Sith The Sith , also referred to as the Sith Order , were an ancient order of Force - wielders devoted to the dark side of the Force . Emerging as a divergent faction of the Jedi Order , the Sith became mortal enemies of the Jedi and fought against them in numerous wars . Driven by emotions such as hate , anger , and greed , the Sith were deceptive and ultimately obsessed with amassing power no matter the cost . A thousand years prior to the Invasion of Naboo , the Sith teetered on the brink of extinction as a result of internal strife . In the aftermath of their near destruction , Darth Bane emerged as the sole Dark Lord of the Sith , allowing him to enact the Rule of Two . Henceforth , there would be only two Sith Lord s — a Master and an apprentice — at any given time . Throughout the era of the Galactic Republic , the Jedi served as guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy while the Sith operated in secret . Approximately thirty - two years before the Battle of Yavin , Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo was elected to the office of Supreme Chancellor , leader of the Galactic Senate of the Republic . In secret , Palpatine was the public persona of Darth Sidious , a Sith Lord who manipulated the political system in order to gain power over the Republic . In the aftermath of the Clone Wars , Sidious had achieved the Sith ' s goal of galactic conquest by reorganizing the Republic into the First Galactic Empire , an autocratic regime led by himself as Galactic Emperor . Although the Emperor also destroyed the Jedi Order in the process , several Jedi survived the purge and went into hiding . The reign of Darth Sidious was brought to an end by his apprentice , Darth Vader , who ultimately killed his Master during the Battle of Endor in the year 4 ABY . Vader perished as well , having sustained fatal injuries during the act of overthrowing the Dark Lord . By sacrificing his life to save his son , Luke Skywalker , Vader died finding redemption in the light as Anakin Skywalker — a fallen Jedi Knight who turned to the dark side due to the machinations of Sidious , near the end of the Clone Wars . The deaths of both Sidious and Vader marked the definitive end of the Sith Order and the restoration of balance in the Force , fulfilling the ancient Jedi prophecy of the Chosen One . While the prophecy foretold the destruction of the Sith , it never predicted the end of the dark side . In the years that followed the Empire ' s defeat , the First Order steadily prepared for war under the direction of a powerful dark side wielder known as Supreme Leader Snoke . Intrigued by the potential of the Skywalker bloodline , he succeeded in turning Vader ' s grandson , Ben Solo to the dark side of the Force , taking the name of Kylo Ren . Snoke , however , was later betrayed and assassinated by Ren , who sought to rule the galaxy as the new Supreme Leader . Though a product of Jedi and Sith teachings , Ren intended to destroy the combined legacy of both orders out of a desire to completely sever all ties with his past . Philosophy . The Sith focused on primal emotions like anger and pain in order to gain power from the dark side of the Force . They followed a code that was the antithesis of the Jedi Code . The Sith code insisted on the importance of passion and the rejection of peace . The Rule of Two ensured the relationship between a Sith Master and their apprentice was not one of trust ; indeed , both the master and the apprentice constantly searched for any sign of weakness in the other , for a weak master deserved to be overthrown by their pupil , just as a weak pupil deserved to be replaced by a worthier , more powerful recruit . This philosophy was embraced by the Sith , who adopted it as a way to purify the weak and become stronger over time , since only an apprentice who had surpassed all previous Sith could take their master ' s place through honorable combat . History . Ancient times . Formed thousands of years before the Clone Wars , the Sith were the ancient enemies of the Jedi Order . Established by a rogue Jedi during the Hundred - Year Darkness , the Sith sought further knowledge and power through learning the dark side of the Force . Eventually , this Jedi was able to amass a sizable following , all of whom adhered to this new philosophy that embraced the dark side . This schism in the Jedi Order led to a civil war where the Jedi and the newly - founded Sith Order , once brothers and sisters in the Force , fought against one another for power . The war ended in the defeat of the Sith , who fled from known space . Unbeknownst to the Jedi however , the Sith settled on Moraband , a world of red sands , where they rebuilt in secret and