Why are the sith such masochists?

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Kurk
Tenebrous was glad that Plagueis successfully defeated him, and even congratulated him on it.


Even near death, Dooku was encouraging Vos to strike him down and replace him as a more powerful sith (Dark Disciple).


I'm sure there are other examples too.


Why do you believe this is so when considering that the entire premise of the dark-side is about indulging in selfishness?

Galan007
Because they were adhering to the Rule of Two, wherein the strong replace the weak.

Kurk
Originally posted by Galan007
Because they were adhering to the Rule of Two, wherein the strong replace the weak. Right, but their attitudes is what I'm focused on. Dooku was hindered and in no condition to fight (due to his injuries from a crash landing) and Tenebrous was caught off guard by Plagueis. It's not even like the apprentices put up a fair fight and the masters were accepting of their weakness. They just put up with it.

Plagueis too kinda just sat their passively as he fried to death, despite Sidious anticipating a massive counteract.

It's like the attitude of the sith is "ah well, f*ck it. I'm a miserable piece of shit just let it end already".

Galan007
Probably just comes down to this:

https://i.imgur.com/7PCfuoR.jpg

Kurk
So are the sith selfish or selfless?

Galan007
Selfish, undoubtedly.

Kurk
So then why should they sacrifice themselves for some mystic order?

Galan007
It is a contradiction of sorts, but the way I see it...

If that particular Sith adheres to the Rule of Two, they plan on eventually being killed by their apprentice anyway -- and if/when this happens, it means the master did an adequate job training the apprentice. That the fundamental core and methodology of the RoT itself.

Flip side, if that particular Sith is struck down by an 'outsider'(say a Jedi) out of anger/hatred, then they have essentially succeeded in coaxing or converting that being to the dark side. Yes they may have been killed in the process, but if doing so required the other being to entirely disregard their own morals/values/teachings, and channel the dark side out of sheer rage...even if only for a moment...Then it's a win-win for the Sith.

ares834
Originally posted by Kurk
So then why should they sacrifice themselves for some mystic order?

Yep. It's a pretty blatant contradiction.

Kurk
@Galan so let me rephrase this:

What would a sith get (keeping in mind that they're selfish) out of their apprentice or rogue jedi striking them down without putting up much resistance?

How is this different from old Ben letting Vader strike him down?

Galan007
Originally posted by Kurk
@Galan so let me rephrase this:

What would a sith get (keeping in mind that they're selfish) out of their apprentice or rogue jedi striking them down without putting up much resistance? What are they getting? Nothing apart from either a.) the potential satisfaction of knowing they had trained their apprentice/successor adequately, or b.) the potential satisfaction of knowing that it took a Jedi embracing the dark side(essentially throwing away his/her own beliefs) to kill them... That's just how Sith think.

Like I said, though: it is indeed somewhat of a contradiction for such utterly selfish beings to openly embrace(and in some cases even relish) their own deaths, like many of them have. But again: this seems to be a fairly common trope among Sith, so the only sense of it I can make is what I have already mentioned. /shrug

Kurk

One Big Mob
https://i.imgur.com/2DF4fKn.png

what

Zentrex
I've always interpreted as them sort of wishing for (more like, being okay with ) their death all along. It's not masochistic at all, in fact, quite the opposite.

The dark side is horrible. It's a disease, in the words of plagueis. So I wouldn't be surprised if, when it's inevitable, death would seem like a good option. Naturally, their basic impulses makes them want to live, and gain power yada yada yada, but when it's inevitable...

So I'd say that though they're selfish and want power, eternal life, etc. without care for others, the best option when you're that kind of person is death. I wouldn't want that kind of depressing emptiness and futile search for fulfillment in power eating my soul, tbh.

Kurk
Originally posted by Zentrex
I've always interpreted as them sort of wishing for (more like, being okay with ) their death all along. It's not masochistic at all, in fact, quite the opposite.

The dark side is horrible. It's a disease, in the words of plagueis. So I wouldn't be surprised if, when it's inevitable, death would seem like a good option. Naturally, their basic impulses makes them want to live, and gain power yada yada yada, but when it's inevitable...

So I'd say that though they're selfish and want power, eternal life, etc. without care for others, the best option when you're that kind of person is death. I wouldn't want that kind of depressing emptiness and futile search for fulfillment in power eating my soul, tbh. Sounds reasonable.

Freedon Nadd
Because they want you to go dark. That's all. If you kill them, you are gonna prove they are/were right about you. Besides that, they have techniques to transfer their spirits into other vessels.

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