The Rule of Two doctrine, also known as the Banite Dynasty, is perhaps the most famous depiction of the Sith Order present within the Star Wars franchise. Started after the Sith Order was presumed destroyed a millennium before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the principle of the Rule of Two was a duumvirate system where there can only ever be two Sith: “a master and an apprentice”.
The Rule of Two was built upon a simple principle: the apprentice would eventually grow stronger than the master so that they can usurp them and take an apprentice of their own, with that apprentice having to become stronger to usurp that master. This started a cycle wherein the members of the Sith would progressively become stronger, building them up so that, one day, their existence would cause a great imbalance in the Force and allow them to enact The Grand Plan. Now that Star Wars: The Acolyte has brought the Rule of Two back into the forefront of Star Wars fans’ minds, the time felt right to go over the history of this Sith Dynasty and recount every known member of the Rule of Two from Canon and Legends.
Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on November 5, 2024: Even though The Acolyte has been canceled, Star Wars fans still hope to see more of the Sith in future projects. The Sith have a rich and complicated history that involves an interesting relationship with the infamous Rule of Two. This article has been updated with new entries and adheres to CBR’s current formatting guidelines.
20 Darth Bane Founded The Rule Of Two
Darth Bane Was Introduced In Legends and Has Been Made Canon
In Star Wars Legends, Darth Bane was once an adherent of the Sith Brotherhood of Darkness until he became disillusioned by the decadence and foolishness of their leader, Skere Kaan, and how his method of overextending the Sith numbers only resulted in the Sith becoming worse in quality compared to the Jedi. During the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, Darth Bane conspired against the Brotherhood of Darkness by having a Thought Bomb detonated, which destroyed the organization. From then on, he found a young girl amidst the abandoned battlefield and sired her to become his apprentice, Darth Zannah, thereby starting the Rule of Two.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Bane of the Sith (Legends) |
17th April 2001 |
Kevin J. Anderson and Stan Shaw |
Magazine Short Story |
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 6 Episode 13 (Canon) |
7th March 2014 |
Dave Filoni, Steward Lee, and Christian Taylor |
Animated Television Episode |
Within Canon, while specifics of Darth Bane’s plot against the original Sith have never been expanded upon, the overall notion that Darth Bane betrayed the Sith on Ruusan to start the Rule of Two and took Darth Zannah on as his apprentice has remained a part of his story. The only addition to his story was born on the Sith homeworld of Moraband (also known as Korriban) and was subsequently buried in a tomb there where his specter still haunted his tomb long enough to interact with Grandmaster Yoda during the Clone Wars.
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19 Darth Zannah Showed The Success Of Bane’s Doctrine
Darth Zannah Exists In Both Legends/Canon
In Star Wars Legends, Darth Zannah –born as Rain– was a native of the planet Somov Rit who was supposed to be recruited into the Jedi Order and trained on Ruusan until the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, where she was presumed dead and effectively abandoned. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, she was rescued by Darth Bane, who saw the untapped potential of the young girl and took her on as his apprentice. With Darth Bane’s help, Darth Zannah would become a premier Sith Sorcerer and the two traveled across the Galaxy to build a secretive powerbase that would help ensure the longevity of the Rule of Two Sith. Eventually, as was agreed upon by the Rule of Two doctrine, Darth Zannah challenged Darth Bane to a duel and slew him, becoming the next Dark Lord of the Sith.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Jedi vs Sith #1 (Legends) |
18th April 2001 |
Darko Macan, Ramón F. Bachs, Raul Fernendez and Chris Blythe |
Comic Book Issue |
Star Wars: Helmet Collection #2 (Canon) |
27th January 2016 |
DeAgostini Publishing |
Magazine Article Entry |
Within Canon, while it is confirmed that Darth Zannah did exist and did eventually kill her master to become the next Dark Lord of the Sith, nothing is known about her origins or where her strength lied as a force user. Her story is still left open for writers to interpret as they wish, whether that be by re-canonizing her original origin or completely reinventing her as a brand-new character. It has been noted by some fans that the characterization of Mae Aniseya in Disney +’s Star Wars: The Acolyte series bares many similarities with Zannah (both being young girls who the Jedi hoped to train until tragedy struck and a Rule of Two Sith took them as their apprentice), but despite the similarities within the lore, they are very distinct characters who lived centuries apart from one another.