waited for another chance to strike . As the Sith Order grew , they constructed massive temples and tombs on Moraband in a location known as the Valley of the Dark Lords . The Sith built empires on the backs of their slaves and fought wars against the Jedi for control of the galaxy . During these wars , they built massive superweapon s powered by giant kyber crystal s . At one point , nearly five thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire , the Sith waged a war against the Jedi and Old Republic . This was done after many years in exile on the planet Moraband after the Hundred - Year Darkness . During this war , the Sith attacked the Republic capital Coruscant . This allowed the Sith to build a shrine on the planet , which became a place of immense dark side power . Eventually , the Jedi were able to repel the Sith from Coruscant . Around this time , the Massassi , a slave race controlled by the Sith , constructed the Great Temple on Yavin 4 . Roughly a thousand years after the war , the Jedi raised their own temple over the Coruscant shrine , in an attempt to contain and eliminate its power . Over many years , the Sith continued to expand their empire , erecting temples on multiple planets . One such temple was built on the world Malachor . At the heart of this temple , was a superweapon powered by a giant kyber crystal . The Jedi eventually found out about this and launched an assault on the temple . A savage battle was then waged between the Sith Empire and the invading Jedi Knights . During the battle , the temple was activated , killing and petrifying everyone on the planet . This would result in the planet being forbidden from Jedi and becoming a legend for millennia to come . During a period of time known as the Dark age , the Jedi – Sith war broke out . Early on in the war , the Sith attacked the Republic capital world of Coruscant . The Sith then successfully captured the planet as well as the Jedi Temple . The Liberation of Coruscant in 1032 BBY was one of the last battles of the Jedi - Sith war and resulted in the Sith being driven from Coruscant . During one conflict , the Jedi and Sith fought on the planet Takodana . The pirate Maz Kanata later built her castle on top of the legendary battlefield . Their quest to gain power was ultimately the undoing of the Sith , as the dark side made them turn against one another . Within a year , the Jedi managed to defeat the infighting Sith , bringing what was left of the dark order to its knees . As it turned out , one Sith , Darth Bane , survived . With his fellow Sith Lord s destroyed , he reformed the order by establishing the Rule of Two , mandating that only two Sith , a master and an apprentice , could exist at any given time , lest they fall prey to infighting . The Sith abandoned their traditional homeworld of Moraband after it was scarred by many wars . Eventually Darth Bane was killed and was buried in the Valley of the Dark Lords on its surface , but the Rule of Two continued through his apprentice . The Phantom Menace . The Sith stayed in hiding for a thousand years , their survival unknown to the Jedi , as they plotted their revenge against the Jedi Order . The Sith remained a distant memory until the last days of the Galactic Republic when Darth Sidious , a Dark Lord of the Sith , and his apprentice , Darth Maul revealed themselves to the Jedi . Sidious had killed his own master , Darth Plagueis , in his sleep and seized the status of master for himself , as is the way of the Sith . He hid in plain sight as the unassuming Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo , while secretly orchestrating with the Trade Federation for the invasion of his home planet . This allowed the Dark Lord to make a play for the galaxy ’ s highest office in his civilian persona and sow the seeds of Sith revenge . Maul attacked Queen Amidala of Naboo and later killed Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn , but fell to his padawan , Obi - Wan Kenobi . Despite this setback , the Sith had returned , clouding the Force with the power of the dark side . The arrival of Anakin Skywalker , a young boy especially strong with the Force , offered a potential recruit for the Sith with Darth Sidious in the public persona of Palpatine , who had become Supreme Chancellor of the Republic . The Clone Wars . Fulfilling the Grand Scheme . With the loss of Darth Maul , Darth Sidious took on a new apprentice , a former Jedi , named Count Dooku . Adopting the Sith name Darth Tyranus , Dooku became the face of the Confederacy of Independent Systems against the Republic and pushed the galaxy into war . Jedi , once peacekeepers , now became generals and warriors , a rank they were formerly denied due to