Ritual of Nathema The Ritual of Nathema was the name given by historians of the reconstituted Sith Empire to the event in 4999 BBY , in which the Sith Lord Vitiate performed a dark ritual that stripped the Force itself from the entire planet of Nathema . While Imperial historians saw it as one of the greatest achievements in the history of the Old Sith Empire , the Ritual was actually the result of Vitiate ' s mental enslavement of over eight thousand Sith Lords . He forced them to participate in the Sith magic that killed every living thing on Nathema and rendered himself immortal . Prelude . In 5000 BBY , the Sith Empire was destroyed by the Galactic Republic in the Great Hyperspace War , and the people of the Empire were terrified that the Republic and their Jedi protectors would not stop until the entire Sith species was wiped out . Supreme Chancellor Pultimo was in the process of orchestrating a purge of the remnants of the Empire , and the Sith Lord Vitiate chose to take advantage of the people ' s fear . Broadcasting speeches across the Empire that described how the Jedi would not rest until the Sith were destroyed , Vitiate stoked the Empire ' s terror and then offered them hope : arriving on the planet Korriban , Vitiate sent out a call for all of the remaining Sith Lords to meet with him on his world Nathema , where he promised to lead them in a powerful ritual of Sith magic that would ensure the Jedi Order ' s destruction . However , Vitiate ordered his scientists and researchers to locate a world upon which the Empire could rebuild without fear of the Jedi following . The Ritual . In 4999 BBY , not long after he returned to Nathema , Vitiate was informed by the head researcher that they had discovered a hyperlane connecting Korriban and the long - lost colony world of Dromund Kaas . Three days later , Vitiate announced the commencement of his ritual , and eight thousand Sith Lords answered his call , including the surviving members of the Empire ' s ruling Sith Council . However , as each Sith arrived at his palace , Vitiate dominated their minds and bound their wills to his own , placing their strength at his disposal . He then began the ritual itself , which took ten days to perform and enabled him to consume the life force of every living thing on the planet . The combined power conferred immortality upon Vitiate , granting him immense strength in the Force at the expense of the entire world . Aftermath . As a result of the Ritual , Nathema was left entirely devoid of the Force , and the physical environment of the planet itself was warped . Color seemed to have leeched from reality to those who stood on its surface , and the planet ' s orange sun appeared to be a dull brown when viewed through the atmosphere . The newly immortal Vitiate shed his mortal identity and took on the title of Sith Emperor , blaming the devastation of Nathema on the Jedi . He then proceeded to gather the younger generation of the Empire ' s people before embarking on a twenty - year odyssey from Korriban to Dromund Kaas . After reconstituting the Empire on Dromund Kaas , the Emperor purged all navigation data relating to Nathema in order to ensure that no one discovered the truth of Nathema ' s fate . However , members of the Empire ' s ruling Dark Council eventually discovered the planet ' s existence and history over a thousand years after the Ritual , and they began a conspiracy to unseat the Emperor and ensure he would never commit such a crime again . The conspiracy was destroyed , however , and by the time of the Great Galactic War with the Republic three centuries later , the Ritual of Nathema was celebrated by Imperial historians as a great achievement . The historians were unaware of the actual events of the Ritual , believing that the other Sith Lords had willingly sacrificed their strength on the Emperor ' s behalf . The Sith Lord Scourge , who had visited Nathema and learned the truth of the Emperor ' s rise from the conspirator Darth Nyriss , dedicated himself to preventing the Emperor from performing the Sith ritual on a galactic scale during the Galactic War between the Republic and the Empire , and he informed the Jedi High Council of the Ritual ' s history in order to convince them of his sincerity . Behind the scenes . The Ritual of Nathema was first described in Drew Karpyshyn ' s 2011 novel " " , though it was not given a proper name until the release of the BioWare – LucasArts video game " " later that year . One of the in - game Datacrons , holocron - like devices that grant players permanent stat boosts , can be located in the Gorinth Canyon region on the Empire ' s version of Balmorra , and the corresponding Galactic History entry for the in - game Codex describes the Empire ' s account of the Ritual of Nathema . The Ritual is also mentioned in the Jedi Knight class mission " An Unthinkable Alliance " during the game , though Lord Scourge does not identify the planet ' s name . " The Journal of Master Gnost - Dural " , a reference book released alongside the game , features Jedi Master Gnost - Dural ' s investigations into the history of the Emperor , though he was unable to determine exactly what occurred on Nathema . The 2012 reference guide " The Essential Reader ' s Companion " mentioned the event during its summary of Karpyshyn ' s novel , and the " " also featured a mention of the Ritual .