all. Rey has always longed for a family. But in her mind that meant parents and maybe a sibling. She's never given much thought to the idea of being a parent herself. That was a concept for the far-off future. Lots would need to be resolved before the issue of kids ever became ripe for her and Ben. But faced with the prospect of becoming a mother by the end of the year, Rey is . . . well, overwhelmed. And that's saying something for a coolheaded young woman who once helped to scuttle the Starkiller and who marched in handcuffs to confront Supreme Leader Snoke. Normally, she's a brave, savvy girl who can handle herself. But this pregnancy is a development that simultaneously depletes her confidence and diminishes her psyche.
Rey manages it—a lot unconsciously and a little consciously—like she managed her abandonment on Jakku. It's one part intentional avoidance of the situation and one part self-delusion that there will occur some intervening event to make it all better. It's hope Rey has to cling to, like she once clung to the vain hope of her parents coming back for her on Jakku. Okay, so maybe that's childish. But hope is all you have when you are desperate like Rey feels now.
She lives in constant fear that the bond will reopen. That her special connection with Ben will be his undoing as she unwittingly exposes him to Darth Sidious' wrath. So Rey starts doing something she has never done before: she prays to the Force. Heretofore, the Force has always been a tool in her mind. It's less a religion than it is a special power. But now that Rey is feeling especially powerless, she beseeches the Force for intercession. Do not open the bond. I can take care of myself. Save Ben for the good of the galaxy. Do not let him fall prey to Sheev Palpatine. She prays with all her heart, hoping that someone is listening.
Will the Force heed her prayer? This seems like the ultimate test of whether the Force is with her and Ben in their quest for peace and balance. For whatever reason, the bond doesn't open again. At least . . . not yet.
Darth Sidious is obsessed with the bond. He asks her many questions she cannot answer. She has never really understood the dyad beyond Ben's idea that its purpose is to force them together to further the cause of balance. For his part, Darth Sidious seems to understand the dyad as a strategic tool for him to use. Through your bond, I can get to my Apprentice anywhere, Sheev Palpatine gloats. Kylo Ren cannot hide from me because he cannot hide from you. But luckily, the bond does not open, and so Darth Sidious cannot direct his powers on Ben. For now, at least, the Force won't let him.
During their journey to wherever they are going, the rejuvenated clone Emperor self-appoints himself Rey's Master. "You need a teacher," Darth Sidious tells her, sounding a bit like the Dark version of Luke Skywalker. Only this man has none of Luke's misgivings. Sidious clearly considers himself up to the task. Rey soon learns that Darth Sidious relishes the role of Sith Master who slowly imparts his wisdom. He truly seems to enjoy the job.
"Use my knowledge, I beg you," he urges when at first Rey balks. "Skywalker sent you away . . . his sister never learned much to pass on . . . and my Apprentice himself is still learning. But I have the knowledge of a lifetime accumulated and here for the taking," he offers.
"I won't be your Apprentice!" Rey snarls back.
"Yes, yes, we've been over that already," Lord Sidious waves an impatient hand her direction. "I already have an Apprentice in Kylo Ren. You, my dear, are something far more special—you're family," he declares with a bright smile that grates.
Rey gulps. Darth Sidious keeps sticking to the story that she is the daughter of his clone. But he can't seem to decide whether that clone is another version of himself or something more akin to a son. Hence, he calls her granddaughter and daughter in the same breath. It's made all the more confusing because in his current appearance Lord Sidious appears about the same age as Ben. Honestly, it's all really weird.
Her captor now assures her, "I would never wish to break you down slowly with traditional training. Not in your present condition. Let us merely walk and talk with a free exchange of ideas." By this, Darth Sidious means he wants her to wander his ship with him each day while he rants about whatever is on his mind. Maybe it's his politician past or perhaps it's his gargantuan ego, but Darth Sidious loves to hear himself talks. That's fine with Rey. She prefers to say the bare minimum. But she keeps her ears open for any useful information he lets slip.
More than anything, Sidious likes to criticize Darth Plagueis. On the day after the bond opens and Plagueis is revealed to be with Ben, Darth Sidious begins raising the topic of his longtime nemesis. "I know that you have met my old Master. No, don't bother to deny it. Let us be honest with one another. We are family after all," he coos cloyingly.
