Discussion History Main / VoodooShark

** The original trilogy left some fans wondering why Darth Vader and the Emperor are seemingly the only two Sith Lords in the galaxy, even though their lifelong enemies (the Jedi) are \"all but extinct\", presumably leaving no obstacle to them spreading. The prequels explained that this is an inherent quirk of how the Sith operate; they follow a doctrine known as \"the Rule of Two\", which stipulates that there can \'\'only\'\' ever be two Sith at a given time--a Master and his apprentice. [[note]] Because the Sith are TheSocialDarwinist, they believe that [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne only one living Sith can be worthy of the title of \"Master\"]], only one living Sith can be worthy of training under a Master, and an apprentice can only become a Master by [[KlingonPromotion personally killing]] their own Master and taking his place.[[/note]] That idea, however, raises plenty of questions of its own. First and foremost: why exactly are the Sith [[TheDreaded so widely feared]] if their numbers can never rise above a measly \'\'two?\'\' And why would anyone ever agree to join the Sith if they\'re all but guaranteed to be killed by their own apprentice if they ever become a Master?

# This explanation of the Rule of Two leaves out the reason why the rule was instituted: To the keep the Sith from wiping themselves out in a Darwinist Civil War (as had nearly happened before).
# They\'re TheDreaded to the Jedi because they know how much it took to put them down before. Do non-Jedi even know about the Sith proper? Not to mention just because there are only two true Sith at a time doesn\'t mean they don\'t have a crapton of affiliated Dark Side uses around (like Dooku and Ventress).
# \"Why would anyone want to be a Sith\" leaves off another important bit of context. If you\'re an apprentice, you think you\'ll be strong enough one day to take down your master. If you\'re a master, it\'s accepted that you will go down one day, but that day doesn\'t have to be any time soon. Who knows how many apprentices Palpatine went through before Maul? (They might have actually said in the EU, come to think). If you take down your challenging apprentice, he wasn\'t worthy to take your place. Period.

** The original trilogy left some fans wondering why Darth Vader and the Emperor are seemingly the only two Sith Lords in the galaxy, even though their lifelong enemies (the Jedi) are \"all but extinct\", presumably leaving no obstacle to them spreading. The prequels explained that this is an inherent quirk of how the Sith operate; they follow a doctrine known as \"the Rule of Two\", which stipulates that there can \'\'only\'\' ever be two Sith at a given time--a Master and his apprentice. [[note]] Because the Sith are TheSocialDarwinist, they believe that [[ThereCanBeOnlyOne only one living Sith can be worthy of the title of \"Master\"]], only one living Sith can be worthy of training under a Master, and an apprentice can only become a Master by [[KlingonPromotion personally killing]] their own Master and taking his place.[[/note]] That idea, however, raises plenty of questions of its own. First and foremost: why exactly are the Sith [[TheDreaded so widely feared]] if their numbers can never rise above a measly \'\'two?\'\' And why would anyone ever agree to join the Sith if they\'re all but guaranteed to be killed by their own apprentice if they ever become a Master?

# This explanation of the Rule of Two leaves out the reason why the rule was instituted: To the keep the Sith from wiping themselves out in a Darwinist Civil War (as had nearly happened before).
# They\'re TheDreaded to the Jedi because they know how much it took to put them down before. Do non-Jedi even know about the Sith proper?
# \"Why would anyone want to be a Sith\" leaves off another important bit of context. If you\'re an apprentice, you think you\'ll be strong enough one day to take down your master. If you\'re a master, it\'s accepted that you will go down one day, but that day doesn\'t have to be any time soon. Who knows how many apprentices Palpatine went through before Maul? (They might have actually said in the EU, come to think). If you take down your challenging apprentice, he wasn\'t worthy to take your place. Period.