Plagueis tells him a rueful tale of his formerly Sith self who convinced an imprisoned goddess to make a baby with him using the Force. In return, he promised to attempt to free the goddess from her longtime captivity. But when the sorcery didn't immediately yield results like a Dark resurrection does—Plagueis was apparently expecting to conjure a grown son out of thin air—the then easily bored, inveterately impatient Sith Master shrugged. He blew off the goddess. He forgot the kid. He moved on. He was never the type to linger over failed experiments, Plagueis awkwardly explains to Kylo, the living, breathing grandson of that very same failed experiment.

Of course, unbeknownst to the Muun, the creation stunt worked. Darth Plagueis the Wise thus became the unwitting Sith deadbeat dad to Anakin Skywalker, the first child of the Force. The little demigod was born into slavery on a backwater world to his goddess mother disguised in human form. The boy languished in obscurity on Tatooine with his steadfast loving mother as they both awaited rescue.

But the Muun never came.

"She called to me," Plagueis reveals with a heavy sigh. "Over and over again, she called for help in the Force. I thought it was more of the same from the goddess. That she was doing her usual damsel in distress routine looking for some damned fool to journey to his death in hopes of being a hero. I ignored her. My use for her had ended. I didn't think she could do anything for me at that point."

So, the Muun never came.

Kylo hears lots of justifications for why. Plagueis was too busy giving instructions to the Kaminoans and plotting for his current Apprentice to ascend to the Republic Chancellorship. Not to mention his ongoing duties as Chairman of the Banking Clan on Munnilinst. Toppling the Republic was no easy feat, mind you. Kylo hears all about how hard it was to corral the Separatist leaders into a grand conspiracy. But the message that sinks in is that young Darth Vader was not a priority. If he happened to be out there somewhere, the Muun didn't care. He had more important things to deal with.

"Selfish Sith!" Kylo accuses, conveniently forgetting his own egocentric proclivities.

Old Plagueis takes the deserved hit. "Yet again, I was wrong," the regretful Muun plainly admits.

For as it turns out, the goddess was not crying wolf nor seeking attention. She and her boy were slaves to a Hutt, the lowest of the low on a Rim world that was a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Plagueis laments, "As her goddess self, Lady Abeloth is astounding in her abilities. In many ways, she is the Force. But in her human form, she was a powerless victim. She was sold and re-sold—"

"Before she was murdered!" Kylo supplies the punchline to his great-grandmother's short and terrible life. That she was in fact a goddess makes it all the more tragic somehow. For she trusted the Muun and he let her down. She suffered, her child suffered, and ultimately the whole galaxy suffered as a result.

"Had I known to look for them . . . had I know where she was . . . I would have helped her," Plagueis contends with uncharacteristic defensiveness.

Kylo jeers back, "Are you sure about that? Would you have wanted a slave as your ultimate Dark Apprentice?"

The Muun answers bluntly, "Power is power, and Lord Vader had plenty of power. I would have snapped him up had the Jedi not found him first."

But, as Kylo knows, the Light Side did swoop in to pounce on the little boy with the amazing abilities no one understood. His disguised goddess mother relinquished him with tears in her eyes. She knew what the passing Jedi Master Qui-gon Jinn suspected was true—that Anakin Skywalker was destined for greatness.

Plagueis exhales again as he pauses his tale. "You know the rest. By the time I realized who Anakin was, he was already the Jedi Padawan the High Council secretly believed to be the fulfillment of their prophecy. Here was the greatest threat ever to face the Sith—the Chosen One sent to balance the Force . . . and I created him."

"Why didn't you kill him?" Kylo demands, wise to the ways of the Dark Side.

The Muun responds with brutal truth, "Oh, that was the plan except Sheev talked me out of it. Sheev wanted to handle Anakin like we did Maul—we would use him for our own aims then discard him or kill him when convenient."

"So all along, you plotted for that fucker Sidious to ensnare my grandfather?" Kylo snarls.

