Darth Bane : Rule of Two Darth Bane : Rule of Two is the follow - up novel to 2006 ' s " " . It was a replacement for the then - canceled Darth Plagueis novel . It recounts the story of Darth Bane and his apprentice Darth Zannah after the Seventh Battle of Ruusan . A preview of " Rule of Two " is available in the paperback release of " Allegiance " , released the same day as " Rule of Two " . The paperback was released on October 28 , 2008 . The paperback has an excerpt of the " Millennium Falcon " novel . Publisher ' s summary . Hardcover . Back cover . Two there should be ; no more , no less . One to embody the power , the other to crave it . Internal flap . " Now Darth Bane is ready to put his policy into action , and he thinks he has found the key element that will make his triumph complete : a student to train in the ways of the dark side . Though she is young , Zannah possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own . With his guidance , she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy . " " There is one who is determined to stop Darth Bane : Johun Othone , Padawan to Jedi Master Lord Hoth , who died at Bane ' s hands in the last great Sith War . Though the rest of the Jedi scoff at him , Johun ' s belief that there are surviving Sith on the loose is unshakeable . " " As Johun continues his dogged pursuit of the man who killed his master , Zannah , faced unexpectedly with a figure from her past , begins to question her embrace of the dark side . And Darth Bane is led by Force – induced visions of a moon where he will acquire astonishing new knowledge and power — power that will alter him in ways he could never have imagined . . . " Paperback . " As the last surviving Sith , Darth Bane promulgated a harsh new directive : the Rule of Two . Determined to put this policy into action , Darth Bane thinks he has found the perfect apprentice . Zannah , though young , possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own . Under Darth Bane ' s tutelage , she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy . " " But there is one who is determined to stop Darth Bane : Johun Othone , Padawan to Jedi Master Lord Hoth , who died at Bane ' s hands in the Sith War . Though the rest of the Jedi scoff at him , Johun ' s belief that there are surviving Sith is unshakeable . But not even Johun could foresee the astonishing new knowledge and power that Darth Bane discovers through Force – induced visions — power that will alter him in ways he could never have imagined . " Plot summary . The prologue features a Force - sensitive adolescent , Darovit , who is curious as to how he survived the thought bomb that had been detonated at the end of the previous novel . He enters the cavern where the thought bomb was activated and finds a strange orb floating in midair . After touching it , he becomes exposed to the thoughts of all those who were killed by the bomb and is overwhelmed by them . Darth Bane and his new apprentice Zannah are still on Ruusan after the destruction of the Brotherhood of Darkness during the Seventh Battle of Ruusan . Bane begins Zannah ' s instruction by making her relive her memories of her friend Laa ' s death and so that she can learn how to channel her anger at will . They head toward the former Sith encampment , where Bane kills a group of mercenaries who were looting the camp , but allows two to escape to spread rumors of the Sith ' s continued existence . In Qordis ' tent , Zannah and Bane find an unexpected treasure : a Sith manuscript revealing the location of the tomb of Freedon Nadd , a legendary Sith Lord from some three thousand years earlier . Bane then leads Zannah into the cave where the thought bomb was detonated to show her what Kaan ' s beliefs led to . Zannah is horrified by the feelings emanating from the orb , while Bane indoctrinates her with his Rule of Two . In the cave , they encounter Darovit , who is revealed to be Zannah ' s cousin . Darovit attacks Bane , believing her to be Bane ' s captive . Knowing that her new master would kill Darovit in an instant , Zannah instead stops Darovit by destroying his right hand with the Force , telling Bane that the boy ' s death would serve no purpose . After leaving the cave , Bane informs Zannah that he will meet her on Onderon in ten days , and that she will have to find her own way there as her first test . Bane then boards the " Valcyn " and left Ruusan , headed for Nadd ' s tomb on Dxun , Onderon ' s moon . Meanwhile , Johun Othone , former Padawan of General Hoth , hears the two surviving mercenaries ' story of being attacked by a Sith Lord . Johun attempts to convince Jedi Master Valenthyne Farfalla that a Sith has survived , but Farfalla quickly dismisses the mercenaries ' story . He then tells Johun that he will take Johun on as his apprentice , and they have been ordered to return to Coruscant and meet with the Supreme