Althoughthe Sith Rule of Twowas established inStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, DisneyStar Warshas found a massive loophole—one thatEmperor Palpatine/Darth Sidiousreadily exploited. There have been a number ofmajor Sith events inStar Wars, including wars both with the Jedi and between the Sith themselves. It was because of the in-fighting and how that self-sabotage very nearly brought about the end of the Sith that Darth Bane established the Sith Rule of Two centuries beforeThe Phantom Menace.
The rule essentially dictated that there would only be two Sith Lords at one time, a master to wield power and an apprentice to crave it.Star Warshas since proven that this rule is a bit more complicated than only two Sith living at once, but in general, this rule has held true. However,Star Wars’TV shows have revealed that Palpatine found a way around this rule, and it is part of what made him nearly unbeatable.
George Lucas' Rule Of Two Defined The Sith
The Prequel Trilogy Revealed So Much More About The Sith
Prior to the prequel trilogy, little had been revealed about the Sith on screen. The Sith were secondary in the original trilogy, so much so that the term Sith was one of severalwords not used in the original trilogy. The Sith had been explored in much greater detail inStar Warsbooks followingReturn of the Jedi, although many of those books were removed from the canon and became Legendswhen Disney boughtStar Wars.
One Subtle Return Of The Jedi Detail Shows The Biggest Problem With Palpatine As Star Wars' Main Villain
This detail from Return of the Jedi proves that Palpatine was never meant to be the main villain of Star Wars, reinforcing what a misstep this was.
This changed radically in the prequels. For one, two brand-new Sith, Darth Maul and Count Dooku, were introduced in the prequel trilogy, which doubled the number that had been shown on screen thus far. Palpatine’s role as a Sith and the specifics of what that meant also gained considerably more attention, particularly as he was shown orchestrating nearly all the terrible events in the prequels from the shadows. It was inThe Phantom Menacethat the notion of the Sith Rule of Two was first explained.
At the end ofThe Phantom Menace, as Master Yoda and Mace Windu watch Qui-Gon Jinn’s body burn, Yoda explains of the Sith,“Always two, there are. No more, no less. A master and an apprentice.“This was a massive update to the Sith inStar Wars. The original trilogy had revealed that Palpatine was Vader’s master and that Palpatine was willing to replace Vader with Luke Skywalker as his apprentice, but it wasn’t yet confirmed that this was the structure the Sith must always follow. Of course, Palpatine was always a bit more flexible with this rule than most.
Palpatine was always a bit more flexible with this rule than most.
Star Wars Canon Suggests Palpatine Never Completely Followed The Rule Of Two
While Yoda told Mace Windu that there were"no more, no less"than two Sith at a time,Palpatine had already begun to find ways around this rule. Throughout the prequel trilogy andStar Wars: The Clone Wars, it becomes increasingly clear that Palpatine never really invested that much in one specific apprentice. Rather, even before Darth Maul died inThe Phantom Menace, Palpatine was clearly priming Count Dooku to take his place. While that doesn’t necessarily mean Dooku was officially a Sith yet, he was curiously using the name Tyranus—his Sith name—already.
Star Wars Retcons Have Created A Massive Count Dooku Plot Hole With Huge Implications For The Sith
Star Wars has retconned Count Dooku’s story several times, and some recent changes have led to a major plot hole regarding his Sith timeline.
This became more complicated whenThe Clone Warsrevealed that Darth Maul hadn’t died inThe Phantom Menace. This meant that Palpatine, Dooku, and Maul were all alive at the same time (and, eventually, Palpatine, Maul, and Darth Vader were all alive at the same time, after Anakin’s fall). Arguably, this didn’t entirely upend the Sith Rule of Two, given Maul wasn’t Palpatine’s apprentice anymore and therefore wasn’t exactly a Sith, but it proves that Palpatine played fast and loose with this rule enough that it caused complications. However,there was a much more significant way Palpatine skirted this rule.
Star Wars' Rule Of Two Workaround Makes The Empire Even More Dangerous
The Inquisitors Meant The Dark Side Was Overpowering The Light
Palpatine may have technically only had one apprentice at a time, but he had a small army of dark side Force-users withthe Imperial Inquisitors. This gave him access to incredible power the likes of which other Sith Lords following the Sith Rule of Two had never seen and meant that the dark side was dominating the light at this point intheStar Warstimeline. Especially because the Inquisitors were tasked with killing remaining Jedi or Force-sensitives, or turning them into Inquisitors themselves,the Sith had found a way to outnumber the Jedi even with the Rule of Two.
Palpatine may have technically only had one apprentice at a time, but he had a small army of dark side Force-users with the Imperial Inquisitors.
This made Palpatine and the Empire so much more dangerous.The Sith were no longer inhibited by this ancient rule but rather had the ability to bring on as many dark side Force-users as possible; Palpatine effectively had more than a dozen apprentices at his disposal. Narratively, this also made sense.
With the Inquisitors, the threat of the Empire extended far beyond Palpatine, Darth Vader, and the stormtroopers. This new group allowed for the reach of the Empire and the dark side of the Force to expand considerably, and it gave the remaining Jedi legitimate adversaries that weren’t as dangerous as Darth Vader but still posed a major threat. Shows likeStar Wars RebelsandStar Wars: Tales of the Empirehave proven how formidable the Inquisitors are.
This has also made games likeStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderpossible, as Darth Vader can act as the final boss, whereas the Inquisitors essentially become mini-bosses whose fates (unlike Vader’s) aren’t predetermined. While this may seem secondary to the significance of the Inquisitors inStar Warsshows, it reveals how much greater the Imperial threat became because of the Inquisitors. While the Imperial Inquisitors may be an invention of DisneyStar Wars, which many remain opposed to, they undoubtedly made the Empire and Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious so much more dangerous.
