Dark Lords of the Sith: Darth Sidious, Darth Tyranus, Darth Maul, and the Last Lord Darth Vader
The Sith Order was a dark collective of Force-Sensitive individuals who had utilized the Dark Side of the Force focusing on anger, fear, and pain to gain power. The term Sith originated from a species native to the planet Moraband, who were enslaved and ruled by exiled Dark Jedi from the Galactic Republic. Formed many millennia prior to the Clone Wars, Sith were once part of the Jedi Order, a group of beings who wielded the Force and were dedicated to peace through using the Light Side of the Force. Established by a rogue Jedi who had become obsessed with the Dark Side, this collective of dark warriors sought further knowledge and power through learning of a Dark Side of the Force. Eventually, this rogue Jedi was able to amass a sizable following, all of whom adhered to this new philosophy that embraced the dark powers. This schism in the Jedi Order sparked the event known as the Hundred-Year Darkness, in which the Jedi Order and this newly-founded dark Order, once brothers and sisters in the Force, fought against one another for power. By the end of this conflict, the followers of the rogue Jedi were defeated and exiled from known space, which led to an encounter with the species called Sith. Following centuries of interbreeding and mixing of cultures between the Sith and the exiled Jedi, the Sith would no longer be identified by their race, but by their dedication to the ancient philosophy of the Sith Order.
Unbeknownst to the Jedi for a time, the Sith settled on Moraband, a planet of red sands, where they rebuilt in secret to wait for another chance to strike. As the Sith grew, they constructed a series of temples and tombs in a place known as the Valley of the Dark Lords. Throughout their long history, the Sith created a number of governments branded the Sith Empire and initiated many wars against the Jedi to gain control of the galaxy. The Sith had built numerous Empires on the backs of slaves, and harvested kyber crystals to power massive weapons to use against their enemies. At one point the Sith built a shrine on Coruscant, which became a place of immense dark power, a place at a later time would be the site where the Jedi raised their own temple, in an attempt to contain and bury the dark power. Over many years, the Sith continued to expand their Empire, erecting temples on planets like Malachor, which would later become forbidden to all Jedi. During the war between the Jedi and the Sith, the Sith attacked the Republic capital of Coruscant, seizing control of both the planet and the Jedi Temple. Though the planet would be liberated by the Jedi millennia before the Age of the Empire, resulting in the Sith being driven from Coruscant. The rise a new Dark Lord, would often cause drastic changes in power, however the group would always be characterized by their lust for power and their desire to destroy the Jedi.
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 faction to their knees. As fate would have it, one Sith, Darth Bane, survived the fall of the Sith. His fellow Sith-Lords gone, he chose to remake the Order by establishing a new rule, Rule of Two, mandating that only a master and an apprentice could exist at any given time, lest they fall prey to infighting. Bane's legacy would live on through his apprentice and for centuries to come, until the final Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious, fulfilled Bane's dream and recreated the Sith Empire as a Galactic Empire. Unfortunately, through the redemption of Anakin Skywalker and the death of Darth Sidious, Darth Bane's Order of Lords fell and along with the Galactic Empire. The dark order would survive in many different incarnations throughout galactic history, as the Sith were the most infamous of all Dark Side religions, and their members were often seen as pinnacle of power within the Dark Side. With such great influence, the Sith Order would be the source of inspiration for many cults that weren't officially part of the Order, nor did they consist of actual Sith. Instead, they were founded and consisted of Sith devotees and other Force-Sensitives dedicated to prolonging the teachings and the memory of the ancient order.