18 Set Harth’s Obsession Made Him A Poor Apprentice
Set Harth Only Exists In Star Wars Legends
Before Darth Zannah had killed Darth Bane, she briefly took her own secret apprentice named Set Harth. Set was a former Jedi Padawan who was another victim of the Seventh Battle of Ruusan; after his master was murdered during the battle, he became fascinated with the taboo research of Sith Artifacts; this fascination led him to be found by Darth Zannah on the planet Doan and used by her as her Sith Apprentice while Darth Bane was imprisoned within the massive Stone Prison on the same planet.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Darth Bane – The Dynasty of Evil |
8th December 2009 |
Drew Karpyshyn |
Novel |
Ultimately, Set’s obsession caused him to be an unfaithful apprentice, as he ended up choosing to leave Darth Zannah to covet the rare holocron of the Immortal God-King, Darth Andeddu. Set’s exposure to Sith Artifacts allowed him to prolong his life for centuries, almost living parallel to the growing lineage of the Rule of Two until, eventually, one of its members, the famed Count Dooku, finally slew Set and took Darth Andeddu’s Holocron for himself.
17 Darth Cognus Was A True Devotee of The Rule of Two
Darth Cognus Only Appears In Star Wars Legends
While Set Harth represented a failure for Darth Zannah to continue the dynasty Darth Bane had set before her, she eventually found success through an Iktotchi assassin known as The Huntress, whom Darth Bane convinced to learn the ways of the Sith in preparation for Darth Zannah’s usurpation. After proving themselves to be an impeccable duo, Darth Zannah bestowed upon The Huntress the tile of ‘Darth Cognus’, promising to officially sire her as her apprentice once Darth Bane was finally slain.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Darth Bane – The Dynasty of Evil |
8th December 2009 |
Drew Karpyshyn |
Novel |
Once Darth Zannah successfully killed Darth Bane and attained the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Cognus served faithfully as Zannah’s apprentice, becoming extremely devoted to the Rule of Two doctrine and the legacy of Darth Bane and Darth Zannah. Darth Cognus’ zealot belief in the Rule of Two was almost greater than Darth Bane himself, allowing no compromise to the doctrine and even going as far as to attempt to murder her own apprentice when he dared to propose an alternate means to developing the power of the Sith outside of the Rule of Two duumvirate.
16 Darth Millennial Founded a Dark Side Cult
Darth Millennial Appears In Star Wars Legends
15
A human mutant born with a third eye on his forehead, Darth Millennial was the Sith Apprentice of Darth Cognus who was chosen to become a part of the Rule of Two due to his esoteric abilities to see into the future, an ability which allowed him to paint himself as a prophet to the wider Galaxy. Darth Millennial was the first true challenger to the Rule of Two philosophy Darth Bane had created, believing that having only two Sith in the Galaxy was restrictive and that, in order to create a proper powerbase, the Sith needed to expand their teachings to create lesser Sith Acolytes to do their bidding.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: The Glove of Darth Vader |
1st June 1992 |
Paul Davids, Hollace Davids, Benton Jew and Karl Kesel |
Novel |
When he proposed this idea to Darth Cognus, the Iktotchi Sith Lord responded by trying to kill Darth Millennial to end his blasphemy quickly before it could have a chance to spread. However, by methods unknown, Darth Millennial survived his battle with Darth Cognus and fled to the ancient capital of the Old Sith Empire, Dromund Kaas. On this planet, he started a religion known as the Prophets of the Dark Side; while this organization could never touch the level of power of the true Sith Lords, they’d eventually be adopted by Darth Sidious as advisors to spread his influence as an Emperor and a Sith Lord, helping shape his own cult of personality.
14 Darth Gravid Nearly Destroyed The Sith Order
Darth Gravid Only Appears In Star Wars Legends
While it is unknown exactly when Darth Gravid’s rule as Dark Lord of the Sith took place, both he and his apprentice lived during the early middle of the Rule of Two’s existence. Much like Darth Millennial, Darth Gravid was another critic of the Rule of Two. However, his philosophy was drastically different and had greater consequences for the Sith Order as a whole.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Darth Plagueis |
10th January 2012 |
James Luceno |
Novel |
Darth Gravid developed the belief that strict adherence to the Dark Side blinded the Sith Order and that it would bring about the organization’s end. To combat this, he began incorporating Light Side tenants and collected all the scriptures, artifacts and datapads that had been collected about Sith teachings and destroyed them in his Bastion on Jagunda. It was this action that set the Sith Order back thousands of years and acted as an explanation as to why the future Sith were never able to pull off the same flashy powers as their Old Republic Era counterparts.