"Yes," Plagueis admits. "But knowing from whence he came, I had strong doubts that Anakin could be the Chosen One. It seemed ridiculous that a Dark Sith could inadvertently create the ultimate Jedi hero. And after all, Anakin was created to be my Apprentice. It seemed fitting to delegate the boy's grooming to Sheev. But that was yet another mistake . . ."

'Mistake' is a rather mild word for what happened, but fuming Kylo moves on. "What about Rey? Where does she fit in?"

Plagueis now tells him of how he approached the goddess a second time after Endor, requesting another child. This time, Plagueis was wise to how things would play out. He knew that the goddess would give birth as a human woman. But whereas he was expecting another princeling born to humble roots, this time he instead begot a princess born to exalted status. Plagueis apparently didn't see that plot twist coming.

The Muun shakes his head and sighs. "Imagine my shock that this latest version of Lady Abeloth turned out to be married to Sheev's clone son. It was then that I realized she had betrayed me. She was plotting with Sheev all along. No doubt Rey was intended to be Sheev's Apprentice, probably to use against me if I ever resurfaced."

Kylo isn't pleased with this plot twist either. "So Sidious is right that Rey is a Palpatine . . ."

"Only in name."

"But that story of Ochi hunting her parents is true?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you abandoned Rey too?" Kylo stammers with snarling fury. "Because you learned she was a Palpatine? The kin of your enemy?"

"I never abandoned her. I lost her," Plagueis contends. "Sheev's clone son was a rebellious sort on the run from the Sith Eternal and from the New Republic. He was not on board with Sheev's ideas. He didn't want to get involved. The clone son sought to hide his wife and the child, but got himself and his missus killed in the process. I falsely believed that Rey had died as well. And since, unlike Anakin, Rey did not manifest her power until her awakening, she remained safely anonymous from all of us who knew to look for her."

Kylo nods along. "That meant you wouldn't sense her death in the Force . . ."

"I didn't sense her at all. In hindsight, I can't help but see that as the will of the Force protecting Rey from all who would use her for their own aims."

Thank goodness for that, Kylo decides. Because he hates to think of the Sith Eternal swooping down to collect a grateful starving Rey from Jakku and then proceeding to mold her into a weapon of the Dark Side like he himself had once been.

The whole Lady Abeloth tale is so preposterous that Kylo decides it must be true. Shit like this only happens in his family. And all of it, he judges, is the fault of the meddling Muun who repeated his giant mistake not once, but twice. That his whole family—including his now captive pregnant wife—are the victims of Plagueis is downright galling. Heretofore, he had assumed Darth Plagueis had searched for his Chosen One son, but now he knows his poor grandfather was abandoned. "First, you failed my grandfather . . . then you failed Rey . . ." In fact, Kylo remembers Plagueis once denying any knowledge of Rey's mother—a denial which he now knows was a boldfaced lie.

"Yes. I failed." The long exiled Sith Master with the wrecked body and ruined face looks truly sad at the outcome. His blue eyes, still known to flash yellow, are downcast. "On so many levels, I failed . . . and the consequences reverberated to a massive scale."

"You're damn right they did!" Kylo glares. The story of the Skywalkers is one personal tragedy after another, with everyone ending up maimed, exiled, or violently killed far too soon. And it's not just his blood kin that suffered. For everyone who has ever loved a Skywalker or been loved by a Skywalker somehow ends up dead as a result. Just ask Owen or Beru Lars or Bail and Breha Organa. The list of victims doesn't stop there, of course. You don't have to know a Skywalker to become their collateral damage. Already, there are trillions dead thanks to three Death Stars and two civil wars and counting. Kylo's a Skywalker himself, but he can't help but see that his family has made a mess of things in three generations of unrelenting conflict.

As Kylo continues to glare at the Muun in boiling Dark consternation, Plagueis starts detailing his shortcomings. It's a litany of regrets. "I failed to perceive my Anakin's birth and his true meaning. I made an enemy of his mother by their abandonment. Later, I worried that I had created my greatest enemy, instead of the man who could be my salvation. I also failed to perceive how strongly Sheev felt about the Rule of Two. I did not realize how threatened he was by my prophet son. Nor did I understand how steeped Sheev truly is in the tenets of the old Sith religion. He is very resistant to change. Alas, my shortcomings had dire effects for myself, for our family, and for the galaxy. I set things in motion that would continue for decades."