the Jedi Code . During this time , Count Dooku took on an apprentice of his own named Asajj Ventress , despite a third Sith being forbidden by the Rule of Two . Ventress however , mainly served Dooku as his personal assassin . Ventress , as well as Dooku ' s other recruits , also benefited the Sith by concealing the fact that Dooku was merely an apprentice to Darth Sidious . For at least two years into the Clone War , many Jedi believed that Dooku was the master of the Sith Order , and Sidious was able to continue manipulating the Republic without arousing suspicion . Ventress engaged Anakin Skywalker , Obi - Wan Kenobi , and Ahsoka Tano in lightsaber duel s on numerous occasions . While loyal , she was ultimately betrayed by her Master on the orders of Darth Sidious . Dooku soon after traveled to Dathomir to meet with the Nightsisters in hopes of finding a new apprentice . Dooku and the Nightsisters eventually decided on a young Zabrak named Savage Opress , brother of Darth Maul . However , Asajj Ventress sought revenge for Dooku ' s treachery and used Opress as a means of attaining her goal . Torn between two demanding masters , Opress eventually turned on both Dooku and Ventress . Returning to the Nightsisters , Opress found that his brother , Darth Maul , had not been killed as previously believed . Maul had survived his injuries on Naboo because of his sheer reliance on the dark side and was living in the junk heaps of Lotho Minor . However , Maul ' s tragic events had driven him to insanity . He remembered only one word : " Kenobi . " Guided by an Anacondan named Morley , Opress was able to return Maul to the Nightsisters for treatment . Now fully healed by the Nightsisters ' magic and given a pair of new robotic legs , Darth Maul began a hunt for the man who had nearly destroyed his life , Obi - Wan Kenobi . His revenge scheme eventually ended with Maul ' s control of Mandalore and the death of Kenobi ' s true love . However , Darth Sidious sensed his former apprentice ' s action , and traveled to Mandalore to put an end to it . He killed Opress and took Maul captive , locking him away in an old mountaintop prison known as the Spire , in an elaborate Sith gambit to settle a longstanding and deadly dispute with the Nightsisters . Later during the war , Yoda visited Moraband , the Sith homeworld . The Jedi Master encountered an illusory spectre of the ancient Sith Darth Bane , who was buried on the barren planet and battled Sidious on a spiritual plane as the result of an ancient , arcane Sith ritual . Through his experience , Yoda gained a new enlightenment about the Force that the Sith did not foresee . Revenge of the Sith . After three years of the Clone Wars , Darth Sidious ' grand scheme was almost complete . He sacrificed Count Dooku to a violent killing by Anakin Skywalker to manipulate the young Jedi . As Palpatine , he told Anakin a Sith legend about Darth Plagueis the Wise . Plagueis , through the dark side , had gained the ability to keep people from dying until his apprentice killed him in his sleep . This story entranced Anakin , who was desperate to learn this power to save his wife , Padmé Amidala . Eventually , Palpatine revealed himself as Sidious , and converted Anakin to the dark side . Jedi Master Mace Windu tried to arrest the Dark Lord but was killed after Anakin ' s late intervention , after this Anakin became a Sith called Darth Vader . He executed Order 66 , the slaughter of all Jedi , with Vader leading the attack on the Jedi Temple . He then ordered Vader to go to the Mustafar system to wipe out the Separatist Council and thus ending the Confederacy . In the political arena , he reorganized the Republic using the powers given to him as a result of the Clone Wars to transform the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire , installing himself as Emperor . Once more , the Sith ruled the galaxy , unbeknownst to all but the few surviving Jedi . Imperial Era . Rise of the Empire . Following the reorganization of the Republic and purging of the Jedi Order , Darth Sidious and Vader ruled over the Galactic Empire for over twenty years until the Battle of Endor . The two Sith Lords established a cadre of Dark Side wielders known as the Inquisitorius . The Inquisitors were tasked with hunting down Jedi Purge survivors and preventing Force - sensitive children from becoming Jedi . The leading Inquisitor was a Pau ' an Grand Inquisitor , who was a former Jedi Sentinel and Knight . The Inquisitors were trained by Vader and wielded double - bladed spinning lightsaber s . Five years after the end of the Clone Wars , the Free Ryloth movement led by Cham Syndulla embarked on a large - scale operation to assassinate the Emperor and