Rey says nothing.
Sidious keeps talking, as usual. He begins with praise. "In many ways, Darth Plagueis the Wise was a marvelous teacher. Full of guile and full of wisdom. He was masterful at getting what he wanted and making you think it was your own idea. Most never knew they were being manipulated by him. That's how good he was, Daughter."
"Don't call me that," she grumbles.
Sidious pretends not to hear. They have rehearsed this exchange many times by now.
"I see he has done the same with you and my Apprentice. He has you making peace to balance the Force . . . or so you think. But what you're really doing is enacting his revenge and promoting his return to power. When he gets what he wants, he will crush you both."
"That's not true," stalwart Rey objects under her breath.
Sidious counters, "He financed Kylo Ren's war in exchange for release from exile, did he not? He's bored sitting on the sidelines watching you two younglings running things. Do you really think he will be content to merely advise now and then? That Muun plotted the downfall of the Old Republic. He has long sought to rule it all."
"You're wrong," she grumbles again. "That may have been true once, but now he wants to balance the Force."
"Oh?" Darth Sidious raises both eyebrows in mock surprise. "And yet even as we speak, he's aboard the First Order flagship posing as Supreme Leader Snoke. Does that strike you as the role of a part time counselor?"
Recalling her intention to keep quiet, Rey declines to comment. But, in truth, she doesn't like the idea of Darth Plagueis sprung from exile.
"Tell me, do you know why he wants to balance the Force so badly?"
"To destroy the Sith. To destroy you," Rey hisses back before she can stop herself.
Her vehemence, if noted, does not bait Darth Sidious. "Ah yes, you are perceptive," he commends with oily smarm. Sidious has a politician's strategy of flattering you or even purporting to agree with you before proceeding to tell you why you're wrong. "Plagueis' true goal is revenge. He lets you call yourself a Jedi for now because you do his bidding. But never forget that Darth Plagueis the Wise was the one to create an army of soldiers with brains controlled by inhibitor chips designed to activate upon his command for Order 66. He plotted the annihilation of the Jedi Order decades in advance. He will never let the Jedi return. When he gets what he wants, he will crush you," Sidious intones again.
That thought did cross her mind initially back on Zakuul. Rey was slow to warm to Plagueis and even now she is a bit skeptical. But nonetheless she dutifully objects, "He wants to balance the Force. To let the old ways die off so we can form a new understanding of our power."
"That's such a noble and polite way to express his true purpose," Sidious snorts. "Oh, history has many names for the work of self-proclaimed reformers and iconoclasts. Let's see now . . . pogroms, reformations, inquisitions, proscriptions . . ." He thinks a moment and adds to his list. "Exterminations, genocides, revolutions, mass slaughter . . . you get the idea. Any time a new orthodoxy takes hold, the first order of business is to wipe the slate clean. That's the textbook move to consolidate power. He will do the same."
When she says nothing, Sidious again asserts, "Plagueis is using you and Kylo Ren. He first had you subdue the unruly galaxy with a faux peace. Now, he is using my continued existence as a justification for his return to power. He will tell you and Kylo Ren that you need his help. But in truth, you are the helpers. Granddaughter, I beg you, don't be fooled as I was once fooled. I followed that Muun for far too long before I recognized his treachery."
"The treacherous one is you!" Rey huffs.
"Plagueis cares only for himself. He has no creed beyond his own desires. What sort man is that? Those born with great power need a purpose, Rey. Power must have a goal and a focus. It requires discipline. Otherwise, it is merely a despot's exercise in capriciousness."
Rey has no retort.
"Say what you will about the Jedi and the Sith, but those religions were the outgrowth of several millennia of thought. They were not the whims of a single man, but the culmination of generation upon generation of careful study and refinement. Plagueis would throw out all that," Sidious sniffs with disdain. "His anti-clericism is arrogant. Conveniently, it leaves him alone in charge to decide what is right. Listen to me when I tell you that the Force will not stand for that sort of concentration of power in one man."
"Unless it's with you?" Rey challenges brutally.
Darth Sidious merely smiles. "With us," he corrects her smoothly. "With us."