13 Darth Gean Sought To Undo Her Master’s Blasphemy
Darth Gean Only Appears In Star Wars Legends
Darth Gean was the Twi’Lek apprentice of Darth Gravid and was initially a devout disciple of his. However, after her master began destroying centuries worth of Sith lore on Jagunda, Darth Gean deemed Darth Gravid to be corrupted and insane. She believed that for the Sith to continue, she had to kill him before he did any more damage.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Darth Plagueis |
10th January 2012 |
James Luceno |
Novel |
Darth Gean was able to succeed in killing Darth Gravid; however, she sustained serious injuries, having lost one of her arms and suffering severe burns to her face. She was able to salvage some of the relics Darth Gravid had sought to destroy, but ultimately, she was not able to stop her master from setting the Sith Order back thousands of years, despite her best efforts to repair the damage before her own apprentice slew her.
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12 Darth Vectivus Was the Closest Thing to a Good Sith
Darth Vectivus Only Appears In Star Wars Legends
Darth Vectivus was originally an ambitious businessman who worked his way up to becoming the esteemed director of asteroid mining in the MZX32905 Star System, which excreted a Dark Side aura that affected his workers and drove them insane. Initially motivated by a benevolent desire to keep his workers safe from this mysterious phenomenon, Darth Vectivus ventured deep into the system’s asteroid field, causing him to go missing from the mining operation and secretly be recruited into the Rule of Two. During his time as a Sith Lord, Darth Vectivus learned many secrets from his continued research of the Dark Side asteroid field, allowing him to develop the ability to project force phantoms and have an almost symbiotic relationship with the animals within the MZX32905 Star System.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal |
1st May 2007 |
Aaron Allston |
Novel |
Darth Vectivus became more of a scholar than an actually malignant Sith Lord; this would become something that the Dark Lady Lumiya would use hundreds of years later as ‘proof’ to Jacen Solo that not all Sith were evil to sway him to the Dark Side, something that ultimately ended up working. It was said by Lumiya that Darth Vectivus was able to peacefully pass away, a rare privilege for any force user, especially a Sith; however, given the nature of the Rule of Two and the fact that his spirit still roamed the asteroid field, it seems that Lumiya may have lied when she told Jacen this.
11 Darth Ramage Was The Rule of Two’s Greatest Scientist
Darth Ramage Only Appears In Star Wars Legends
Darth Ramage was another unorthodox member of the Rule of Two Sith, but unlike Darth Vectivus or Darth Gravid, his differentiation from the other Sith didn’t come from a hidden benevolence, but instead through his scientific mind. Whereas most Sith chose to view the force through a mystical lens, Darth Ramage sought to understand the science behind the force and how it interacted with the living universe.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Coruscant Nights III – Patterns of the Force |
27th January 2009 |
Michael Reaves |
Novel |
This led him to experiment greatly with bota, a unique medicinal plant species that was said to have the ability to enhance one’s own connection to the force through its healing properties. Darth Ramage also began abducting and experimenting on members of the Cephalon species out of a desire to analyze how their multiple brains allowed them to perceive the future similarly to Force Visions; Darth Ramage hoped that this could let him achieve a form of time travel. All of his experiments were recorded onto a holocron which was sought after by Darth Vader hundreds of years after Darth Ramage’s death.
10 Darth Tenebrous Wanted To Become The Prophetic ‘One Sith’
Darth Tenebrous Exists In Both Legends and Canon
Continuing on from the scientific endeavors of Darth Ramage, the Bith Sith Lord Darth Tenebrous was another member of the Rule of Two who chose to view the force from a purely scientific lens. Born as Rugess Nome, Darth Tenebrous followed mathematical formulas and scientific theory in how he used the force, with his first apprentice being the product of careful eugenics as Tenebrous sought to find the perfect subjects to breed a perfect Sith Lord. His ultimate desire was to fulfill his own prophecy regarding the ‘mathematical certainty’ that the Rule of Two would end with the creation of the One Sith; Tenebrous sought to manipulate midichlorian cells to allow him to transfer his mind into this eventual One Sith, but ultimately only succeeded in trapping his conscious mind in a perpetual loop trapped in the moment he died.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: The Tenebrous Way (Legends) |
12th December 2011 |
Matthew Stover |
Magazine Short Story |
Star Wars: Build The Millennium Falcon #44 (Canon) |
4th November 2015 |
DeAgostini Publishing |
Magazine Article Entry |
Like with Darth Zannah, not much is known about Darth Tenebrous in Canon aside from his name and the fact that he would eventually sire an apprentice named Darth Plagieus. One thing of note was that Darth Tenebrous designed the original schematics for the Schimitar, a heavily modified Star Courier that would eventually be used by Darth Maul during Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; given the technological prowess of the Scimitar, it seems that this feat was meant to indicate that the Canon Darth Tenebrous is just as intellectually gifted as his Legends counterpart.