Vader . Cham wanted to kill the two Sith Lords to bring about the demise of the Empire . However , Sidious had anticipated Cham ' s move , and the two Sith eluded Cham ' s attempts to assassinate them . This operation dealt a major blow to the Free Ryloth rebels , who were forced deeper underground , and also led to the exposure of Colonel Belkor Dray as a traitor . Despite Sidious ' hopes , he failed to stamp out the sparks of the growing rebellion . After the outbreak of the Lothal insurgency about four years before the Battle of Yavin , Sidious dispatched Vader to hunt down the Spectres , who were part of the growing rebellion . Vader lured the Spectres into a trap on Lothal in an attempt to track down the Phoenix Cell . Vader led an attack on the Phoenix fleet which destroyed the rebel flagship " Phoenix Home " but failed to destroy the rebellion . During the skirmish , Vader discovered that his former apprentice Ahsoka Tano was still alive . Under Sidious ' orders , he dispatched more Inquisitors to hunt down the Jedi Purge survivor Kanan Jarrus and his apprentice Ezra Bridger . Struggle on Malachor . A year later , Vader visited the Lothal Jedi Temple where the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister had attempted to capture Ezra , Kanan , and Ahsoka . Vader remarked that the Emperor would be pleased with their discovery . When the Fifth Brother remarked that the power of the Jedi was growing , Vader responded that it would be their undoing . The Sith Lords later took an interest in the Sith temple on Malachor , which was reputed to be home to a weapon capable of destroying all life . Vader sent another Inquisitor called the Eighth Brother to hunt down a " shadow " and to obtain a Sith holocron . Ezra , Kanan , and Ahsoka encountered the former Sith apprentice Maul in the Malachor Sith temple . Maul had become stranded on Malachor several years prior and had discovered a secret inside the Sith temple that would allow them to destroy the Sith . However , he lacked the strength to do so on his own . Maul managed to befriend Ezra and the two Force - wielders succeeded in obtaining the Sith holocron . Maul later helped the Jedi drive several Inquisitors away . Despite Kanan and Ahsoka ' s distrust , Maul managed to convince them to help him by teasing the opportunity of destroying the Sith once and for all . Maul convinced Ezra to place the Sith holocron in the obelisk at the top of the temple complex . He then helped Kanan and Ahsoka kill the Inquisitors before turning on Kanan , blinding him . Meanwhile , Ezra discovered that the Sith holocron was the key to reactivating the Sith temple , which was a powerful superweapon capable of destroying life . Shortly later , Darth Vader arrived to claim the temple ' s power for the Sith . Darth Vader fought with Ahsoka while Kanan and Ezra removed the holocron ; triggering the temple ' s implosion . Ezra and Kanan escaped the temple , but Vader and Ahsoka were trapped inside when the Temple began to implode . Vader and Ahsoka survived and parted company . Later , Ezra came under the influence of the Sith Holocron , which was inhabited by an entity called Presence . Under the holocron ' s guidance , Ezra learned more aggressive combat techniques including forcing an AT - DP walker driver to attack his comrades and walk his machine off a bridge . Ezra ' s use of the Sith Holocron strained relations with his master Kanan , who confiscated it . Kanan later met a powerful Force - wielder called the Bendu , who formed a middle ground between the light and dark sides . He advised Kanan that an object could be used for both good and evil and that only the person had the power to change it . Kanan left the Sith holocron in the Bendu ' s care . Maul later captured Kanan and Ezra ' s rebel friends and used them as hostages to force the two Jedi to bring him the Sith holocron and Kanan ' s Jedi holocron . Kanan and Ezra recovered the Sith holocron from the Bendu , who warned them that Maul planned to combine the power of the holocrons to provide clarity of vision . After rendezvousing with Maul , Ezra and the former Sith combined the two holocrons . Ezra wanted to find a way to destroy the Sith while Maul was looking for hope . The holocrons projected a vision of twin suns , an old enemy of Maul , and offered to show Ezra the " key " to destroying the Sith . However , Kanan convinced his apprentice to look away , and the two holocrons separated . Maul took the opportunity to escape into space . Using the fragments of Ezra ' s memories in his mind , Maul tracked the rebels down to their base on Atollon . Using the dark side of the Force , Maul manifested in Ezra ' s visions . Maul managed to convince Ezra to follow