Day after day, these chats—as Sidious is fond of calling them—continue. Despite her best intentions, Rey gets increasingly drawn in. As things evolve, it's less a monologue of his scare tactics and more a tense, bitter conversation. It's talk of the Force, of politics and of government, along with a smattering of philosophy. But mostly, it is a litany of paranoia and disdain directed at Darth Plagueis. Lord Sidious is obsessed with his old Master. He is determined to outshine him and to someday, somehow defeat him. It tells Rey just how afraid Sheev Palpatine is of the Muun with the ruined face.
Yet again today Sidious is fearmongering. "When he gets what he wants, he will crush you."
Rey has heard that line before. She just nods along noncommittally as they walk the halls of his busy warship, drawing the eye of everyone in the vicinity.
Sidious warms to his favorite theme. "The Force deposed that Muun long before you were born. He played god one too many times . . . acted as if he were a rival to the Force itself," Sidious condemns. "I know, for I was there the moment he sowed the seeds of his own demise."
Her captor clearly wants her to ask about the story he's alluding to, but Rey declines. "What's your point?" She suspects Darth Sidious likes a slow telling as much as he likes a slow killing. The man can really ramble at times. It gets old.
"I wasn't good enough for him," Darth Sidious complains with petulant pique. "All my years of loyal service, all the hardships endured during training, all my successes for our grand plan . . . none of that earned me any goodwill. I was merely his tool, you see. Like you are now." Darth Sidious never misses a chance to sow distrust. He also has a habit of pointing out all the ways he perceives she and him to be alike, which Rey particularly hates. As for as she's concerned, she has nothing in common with Sheev Palpatine.
"My old Master got it in his mind that he would create the ultimate Dark Apprentice. A man without flaw whom he could mold and craft. A man content to be his forever Apprentice. A man who would remain content in the shadow of his reflected limelight. A man from whom he need never fear revolt or dissent."
"So not you?" Rey gives her wily tormentor a knowing look.
"Not me," Sidious confirms grimly. His voice has a note of true sadness that Rey cannot miss. "Plagueis has long been obsessed with creation. He had the idea to commission the clone army of slave human soldiers. He found it amusing that their opposition would be droids. 'It will be man versus machine,' he used to say. He wanted to watch them battle for supremacy as he pulled the strings as the ultimate puppeteer. He uses people like that, Rey. We are all expendable for that Muun."
Rey refrains from pointing out that Darth Sidous himself would do the same. There is no honor among the Sith, she's pretty certain. But actually, Sidious does seem genuinely hurt by Plagueis' plan to replace him. It's more than just his ego being pricked at being judged a lackluster Apprentice. For the first time, Rey understands that the contest between the two Sith Masters is highly personal. This is as much about Darth Sidious' hurt feelings and bruised ego as it is the fate of the galaxy and the future of the Force.
"Plagueis took his clone idea—that the Kaminoans could craft the perfect soldier—and decided to try his hand at creation himself using the Force."
"Yes, I know. It's why he created the Skywalkers," Rey sighs, feigning a yawn. "I'm getting tired. I'd like to go back to my quarters now," Rey shuts him down.
It works. Sidious, like everyone else on the ship, seems very determined to achieve her maximum health and comfort. That's not motivated by any real concern for her person, Rey knows. It's all about the babies she carries. It's ridiculous really. Pregnant or not, she's no dainty, wilting flower. This guy knows that better than most thanks to Exogol. But nonetheless, Sheev Palpatine makes a big show of taking care of her like she's weak. Rey plays along. She'll use any excuse to limit her time with Darth Sidious.
It's only a temporary solution, however. For the next day, she's back tromping the hallways while Darth Sidious drones on about the supremacy of Darkness. He's lecturing her as the last Jedi adherent, she supposes. But soon, he resumes his usual theme of dissing his former Master. All discussions of the Force inevitably lead back to the exiled Muun, she's learning.
"Tell me," Sidious purrs, glancing her way, "have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"
Rey fights the urge to roll her eyes. "You mean how you deposed him?" Twice already, she's heard Sidious brag about how he bested his old Master in a battle royale that left several dead bystanders and nearly ripped a hole in the Force.
