Sithisis

This article is non-canon within the Star Wars Legends continuity. This article covers a Star Wars Legends subject that was published under the Infinities label or that Lucasfilm otherwise declared non-canon within the Legends continuity.

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"Sithisis" is a fourteen page wordless Legends comic story created by Derek Thompson and published in the 2005 graphic novel anthology Star Wars: Visionaries. The comic portrays the Dark Lord Darth Sidious conducting a Sith ritual in his lair that begins with him consuming a worm. The Sith Lord then perceives several characters, including Padmé Amidala, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker, after which a giant worm emerges from Sidious's crystal and devours him whole. The worm then disintegrates and Sidious emerges, having transformed into his persona as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

Thompson, a concept artist who worked on Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, wanted to portray a glimpse behind Palpatine's secret life. He had a telephone conversation with Ian McDiarmid, the actor who portrayed the character in the live-action Star Wars films, prior to working on the comic. At the time of its release, Holocron continuity database keeper Leland Chee stated that the story was considered possibly canon, depending on the reader's persective.

Publisher's summary

"This shadowy tale follows Darth Sidious through an arcane and monstrous Sith ritual, where he wallows and writhes in the dark side's embrace, shaping the galaxy around him."^[3]

Plot summary

In 19 BBY,^[5] The Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, appearing old and wrinkled, wi opens his yellow eyes inside his meditation chamber^[1] in the Chancellor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center on the planet Coruscant.^[9] Sidious levitates towards^[1] a repository^[9] of Sith Holocrons and opens it. Initiating a ritual of the dark side of the Force, he scratches his left hand with a fingernail and lets the blood drip into the repository, from which a yellow worm emerges. The Sith Lord grabs the worm, chews, and swallows it before bending over in pain and then moving towards a large^[1] synthetic lightsaber crystal.^[9]

He uses force lightning on the crystal, a process overseen by^[1] Sith spirits spirits.^[10] The lightning appears to reverberate across the planet and the wider galaxy. In the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, a group of younglings begin crying, while^[1] Senator^[8] Padmé Amidala, observed by the astromech droid R2-D2, bends over in pain. Elsewhere, on a frontier^[1] of the Clone Wars, Jedi Master^[8] Yoda leads clone troopers in battle when an explosion knocks him down, causing Sidious to grin.^[1]

The Sith Master then perceives^[1] the Jedi Knight^[8] Anakin Skywalker tearing apart an LM-432 crab droid on a battlefield. A range of Jedi with pained expressions appear in Sidious's crystal, as he levitates in front of it. Then, a gigantic worm bursts out from the crystal, shattering it. Sidious removes his hood, and raises his arms towards the creature, allowing it to devour him. Lightning emanates from the creature before it begins to disintegrate, and Sidious emerges from its ashes in his^[1] Supreme Chancellor^[8] Palpatine persona, appearing younger. He leaves the medical center and meets with a group of Red Guards, who are holding his Chancellor robes. Palpatine puts on the robes and walks out smiling, with his right pupil still yellow.^[1]

Development

"Sithisis" was written,^[1] pencilled, inked, lettered, and colored by Derek Thompson,^[2] a concept artist who worked on the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. It was created for the graphic novel anthology Star Wars: Visionaries, which was pitched by author J.W. Rinzler as a way for the artists of Revenge of the Sith to share works that would have otherwise gone unseen.^[6] Each artist was given free reign to explore whichever aspect of the Star Wars universe they wished,^[11] including their favorite characters, meaning that Thompson chose to center his comic on Palpatine.^[12]

Having storyboarded for Revenge of the Sith, Thompson had regular interactions with writer and director George Lucas throughout its production, which he felt gave him additional perspective on its events. Thompson applied his additional understandings into his comic, which he wanted to use to explore a Sith ritual and give a glimpse behind Sidious's public mask of Palpatine.^[7] He enjoyed creating a variety of ideas and sketches while preparing for the comic.^[12] Prior to Thompson's commencement of work on the comic,^[7] Rinzler arranged for him to have a forty-five minute telephone conversation with Ian McDiarmid, the actor who portrayed Sidious^[7] in the live-action Star Wars films.^[13] The two discussed McDiarmid's impressions and ideas about the character, and the actor complemented some of the drawings Thompson had completed at that point. Thompson also praised McDiarmid's graciousness and insightfulness. The artist worked on the comic from 2004 to 2005.^[12] "Sithisis" comprises fourteen pages and is wordless aside from the title, which is additionally given in the Aurebesh script.^[1]

Release and reception

Visionaries was announced on StarWars.com on August 3, 2004, in a post which also revealed Thompson's involvement.^[14] A later post on March 15, 2005 revealed the titles and summaries of each of the eleven stories in Visionaries.^[3] The anthology was edited by Jeremy Barlow and published as a trade paperback by Dark Horse Comics on April 2, 2005,^[3] prior to the premiere of Revenge of the Sith on on May 19, 2005.^[13] "Sithisis" is the fourth story in the anthology, following "Wat Tambor and the Quest for the Sacred Eye of the Albino Cyclops" and preceeding "Entrenched."^[6] Barlow expressed praise for the variety of stories and artworks in Visionaries, believing that those involved had justified their employment under Lucas.^[7] On September 3, 2009, Thompson uploaded a blog post that included a variety of early sketches from the comic and details about its creation.^[12]

The entirety of Visionaries was later republished by Dark Horse in Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 2^[4] on October 9, 2013.^[15] "Sithisis" was later published by Marvel Comics in Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Clone Wars Vol. 4^[2] on August 9, 2022.^[16] The story was placed between the 2014 arc Darth Maul — Son of Dathomir and the seventy-fourth issue of the Star Wars: Republic series.^[2]

Continuity

Holocron continuity database keeper Leland Chee stated on March 29, 2005 on the StarWars.com Message Boards that "Sithisis" would be regarded as possible canon, quoting the line "from a certain point of view"^[17] from the 1983 original trilogy film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi,^[18] to iterate his perspective.^[17] Thompson intended the story to portray the last time Sidious presented himself as Palpatine,^[7] indicating that "Sithisis" takes place before or during^[1] the events of Revenge of the Sith, in which Palpatine is permanently disfigured.^[8]

The reference book Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide, written by Ryder Windham and published on October 5, 2005,^[19] included an image from "Sithisis" of Palpatine overlooked by Sith spirits, with a caption explaining that Palpatine had studied ancient holocrons to learn how to harness dark side energy and use Force lightning. The caption also stated that Palpatine had conducted rituals on Coruscant during the Clone Wars to cause unnerving ripples through the Force. These ripples caused anxiety amongst the Jedi while also increasing Skywalker's hunger for power.^[10]

The sourcebook Star Wars: Complete Locations, published on October 17, 2005^[13] portrayed several of the objects that were introduced in "Sithisis," including the meditation chamber, holocron repository, and synthetic crystal, and confirmed that they were located within the Chancellor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center, later named the Emperor Palpatine Surgical Reconstruction Center,^[9] depicted in the ending of Revenge of the Sith.^[8] As a part of the Expanded Universe at the time of publication, "Sithisis"^[1] would later be branded as Star Wars Legends media in 2014.^[20]

Media

Cover gallery

Title

Title in Aurebesh script

Collected in

• Star Wars: Visionaries
• Star Wars Omnibus: Wild Space Volume 2
• Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Clone Wars Vol. 4

Appearances

Sources

• Inside Star Wars: Visionaries on StarWars.com (original site is defunct)
• "Drawn by the Force" — Star Wars Insider 82

Notes and references

External links

• DerekMonster — SITHISIS: Visual Development on Blogspot (September 3, 2009) (backup link)