Quote:
Originally Posted by Hack&Lube
Star Trek doesn't have the mythology or fantasy/history element of Star Wars. It would be quite boring to have a Star Trek level analysis. The rule of 2 is interesting but the general public is not aware of it. It's also potentially a dumb rule because both of them could be wiped out in a single accident or event. It's only a small chapter of Sith history and was not always in place. It's an easy way to both simplify and deepen the story however.
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this is literally what happened with Sidious and Vader being wiped out, its the end of the Sith line for at least a very long time. The EU tried to get around this by creating a different Sith philosophy that was in hiding throughout the Empire days which lived by the one rule, a bunch of Sith serving one uber Sith.
But if you look back on Sith Lore, without going into date detail you can see why the rule of two became necessary
1) At the beginning of the Jedi order, some Jedi begin to study the dark side of the force, they were convinced that the Jedi shouldn't turn themselves off of the entire force, they're labeled heretics and expelled, a major civil war begins within the Jedi Order. the Jedi eventually win and exile the vanquished Dark Jedi who end up finding the Sith Species
2) The Dark Jedi enslave the Sith, find a way to breed with them and the Sith Dark Side cult is pretty much founded, they have the golden age of the Sith where they build a vast empire. They never forget their rage at the Jedi and their stupid light side philosophy.
3) the ruler of the Sith empire eventually dies and causes a split between his two senior apprentices. They basically start backstabbing the crap out of each other. One of them invades the republic but fails, when he returns he's attacked by the other Sith and his followers. during the civil war the Republic finds the Sith empire and begins a campaign of clensing and genocide in an attempt to wipe out the dark side users forever.
4) A few Sith Survive and under a new empire go into exile, they eventually found a new empire under this Empire and the Republic forgets about them and the Jedi go back to doing good works.
5) The Sith eventually re-emerge as a mighty empire, and put the republic on the ropes. But backstabbing and strife all encouraged by the emperor under the philosophy that only the strong deserve power eventually cause the destruction of the Sith Empire. Darth Revan rises during this period as well and puts the beginning touches on the rule of two. His reasoning is that if there are a lot of Sith it dilutes the strength of the Dark Side. It should be held and controlled by very few. He also felt that a master that took on multiple apprentices was inviting his own destruction.
The Sith are thought to have been removed from the galaxy
6) A fallen Jedi, revives the Sith with the philosophy of equality among Sith Lords. He builds a vast army of Lords and Sith Warriors and Assasins, but this movement fails because the Sith eventually start fighting among each other and they are weakened.
Darth Bane rises at this time, and looks at the Sith as a failure. He creates the rule of two, he sees an army of equality as a perversion of the Sith. He finds Darth Reven's holocron and the rule of two and refines it. He decides to cleanse the Sith Philosophy and decides that an army of Sith will never defeat the Jedi because of the need for Sith to gain power and backstab each other to do it. He also feels that the Jedi will always win in open warfare with the Sith because of the dilution of the Darkside. He exterminates the Sith and takes an apprentice and goes into hiding.
7) He begins a long imposed exile where the Sith will study the Dark side of the Force and their enemy the Jedi and continue to learn and pass these learning to his apprentice who will eventually become more powerful then him and take his Mastery. Bane also decides that the Sith should focus on deceit and guile. The Bannite Sith remain in hiding for a extended period of time and begin to work the levers of politics behind the curtains corrupting the Republic. At the same time they study and learn and increase their power. Whenever a apprentice destroys his or her master the Sith's individual powers grow as they wait to execute the Grand Plan.
8) Darth Sidious eventually rises, he's probably the most powerful Sith that ever lived with a concentration of thousands of years of Sith learning, but he's unique in terms of his ability to deceive and distract. He decides the time has come for him to execute his grand plan which he does politically. He takes on a apprentice, but one that is more of a tool then someone that will surpass him. After the useful death of that one he takes on another apprentice that is a tool that he uses to destroy and replace the republic.
Sidious doesn't need to use the Dark Side of the Force to destroy the Republic, he is not only powerful but he's an opportunist, he uses his levers or political power to destroy the Jedi and basically is begged to form the Empire.
After 30 years in power, the Emperor is killed as is his apprentice. The Bannite Sith are wiped out.
130 years later the New Sith seize control of the galaxy under the one rule philosophy created by Darth Krayt. but basically his rule falls to power due to backstabbing and the weakening of the Sith.
I know a lot of this is no longer Canon.
But the rule of two is fascinating because its the philosophy of the concentration of power to one enlightened being, with an apprentice who craves to take that power.
If the Apprentice isn't strong enough and fails to kill his master he or she is unworthy of the Sith Lord Mantle and another is found. If the Apprentice is strong enough to kill his or her master, then the Master is unworthy and the Apprentice is stronger and the Sith Line becomes a little more powerful.
Also the Sith went away from their warrior background and need for an army to conquer. they basically evolved to become the honest Iago's of the Star Wars universe and manipulated the Republic and the Jedi into destroying themselves.
Yoda as he was being pummeled by Sidious realized that the Jedi had trained for a thousand years to fight a Sith that no longer existed, that the Sith had evolved and learned everything they could about the Force and the Jedi themselves and were the true masters of the Force and that the Jedi were going to have to do something similar and that was go back to the drawing board, and do penance.
The problem with Sidious is that he fell into the same trap that the Jedi did. He became arrogant and became blind to the coming tide as the Force turned against him like it did the Jedi.