Ever wondered why the sith work as a two? the answer turns out to have a lot more depth and history than one could imagine. Let’s explore this!
When we think about some of the most iconic villains in the Star Wars universe, villains such as Darth Vadar and Count Dooku may come to mind, what some tend to ignore is that the Sith work in a pair and have done for generations. This pair is not just an ordinary duo but an apprentice and a master. One to be all-powerful and the other to train under command, but why you may be wondering, why not have an army of sith?
It turns out there is a specific reason as to why the sith have ruled as a two for generations and it dates back to 1032 BBY, with both Darth Bane and Darth Raven being the two main instigators and the reasons are rooted in the grounds of greed. To make it simpler, I will be referring to mostly canon material and these ideas and stories were shown in the motion picture saga. Here is the quick backstory!
The Backstory
The year was 1032 BBY when the Jedi were believed to have wiped out the majority of the sith. However, one survivor, Darth Bane reflected upon this defeat. He believed that due to previous sith infighting and the greed for all sith to individually rule, that this had resulted in an ununified force against the Jedi.
Darth Bane would travel to the planet of Lehon. He would go to the Rakatan Temple, where he would come across a hologram. The hologram contains the teachings from Darth Raven, who would turn back and forth between the Jedi and the sith. He would eventually conclude that there is the need to have a master and an apprentice in sith law, whilst acknowledging the fact that a master should never train multiple apprentices at once because the apprentices will eventually overthrow the master, which would in truth destroy the sith regime.
Upon learning this philosophy, Darth Bane plotted to destroy all remaining sith through the thought bomb and sought to find an apprentice.
The genius behind the rule of two
What makes the rule of two effective is that it is designed to strengthen the sith’s power from generation to generation. The rule is that the apprentice will eventually grow powerful enough to overthrow their master. Once the apprentice’s power succeeds their master’s, they will take the position of master and bring on a new apprentice, which results in a stronger sith ruling from the generation before and will keep growing.
Their end goal is to rule the galaxy. By ruling in two, they can work in secret against the Jedi and intervene with more efficiency, as shown in the infamous rulings of Darth Sidious, where he be working in secret from the Jedi for at least 2 and a half films, the half is the moment where Mace Windu and his team attempt to strike him down in Episode 3: revenge of the Sith.
As we all know, Return of the Jedi shows how Darth Vader overthrows his master at the end, which subverts the real meaning of the rule of two as Darth Vader is using his power for the good. With this in mind, Let’s take a quick recap at how this philosophy was shown in the 9 film saga!
Sidious/Maul
An iconic pairing in a film that most fans have come to dislike, The Phantom Menace. Darth Maul did not live long enough to overthrow his master in the saga. Although, it has been said that Sidious was training Dooku 13 years prior to Episode 1, essentially breaking the rule of two.
Sidious/Dooku
Count Dooku would become a key component in creating the clone army as shown in Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and would work with Sidious in secret. This is until his death in Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith falling victim to Anakin Skywalker. This scene saw Sidious urge Anakin to kill Dooku, with the knowledge that Anakin would become his all-powerful apprentice. Again, this shows that the sith are naturally driven by greed.
Sidious/Vader
The most iconic pairing of them all, Sidious and Vader, both become the key narrative of the whole series and it ends very tragically. One could argue that with Anakins emotional pain in mind, the pair were doomed to fail or hit a breaking point at some point. Once Sidious convinces Anakin to turn to the dark side, he would obey his commands and be named Darth Vader. In Return of the Jedi, we see Vader redeem himself by overthrowing the emperor to save his son Luke.
Snoke/Ren
After years of searching for an apprentice, Snoke saw the potential in the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, Ben Solo, now known as Kylo Ren to train as his apprentice. Snoke would later be assassinated by his apprentice, Kylo Ren, in The Last Jedi. Like most apprentices, Kylo Ren defeated his master to rule the galaxy.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
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