Sith Empire
Sith Empire referred to the Sith governments that existed long before the time of the Galactic Empire, ruled by ancient enemies of the Jedi Order thousands of years before the Age of the Galactic Empire. The governments were ultimately led by a cabal of Sith-Lords with a single Dark Lord who served as ruler of his people with the title of Emperor. Ancient Sith built their Empires through the use of slave labor, a practice that the Old Republic outlawed during its stewardship of the galaxy. Multiple Sith Orders have existed under the Sith Empires, with Sith academies on both the Sith capital of Moraband and other worlds. Worlds such as Moraband became lasting monuments that provided traces of the ancient Sith Empire. Even when the first Sith Empire was defeated, they continued to influence and shape events in the galaxy for thousands of years. Among the many legacies of the ancient Sith were their various war machines, machines that would be the inspiration of many modern instruments of death, though knowledge of their construction was believed to still reside in scrolls and Holocrons. Among various eras, numerous attempts had been made to forge new Sith Empires.
Culturally, the ancient Sith Empire was very different from that of the Galactic Republic, being much more ecumenically-driven than its counterpart, utilizing both a rigid caste system and a stratified rank structure to put its subjects in proper place. The portion of the space the Sith Empire had ruled was known as the Sith Space in a region of space in the Outer Rim Territories containing hundreds of worlds, including some early Sith colonies outside their own Sith Space. When a Sith Empire fell, refugees fled back to worlds or into the Unknown Regions. Ultimately, after the Sith were destroyed, the legacy of their culture remained in hiding for a thousand years under the protection of the Order of the Sith Lords. Their Order would once more obtain galactic dominance by the end of the Clone War, after the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious abolished the Republic and proclaimed himself the Emperor. During his rule, Palpatine possessed various relics and artifacts that dated back to the Sith Empire of old. Decades after its making, the Sith inspired Galactic Empire was destroyed, and it seemed the legacy of the Empire was gone with it, until a First Order rose from the Empire ashes.
Original Sith Empire
The Original Sith Empire, later known as the Old Sith Empire, was was a rich and powerful government established by the Sith of the world Moraband thousands of years before the Age of the Galactic Empire, who studied forbidden arts of the Dark Side of the Force. Because of their defiance of the Jedi Council, those who followed the rogue Jedi were then cast out in the wake of the Hundred-Year Darkness, from which the first Sith Order was born. These exiles after seizing control of the planet Moraband, began to interbred with the native species, beginning a long period of building and expansion. The Sith Empire developed in complete isolation for centuries before it was eventually rediscovered the Republic. Under the leadership of the Dark Lord of the Sith, the Empire briefly invaded Republic space, but was eventually defeated. The Sith Empire was believed to have been destroyed by the forces of the Republic during one of the many conflicts of Moraband. Despite their defeat, the Sith survived the conflict and dared to venture into the Unknown Regions to ensure the survival of their Order and the continued legacy of the Empire. Though the Original Empire failed, it served as an example to be followed by numerous Empires of later eras, with a legacy that extended across millennia.
Resurgent Sith Empire
From the remnants of the Original Sith Empire came the Resurgent Sith Empire, created after the fall of the Original Empire at the hands of the Galactic Republic. The survivors of the conflict fled known space to escape persecution by the Republic and the Jedi Order. During the process of rebuilding their forces, the being history would identify as the Sith Emperor who survived the destruction of the first Empire, proclaimed himself Dark Lord of his Order and leader of his people. Under the care of this Emperor and his Dark Council of Sith, the Empire began rebuilding their fallen Empire in the Unknown Regions, establishing a capital and building a mighty war machine made up of fleets and a massive military, with the intent of eventually returning to combat with the Republic once more. The Empire worked towards that goal for centuries, gradually expanding and gaining more power and influence. With their forces rebuilt, the Sith Empire was ready to return to the greater galaxy, infiltrating the governments on various Republic worlds across the Outer Rim, the Sith invaded Republic space in an onslaught of unrivaled proportions. The circumstances of this Empire's collapse haven't been identified, but its believed that the government collapsed or it was absorbed by the Republic.
