Abercrombie portrayed Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the 2008 film, the television adaptation, and two spin-off video games (Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels). Supervising Director Dave Filoni said that Ian was very excited that Darth Sidious finally was going to be seen in person and not as a hologram anymore; during Celebration VI, Filoni also mentioned that before his death, Ian did record for most of Season Five as both characters, but did not finish, so actor Tim Curry was brought in to voice Palpatine. However, Abercrombie also voiced the character in the Clovis story arc of the Lost Missions (Season Six) since it was originally a part of the Season Four, and later the Season Five, line-up. Thus, it was finished before his death. This was his final released work both on the series and in his life, shown in 2014. He was honored with a message of "In memory of Ian Abercrombie" at the beginning of Season 5, Episode 16 "The Lawless".