him to Dathomir by offering to keep Chopper Base a secret . At the Nightsister lair , Maul and Ezra underwent a ritual to uncover the remaining fragments of the holocrons in each others ' minds . After drinking a magic potion , Maul learned that Master Kenobi was still living on the planet with twin suns while Ezra learned that Kenobi held the key to destroying the Sith . The two were then attacked by the spirits of the Nightsisters , who demanded payment in flesh and blood for their services . Kanan and the Mandalorian weapons expert Sabine Wren arrived to confront Maul but were possessed by the spirits . Ezra and Maul managed to flee outside the lair . When Maul offered Ezra a place as his apprentice , the young Jedi refused to abandon his friends . After exorcising Kanan and Sabine , the three resolved to find the planet with twin suns and to reach Kenobi before Maul could kill him . Galactic Civil War . In the years leading up to the Battle of Yavin , the Empire faced a growing rebellion that had grown into the Alliance to Restore the Republic . In secret , the Emperor commissioned the building of the Death Star , a massive superweapon capable of destroying entire worlds . After rebel elements stole the Death Star plans , Vader led a secret mission to Tatooine which ended with the capture of Prince ss Leia Organa , the adopted daughter of Senator Bail Organa and one of the offspring of Anakin Skywalker . Shortly thereafter , the Emperor dissolved the Imperial Senate and ordered Alderaan ' s destruction . Lord Vader and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin presided over Alderaan ' s destruction in the presence of Princess Leia . Before they could terminate Leia , she was rescued by a group of travelers including Anakin ' s son Luke Skywalker , the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca , the droids C - 3PO and R2 - D2 , and the Jedi Master Kenobi . While the other rebels escaped aboard the " Millennium Falcon " , Kenobi sacrificed his life to delay Vader . Leia and her rescuers retreated to the rebel base on Yavin 4 . The Death Star traveled to Yavin base in a bid to destroy the Rebel Alliance once and for all but this plan was ruined by a rebel starfighter force . During the Battle of Yavin , Vader sensed that the Force was strong in the rebel pilot Skywalker ; who fired the missile that destroyed the Death Star , Vader however survived the destruction . Three years after the events on Yavin and following the Battle of Hoth , the Emperor disclosed that Luke was one of the offspring of Anakin Skywalker , though this was something Vader already knew . Vader believed that Luke would be a powerful ally if he could be turned . The Emperor charged Vader with winning Luke over and destroying him if he refused to turn to the dark side . During that time Luke had traveled to Dagobah , where he had been trained by Yoda , a Jedi Master who was once the leader of the Jedi Order . Vader managed to capture Leia , Han , C - 3PO and Chewbacca in Cloud City on Bespin . Sensing the danger that his friends were in , Luke left his training and traveled to Cloud City where Vader was waiting for him . During their confrontation , Vader severed Luke ' s right hand and revealed that he was Luke ' s father . Despite the pain , Luke refused to join Vader , threw himself down a vane and escaped . Demise of the Sith . In secret , the Emperor directed the building of a second Death Star above the forest moon of Endor . In an attempt to destroy the rebellion once and for all , the Emperor arranged for intelligence on the second Death Star to be leaked to Bothan spies . Using this information , the Rebel Alliance made preparations to launch an attack on the second Death Star . Before the Battle of Endor , Vader traveled to the second Death Star to warn Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod to accelerate construction . Shortly later , Sidious traveled to the battle station to oversee the final construction stages . After learning about Vader ' s true identity as his father — Anakin Skywalker — from Yoda and the Force spirit of Kenobi ; Luke decided to face Vader on his own . He traveled with the rebel strike team to Endor and then surrendered himself to Vader . Luke hoped to turn his father back to the light , sensing " conflict " within him . Likewise , the Emperor sought to turn Luke to the dark side and replace his father as his new apprentice . On the second Death Star , Luke confronted Sidious . Sidious wanted to provoke Luke ' s anger by having the Imperial Navy engage the Rebel fleet , thus putting his friends ' lives at risk , and ordering Vader to attack him personally . Luke , however , steadfastly refused in turn . Realizing