The Sith is a topic that I am very passionate about. I feel there might be a surface level understanding of the Sith, at least from fans that have only watched the shows and films, as they do not go into the Sith extensively within this type of content. The Sith have been shrouded in mystery, which gives them a sense of being perceived as something more sinister. I believe on a broad level of Star Wars viewers, they see the Sith as just psychopathic murderous monsters that kill indiscriminately, and are merely just evil space wizards that use evil magic powers to hurt people. But there is a psychology and philosophy behind it. There is a goal, and there is more to them than just the stereotypical “I’m going to take over the world, because I’m evil” villain archetype. At least according to outside source material, and even within the films themselves, it’s just not presented as overtly, it’s more nuanced and subtle.
The true scary thing about the Sith, isn’t that they have dark force powers, or kill people or have dark and corrupted physical features. But rather, that they are integrated within the populace. At least since the Darth Bane rule of two. The Sith have been hidden away in secrecy and developing their powers in the force, but also gaining footing on their stranglehold of the galaxy. Until eventually they can enact the grand plan and rule the galaxy (more on that later in this article.) And to do so, to gain that stranglehold, they lived a double life. A life of their Sith identity, where they did their Sith rituals and practices, away from prying eyes, but also lived the life of their public persona. And this public persona was typically someone who had some level of influence, and had the charisma to go with it. They would be friendly and smile to the public, whilst meticulously planning every move they made, so long as it furthered their goal of the grand plan. The Sith would be the bankers, politicians, ship engineers and manufacturers, businessmen of mining corporations, and more. They could be your doctors, historians, scientists, architects, weapon designers. Whatever would serve their goals, gain them power and wealth and get an edge on some sort of market in the galaxy. Sideous was a politician, Plagueis was head of the banking clan, Tyrannus was the count of Serenno, just to name a few of the more well known ones.
I find the fact that they were so integrated amongst the people, unbeknownst to anyone they didn’t directly let into their inner circle.And that to me is the scariest idea of the Sith, the subtle shadowy machinations of the galaxy being bent to their will from seats of strategic positionings that lead to wealth and power to further their end goal.
Now for those unaware of what the grand plan is, the grand plan was the Sith’s ultimate goal, deemed by Darth Bane from the inception of the rule of two. The plan was to amass as much power as possible, before the time was ready to eventually take control of the republic, destroy the Jedi and rule the galaxy as its rightful rulers. If you are curious of learning more about Darth Bane and how he formed the rule of two, you can check out the Darth Bane trilogy book set. I’ll leave a link here. Now let me expand upon why they thought they were the galaxy’s rightful rulers. The Sith believed from the very beginning that they were the rightful rulers of the galaxy. This is why they fractured from the Jedi. The Jedi believed the powers they gained from being intune with the force and learning to use the force, that they should use that power to help the galaxy. To protect the innocent and be the justice for them. There were those of the Jedi order that believed that they gained this power almost in a sense of “divine right,” to then use that power as they saw fit, without any limitations. They believed that since they had this power, they should be worshipped by the galaxy, and the galaxy should bow down to them, or be destroyed by their power. Those that believed this were defeated by the other Jedi and banished and exiled. And thus from there the Sith order slowly began. But that’s a story for another time.
This is the reason though of what I find to be truly scary about the Sith, and something that hasn’t really been clearly laid out. And I find it very fascinating. But these are just my views, and any other opinions on the matter are welcomed. What do you think makes the Sith so compelling? Share your thoughts below.