Chancellor . Now alone , Zannah manages to locate a Galactic Republic shuttle crewed by a soldier , a farmer , and his two sons . She accepts a meal , and tells them , when questioned , that she needs to get to Onderon , where she has family . When the shuttle prepares to rejoin the Republic fleet , Zannah makes her move , intending to hold the crew hostage in exchange for passage to Onderon . One of the farmers ' sons catches her stealing a blaster , and in the ensuing struggle Zannah kills him by shooting him with it . She then kills the farmer as well and orders the soldier to set an autopilot course for Onderon . She then kills the woman when she didn ' t comply , along with the other boy . In the aftermath of the thought bomb , Bane begins seeing hallucinations of Kaan and Qordis , and as he flies to Dxun , the vision of Qordis goads him , causing Bane to lash out with the Force and seriously damage the " Valcyn " . Despite the damage Bane is able to crash land on Dxun and enter the tomb of Freedon Nadd . As Bane attempts to retrieve a holocron from the burial chamber , he is attacked by orbalisk s , parasitic creatures native to Dxun . Two of the creatures attach themselves to his body before he can escape and Bane quickly realizes that he cannot remove them . Nadd ' s holocron described his own experiences with the orbalisks : they feed on the dark side , release enzymes that increase physical strength and the power to draw on the dark side , grant incredible regenerative powers , and their shells offer protection against any weapon , including lightsabers . The holocron also warns they cause constant pain , multiply and spread over the entire body , and if one died , it would release a lethal poison that would kill him within days . Using his increased power to drive the phantoms of Kaan and Qordis from his mind permanently , Bane mentally dominates a drexl , a flying reptile , and uses the Force to encase it and himself in a cocoon of dark side energy and fly the few hundred kilometers through open space to Onderon . Zannah lands her stolen shuttle on Onderon , and is confronted by a group of threatening Onderon Beast Riders . Bane arrives at that moment , killing the riders and returning with his apprentice to her shuttle . On Coruscant , the Galactic Senate passes a resolution disbanding the Jedi ' s military forces . Master Farfalla assigns Johun to the Chancellor ' s personal guard and promotes him to a full Jedi Knight . Ten years later Zannah has grown into a beautiful young woman , training in the rare arts of Sith sorcery . She had to learn much of the dangerous power by herself because , while Bane provided her with some spells and techniques from Nadd ' s holocron , his own skills in that area were limited . Bane sends her on a mission to goad a separatist movement on the world of Serenno into acting against their government . Zannah seduces the separatists ' second in command , an affluent Twi ' lek named Kelad ' den , and feeds them information about former Chancellor Valorum ' s upcoming visit to Serenno . The group decided to kidnap him . Zannah returns to her and Bane ' s home on Ambria . In her absence , Bane has attempted to create his own holocron and failed , destroying the camp in his anger . Concerned for her master ' s future and slightly conflicted over her physical attraction to Kel , Zannah questions whether the orbalisks are helping Bane or harming him now . She realizes from Bane ' s reaction to her question that Bane also wonders the same thing , and hopes that he will eventually find a way to rid himself of the orbalisks . Back on Serenno , the separatists stage their kidnapping . Johun , however , still acting as Valorum ' s guard , and manages to prevent the kidnapping and kill most of the Separatists , including Kel . Zannah , is accosted by the two surviving members , Cyndra and Paak , when she returns to is taken to the separatists ' financial backer , a middle - aged man named Hetton who has been trained in the dark side and asked to become Zannah ' s apprentice . After Zannah defeats Cyndra and Paak , Hetton shows her his library of rare Sith artifacts and tells her of his first master ' s stronghold on the planet Tython , where the Jedi and Sith first came to power . Zannah takes Hetton and his eight Umbaran Shadow Assassin s with her back to Ambria . The assassins attack Bane , who kills them and Hetton before turning on Zannah . She manages to hold his attacks off long enough to tell him that Hetton knew where to find information about how to make a working holocron . This piques Bane ' s curiosity and he wonders if perhaps the orbalisks were part of his inability to create a holocron . He resolves to rid himself of the orbalisks and heads to Tython to find Hetton ' s master ' s base . He also assigns Zannah to enter the Jedi Temple Library and find information about how to remove