Incensed Kylo now explodes, "Don't forgot Rey! You failed Rey too! Do you know how she lived on Jakku?"

"I do. And I accept responsibility for it."

"What the fuck does that mean?" Kylo jeers.

The Muun shoots him a look. "It's more than you did for Hosnia."

"Darth Sidious blew Hosnia!"

"With your help."

Kylo fumes but won't deny it. Had he opposed the Starkiller Base, it wouldn't have mattered. But he didn't oppose it. And as the last Prince of Alderaan, that makes the tattered remnants of his conscience smart a bit.

Being on defense makes him aggressive. He snarls, "If we're both confessing sins, may I remind you that I was the Apprentice who followed orders while you were the Master issuing the orders! The blame lies on you! This is your doing!"

"Like I said, I accept responsibility. I was wrong."

"That is very dissatisfying!" Kylo howls his indignation.

Again, the Muun shoots him a look. "Now, you know how your counterparts in the Republic feel about your peace deal. Kylo Ren, what comes around, goes around."

"You fucked over my entire family!"

"The Jedi had a hand in that, too. They stole your mother and Skywalker, and then Kenobi and Organa brainwashed them both. I was not a solitary actor. Others contributed to the situation and made it worse."

Maybe so, but still . . . "You fucked over my entire fucking family!"

"I tried to salvage things with your grandfather, but your uncle got in the way . . . you know that. After Endor, I stepped back. I could tell I was making things worse by intervening. I resolved to let the Force sort things out. I kept that stance until Sheev got his hands on you. I knew then that I had to act."

"All you did was drag Rey into this mess!"

"I have tried to make amends for failing her. I brought you back to life, my boy. That was as much for her as it was for you and for me. You may not know it, but Rey was devastated by your loss. Living on alone in the aftermath of the dyad left her bereft in a way no one but you will ever understand. Rey had never been close to anyone except you and your mother, and she lost you both in short order."

That point hits home. Kylo thinks a moment on how he has never discussed his mother's passing with Rey. Leia Organa is one of those topics they each avoid to eschew conflict. But he suspects Plagueis is right that Rey was a mess when the dust settled from Exogol.

The former Sith must be in his thoughts because he nods and reveals, "I found her miserable and alone on Tatooine and then on Jakku. She was lost. Rey is a marvelous prodigy, and one day she will be capable of truly amazing things. But she will never reach her potential without guidance and love from us. For now, I tolerate her Jedi fetish as a phase she's going through. She is very young. As are you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kylo is stung. For truthfully, he feels like the oldest thirty-something on record. He's lived enough pain, frustration, and disappointment for a lifetime already. Plus, he's fought a war, reforged an Empire, and died once. That's a lot for not yet turning thirty-five

"I mean only that your youthful zeal can make you impetuous and bold, and that can lead to missteps."

"Missteps?" he bristles, still feeling wronged.

"Like Rey's pregnancy." The Muun stoically laments, "Sheev has the ultimatum leverage now. He controls Rey. He effectively controls you as well. He also controls the future through that child. Sheev's going to attempt to slot himself in as overlord at the top to reclaim the galaxy. We have our work cut out for us. The bond won't provide any advantage since Sheev can use it to kill you."

"Yeah," Kylo concedes with his own woebegone sigh. "None of this is good."

"Do not despair. Instead, let us trust in the Force to guide our way," Plagueis counsels sagely. "We must see our current adversity as a challenge, not as defeat. For the Force hones its greatest heroes through trials and setbacks." He's speaking of himself apparently. For he continues, "I was once an arrogant zealot. I suppose all Sith are in some respects," Plagueis reflects. "It was only in defeat that I gained enlightenment. Only once I lost everything did I realize what truly matters. Alas, I chased the wrong goals and gloried in my success. But then, my own hubris and the intercession of the Force taught me the error of my ways." The Muun looks him squarely in the eye and assures him, "It was a humbling lesson delivered harshly."

