It turns outStar Warsis lying to you about the mysterious origin of theSith in canon. But this is not just an assumption, it seems thatthere are lots of contradictions in how the history of the Sith is described in various sources, leading to a much different history than once believed. This all becomes even more confusing, becauseStar Warscanon has been much more cagey about actually developing the history of the Sith.
This could be because of future projects or plans involving the Sith, or simply not wanting to back themselves into any corners. But despite this caginess, canon has given us some definitive facts about the Sith. One, in misalignment withLegendsstories, is that theSith Orderwas founded around 5000 years before the events ofA New Hope. There are two distinct pieces of evidence that contradict this claim.
The Ancient Sith Shrine On Coruscant Is Far Too Old
The Jedi Temple Was Built Over A Sith Shrine
One of the most interesting pieces of Sith lore that hasn’t been directly explored in neitherLegendsor canon is that theJedi Temple on Coruscantwas built on top of a Sith shrine. According to James Luceno’s 2015 novel Tarkin, an early book in the new canon, Emperor Palpatine believed that the shrine hadn’t been used in nearly 5,000 years. This draws into question our understanding of how old the Sith are.
Star Wars: Everything We Know About The End Of The Jedi-Sith War (From Canon & Legends)
The Sith were seemingly destroyed a millennium before the Star Wars prequels in the Jedi-Sith war, but how do canon and Legends depict this key event?
The Temple is believed to have been built on top of the shrine unknowingly, as the Jedi believed they had conquered the Sith on Coruscant during their wars with the dark side faction. But this shrine not having been used in 5,000 years means that thewars between the Jedi and Sithhad to have been going on for much longer than that.If the shrine was already abandoned by 5,000 BBY, the Sith must be much more ancient than previously thought.
The Sacred Jedi Texts Contradict The Origin Of The Sith Too
The Ancient Rammahgon’s Age
Another contradiction comes from one of the sacred Jedi texts: The Rammahgon. This red-bound ancient book, appearing inStar Wars: The Last JediandStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkeris described to have been lost 5,000 years before the films, before it was reclaimed byLuke Skywalker on Ossus. But this is yet another case of the 5,000-year date just not making much sense with what we canonically know about the Sith.
The Rammahgon is one of the most important texts in the history ofStar Wars, containing knowledge about the Sith that just about saved the galaxy from Palpatine inThe Rise of Skywalker. It describes the ancient Sith tradition, Exegol, wayfinders, and even theRule of Two– which particularly messes things up.Knowledge about the Sith and Exegol in 5,000 BBY is already contradictory enough if the Sith started then, but the Rule of Two being mentioned apparently 4,000 years before its creation just makes things even more confusing.
Are The Sith Older Than We Think?
More Than 5000 Years BBY
All of this comes together to paint a picture of the Sith that just doesn’t match up with what we’ve been told.The Sith have to be much older than a creation date of circa 5,000 BBY.Maybe, as with otherStar Warsinconsistencies in the past, that date was just the date of a large reformation, a revolution within the Sith, leading to inconsistent records or “point of view” facts. But maybe, canon’s storytelling is simply shifting to reflect the oldLegendslore for the Sith.
The ancient Sith inStar Wars Legendswere kind of a complete mess. Different definitions of factions, what it meant to be a Sith or simply a dark sider, and very conflicting dates about their creation, defeat, and conflicts with the Jedi. But thanks to incredibly skilled sourcebook and reference book authors, it all made sense in the end, thanks to clever retcons like Darth Ruin’s introduction, and the New Sith Wars.Star Warsdefinitely needs to clear up the confusion regarding the Sith’s history in the new canon, the way it was done inLegends.