the orbalisks from the massive data archives . Zannah succeeds in her mission by disguising herself as a missing Jedi and using her Sith sorcery to mask her Force presence . As a favor for Johun ' s saving his life , Valorum asks the Senate to commission a memorial to the Jedi forces who died on Ruusan . Darovit , living a reclusive existence as a healer on Ruusan , is angered by this and sabotages the construction effort until Johun tracks him down . Upon questioning Darovit , Johun learns that his hand was destroyed by his cousin Zannah , and that she had been accompanied by Bane . Taking Darovit with him back to Coruscant , Johun leaves him in the Library while he tries to secure an audience with the Jedi Council . Zannah finds the information she needs in the Library , though a momentary lapse of concentration allows Darovit to sense her true identity . When she finds out that he has told the Jedi about her and Bane , Zannah takes him with her to Tython to warn Bane and then escape . When Johun and Farfalla discover that Darovit is missing from the library , they trace the records on the terminal Zannah had been using , revealing a hyperspace route to Tython . Farfalla now believes that the Sith survived and begins assembling a Jedi task force to destroy the Sith once and for all . On Tython , Bane learns how to successfully create a holocron from Hetton ' s master Belia Darzu ' s own holocron after but is interrupted when Zannah and Darovit arrive . She warns Bane that the Jedi are on their way , but before they can leave , the Jedi ship enters the atmosphere . With no choice but to stand and fight , Zannah shuts Darovit in a small closet and she and Bane face their opponents . During the ensuing lightsaber duel , Johun happened to strike at a part of Bane ' s body not covered by any of the orbalisks . The Jedi are all killed , but Bane is severely injured when his own Force lightning is turned against him . Several of the orbalisks were also killed by the lightning attack . Realizing she still needs Bane ' s teachings , Zannah takes Bane and Darovit to Ambria in search of the healer Caleb , who had saved Bane ' s life previously . On Ambria , Caleb refuses to help , having sent his daughter away years prior to deprive Bane of leverage against him should he return . Zannah threatens him with physical pain and her sorcery and his death , but to no avail . Darovit tries to dissuade Zannah from the path of the Sith , telling her that Caleb has agreed to help Bane on the condition that Zannah sabotage their ship and send a message to the Jedi Council telling them of Bane ' s location . Zannah finally agrees , and Caleb removes the orbalisks and heals Bane ' s injuries . When Bane was strong enough to understand , Zannah tells him of the bargain she made to save his life . Bane orders Zannah to kill him rather than become a prisoner of the Jedi . Zannah refuses , and a still weak Bane collapses back onto his bedding . Realizing that Bane ' s mental faculties are undiminished , she rises from his side and activates her lightsaber . A Jedi strike team lands on Ambria and discovers a dismembered body at Caleb ' s camp . As they approach Caleb ' s shack a one - handed man swinging Farfalla ' s lightsaber emerges and attacked them wildly . The Jedi quickly overpower and kill him . After finding the lightsabers of Farfalla ' s companions inside the shelter , they conclude that this last Sith had been wounded in the battle on Tython and then driven himself insane by attempting to use the dark side to heal his injuries . They overlook the pit under the shelter where Zannah hides herself and Bane with her sorcery . Several days later , Bane finally awakens . Zannah informs him that she killed Caleb and broke Darovit ' s mind with her powers , and that Darovit was then killed by the Jedi when they arrived . Bane asks her why she saved him , and Zannah reminded him that he still has much to teach her . Bane admits that he underestimated her and that he was proud of her . Zannah then warns him : Development . This novel is noteworthy for being a " very " late addition to the publishing schedule , as Rostoni describes above . When asked about the roughly five - month production time the book would have to fit into , she called it " almost unrealistic " . Continuity . The initial cover art for " Rule of Two " was first revealed at the 2007 in , Japan . On page 6 , Zannah is misspelled as Zanah . Three times in a row Johun was misspelled as " John " and " Johan . " On page 275 , Raskta Lsu is misspelled as " Raska " . The novel introduces a curious contradiction in Darth Bane ' s philosophical views . In " " , the gatekeeper of Bane ' s holocron argues with Darth Krayt and states that " power is its " own " purpose " , however in the novel Bane himself explains to Zannah that " power is only a means to an end . It is not an end in itself . "