9 The Stranger (Qimir) Remains an Enigma
The Stranger Only Exists In Star Wars Canon
The only member of the Rule of Two who’s exclusively part of the Disney Canon, The Stranger (alternatively known by the aliases of ‘Qimir’ or ‘The Master’) was once a Jedi before becoming disillusioned with the Order for a yet-to-be-disclosed reason. He seemingly joined the Rule of Two after coming to believe that the method of using the force that the Jedi preached was flawed and narrow-minded and didn’t let him express himself in the manner he wanted; more than anything else, he wanted to fully realize “the power of two”, leading him to search the Galaxy for an acolyte to train in the manner the Rule of Two preached. To that end, he discovered the young Mae Aniseya who had been abandoned on the planet Brendok after members of the Jedi Order took her twin sister, Osha, to become a Jedi after their coven home was destroyed, with Mae believing her sister died in the incident.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 1 — ‘Lost/Found’ |
3rd June 2024 |
Leslye Headland |
Live Action Episode |
The Stranger manipulated Mae to go on a quest to murder the four Jedi responsible for Osha’s supposed ‘death’, but when Mae learned the truth of Osha’s survival, she proved to be an unfaithful student, prompting The Stranger to disavow her. The season finale of The Acolyte hinted that Qimir had been trained by Darth Plagueis himself. However, this storyline was cut short by the show’s abrupt cancelation, suggesting that fans may never learn what happened between Qimir and his master, or what the younger Sith’s fate was.
8 Darth Plagueis the Wise Was Cut Down Before He Could Become Immortal
Darth Plagueis Exists In Both Legends and Canon
The product of Darth Tenebrous’ eugenics experiments, the Muun Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis the Wise — born as Hego Damask — possessed an avid understanding of business and politics that helped lay the foundation for the Rule of Two Sith to spread their influence into the highest echelons of the Republic Senate. But Darth Plagueis sought something more ambitious than taking control of the Senate to further the Grand Plan, as he sought to do what his master could not and attain immortality. He became adept in the art of resurrecting others, but in the end, he was murdered by his apprentice while on the cusp of attaining what he sought.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith |
19th May 2005 |
George Lucas, Rick McCallum and Lucasfilm |
Live Action Film |
In Star Wars Canon, Darth Plagueis’ story remains effectively the same, although it’s not yet confirmed if he is still a Muun or was retconned into being some other species. What secrets he did know about expanding his own lifespan were passed on to his apprentice through the archives Darth Plagueis kept within his faithful droid servants, 11-4D and R1-ND, which helped act as the starting point for his apprentice to begin working on personal operations, like Project Necromancer, to ensure that he never has the same tragic end as Darth Plagueis, being so close to attaining immortality and yet snuffed right before he could attain it.
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7 Darth Venamis Was The Secret Second Apprentice of Darth Tenebrous
Darth Venamis Only Appears In Star Wars Legends
After Darth Plagueis successfully murdered his master, he was struck with the disturbing revelation that Darth Tenebrous had broken the tenants of the Rule of Two and sired a second apprentice meant to be Plagueis’ rival, a Bith who had gained the moniker of ‘Darth Venamis’. Before Darth Plagueis could officially attain the position of Dark Lord of the Sith, he had to deal with this rival Sith Lord. Fortunately, that was made easier for Darth Plagueis as Darth Venamis decided to make the first strike and ambush his rival on Plagueis’ private fortress on the Sojourn Moon, allowing the two to have a climactic duel which pushed both Sith to their limits before Plagueis emerged the victor.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Darth Plagueis |
10th January 2012 |
James Luceno |
Novel |
From then on, Darth Venamis became the main test subject for Darth Plagueis’ midichlorian manipulation experiments, as he tried many different methods to kill and revive Venamis with the Force until he could discover a method that could feasibly lead to immortality. Unfortunately for Darth Venamis, his body could only withstand this unnatural cycle of death and resurrection for so long and, eventually, Darth Plagueis reached a point where he could not revive Venamis anymore, letting his rival finally drift into the Netherworld of the Force.