Empire of Exar Kun
Centuries after the fall of the Original Sith Empire, the young and power-hungry Jedi Exar Kun abandoned the Jedi Order, because of his desire to learn about the teachings of the Sith, a longing that would lead him down the path of the Dark Side through the remnants of fallen Sith. Becoming a Sith himself, Kun traveled to Yavin IV, where after he discovered ancient Sith artifacts and gained greater Sith powers, and with that power he called himself the Dark Lord of the Sith. Enveloped in the forbidden knowledge of the Sith, Kun elevated himself to the stature of a god, enslaving the Massassi race, deeply immersing himself in dark alchemy. Carrying on the legacy of the Sith before him, Exar Kun used the Massassi race to construct a series of massive temples, making the fourth moon of Yavin one of the strongholds of a resurrected Sith Empire. His actions led to the creation of a new Sith Empire, a great war which would tear the galaxy apart, and the fall of many Jedi. With the taking of a fallen Jedi as his apprentice, the establishment of a cult in the Empress Teta system, the corruption of another Order in the Tapani Sector, and an alliance with the Mandalorians, the Dark Lord had the means to wage a short but devastating war against the Republic and the Jedi. The rule of this Empire would continue until Kun's defeat at Yavin 4, with its remnants seeking to restore it to power.
Brotherhood of the Sith
The group history would identify as the Brotherhood of the Sith or Sith Brotherhood was a group of fallen Jedi Knights led by Exar Kun who broke away from the Jedi Order to study Sith techniques. Kun sowed the first seeds of doubt in his fellow Jedi Knights through such acts as an impassioned speech on Ossus, many Knights became disillusioned with the Order, losing their idealistic ideas of the immortality of the Jedi and fearing for the safety of the future, thus they were swayed by Exar Kun's promises. Before Kun's speech on Ossus, Exar had come to Yavin IV and enslaved the Massassi, using them to create a myriad of temples on the planet to amplify his own power. Leading the company of fallen Jedi to the temples on Yavin IV, Exar proclaimed a new time for the Jedi Knights, one in which the old would pass away to make way for the new. After continued training on Yavin IV, Exar's Sith converts had embraced their training, Exar declared the Jedi heretics who refused to see the truth, with the the approval of his brethren.
Empire of Darth Revan
Long ago, the conflict known as the Mandalorian Wars engulfed the galaxy, threatening to destroy the Republic. Going against the wishes of the Jedi Council, A Jedi named Revan recruited like-minded members of the order and led the Republic to victory over the Mandalorians. Some time near the end of the war, Revan visited the Sith world of Malachor where evidence suggested a faction of the Sith in the Unknown Regions, which prompted Revan to pursue these rumors, all the while falling victim to the power of the Dark Side of the Force. This trail led both Revan and his followers into the Unknown Regions, where they came into contact with the Sith Emperor, who completed Revan's turn to the Dark Side. The Emperor bestowed Revan the title of Darth and was sent back to the Republic to prepare it for the major offensive against the Republic, but instead both Revan and fellow Dark Lord Malak, acted for their own gain. Adapting the teachings of the ancient Sith to their own needs, Revan took Malak as an apprentice. Years after their departure and disappearance, Revan and Malak returned at the head of a massive invasion fleet made up of Republic vessels, crewed by experienced ex-Republic veterans, and commanded by some of the finest officers that the Republic had produced.
Calling themselves the Sith, Revan raised a newly forged Sith Empire in direct opposition to the Republic and the Jedi Order, a galactic power that nearly succeeded in conquering the Republic with the intention of remaking the Republic into a force that could withstand the coming darkness from the Unknown Regions, As the Sith's conquest continued unchecked, worlds began to secede to the Sith invasion fleet voluntarily, either out of fear or because they believed that the corrupt and ineffectual Republic was finally about to fall. However, the Republic armadas were saved from certain destruction by the talents of a young Jedi named Bastila Shan, who led a strike team to invade Revan's flagship. Seeking to gain power for himself, Malak turned on his master and plotted to end Revan's reign, hoping to usurp control of the Sith Empire with one swift stroke, but all did not go as he had planned. Because of Malak's act of treachery, Revan was critically injured and taken to the Jedi High Council, who sought to "repair" Revan's broken mind. As a changed Revan fought the Empire alongside Shan, the memories of being Dark Lord eventually returned, but in the end Revan chose to remain loyal to the Light Side of the Force. After Revan was redeemed and Malak's reign ended with his death. the Empire splintered into factions before dissolving.
Revanchists
The Revanchists, also known as Jedi Crusaders, were a renegade faction of the Jedi Order who joined the Galactic Republic during the Mandalorian Wars. A movement founded by the Jedi Knight Revan, who wished to take a more proactive role against the invading Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders. Under Revan's leadership, these Jedi went against the Jedi Council's wishes and participated in scouting missions on the Outer Rim. Although the Jedi Council did not give the Revanchists their full support, they begrudgingly allowed the Revanchists to join the armies under the banner of the Galactic Republic. During the conflict, the Revanchists, under the leadership of Revan and fellow Jedi Knight Malak, led the Republic to victory in numerous battles. Though the Republic would win the war, most of the Revanchists who survived the final battle fell to the Dark Side over the years. These Jedi now called Sith Knights followed the now Dark Lords Revan and Malak, under their new Sith Empire until its collapse.
Empire of Darth Sidious
The Galactic Empire can be said to have begun with the scheming aspiration of Palpatine of Naboo, whose alter ego was the Dark Lord Darth Sidious, the latest in the long line of Sith who originated from the Order created by Darth Bane. Sidious had manipulated the Clone Wars from behind the scenes, and thus Palpatine arranged for emergency political powers to be granted to the office of the Chancellor, and for the deaths of many Jedi throughout the war. However, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker discovered that Palpatine was the Dark Lord and, after informing Jedi Master Mace Windu of his discovery, Windu led a task force to arrest him. After a brief duel, Palpatine appeared to be defeated. Skywalker arrived and demanded Windu not kill the Sith-Lord. Deeply troubled, Skywalker nonetheless helped Palpatine kill Windu, and thus became the Emperor's new apprentice, Darth Vader. Palpatine then proceeded to carry out the Jedi Purge, which eliminated almost all of the thousands of Jedi, and had Vader eliminate the Separatist leaders on the fiery world of Mustafar, thus bringing an end to the Clone Wars. Secure in his power and position, Palpatine issued the Declaration of a New Order and declared himself Emperor, ultimately fulfilled Darth Bane's dream of returning the Sith to the position of rulers throughout the galaxy.
With the betrayal and near destruction of the Jedi Order, Sidious dissolved the Galactic Republic and replaced it with the Galactic Empire. Among other ancient Sith traditions, the practice of slavery was re-instituted to aid his Empire's growth. Sidious also excavated the ancient Sith shrine located deep underneath the Jedi Temple and remade the temple into the Imperial Palace The Galactic Empire flourished under Palpatine's rule until the Rebel Alliance, became a serious threat following the Declaration of Rebellion. The rebels engaged in guerrilla warfare against the Empire, and scored a major victory against the Galactic Empire at the Battle of Yavin, where hero, Jedi student of Kenobi, and son of Vader, Luke Skywalker destroyed the first Death Star. With Sidious's body destroyed and the redeemed Anakin Skywalker succumbing to his wounds, the Sith Order was no more and the Empire was left in fragments. After a millennium of hiding, their Order had finally taken its revenge on the Jedi, only to be destroyed by its last two members who ultimately killed each other. With this single act the prophecy of the Chosen One who would bring the Force back into balance was finally fulfilled and realized at last. Even though the Sith with Vader, their legacy was preserved by remnants of the Empire and Sith Acolytes who sought to continue their work.
Sith Order
Sith Order referred to the religious order of Force-Sensitives who utilized the Dark Side of the Force, formed from former members of the Jedi Order who chose to follow the dark path. These Dark Jedi, who refused to rely solely on the power of the Light Side, challenged the Jedi by giving in to the darkness. However, they were defeated and cast out from known space, which led to the discovery and enslavement of the species known as the Sith, a species that would be the source of the term Sith. This religious organization would survive in numerous different incarnations throughout galactic history, rising and falling over the course of thousands of years. Emerging as a divergent faction of the ancient Jedi Order, the Sith became mortal enemies with the Jedi and fought against them in numerous wars, using their devotion to the Dark Side to enlist it's aid in gaining power and control over the galaxy. They followed a code that encouraged the strong to destroy the weak, and insisted on the importance of struggling and striving. The relationship between a Sith master and their apprentice was not one of trust, but rather one where both would constantly search 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 more worthy and powerful recruit. This harsh philosophy allowed them to remain as strong as possible. The different iterations of the Sith Order would be linked only tenuously to past traditions through a shared ideology of the Dark Side.
Original Exiled Jedi
The term Exiles was used in the time of the Old Republic which referred to the Dark Jedi survivors of the Hundred-Year Darkness who were captured and banished from known space along with those who had served them with the hope that in exile they would see the error of their ways, they eventually went on to become the original Lords of the Sith. These fallen Jedi were stripped of their arms and armor and loaded into unarmed transports on a barren world by their Jedi captors. They were seen out of charted space by an escort and left to jump blindly into the uncharted space. Eventually they reached Moraband, a planet strong in the Dark Side of the Force and home to the Sith people. The Dark Jedi awed the primitive species with their display of dark power and forged an alliances so as to overthrow the rulers of the Sith. They declared themselves rulers of the Sith and became known as the Lords of the Sith, with their leader being called the "Dark Lord" of the Sith. Some of the Exiles, however, were not satisfied and waited to gather their strength, alerting the Republic that the Exiles had taken control of a region called Sith Space out in deep space. The Exiles used their dark arts to blend their DNA with those of the Sith, allowing their lineage to continue through the species. The Exiles founded a council of several Lords of the Sith within their own Empire who served as advisers to the ruling Dark Lord of the Sith.
Order of Darth Traya
The alliance of Sith known to history as the Sith Triumvirate was a loose alliance made up of what remained of Revan's Empire, founded on the Sith world of Malachor. This organization was made up of hundreds if not thousands of the Sith disciples, Sith-Masters, and, assassins trained in the ways of the Order, and fell under the leadership of three powerful Sith-Lords, Darth Traya, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Sion, co-rulers of a new Sith Empire. From Malachor, the Sith subtly intervened with galactic affairs, using Darth Traya's idea of the Force, and corrupting Jedi to the Dark Side. Sion quickly grew impatient of waiting to fight the Jedi and the Republic, while Nihilus grew hungry and needed Force sustenance, leading the two of them to conspire against and betray Darth Traya. Traya who was now cast out by both Jedi and Sith abandoned her Sith name and title while traveling as Kreia, directing her anger at the Force, viewing it as malevolent. Through great manipulation, Traya put into place a battle on Malachor between Jedi Knights and Sith-Lords, a battle that would assist her quest for vengeance against those who betrayed her. With her final moments of life, Traya activated the weapon within the temple and killed thousands on both the side of the light and the side of the dark, enacting the Great Scourge of Malachor and ending her group once and for all, leaving behind ruins and death across the Sith planet.