Yeah, Kylo thinks, this guy lost his empire, his health, and his face to his upstart Apprentice. But he can't help but smirk a little. "I don't know . . . your exile looked pretty posh."

"You know better," his elder reproves. "A true Sith does not fear death—"

"He fears irrelevance," Kylo finishes the time-honored maxim of Darkness he learned as Snoke's Apprentice. The saying is meant as an exhortation to ambition: better to try and fail, than never to try at all. Dark heroes might fall short and go down in a blaze of glory, but that is not failure. Failure is to limit one's self to smallminded, achievable feats, Kylo dutifully learned.

"Nowadays I am no longer a true Sith, but I still wish to influence things. For decades, I pondered whether I would have preferred to die rather than to persist in exile. Why does the Force allow me to live? What is my purpose? Do I have a destiny yet to fulfill?"

Are those rhetorical questions? Kylo answers, "You must. Or else you would have perished."

"I agree."

Kylo now supplies the obvious reason: "Balance."

"Yes. And also, atonement. My boy, I want to put right the turmoil I caused. That begins with killing once and for all the monster Sheev Palpatine who I selected, trained, and then let loose on the galaxy. Darth Sidious is my responsibility," Plagueis says with finality. There is a momentary flash of yellow in his eyes as he decrees, "Sheev answers to me."

"Get in line. I've got my own scores to settle with him," Kylo grumbles back.

"Oh, no. We had a deal," the Muun corrects him sharply. "When we catch Sheev, he is mine."

"I did agree to that, didn't I?" Kylo recalls.

"I will hold you to your bargain."

"Very well," Kylo concedes.

Atonement is clearly a topic old Plagueis has thought a great deal about. He muses, "People adapt with experience. Their understanding deepens with mistakes. If given the chance, a person can truly change. Mind you, I am not talking about some sappy redemptive morality fairytale like Rey loves," the Muun chides, "I'm talking about an evolution of mindset that builds on the man you were before to become a better version of yourself. It's less a repudiation than a refinement."

Kylo is a little lost in that speech. He squints at the former Sith Master. "Is that your way of saying you're not contrite? You're sorry, not sorry?"

Plagueis grunts. "I'm saying that knowing what I know now, I would have done a great many things differently. I'm saying that I am sorry for how things worked out. I am attempting now to put things right."

Kylo digests these words. That statement is enormous coming from the mastermind of the Clone Wars. Impressed Kylo breathes out, "You really aren't a Sith." Because the Sith don't feel sorry. They certainly do not apologize. War is usually their goal. They use the upheaval it creates to their advantage.

Plagueis gives his crooked shoulders a shrug. "I haven't been a Sith for quite a while. Dropping the 'Darth' was long overdue. I suppose I should drop Plagueis as well and just be plain Hego Damask again. Except that I don't feel ready to forget who I was for so long. There is too much unfinished business created by Darth Plagueis the Wise still around."

Kylo nods and thinks out loud. "Maybe you should be Supreme Leader again . . ." That wouldn't be so bad. At least so far, the Muun has a light touch as a Master. And really, it's no secret who's running the show now. Maybe he should just own up to it.

Plagueis chuckles wryly, "And let you off the hook? No such luck, Apprentice. You're the hero for these times, not me. Besides, as you say, Snoke's public return will confuse everyone. I'm best kept behind the scenes."

"Yeah . . . You'll be a bit of a political liability if your return is too widely known," Kylo observes, thinking of his idea to ally with the Republic. "Snoke has all sorts of baggage." Namely, trillions dead on Hosnia.

"I get it. Who I am is difficult to explain and many would refuse to accept me anyway." The Muun frowns and looks downright grouchy as he complains, "These times lack nuance. Things are either black or white, good or bad. That sort of thinking is reductive, and it impedes problem solving and change. All it does is promote endless call outs and finger pointing. People do it to feel righteous mostly. So much baiting and virtue signaling on both sides . . ." The Muun rolls his eyes. "As if we need more conflict."