6 Darth Sidious Finally Fulfilled the Rule of Two’s Grand Plan
Darth Sidious Appears In Both Legends and Canon
Out of all the Rule of Two Sith, Darth Sidious is the second most recognizable member in the entire franchise, and by far the most influential member of the dynasty. Born as Sheev Palpatine on the planet of Naboo to a family of nobles, Sidious was found by Darth Plagueis at a young age and indoctrinated into the Rule of Two so that the young boy could use his status and aptitude for politics to make him the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. But once Darth Sidious became Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, he murdered his master in his sleep and began orchestrating the downfall of the Jedi Order by manipulating Galactic events to cause a civil war between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist Alliance known as the Clone Wars which granted him emergency power to combat the crisis.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back |
21st May 1980 |
George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Gary Kurtz, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, and Lucasfilm |
Live Action Film |
When the time was right and the Jedi were in a severely weakened state, Darth Sidious enacted the infamous Order 66, which branded all Jedi as traitors of the Republic and reorganized the government into the Galactic Empire, with himself as Emperor Palpatine. As emperor, Darth Sidious’ control of the Galaxy was left unchallenged for nearly two decades until the rise of the Rebel Alliance and the start of the Galactic Civil War. At the epoch of his greatest victory (trapping the Rebel fleet on the Endor System to face a massive Imperial armada), Sidious was struck down by his apprentice. In both Legends and Canon, this did not mark the end of the Emperor, as he was able to cling on to life through clone bodies; however, this was not enough to permanently forestall a final death at the hands of the Jedi.
5 Darth Maul Was a Crude Assassin Who Grew to Become Sidious’ Rival
Darth Maul Appears In Both Legends and Canon
Before Darth Sidious had killed Darth Plagueis, he found a young force adept on Dathomir who he took as his personal assassin to assist in Sidious’ many schemes, letting the assassin believe that he was Sidious’ rightful ‘apprentice’ and giving him the title of ‘Darth Maul’ to show that he would one day join Sidious as part of the Rule of Two duumvirate. Tragically, little did Darth Maul know, but Darth Sidious was in truth grooming the Jedi Master Dooku to be his apprentice and after Maul was presumed killed on Naboo by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Sidious succeeded Plagueis with Dooku as his true apprentice.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace |
19th May 1999 |
George Lucas, Rick McCallum and Lucasfilm |
Live Action Film |
Yet this was not the end for Darth Maul as he would be found alive by his brother, Savage Opress, on the planet Lotho Minor and together they planned their revenge against the Jedi and Darth Sidious by allying with several major criminal organizations to form the ‘Shadow Collective’, which Maul used to take over the planet Mandalore and secure a rival powerbase. Darth Sidious became agitated enough by Maul’s bid for power that he eventually attacked Maul and Savage on Mandalore, killing the latter and imprisoning the former. Yet not even this was enough to end Maul’s quest for revenge, as in both Legends and Canon, he continued fighting for nearly two decades until he died on Tatooine, being killed by Owen Lars in the former continuity and by Obi-Wan in the latter.
4 Darth Tyrannus (Count Dooku) Sought to Unify the Galaxy
Count Dooku Appears In Both Legends and Canon
Once the apprentice to Grandmaster Yoda and one of the most respected members of the Jedi Order, Dooku found himself becoming increasingly disillusioned with the corruption of the Galactic Republic and the seeming inaction of the Jedi Order he devoted his life to. This was something that Darth Sidious preyed upon, luring the proud Jedi Master towards the Dark Side with promises of ridding the Galaxy of the corrupt Republic, yet, once Dooku’s own apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn was slain due to the Jedi Council’s reluctance to get involved in the famed Naboo Crisis, Dooku’s noble desires cascaded into outright hatred, committing himself fully to ending the Jedi Order.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones |
16th May 2002 |
George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Jonathan Hales, and Lucasfilm |
Live Action Film |
After leaving the Jedi, Dooku took his family’s old ancestral position as the Count of Sereno and used his political influence to start –and become the head of– the Separatist Alliance, which he used to plunge the galaxy into the devastating Clone Wars, bringing the Jedi and Republic to the brink of annihilation with the hopes that he could unify the Galaxy under his rule, once he eventually eliminated Darth Sidious. However, Darth Sidious never intended to let the Separatist Alliance or Count Dooku win, and ultimately manipulated the Jedi Knight, Anakin Skywalker, into murdering Count Dooku so that he could replace him with a new apprentice.