"Oh, that was no tragedy," much-aggrieved Sidious scowls. "That was justice! No, I refer to the tale of the Muun's extreme hubris."
"I know he created the Skywalkers," she guesses.
"Yes, that's it!" Darth Sidious brightens, pleased at her audience participation. "My old Master had such a knowledge of the Force, but it went to his head. He came to view himself as some kind of Dark god. He had long been obsessed with prolonging life and renewing life—"
"And the clones . . ." she sighs. She's heard a lot about clones already.
"Yes, but once he had made the clone army and had learned how to keep those he cared for from dying, he set about on a new task: he would create life so he could create the Force. For you see, life creates the Force and makes it grow. So, to create life is to increase the Force. Power, he plotted, would beget more power."
"Okay . . . " Whatever. This is more of the same stuff Rey's heard before.
"Now any fertile rutting fool can create life. There's no mystery in that task. But Plagueis sought to create Force sensitive life. That is something different entirely," Darth Sidious tells her with something approaching true reverence. "The Kaminoans tried and failed many times at that task. So," he ruefully admits, "did I."
She's familiar with the Dark Side's relentless lust for power. "I've heard this story," Rey hastens him up. "Plagueis wanted to create the ultimate Dark Apprentice, but he ended up creating the Chosen One because he angered the Force and it struck back at him."
"It was ironic, or so it seemed for a bit," Sidious nods. "But Anakin Skywalker was no mythical figure. He was a failure in most respects."
Rey shoots him a dirty look, thinking of how Ben would bristle at this characterization of his beloved grandfather. But she's heard enough already to surmise that Darth Sidious was enormously jealous of Darth Vader who was created to replace him. It prompts her to goad her captor, "You say Vader is a failure and yet you've been chasing the clan of the Chosen Ones ever since . . ."
Darth Sidious declines to acknowledge that hit. Like usual, he simply continues on as if she has said nothing. "Plagueis tried for years to conjure a Force son, but to no avail. I pointed out to him one day that most procreation requires two—a female and a male. And that set Plagueis on a quest to find a Force-strong woman to recruit for his alchemy. The obvious choice was the Mother Witch of the Nightsister Coven. But Plagueis went a different direction altogether. He went in search of your mother."
Darth Sidious now pauses for dramatic effect.
Rey refuses to take the bait and remains silent. She has been wondering when Palpatine would get back around to this topic. She silently resolves to feign disinterest for his lies.
"Plagueis set his sights high. Your mother had legendary status among the Sith of yore. Many Dark heroes quested for her for their whole lives. Most left bleak holochron chronicles behind as testaments to their obsession. Plagueis had watched them all, of course. So when he needed a woman's help, he decided to seek out the legendary Lady Abeloth herself. He told me she alone was worthy of his skill—can you believe the arrogance?" Huffing Darth Sidious is outraged.
"She was thought to be an oracle and a prophet. A temptress goddess who existed just beyond reach. She would call to a select few Sith she deemed worthy. She tormented their mediation like a siren in their minds. She offered them everything if only they would find her and free her."
Darth Sidious is breathless with unspoken luridness as he speaks. Rey is a bit taken aback. Clearly, this Lady Abeloth woman is some sort of Dark Side femme fatale. Because from the looks of Darth Sidious, he too is enthralled.
He knows what she's thinking. "Lady Abeloth is the original honey trap. Many, many powerful Dark Lords perished in her pursuit. They were lured to their deaths."
"I don't understand." Why go chasing some unattainable deadly goddess? This must be a man thing, Rey decides.
"Her story is told and retold in different cultures as various fairytales and myths. Lady Abeloth is the sleeping beauty who waits to be awakened by a kiss. She is the warrior maiden imprisoned within a ring of fire waiting to be claimed. She is the beleaguered girl trapped in a tower who can only let down her hair. Call her the damsel in distress, the persecuted maiden, or the princess in jeopardy—it matters not-the story is always the same. Our heroine has been placed in a dire predicament and is in need of a worthy hero to achieve her rescue. So, when Plagueis himself finally heard her call, he simply could not resist," Darth Sidious recounts.
Rey shakes her head. "I still don't understand. Why?"