Luke was a true Jedi , and would not be swayed , Sidious attempted to kill him through torturing him with Force lightning . However , Vader , torn between his loyalty to his master , his old Jedi connections , and his son , ultimately threw the Emperor down a reactor , killing him and returning balance to the Force . Badly damaged from the Emperor ' s Force lightning , Darth Vader died , but his selfless act allowed him to rejoin the Force as a Force spirit , and be " reborn " as his old self , Anakin Skywalker . Thus , the Sith Order , along with their tyranny was no more , as foretold by the ancient prophecy that predicted their downfall . Some time before the Battle of Jakku , the Sith armada battled against the Ghostfinder fleet . Legacy . While the Sith Order was defeated , it was merely one of many denominations of Force - worshiping religions that existed throughout galactic history . The Sith ' s ancient legacy as enemies of the Jedi and , at times , rulers of the galaxy , would continue to be felt in the decades that followed its extinction . The demise of the Sith left behind a vacuum that others sought to fill ; namely , the Knights of Ren , led by Kylo Ren , grandson of Darth Vader , and Snoke , the dark Supreme Leader of the First Order , the successor of the fallen Galactic Empire . Thus , while the ancient prophecy that foretold the destruction of the Sith came to pass , it did not foretell the destruction of the darkness , for as long as there existed light , there would be its shadow . Immediately following the deaths of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader , many individuals and groups still adhered to their philosophy . Yupe Tashu , an advisor to the late Sidious , was an admirer of the Sith interrogation methods , as well as their teachings and cunning . He believed that the remaining Imperial Military had to retreat " beyond the veil of stars , " to the Unknown Regions , to search for the source of the dark side that Sidious had come to feel reaching out to him . The Acolytes of the Beyond , who worshiped the Sith , collected Sith artifact s , such as what they believed to be Darth Vader ' s lightsaber , to destroy them , believing this returned the relics to their deceased owners . Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren held some of the beliefs of the Sith with Kylo even pledging to finish what his grandfather Darth Vader had begun , although Supreme Leader Snoke scorned the sentimentality of Vader , which he believed had led to the Empire ' s downfall . Ultimately , Ren hoped to build an immunity to the light , and succeed where Vader failed . Luke Skywalker , Ren ' s former master and the last Jedi , blamed the Jedi Order for Darth Sidious ' rise to power . After usurping his dark side master Snoke , who was not a Sith , during the attack on the Resistance fleet , Ren implored the aspiring Jedi Rey to join him in building a new order for the galaxy and to let go of the past , including both the Jedi and the Sith . Behind the scenes . The Sith first appeared as the primary antagonists of George Lucas ' Original trilogy and the Prequel trilogy . " " , which premiered in 1999 , established key concepts including the Rule of Two . In addition , the origins and history of the Sith was explored by several non - Canon Star Wars Legends works including the 1991 Dark Horse Comics " Dark Empire " story arc , the mid - 1990s " " comics , the 2003 BioWare game " " and , Drew Karpyshyn ' s Darth Bane trilogy , the futuristic " " comic series , and John Jackson Miller ' s " Lost Tribe of the Sith " novellas . More recently , the Canon television series " " and " Star Wars Rebels " have touched upon the origins and history of the Sith . Sam Witwer , who has voiced Maul and Sidious in animation , opined the Sith do not believe in life after death . That is why they go to such extreme lengths to survive . However , the Jedi will sacrifice themselves as they believe their deaths can inspire others . " You have Darth Vader , who lives a terrible life , he lives a pathetic , tortured existence but it ’ s still preferable to having nothing , which is how he views death . The same thing with Darth Sidious , you look at him in " Return of the Jedi " . He ' s over 100 years old and is a bent , old man . But that ' s better than the alternative , which is nothing . " An appearance from the Force spirits of Darth Bane and Revan in " Ghosts of Mortis " was removed at the last minute by George Lucas due to the disconcerting notion that the Sith could return . In the non - Canon animated television series " " , the primary antagonist Naare is identified as a Sith agent of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader .