WildBantha88
In this post I will be sharing my thoughts and ideas on Darth Sidious. Now before I begin I would like to put some troubled minds to ease, I do believe Darth Sidious to be the most powerful sith lord to ever exist, I am not disputing that. That being said I do have a few theories and ideas involving Sidious that were brought to my attention in the Novel "Darth Plagueis" and that were either strengthened or confirmed in "Book of Sith". Anyways fasten your seatbelts this is probably going to be a long post.
The end of the Rule of Two
This may be up for debate but to me at least the rule of two was ended by Darth Plagueis. It is made clear in "Darth Plagueis" that Plagueis did not intend on being succeeded. Instead he intended to embrace Sidious as an equal and rule the Galaxy together as Dark Lords of the Sith. This was not in line with the Rule of two teachings, A master and an apprentice, One to embody the power, the other to crave and one day succeed the master.
The Beginning of the Rule of One
I believe that Darth Sidious was not a rule of two sith, he instead was the first of the Rule of One sith. He admits this in his writings in the book of sith. As Darth Bane instituted the Rule of Two, so I will begin the Rule of One. - Page 155 Book of Sith . Although he was the first rule of one sith he didn't completely discard the Rule of Two. He still only believed in training a Sith apprentice and only one at a time. But instead of an actual successor they were only tools to him, a weapon, a puppet, and an enforcer. Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader. Each useful in his own way. Each easy to replace when his purpose has reached its end. - Page 72 Book of Sith . Sidious never intended to be succeeded he instead planned on living forever as ruler of the Galaxy. This is where I see a major difference between Darth Sidious and the Rule of Two.To be a Sith Lord is to outthink your enemies and to plan for any eventuality. A proper apprentice will ensure that the Sith endure, no matter what fate may come upon your head - page 75 Book of Sith. But it is clear Sidious intended on living forever never planning for the possibility that he might actually be vanquished. I will achieve immortality. Even if I am killed, I will return from the chaos of nonbeing to restored physical life. page 159 Book of Sith
And this is one of the major faults I see in Darth Sidious. He is very self centered, more concerned that he achieves ultimate power than he is with the survival of the sith. He believes that he is the greatest sith to ever live, and is so convinced in his superiority that he fails to plan for the possibility that he may actually die.
The TRUE tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise
It is my opinion that Darth Plagueis would have been, and should have been, the most powerful sith lord to ever exist. To me Darth Plagueis was killed before his time, the ultimate sorcerer who was killed out of fear more than necessity. now let me address Plagueis death before I explain my thoughts on his power. I believe Darth Sidious was afraid of Darth Plagueis and that is why he killed him. Even after killing him Sidious sensed a power far beyond himself and he wondered if it was Plagueis. Something was shading his sense of triumph: a vague awareness of a power greater than himself. Was it Plagueis reaching out from the far side of death to vex him? page 451 Darth Plagueis.
Now I think Plagueis would have become more powerful than Darth Sidious ever was had he never been killed. After the assassination attempt that left him scarred and crippled he noted that his scars were beginning to heal and that he stopped ageing. The scars that had grown over his wounds had abruptly begun to soften and fade, and he had begun to breath more freely than he had in twenty years. He began to sense that not only were his damaged tissues healing, but his entire body was rejuvenating itself. Beneath the transpirator, areas of his skin were smooth and youthful, and he knew that eventually he would cease to age altogether.- page 348 Darth Plagueis
He notes in the book of sith that even though he was not an individual capable of using sith sorcery, that he had over come this and was capable of learning any sith power.
But Plagueis now understood that Tenebrous had been wrong about sorcery, as he had been about many things. Yes, the gift was strongest in those who, with wrong scant effort, could be subsumed by the currents of the Force and become conduits for the powers of the dark side. But there was an alternative path to these abilities, and it led from a place where the circle closed on itself and sheer will substituted selflessness. Plagueis understood too that no power was beyond his reach; none that he couldn't master through an effort of will. - Page 347 Darth Plagueis
He mentions a few powers that either caught his attention or that he wished to discover. Those abilities were
Flight
Invisibility
Teleportation through space and time
I believe an individual could step instantly from one place to another by folding space, regardless of the intervening distance. Similarly, one could be able to fold time-not to temporally displace a physical object, but to shift one's consciousness backward and forward along time's flow.- Page 136 Book of sith
The ability to fold space is then confirmed in the footnotes as possible by Luke Skywalker.
I also believe that had Plagueis been given time to perfect his skills he may have been able to withstand many fatal injuries and possible, if given time and focus, been able to regrow and amputated limb. This theory of mine is based off of his internalized midi-chlorian manipulation that he used to prevent aging.
I forced the midi-chlorians to override their natural life cycles. What I discovered is that these midi-chlorians would not die. Instead, they drew upon sustaining Force energy, which acted on a microscopic level to halt tissue decay in their host, putting an end to aging and disease. - Page 133 Book of sith
Now you may be thinking "You said Sidious trying to live forever to rule the galaxy was a bad thing but Plagueis is trying to do the same thing." But there are differences between the two. First is that Plagueis immortality seems more effective than Sidious transferring into a clone body. And second and more importantly Plagueis actually would leave a successor would something ever to happen to him. Now I do consider each of Sidious's apprentices worthy of leading the sith order but that has more to deal with there own personalities and experiences rather than them being prepared to do so by Sidious. Neither Plagueis nor Sidious intended to be succeeded but Plagueis didn't plan on ruling the galaxy alone meaning there would be another sith to ensure the survival of the sith were something to ever happen to him. Sidious did plan on being the single ruler however and since he never intended on being succeeded he never needed to train his apprentice to be a successor. Therefor if he were to die he would leave no legacy to continue the sith.
To me Darth Plagueis would have been the ultimate dark sider, the grand manipulator the time and space who could master any dark side power in all of history. But he was killed before he could achieve this in favor of a sith who used the force in amazing magnitude. And Sidious didn't take the time to learn what his master had learned and in doing so threw away potential for both him and his master to become even more powerful than either of them ever became. And that is another problem I see in Sidious, he was impatient and ignorant when it came to his masters teachings. While Sidious was killing Plagueis he taunts him saying that he could have killed him back when Plagueis was wounded by the assassination attempt but didn't because he hadn't learned all of his masters secrets. But the irony is that after he killed his master he still hadn't learned all of his masters secrets and even admits in the footnotes of the book of sith that he doesn't even understand his masters work. He killed his master too early and gave up a lot of potential power.
Darth Sidious failed.
Despite all his power and achievements he ultimately failed. He failed to destroy the jedi, he failed to live forever, and he failed the sith as a whole. The master plan was designed to erase all jedi from existence. Although Sidious did kill the majority of them, a few survived and the jedi order lived on. He failed to live forever as was his intent, despite coming back he was ultimately killed. He failed the sith as a whole, The master plan all came to ahead with him but he failed to completely destroy the jedi, and when he died he had no true successor to carry on the sith order. Most of the sith who came after him are arguably weaker than the sith that came before him, and in my eyes at least, the master plan was a dud because of him.
Now before you start raging in the comments let me say it again, I think Sidious was the strongest sith to ever live, and no this post does not mean I hate Sidious. These are just my personal theories and beliefs. Anyways tell me what you think about all of this.
The end of the Rule of Two
This may be up for debate but to me at least the rule of two was ended by Darth Plagueis. It is made clear in "Darth Plagueis" that Plagueis did not intend on being succeeded. Instead he intended to embrace Sidious as an equal and rule the Galaxy together as Dark Lords of the Sith. This was not in line with the Rule of two teachings, A master and an apprentice, One to embody the power, the other to crave and one day succeed the master.
The Beginning of the Rule of One
I believe that Darth Sidious was not a rule of two sith, he instead was the first of the Rule of One sith. He admits this in his writings in the book of sith. As Darth Bane instituted the Rule of Two, so I will begin the Rule of One. - Page 155 Book of Sith . Although he was the first rule of one sith he didn't completely discard the Rule of Two. He still only believed in training a Sith apprentice and only one at a time. But instead of an actual successor they were only tools to him, a weapon, a puppet, and an enforcer. Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader. Each useful in his own way. Each easy to replace when his purpose has reached its end. - Page 72 Book of Sith . Sidious never intended to be succeeded he instead planned on living forever as ruler of the Galaxy. This is where I see a major difference between Darth Sidious and the Rule of Two.To be a Sith Lord is to outthink your enemies and to plan for any eventuality. A proper apprentice will ensure that the Sith endure, no matter what fate may come upon your head - page 75 Book of Sith. But it is clear Sidious intended on living forever never planning for the possibility that he might actually be vanquished. I will achieve immortality. Even if I am killed, I will return from the chaos of nonbeing to restored physical life. page 159 Book of Sith
And this is one of the major faults I see in Darth Sidious. He is very self centered, more concerned that he achieves ultimate power than he is with the survival of the sith. He believes that he is the greatest sith to ever live, and is so convinced in his superiority that he fails to plan for the possibility that he may actually die.
The TRUE tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise
It is my opinion that Darth Plagueis would have been, and should have been, the most powerful sith lord to ever exist. To me Darth Plagueis was killed before his time, the ultimate sorcerer who was killed out of fear more than necessity. now let me address Plagueis death before I explain my thoughts on his power. I believe Darth Sidious was afraid of Darth Plagueis and that is why he killed him. Even after killing him Sidious sensed a power far beyond himself and he wondered if it was Plagueis. Something was shading his sense of triumph: a vague awareness of a power greater than himself. Was it Plagueis reaching out from the far side of death to vex him? page 451 Darth Plagueis.
Now I think Plagueis would have become more powerful than Darth Sidious ever was had he never been killed. After the assassination attempt that left him scarred and crippled he noted that his scars were beginning to heal and that he stopped ageing. The scars that had grown over his wounds had abruptly begun to soften and fade, and he had begun to breath more freely than he had in twenty years. He began to sense that not only were his damaged tissues healing, but his entire body was rejuvenating itself. Beneath the transpirator, areas of his skin were smooth and youthful, and he knew that eventually he would cease to age altogether.- page 348 Darth Plagueis
He notes in the book of sith that even though he was not an individual capable of using sith sorcery, that he had over come this and was capable of learning any sith power.
But Plagueis now understood that Tenebrous had been wrong about sorcery, as he had been about many things. Yes, the gift was strongest in those who, with wrong scant effort, could be subsumed by the currents of the Force and become conduits for the powers of the dark side. But there was an alternative path to these abilities, and it led from a place where the circle closed on itself and sheer will substituted selflessness. Plagueis understood too that no power was beyond his reach; none that he couldn't master through an effort of will. - Page 347 Darth Plagueis
He mentions a few powers that either caught his attention or that he wished to discover. Those abilities were
Flight
Invisibility
Teleportation through space and time
I believe an individual could step instantly from one place to another by folding space, regardless of the intervening distance. Similarly, one could be able to fold time-not to temporally displace a physical object, but to shift one's consciousness backward and forward along time's flow.- Page 136 Book of sith
The ability to fold space is then confirmed in the footnotes as possible by Luke Skywalker.
I also believe that had Plagueis been given time to perfect his skills he may have been able to withstand many fatal injuries and possible, if given time and focus, been able to regrow and amputated limb. This theory of mine is based off of his internalized midi-chlorian manipulation that he used to prevent aging.
I forced the midi-chlorians to override their natural life cycles. What I discovered is that these midi-chlorians would not die. Instead, they drew upon sustaining Force energy, which acted on a microscopic level to halt tissue decay in their host, putting an end to aging and disease. - Page 133 Book of sith
Now you may be thinking "You said Sidious trying to live forever to rule the galaxy was a bad thing but Plagueis is trying to do the same thing." But there are differences between the two. First is that Plagueis immortality seems more effective than Sidious transferring into a clone body. And second and more importantly Plagueis actually would leave a successor would something ever to happen to him. Now I do consider each of Sidious's apprentices worthy of leading the sith order but that has more to deal with there own personalities and experiences rather than them being prepared to do so by Sidious. Neither Plagueis nor Sidious intended to be succeeded but Plagueis didn't plan on ruling the galaxy alone meaning there would be another sith to ensure the survival of the sith were something to ever happen to him. Sidious did plan on being the single ruler however and since he never intended on being succeeded he never needed to train his apprentice to be a successor. Therefor if he were to die he would leave no legacy to continue the sith.
To me Darth Plagueis would have been the ultimate dark sider, the grand manipulator the time and space who could master any dark side power in all of history. But he was killed before he could achieve this in favor of a sith who used the force in amazing magnitude. And Sidious didn't take the time to learn what his master had learned and in doing so threw away potential for both him and his master to become even more powerful than either of them ever became. And that is another problem I see in Sidious, he was impatient and ignorant when it came to his masters teachings. While Sidious was killing Plagueis he taunts him saying that he could have killed him back when Plagueis was wounded by the assassination attempt but didn't because he hadn't learned all of his masters secrets. But the irony is that after he killed his master he still hadn't learned all of his masters secrets and even admits in the footnotes of the book of sith that he doesn't even understand his masters work. He killed his master too early and gave up a lot of potential power.
Darth Sidious failed.
Despite all his power and achievements he ultimately failed. He failed to destroy the jedi, he failed to live forever, and he failed the sith as a whole. The master plan was designed to erase all jedi from existence. Although Sidious did kill the majority of them, a few survived and the jedi order lived on. He failed to live forever as was his intent, despite coming back he was ultimately killed. He failed the sith as a whole, The master plan all came to ahead with him but he failed to completely destroy the jedi, and when he died he had no true successor to carry on the sith order. Most of the sith who came after him are arguably weaker than the sith that came before him, and in my eyes at least, the master plan was a dud because of him.
Now before you start raging in the comments let me say it again, I think Sidious was the strongest sith to ever live, and no this post does not mean I hate Sidious. These are just my personal theories and beliefs. Anyways tell me what you think about all of this.