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Sith Master

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Sith Master

Historical information

Established by

Sith^[1]

Organizational information

Organization

Sith^[1]

"Choose someone as a successor and you will inevitably be succeeded. Choose someone hungrier and you will be devoured. Choose someone quicker and you won't dodge the blade at your back. Choose someone with more patience and you won't block the blade at your throat. Choose someone more devious and you'll hold the blade that kills you. Choose someone more clever and you'll never know your end. Despite these cautions, an apprentice is essential. A Master without an apprentice is a Master of nothing."

―Darth Sidious, asgatekeeper of theTelos Holocron^[2]

Sith Master was the title of aSith individual whoinstructed at least oneapprentice in the ways of thedark side of the Force. Traditionally, the apprentice was required tokill his or her mentor before they could train their own apprentice and advance to the rank of Master.

Throughout Sith history, the Master held the titlesSith Lord andDark Lord of the Sith. InDarth Revan's Sith Empire, Sith Masters held the rank of Sith Lord, but only the strongest Master ruled as Dark Lord of the Sith. UnderDarth Bane's Rule of Two, the guiding principle of theOrder of the Sith Lords, the Master and his or her apprentice held both titles together.

The Sith Master's role stood in contrast to the rank ofJedi Master, a title given to members of theJedi Order—adherents to thelight side of the Force. Like the Sith Rule of Two, theJedi Code expressly forbade any master from training two or more apprentices simultaneously.

History[]

"Any Master who instructs more than one apprentice in the ways of the dark side is a fool. In time, the apprentices will unite their strength and overthrow the Master. It is inevitable. Axiomatic. That is why each Master must have only one student."

―Darth Revan, asgatekeeper of aSith Holocron^[3]

Throughout various incarnations of theSith Order, the rank of Master was held byForce-sensitive adherents to thedark side whotrained one or moreapprentices in the ways of theSith. During the reign of theSith Lord Darth Revan, Sith Masters were barred from instructing multiple disciples at the same time—a decree influenced by Revan's belief that lesser Sith would form an alliance to overthrow their outnumbered Master. As an example of his own policy, Revan trained a single apprentice,Darth Malak, during his tenure as the rulingDark Lord of the Sith.^[3]

Roughly three thousand years after thewar between theJedi Order and Darth Revan'sSith Empire,Darth Bane brought about thedeaths of thousands of Sith in the final days of theNew Sith Wars. TheBrotherhood of Darkness, an order of numerous Sith, had left Bane disillusioned with the way that the organization broke away from Sith traditions. After the entire Brotherhood was destroyed at theSeventh Battle of Ruusan, Bane formed theOrder of the Sith Lords. Guided by theRule of Two, only two Sith Lords were allowed to exist at any given time—a Master who embodied the power of the dark side; and an apprentice who coveted the power. Bane, who had grown inspired by Revan's views on the relationship between Master and apprentice,^[3] trained only one apprentice as his eventual successor,Darth Zannah.^[4]^[5] Throughout the following millennium, the mantle of Sith Master passed from mentor to apprentice, usually through single combat to the death as Bane had envisioned.^[6]

The Rule of Two remained in effect during thelast century of theGalactic Republic, although it was no longer strictly adhered to by modern Sith Lords.Darth Plagueis, like several Masters before him, was hesitant to train an apprentice, only to be replaced through eventual betrayal and murder. Plagueis's own Master,Darth Tenebrous, had secretly trained another student,Darth Venamis, without his apprentice's knowledge. Plagueis hoped to break the homicidal tradition of the Rule of Two with his apprentice,Darth Sidious, but was ultimately slain by the ambitious Sith Lord who sought to rulethe galaxy asEmperor.^[6]

Darth Sidious was a master of several apprentices at different points in his life.^[2] While still learning the ways of the dark side under Plagueis's guidance, Sidious trained aDathomirian Zabrak, known asDarth Maul, as aSith assassin.^[6] Maul was then followed by two former members of the Jedi Order,Darth Tyranus andDarth Vader respectively.^[2]

Though Darth Vader never attained the rank of Sith Master, he secretly instructed his own Sith apprentice in a plot to overthrow the Emperor.Galen Marek, a prodigy ofthe Force, served the Dark Lord as his personalassassin foryears under the codename "Starkiller."^[7] Marek's redemption as a Jedi and untimely demise forced Vader toclone his former apprentice in the hopes of creating a stronger and more loyal version of the original Starkiller. Out of thenumerous test subjects who failed to meet Vader's expectations, including arenegade clone,^[8] onlyone clone completed his trials and became Darth Vader's new apprentice.^[9]

The Order of the Sith Lords ended with the demise of the last clone of Emperor Palpatine^[10] in11 ABY,^[11] but the Rule of Two was preserved by a new Sith Master, the self-proclaimed Dark Lady of the SithLumiya. Having received partial Sith instruction under both Sidious and Vader, Lumiyarebuilt Bane's Order and instructed two apprentices in turn, the formerstormtrooper Flint and aRoyal Guardsman namedCarnor Jax.^[12] Her third and final apprentice,Darth Caedus, achieved Sith Mastery shortly before Lumiya's death in aduel against Luke Skywalker.^[13] Caedus anointed the JediTahiri Veila as his apprentice, and thus continued the Rule of Two until his own death in41 ABY.^[14]

Even before the collapse of Lumiya's Sith Order,^[15] a new policy was established by a Sith Master calledDarth Krayt. TheRule of One reopened the Sith ranks to more than two Sith Lords, and thus allowed Krayt'sOrder to expand with more than several hundred members by130 ABY. The tradition of Master and apprentice remained, but the revived Sith Order was composed of many Masters, each with their own apprentice; and all ultimately answered directly to the one Dark Lord of the Sith.^[16]