"Have I missed the most important part? Lady Abeloth has the most beguiling attribute a woman can possess," Sidious tells her with yellow eyes glittering. "She has power. She doesn't promise riches or sex. She confers power." Darth Sidious draws out his syllables slowly, as if relishing his sentiments.
"Oh." Now, Rey gets it. A Sith will do practically anything for power.
"Power is the only worthy goal. That fool Anakin Skywalker threw it all away for a pretty face. He wanted a mother figure to nag him and to love him, but Padme Amidala was nothing special. She certainly wasn't worth dying for," Darth Sidious shrugs. "Alas, romantic folly ran in the family. The son Luke Skywalker lusted mostly for his sister."
Rey blinks. "Really?"
"Really," Sidious assures her, adding, "No wonder he made a good Jedi monk. The only woman who roused Skywalker's passion was unavailable because she married his best friend."
Well, that just made the Skywalker family more weird, Rey thinks to herself.
Darth Sidious chuckles as he smirks. "It's no secret why my Apprentice lusts for you. Such power you have, Daughter. It even magnifies in the dyad. Kylo Ren cannot resist you, can he?"
Rey gulps and tugs her hood lower.
"Don't be embarrassed. Own your allure. Your mother certainly does. But I digress . . . Where were we?"
"Darth Plagueis was questing for a mythical goddess," Rey dutifully offers, anxious to direct the conversation away from her and Ben.
"Ah, yes. Lady Abeloth is as old as the Force. She exists in essence more than form for the most part. And that essence is trapped here in the Maw, quite intentionally. She is chaos magic. She is neither Light nor Dark, but something that predates those concepts altogether. It's marvelous, really."
Rey's ears perk up. "She is trapped here?"
"Oh, yes. She was forsaken by those closest to her when she transgressed. Her punishment is to live forever in the Maw. But she's been here long enough to discover ways to break out. She projects herself in various forms from time to time, manifesting herself as a living creature in the outside world. So while she remains here forever, she can still experience the larger universe. It is her coping mechanism, so to speak. Lady Abeloth likes to make herself different women in different times and different places."
"Oh."
"Plagueis found her in the Force first. He began his seduction that way. Promising her everything if she helped him."
"Let me guess—it was a lie," Rey deadpans.
"I'm getting to that part. My old Master convinced her to join him in an experimental ritual. Together, male and female in the Force, they would create a child."
"Anakin Skywalker?"
"Yes. Plagueis was so proud of his feat that he made me watch. I was there when the first demigod of the Force was conceived. But there was a catch—the human child he created with Lady Abeloth had to be carried in the womb of a flesh and blood human woman. And so, he was. Her name was Shmi Skywalker and she was a slave to a Hutt on Tatooine."
"I know the story."
"You just think you know the story," Darth Sidious corrects her. "Because that wretched slave woman was Lady Abeloth in a human form. I think she was testing Plagueis. To see if he would indeed sense the child, claim him, and raise him as his Apprentice as promised."
"But the Jedi found him first."
Sidious shrugs. "Perhaps. Or perhaps Lady Abeloth hid young Anakin away to double-cross the Sith Master she felt misled her."
"That's not it," Rey counters. "That's not it at all. Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One—he was created because the Force struck back at Plagueis for his creation stunt. Anakin Skywalker was sent to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force as punishment."
"That's one way of viewing the events," Sidious allows, adding, "Back then, there was nothing my old Master feared more than the Jedi prophecy that could undo all he accomplished. Plagueis made it a habit of murdering any candidates for the position of Chosen One. He only let me keep Maul because he was so young and such a longshot for the role."
"So what happened? Get to the point," Rey grumbles. This is a lot of exposition.
"Lady Abeloth raised a son on Tatooine in obscurity never to be found by Plagueis. My Master considered the whole ritual to be a failure and abandoned the missing child and Lady Abeloth altogether. And so, she remained imprisoned here in the Maw. As you can imagine, she was angry about it."
"Where do I come in?" Rey asks, mostly to speed the story along.
"In due time, Plagueis realized that his creation was the Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker. He had me get close to the boy to keep an eye on him should we need to kill him."
"Instead, your lured him to the Dark Side."