"I say a man who has no enemies stands for nothing," Kylo harrumphs. He's actually pretty proud of how his people have weaponized galactic social media. They styled themselves as the scrappy underdogs who seized moral authority from the preachy Republic . . . and largely, it worked. "The First Order holonet game is strong."

"If by strong, you mean ugly and loud," Plagueis remarks. "Have you considered how all that conflict will be a problem in the long run if you wish to govern without fear? What are you going to do when that tit-for-tat vitriol someday gets pointed at you?"

"It has unified the Rim."

"And alienated the Core citizens."

"What do I care what the Core thinks of me?" he scoffs.

Plagueis shoots him a look. "Kylo Ren, don't kid yourself. Before this is all over, you're either going to be dead or you're going to be ruling the galaxy . . . all of it. Think about that."

"I'm not my mother," Kylo grumbles. He'll never pander to the toxically woke, incessantly entitled, always whiney Core elites.

Plagueis is unconvinced. "You are far more your mother than I ever realized. Your style is uniquely your own, but you are a surprisingly effective politician."

Kylo can't help it—he feels his cheeks redden at the unanticipated praise.

The Muun now ponders, "What the holonet doesn't understand is that you don't win by canceling someone or some idea. Ostracism doesn't hold people accountable. It mostly alienates them."

Kylo tests the Muun on this logic. "You just described how your years in exile were how you came to understand the need for balance."

"Ah, but I didn't reach that conclusion because anyone shamed me. Kylo Ren, I shamed myself. And that is the point—most change comes from within, not from without. No one can redeem someone else. All they can do is forgive."

Kylo nods along. That makes sense. It's why neither his mother nor his uncle could ever reach him in their pleas for him to return to being a Jedi.

The Muun's reflective mood must be contagious, because it prompts Kylo to briefly consider himself.

'Atonement' isn't really in his lexicon. For that matter, 'sorry' isn't either. It's not that he lacks introspection or self-awareness. It's more that he long ago learned to live free of regrets. Regrets are simply pointless for him because they presume a degree of agency—and therefore responsibility—that he refuses to accept.

Too many people disappointed him young. Namely, his mother, his father, and his uncle. They faulted him mostly for things he felt unable to control and powerless to change. They had their own ideas about who he should be, and he rejected them. But as a child, he lacked the language and maturity to do it appropriately, and therefore it came across as rebelliousness. Maybe even nihilism. It wasn't. It was deep malcontent for legitimate reasons no one would validate. And so, Kylo still refuses to regret any of what happened at the temple. At most, he feels a deep sense of melancholy emptiness for those who loved him and failed him. It didn't have to be that way . . . but it was, and he can't change it.

His break with his family led him into servitude as the duped Apprentice to secret Darth Sidious. He was stuck aping the ways of the Sith, a task for which his conflicted soul is uniquely unsuited. But stuck he was, so Kylo went through the motions. Sure, he did lots of bad things as Snoke's Apprentice, but that was pretty much in the job description. And the big stuff—like Starkiller Base—he blames solely on Sidious. Killing Han Solo? Well, that was to impress his Master and to live out a thousand fantasy confrontations he had imagined through the years. It had been both a dream and a nightmare come true. But he had made himself mostly numb to murder at that point. That's what the Dark Side does.

It was only after Exogol that Kylo thinks he truly came into his own. Everything after that he did as his own man at long last. There was finally no Master to correct and to direct him and no code of conduct to influence him. He did what he wished in the Force and in all things. So . . . does he regret any of that? No, not really. It was war, and in war bad things happen. But on the whole, Kylo believes that he has left the galaxy better for his involvement. Others will disagree, of course. But he's used to haters. He owns who he is and he does not claim to have clean hands. What he does claim lately is to have good intentions. Few believe him, but it's true. He wants a better tomorrow for himself, for Rey, and for the galaxy.

The Skywalker family legacy once threatened to overwhelm him, but with maturity Kylo has come to see it in a new light. He doesn't need to worry about being as powerful and important as those gone before. He needs to be better. Because his forebears really screwed things up. So, Kylo wants to fix things. That's partly because he feels responsible and partly because he wants to prove he's not the loser his family dismissed as a lost cause long ago. Is that a disguised quest for redemption? Or maybe a struggle for respect? It doesn't matter. He doesn't care. Whatever the motivation, he's determined to improve the galaxy.