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3 Asajj Ventress Was Dooku’s Way of Breaking the Rule of Two
Asajj Ventress Exists In Both Legends and Canon
Though she never became a full-fledged Sith, Asajj Ventress could have grown to become one of the most powerful Dark Side wielders of her age. Hailing from the Night Sister tribe on Dathomir, Ventress was taken by her family to become a Jedi youngling. However, when her master was killed in battle, Ventress found herself lost and alone in the world–until she was taken in by the fallen Jedi Count Dooku, who offered to train her in the ways of the Sith. In the years that followed, Ventress served as Dooku’s assassin while he continued to train her to hone her Dark Side abilities.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Clone Wars |
2003 |
Genndy Tartakovsky and George Lucas |
Animated Micro-Series |
Like many Sith before him, Dooku broke the Rule of Two to train his own apprentice in hopes of overthrowing his master and taking charge himself. If all went according to plan, Dooku and Ventress would have overthrown Darth Sidious, supplanting him as the ruling Sith. However, Sidious became aware of Dooku’s plan and, though he allowed his apprentice to entertain the notion for a while, eventually ordered him to dispose of Ventress. Ventress managed to survive her master’s betrayal but never became a full-fledged Sith, spending the rest of her life as a bounty hunter.
2 Darth Vader Is the Most Famous Member of the Rule of Two
Darth Vader Appears In Both Legends and Canon
Undeniably the most famous Sith Lord of all time, and the most famous member of the Rule of Two, Darth Vader started life as a young slave from Tatooine named Anakin Skywalker, who was conceived by the Force itself to become the Chosen One destined to finally vanquish the Sith and return balance to the Force. He would eventually be found by the Jedi Order and trained as a Jedi Knight named Obi-Wan Kenobi; during his training, he immediately caught the attention of Chancellor Palpatine, who took it upon himself to become a mentor to the young boy to ensure that he could slowly manipulate Anakin into falling to the Dark Side.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope |
25th May 1977 |
George Lucas, Gary Kurtz and Lucasfilm |
Live Action Film |
After the Clone Wars tested Anakin and hardened his once child-like spirit, he began to suffer Force Visions that his wife, Padmé Amidala –who he married in secret against the laws of the Jedi Order–, was going to die. Palpatine used this to manipulate Anakin into believing that the Dark Side was the only thing powerful enough to save his wife, as well as use Anakin’s emotional state to lead him into believing the Jedi were conspiring against the Republic. After the Jedi learned of Palpatine’s true nature, Anakin was forced to save him and commit fully to the Dark Side, becoming Darth Vader and submitting himself as Palpatine’s apprentice. After Padmé died, Darth Vader seemed to have committed fully to the tenants of the Sith; yet, through the actions of his son, Luke Skywalker, Vader was able to redeem himself and fulfill the Prophecy of the Chosen One by killing Palpatine and ending the Rule of Two.
1 Kylo Ren Has an Undefined Connection to the Rule of Two
Kylo Ren Only Appears In Star Wars Canon
While he is neither a Sith nor an official member of the Rule of Two, a list of the Rule of Two cannot be complete without mentioning Kylo Ren and his loose connection to the doctrine. Born as Ben Solo, Kylo was manipulated by a resurrected Darth Sidious — under the alias of Supreme Leader Snoke — into betraying his uncle, Luke Skywalker and destroying the New Jedi Order he had created. Once done, Darth Sidious sired Kylo Ren as his apprentice, and while Kylo ended up becoming a member of the Knights of Ren and not a Sith Lord, he did still act as the next part of the Banite Dynasty by being Darth Sidious’ official apprentice.
First Appearance |
Date Published |
Creators |
Medium |
---|---|---|---|
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens |
18th December 2015 |
J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt, Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm |
Live Action Film |
Kylo Ren even fulfilled the Rule of Two’s most important traditions by ‘killing’ Darth Sidious’ Snoke form and usurping him as Supreme Leader of the First Order and undisputed master of the Knights of Ren. Yet, Darth Sidious technically didn’t die, as his true body was safe on the planet Exegol, and he would eventually disavow Kylo Ren after he chose to once again side with the Jedi. With that said, this still puts Kylo Ren in a strange position as a quasi-member of the Rule of Two by his actions, although many Star Wars fans would rather he be left separate from the Banite Dynasty.
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