Sith

The Sith, also known as the Sith Order, was an ancient religious order of Force-wielders devoted to the dark side. Driven by raw emotion, including hate, anger, and greed, the Sith were deceptive and obsessed with gaining power at any cost. The Order took many forms across its history before reaching the apex of its power under Darth Sidious, who achieved the Sith goal of galactic conquest after a millennium of patient plotting. Their ancient enemies were the Jedi Order, and within a single generation of their triumph the Sith were brought to extinction. (Revenge of the Sith; Return of the Jedi; Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith)

What is a Sith?#

A Sith is a Force-wielder of the ancient dark side order that split from the Jedi and settled on Korriban, governed since Darth Bane by the Rule of Two: one Master and one apprentice at any time. (The Phantom Menace; The Clone Wars, "Sacrifice")

Origins and the ancient wars#

Thousands of years before the Clone Wars, the Jedi Order was fractured by a schism that began when a rogue Jedi and his followers turned away from the light, believing the dark side was the path to true power. Relocating to the planet Korriban in the Outer Rim, their movement evolved into the Sith Order, and war erupted between the former kin in the Force. The Sith were eventually driven from Coruscant, but centuries of conflict followed, culminating in the collapse of the Old Republic. Ruined by infighting and the last war against the Jedi, the Sith were rendered all but extinct. (Star Wars (2015) 9; Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith)

Across these ages the Sith built temples on many worlds, including a superweapon-bearing temple on Malachor that petrified all upon its surface when activated, and they raised slave-built monuments such as the Great Temple on Yavin 4. They forged and broke alliances with groups including the Nightsisters of Dathomir. (Star Wars Rebels, "Twilight of the Apprentice"; Ultimate Star Wars; A New Hope; The Clone Wars, "Monster")

The Rule of Two#

The sole survivor of the ancient Order's destruction was Darth Bane, who passed his knowledge to a single apprentice before being entombed on Korriban, which became known as Moraband. Henceforth the Sith were governed by the Rule of Two, which dictated that only two Sith Lords could exist at any time: a Master to hold the power of the dark side and an apprentice to covet it. The rule ensured the relationship was never one of trust, since each searched the other for weakness; a weak Master deserved to be overthrown, and a weak apprentice deserved to be replaced. Concealed by this doctrine, the Sith were all but forgotten while the Jedi guarded the new age of peace. (The Phantom Menace; The Clone Wars, "Sacrifice"; Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith)

Return from hiding#

The Sith remained hidden for a millennium until the rise of Darth Sidious and his apprentice Darth Maul in 32 BBY. Trained by Darth Plagueis, Sidious hid in plain sight as Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo. He orchestrated the blockade and invasion of his homeworld and maneuvered the Senate into electing him Supreme Chancellor. Over the following decade he sowed discontent with the aid of his new apprentice, the former Jedi Master Count Dooku, who took the name Darth Tyranus and became the public face of the separatist movement. The Separatist Crisis produced the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the war the Sith had engineered. (The Phantom Menace; Attack of the Clones; Revenge of the Sith)

Triumph and the Empire#

The Clone Wars began at the First Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY. In the war's final months, Sidious sacrificed Tyranus as part of his plot to turn Anakin Skywalker, the prophesied Chosen One, to the dark side. Playing on Skywalker's fear of losing his wife, Padmé Amidala, Sidious revealed his identity, and Skywalker chose the Sith by betraying Mace Windu. Using the incident to frame the Jedi for treason, Sidious enacted Order 66, marking the Jedi for execution across the galaxy. With the Order destroyed in the Great Jedi Purge, he turned the Republic into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY, with the renamed Darth Vader at his side. After centuries of plotting, the Sith were restored to dominance. (Attack of the Clones; Revenge of the Sith)

The fall of the Sith#

Sith rule went largely unchallenged for a generation until the Rebel Alliance sparked the Galactic Civil War. Sensing the potential of Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, the Emperor resolved to turn the young Jedi as he had turned the father. At the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Sidious forced father and son into a duel and then tortured Luke with Force lightning when the young man refused to take Vader's place. Overwhelmed by his son's compassion, Vader chose to save Luke by killing his master, and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker died of his injuries. His sacrifice marked the extinction of the Sith Lords and brought balance to the Force. (Return of the Jedi)

Aftermath and final defeat#

Though the Sith Order ended at Endor, the dark side endured through groups such as the Knights of Ren. Sidious himself had cheated death, transferring his spirit into a cloned body far from Endor, while a Contingency plan he had prepared allowed surviving Imperials to flee into the Unknown Regions and establish the First Order. The Sith Eternal, a hidden cult, built the fleet known as the Final Order and the creature Snoke, who served as a tool to ensnare Ben Solo. When Sidious revealed his survival, his granddaughter Rey destroyed him at Exegol with the strength of past Jedi, permanently preventing the rebirth of the Sith. (The Force Awakens; Aftermath: Empire's End; The Rise of Skywalker)