So yeah . . . he has no regrets. You won't find him stewing in exile reliving the past. He's done being a tortured soul, raging against his conflicted nature and his limited options in life. He's moved on to getting things done at this point. And at the top of the list is getting Rey back. And for that he knows he needs Plagueis' help.

"There are some silver linings to my checkered past," the still-musing Muun decides. "The circumstances that I brought about as a Sith—the fall of the Jedi Order and the collapse of the Republic—brought about a unique opportunity to implement balance. I tell myself that means my Sith years were not a complete waste. I contributed in a fashion to move things forward. And since I'm still around, I must still have a role to play helping you and Rey."

Thinking of his own meandering path from the Light Side to the Dark Side to whatever he is now, Kylo shrugs. "I make a lousy Sith as well."

"Well, naturally. You're a Skywalker," Plagueis pronounces with no small amount of pride. "Do you know that I reached out to your uncle after that incident at his temple?"

Kylo's eyes widen at this latest reveal. "That couldn't have gone well."

"It didn't. I approached him in the spirit of empathy—as one failed, exiled teacher speaking to another. Skywalker didn't see it that way, of course. He cut himself off from the Force soon after that. He gave up the fight. I think that's why the Force let him die. It lets me live because I pursue its aims."

Still feeling a bit peevish about the whole 'Rey's mother is a goddess but I neglected to mention it' thing, Kylo now complains, "Is there anything else important that you haven't told me?"

"Of course," the Muun answers vaguely. Then, he chuckles at Kylo's obvious consternation. "Don't expect me to reveal all my secrets at once."

"Great," Kylo groans. "What about your goddess lady friend—will she help us?"

"She won't help me."

"Yeah, I guess not. Will she help Rey?" he hopes.

"I do not know. I did not like the look of Rey when the bond opened. It reminded me of when I first found her on Tatooine," Plagueis worries.

Kylo tells the Muun what he keeps telling himself: "It was just a dress. Rey's too smart to fall prey to manipulation by Sidious. He tried once already. He got nowhere with her."

"It's not Sheev who I'm worried about."

"Lady Abeloth?"

"Yes. That woman is formidable."

"So, she's my great-grandmother, is that it? Are you sure Rey and I aren't related?" Kylo worries aloud.

"It's rather late for that. Rey's already pregnant."

Sheepish Kylo scowls but persists. "It's a serious question."

"Shmi Skywalker and Sheev's clone's wife looked nothing alike. They were two different women, even if they were the same goddess. I'd say you're safe from incest."

Kylo accepts that answer without further question. But there is some sort of familial connection between him and the Muun's jilted Force lover, so he ventures, "Do you think Lady Abeloth might help me?"

That suggestion provokes an immediate, vehement reaction. "Ignore that woman!" the Muun thunders. "If she calls to you, ignore her! She's dangerous! We cannot afford to have you become distracted and we must assume she is still in league with Sheev."

"You're right," Kylo decides, guessing, "That's why you kept Rey's mother a secret, right?"

"Yes. Rey would have sought her out and perhaps been handed over to Sheev in the process."

Kylo nods grimly at this paternalism even though he dislikes the deceit. But Rey has been known to be impulsive. She is, after all, the girl who drop shipped herself to him in the Millennium Falcon's escape pod in a misguided, but well-intentioned effort to turn him back to the Light Side. Anyhow, they are way past that point currently. "Sheev's got her now," Kylo exhales grimly. Truth be told, he's terrified for what's going on with Rey that he can't see because the bond hasn't reopened since Sidious nearly killed him.

"We cannot rescue Rey in the Maw, but Sheev won't hide there forever. He will want the galaxy back."

"Over my dead body," Kylo grumbles.

"I'm sure that's the general idea. War with Sheev is coming," Plagueis warns.

"I know. But this time, I may have some help."

"Oh?" The Muun looks to him for explanation.