"Yes, I did," Lord Sidious purrs proudly. "It seemed a waste to squander all that power when you could instead control it. That worked with Maul before him."
Rey gives Darth Sidious a questioning look. "I'm surprised you didn't fear Plagueis' son." Even if Anakin Skywalker wasn't the Jedi Chosen One, he was, after all, Sheev Palpatine's replacement.
"Ah, but Anakin was Lady Abeloth's son as well," Sidious reminds her. "And I wished to keep in the good graces of the goddess." He shrugs and now again disses his most famous Apprentice, "Plus, Lord Vader was never a credible threat." Sidious flashes an ugly smile as he proclaims, "Plagueis screwed up. Big time. He knew it, too."
"So where do I come in?"
"My old Master got bored in exile. He's always been the jealous type. So when I had the next generation of Skywalkers either in exile, in political disgrace, or acting as my Apprentice, Plagueis tried again with Lady Abeloth. He wanted a second child to use to defeat me."
"Me?" Rey guesses.
"Yessss," her captor hisses. "Lady Abeloth was wise to his ways at that point. Plagueis uses and discards people." Darth Sidious' eyes dart to her. "Anyone can see that."
"Plagueis came back to your mother to tell the story of the Skywalkers they had created together and to own his own neglect and many failures. How it must have humbled my old Master to utter such a mea culpa," Darth Sidious chuckles. "He wasn't sincere, of course. He wanted something from her."
"She was convinced?"
"Hardly. She started calling to me. She told me his plan. Lady Abeloth knew, of course, that I had unfinished business with Plagueis. She enlisted my help. The goddess would agree to create another child, but the undisclosed purpose of that child was to get revenge on Plagueis with my help."
Rey, who bargained for a living on Jakku, smells a deal and wants to know the terms. She looks to Sidious and prompts, "And you would get?"
"My own revenge and you. The new ultimate Dark Apprentice would be a Palpatine."
Rey feels her heartbeat quicken at his words. She swallows hard and ventures, "So . . . it's true that I am a child of the Force?"
He nods gravely. "You were created in the Force by Darth Plagueis and Lady Abeloth, and born into the world by the wife of my clone son. For you see, this time Lady Abeloth took the form of the woman who married my genetic replica. My clone son was of little use to me," Darth Sidious casually reveals, "since he had no Force abilities. But you—my granddaughter Reina Palpatine—are born of the Force and are full of power. You were to be the heiress to my Empire, raised in comfort and luxury. But alas, you were stolen and lost for years . . ."
"That gives me the name Palpatine, but that doesn't make me a Palpatine," Rey huffs. "I am no blood relation to you!"
"You are no blood relation to anyone but Lady Abeloth," Sidious allows, "But make no mistake-you were made for me. Your destiny is to continue the legacy of the Sith. And so, you shall. For your children sired by Kylo Ren will consolidate the Skywalker and the Palpatine families. Such power!" he crows with quiet satisfaction. "Such possibility!"
"And yet, your plan didn't work. Your clone son fled from you and hid me," Rey points out, bitter about her abandonment on Jakku.
"That part is regrettable, yes. But destiny cannot be thwarted, Rey. See how our paths have crossed time and again? It is fate. Our family is reunited at last as the Force wills."
Rey's eyes narrow. She wants to understand in full the quid pro quo. "So my mother gave you a Chosen One to use against Plagueis. What did you agree to do for her? What did you promise my mother in return for your help?"
"I promised that I would bring you to her. That together, we would try to free her from captivity."
"So you're a fool, like all those other Sith fools before you—is that it?" Rey jeers.
He gives her a reproving look. "Would you turn your back on your long-suffering mother, Rey? Would you refuse your own flesh and blood the help she needs?"
Rey doesn't know how to answer that question. This is a lot to process in real time, if any of it is true. She's skeptical of this whole story of Lady Abeloth except it has the odd ring of truth. It wouldn't be the first time two Sith plotted revenge against one another with the help of a third party, she suspects. Naturally, there would be an innocent caught up in the strife. Is that her role in all of this?
"She is your mother," Darth Sidious practically coos. "We must help her, for we are her only hope. If we work together, I know we can discover the secret to free her."