That's the soon-to-be-Emperor himself, Darth Sidious. Doesn't look too much like Palpatine does he? Well, from what I have heard SPOILER (highlight with mouse to read) there's a "reveal" scene where Palpatine is confronted by the senior Jedi and he transforms from the smiling statesman into the prunefaced powerhouse that you see here END SPOILER. One thing I do know for certain is that SPOILER we learn MUCH more about the Sith and their history in this movie, including discovering that Darth Sidious was once the apprentice of a Sith named Darth Plagueis... whose Dark Side studies may bode ill for a certain future member of the cult END SPOILER.
What else can be said but "kewl!"
There's a VERY interesting thing I've heard that explains why it is that Palpatine looks so different when he's in Darth Sidious "mode". Don't wanna say what that is here 'cuz it's major spoilerage but I will toss this out for contemplation: it has a LOT to do with Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader (on more than one level), something that Obi-Wan and Yoda do in the classic trilogy, and a few other things. AND... it has EVERYTHING to do with midi-chlorians. Remember how a lot of us groaned at them in Episode I? If this rumor bears out, it'll totally redeem the prequels in just about everybody's eyes, and the midi-chlorians will make complete sense in the entire scheme of things.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, he *does* look too much like Rove. And since Rove was a student of Lee Atwater, does that mean that Atwater was Darth Plagueis? :-P