"There's this guy I know at the Republic," Kylo offers. "He might be convinced to ally with me against Sidious to help Rey." At least, Kylo hopes Poe Dameron can be convinced. It's far from certain.

"Good. Bring him to me," Plagueis commands.

That might be a problem. Kylo wavers. "He . . . uh . . . might not be your biggest fan."

"Have I met him?"

"No. But you're Supreme Leader Snoke now," Kylo points out.

"Do I have to be Snoke?"

"No, but my Republic guy's no fan of Team Sith. He might prefer for you to be Snoke than to be Darth Plagueis," Kylo considers.

The Muun corrects him. "We've been over this. We're not Team Sith. We're Team Not Sith."

"Okay, call us Team First Order," exasperated Kylo doesn't want to argue about labels. As far as he's concerned, there isn't a label for what he, Plagueis, and Rey are currently. He's fine with that. But he knows other people won't be. Plagueis is right that it's a black-and-white universe that craves simplistic conflicts. And yeah, his First Order fake news has contributed plenty to that mindset. But that's a different issue. "The point is that my guy is a Republic guy and he hates Snoke."

"Fine. Whatever. Tell him we're out to save the galaxy and that includes the Republic," Plagueis decrees breezily as though the politics of the last war are easily superseded. They won't be, Kylo knows.

And what's this about being out to save the galaxy? Because that's not right. "I'm here to save Rey and to save the Rim," Kylo declares.

The Muun gives him a knowing look and smirks. "You're going to save us all or die trying. Don't kid yourself, Apprentice."

Whatever. Saving the galaxy, saving the Rim, saving Rey . . . maybe it's all the same since none of that is going to happen without killing Darth Sidious. So Kylo skips the argument. With Plagueis, as with the Republic, he is determined to focus on things they have in common and can agree upon. "Alright, I'm fine with that so long as you survive to bring me back."

"I'm immortal, remember?"

"Right. Then I guess I can't lose," Kylo concludes with far less confidence than his words merit.

"That's the spirit," the Muun encourages wryly. "Even if you fail, you'll get a second chance."

"Third chance," Kylo corrects him. "Rey and I tried this once already. We failed."

"Ah, but you have me this time around," Plagueis keeps up his pep talk. "And . . . the Force is with us."

Is it? Kylo isn't sure. "The Force is what got us in this mess in the first place," he grumbles. "The Force and your Sith libido . . ."

Plagueis chuckles ruefully. "My boy, all Sith are fools for power. And in this case, power was a gorgeous, willing woman. It was an irresistible combination."

Kylo can't help himself. With lurid male curiosity raging, he has to ask, "So . . . what's it like to seduce a goddess? Or wait," he reconsiders with some degree of disappointment. "Was it just a Force thing?" Maybe it wasn't actual physical sex in a black hole with a siren temptress.

Plagueis refrains from comment. "A gentleman never tells."

"You weren't a gentleman, you were a heartless Sith," Kylo points out.

"Ah, but I'm a gentleman now," Plagueis drawls with a wistful smile tugging at his twisted lips.

Kylo pouts. "You're no fun."

"Fine. Let us simply say that the experience did not disappoint."

"I knew it!"

Plagueis reacts fast. He nearly roars as he repeats his earlier warning, "Apprentice, stay away from that woman! She's dangerous!"

Kylo slants amused eyes at the worked up Muun. "You do realize that saying that just makes her hotter . . ."

"May I remind you that she's also your great-grandmother in the Force and Rey's mother as well?"

"Yes, and I'm a married man," Kylo concedes. And a father-to-be, although he can't begin to wrap his head around that concept yet. "Do you really think we can win this time?" he asks the Muun point blank.

"Bring me your Republic contact and let us plot together. Kylo Ren, I think you are right that peace is the first step towards balance. So let us promote unity to keep your ceasefire."

"Or else Sheev will divide and conquer . . ."

"Yes. An alliance could be most beneficial for all our sakes. If we wish the Force to be with us, we must continually aim for balance. Together, we will prepare for war even as we position ourselves on the side of peace."