Brotherhood of Darkness
Originally a Sith faction calling themselves the New Sith, was a revived Sith Order that existed thousands of years ago. The faction rose due to the machinations of a Dark Lord of the Sith who amassed like-minded disciples that would clash with the Galactic Republic and the Jedi. The founding Dark Lord's reign ended prematurely due to the instigation of his backstabbing followers, setting a treacherous precedent that would plague his successors for centuries. Hundreds of years after their formation, despite the Republic's imminent collapse, the Sith devolved into discord and treachery. A number of Sith took control of their own dominions, continuing their conquests against the Republic, the Jedi and each other. After the slaughtering of many of the most powerful Sith, a brotherhood of Sith called the Dark Army rose as a reorganized group of warriors and soldiers that rose to power near the end of the Old Republic and meant to bring war upon the Republic, under the leadership of a Sith Council, constantly warring with the army of the Jedi Order. During a time known as the Dark Age, the Sith attacked the Republic capital of Coruscant, but after holding the planet for a time were driven off in the liberation of the planet. Their quest to gain power was their undoing, as the Dark Side made them turn on eachother. Within a year, the Jedi managed to defeat the Sith, bringing what was left of them to their knees.
Order of Darth Bane
The Order of the Sith Lords, also known as Bane's Sith Order, Banite Sith, or simply the Sith Order, was an ancient group of Force-Sensitives who utilized the Dark Side of the Force. Founded one thousand years before the Galactic Civil War by the Sith-Lord Darth Bane, it was intended to institute a rebirth of the Sith, who had nearly gone extinct because of the struggle against the Jedi and their own infighting. In order to ensure the survival of the Sith, a guiding principle of the Order was put into place that would be known as the Rule of Two which stated that only two Sith were allowed to exist at any given time, a master and an apprentice. The Rule of Two stipulated that after learning everything the master had to teach, the apprentice would attempt to kill the master and take an apprentice of their own. The intended effect of this rule was to ensure that each successive master would be stronger than the last. Ultimately, Darth Bane intended for those that would succeed him would be able to amass enough power in secret to engineer the fall of the Galactic Republic and the destruction of the Jedi Order. Bane's expectations of the new Order were met with his death at the hands of his own apprentice. For the next one thousand years, this tradition would continue the Sith legacy with a student inheriting the mantle of the ruling Sith-Master, with each new member adopting a new Sith identity beginning with the title of Darth.
Sith Hierarchy
From the earliest era of its foundation, the Sith Order has been formed into a monarchy-like structure with the lower tier of Sith being regarded as the weakest, least important members, often little more than pawns, whereas those highest within the Order's echelon retain majestic status, taking roles not dissimilar to that of kings, warlords, or emperors. Either through prominence, recognition, or the seizing of power through their own merit, Sith move up in the hierarchy as they become more experienced, attain greater strength, or otherwise prove themselves worthy. The Sith had a clearly defined hierarchy which divided the strong from the weak, but because the Sith Order existed in numerous disparate incarnations, the Sith hierarchy did not maintain a single continuous ranking system throughout its history. The Sith hierarchy remained much the same for thousands of years through the many Empires ruled by the Sith. The Sith order's destruction inspired Darth Bane to reform the order and decree that there would be only two Sith at a time from that point forward: a master and an apprentice. Both would bear the title "Dark Lord of the Sith" which would become synonymous with the term "Sith-Lord".
Sith Empire
Dark Lord of the Sith
The title of Dark Lord of the Sith, originally referred to the ruler of the Sith Empire, and later was taken by the leader of the Sith Order. Before the Order of the Sith Lords, there was usually only one Dark Lord of the Sith at a time, who was the head of the Order. The major exception to this trend was the Dark Council of the Sith Emperor's Empire with all Dark Councillors held the title of Dark Lord at the same time. In more recent periods, it was a title shared by multiple beings simultaneously. The title Dark Lord of the Sith is often thought to be having the same meaning with the title of Darth. Contrary to this, however, is the fact that Sith students have been known to carry the title as well. Many Sith have used the Darth title, but there is no evidence as to the synonymic relationship of these two appellations. The first of many Dark Lords of the Sith was the one who originally led the Exiles against the Jedi Order in the war that would spark many wars to come. By the time of the Galactic Republic, the Dark Lords of the Sith adhered to Bane's teachings. Darth Sidious, was the Dark Lord of the Sith during the era of the Galactic Empire, with Darth Vader also assuming the mantle after becoming Sidious's apprentice.
Sith Warrior
Sith Warriors, described as "an unstoppable force of darkness", were combat specialists of the Sith Empire, and served as the champions of the battlefield, entrusted with the task of destroying the Empire’s enemies and enforcing the rule of the Sith across the galaxy. Trained to rely on the emotions of fear, anger, and hatred to improve their deep connection to the Dark Side of the Force, channeling its power through their bodies and purging weakness from themselves. Dedicated toward the eradication of the Jedi Order and rule the galaxy through fear and intimidation, Warriors have little patience for the calculated and careful planning favored by many of their compatriots, preferring instead to simply crush their foes. They demand absolute loyalty from their followers, and in turn demonstrate such traits towards their own Sith masters, often surprising enemies and allies alike with their self-discipline and strong sense of honor. Their fierce hatred of the Jedi ensures that they will be at the forefront of any conflict with the Galactic Republic. Due to their dedication to their goals, Warriors are natural leaders, inspiring fear and undying loyalty.
Sith Inquisitor
Sith Inquisitors were a class of powerful Force-wielders within the Sith Empire, operating primarily within the upper echelons and political circles of Sith society, relying on their natural cunning and ambitious drive to succeed. The Inquisitor experimented with forbidden powers to not only survive in the cutthroat environment, but to excel and seize authority. The most formidable Inquisitors dared to explore unorthodox practices by investigating the enigmas of the past and by unlocking new powers for themselves. Due to their manipulative genius, Inquisitors were skilled at exploiting both their enemies and their allies to further their own personal agendas. Few acolytes succeeded in becoming Inquisitors. However, those that did proved to be the most determined. On the battlefield, Inquisitors were a spectacle to behold, channeling vast amounts of Dark Side energy to create massive storms of Force lightning, or draining the life force of enemies to feed themselves and their allies. However, most Inquisitors preferred a manipulative operating style, being masters of exploiting enemies and allies to further their agendas.
Bane's Order
Sith-Masters
A Sith Master was the title of a Sith individual who instructed at least one apprentice in the ways of the Dark Side of the Force. Traditionally, the apprentice was required to kill 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 titles Sith-Lord and Dark Lord of the Sith. A thousand years before the Age of the Empire, the Sith nearly went extinct because of their infighting. As a consequence, the last survivor, Darth Bane, established the Rule of Two, which restructured the sect so that there could only be two Sith at a time, a master, and an apprentice. In the last decades of the Galactic Republic, the Sith Darth Plagueis tutored an apprentice in the ways of the Sith. Darth Sidious who subsequently managed to reach the highest place of power within the politics of the Republic before anointing himself Galactic Emperor. Under Darth Bane's Rule of Two, the guiding principle of the Order of the Sith Lords, the master and his or her apprentice held both titles together. Like the Jedi Order, the Sith forbade any master from training two or more apprentices at the same time.
Sith-Apprentices
A Sith apprentice was an individual that began serious training under a Sith-Master, usually chosen by the Master him or herself, after the potential apprentice displayed an impressive act of loyalty or cruelty. In some cases, the individual pledged themselves to the teachings of the Sith Master, thereby becoming the apprentice. In other situations, the Master sought out the student, being guided by the will of the Dark Side of the Force. These apprentices were analogous to Jedi Padawans, and the relationship between master and apprentice was the analog to Jedi Knight and Padawan. A Sith apprentice's time as a student ended either with his or her death, or when the apprentice killed the master, taking on an apprentice of his or her own, thereby ascending to the rank of Sith-Master. The age at which an apprentice began their training varied. Darth Maul became apprenticed to Darth Sidious while still a child. Darth Tyranus and Darth Vader, both former members of the Jedi Order, became Sidious' apprentice, in turn, as adults. The apprentice acted as an agent of the Master, doing their bidding and carrying out their will without question.