The Jedi Prophacy

The Sith line was broken up many many times.

Initially, there were Xendor's minions who fled, one of which we know as Ajunta Pall. These arrived on Korriban and other worlds, and subjugated the Sith race, interbreeding because the natives had impressive Force potential.

The empire these rogues made culminated in the ancient Sith Empire, and was more or less destroyed thanks to Sadow's machinations. After this, the Sith were scattered and hunted by the Jedi. I believe I recall a timeframe of up to a decade and a half where they were still fighting. In any case, the ancient line was broken. No true blooded Sith remained, and the half bloods were likely dead as well.

Freedan Nadd, a rogue Jedi, finds evidence of the Sith Empire and becomes Sadow's apprentice. He kills his master and molds his own kingdom on Onderon. He rules as an open god-king, and his dynasty continues to perpetuate the dark side but never expands. Nadd hates the Jedi, but really the Jedi never come into contact with him or his kin until Arca Jeth arrived with Ulic and others. Nadd's descendants successfully corrupt Ulic, but the next real Sith Lord is actually Exar Kun, who takes the remnants of Sadow's works and attempts to rule the galaxy.

You can see clearly how the methods of the ancient Sith contrast the Nadd dynasty, and then Kun. After Kun, we have Revan and Malak, who are more military men. Revan's been said to be more of a good guy masquerading as a Sith Lord, and his intent is thought to be the unification of the Republic under the Sith to protect against an outside force. In this, he's less trying to be a god-king absorbing power for its own sake than he is trying to be a military figure using unsavory tactics. Malak differs from his master in that he's an idiot. Sorry, not glossing that one for you, folks.

After Revan, we have the Sith Triumvirate with Sion, Nihilus, and Traya. They each have separate goals; Sion hates the Jedi but cares nothing for ruling the galaxy. Nihilus is consumed by hunger, and Traya wants the death of the Force. They are hardly heirs to the ancient Sith or Xendor.

After this, all seems rather quiet until the Brotherhood is formed. They're more akin to a religious warrior community than an empire of sorts, and they wage open war against the Jedi until Bane comes into the fold. Bane then remakes the Sith Order into a shadow organization, and it's assumed to disappear until Sidious comes out of the dark closet (no pun intended) and rules openly as a master manipulator.

So really, you can say it's "one line", but that's not an accurate representation of the shifting ideals and structures of the Sith legacy. If anything, the Sith have shown to be much more versatile and adapting than the Jedi.

To elaborate:

For starters, you're incorrect on Ajunta Pall. Xendor is not related to the Ancient Sith at all. As far as we know, Xendor was an Ancient Jedi, 25,000 years before the movies (Ajunta Pall lived 7,000 years before the movies, way, way later) and led a rebellion with his lover Arden Lyn. Xendor died and Arden was frozen in Sleep for the next 25,000 years. 18,000 years, the Second Great Schism would lead to Ajunta Pall and the events that ended in the Sith Empire being founded.

While the line was indeed broken several times, the official canon has most if not all of the Dark Lords as 'True' Sith, from Marka, then Naga, then Freedon Nadd, then Exar, then Revan, Malak and so on to Darth Ruin and then to Bane and finally to Palpatine.

Also, the Brotherhood wasn't exactly a religious community. tp be pretty accurate on the matter, Ruin started the massive war, but was betrayed and killed by his followers, many of whom would carve out their own territory...Dark Lords occasionally rose to lead them, but for the most part, until Kaan, the New Sith Empire was pretty fragmented.

While the methods and styles may differ, the Sith line itself was passed on, officially, until Sidious.

You are right about Ajunta Pall. I believe I mistakenly slipped him in there because I had just been reading his bio because I was wondering if they updated it at all. I'm not typically that off when it comes to in-universe history. And I neglected to put in Ruin, as he did start the New Sith Empire and thus caused another Schism.

Still, I submit that the Sith line isn't a line in the truest sense; contact between dark lords was sometimes limited or even less so. Simply reading the works of a previous ruler doesn't make you an heir to his legacy. Even limited tuteledge doesn't make one part of another's line. It may be a more reasonable assumption if Sith lords were consistant in their methods, teachings, and structure. But they clearly aren't. In fact, the only things that link Sith together are they they are fundamentally opposed to the Jedi, love power, and are ultimately self-destructing. You could attribute these same general virtues to Mandalorians, really. That doesn't make the latter part of any Sith line. Granted, if you came up with a few more unifying factors Mandalorians don't fit the bill, but you get the point.

Later Sith take the title and history and make a campaign out of it, similar to modern day despots who bring up such things to support or justify their own agendas. There's absolutely nothing tying Kun and Nadd to the ancient Sith save for the need to conquer and acquire power. Neither of those rogue Jedi shed a tear for fallen Korriban, nor did they ever seek to rebuild the Sith Empire except in their own image. Same with Revan and Malak and the others. The word "Sith" went from a people and their way of life to person opposed to the Jedi way of using the Force, in all its individualistic forms.

Thus, Sith are only loosely affiliated with each other and shouldn't be confused as an actual line so much as a long laundry list of polar opposites of Jedi, merely taking the same name.

To be fair, the other thing that links all of the sith together is the ancient sith. After the Golden Age up until Legacy, at some point during their lifetime, the sith get tutelage, knowledge, or even help from the ancient sith spirits. Everything started with them and they were part of virtually every facet of the dark side up through legacy.

Originally posted by Janus Marius
You are right about Ajunta Pall. I believe I mistakenly slipped him in there because I had just been reading his bio because I was wondering if they updated it at all. I'm not typically that off when it comes to in-universe history. And I neglected to put in Ruin, as he did start the New Sith Empire and thus caused another Schism.

Thus, Sith are only loosely affiliated with each other and shouldn't be confused as an actual line so much as a long laundry list of polar opposites of Jedi, merely taking the same name.

Ruin, I think, has a lot of potential as an interesting character as a whole. Interestingly enough, apparently: Dooku is confirmed as more powerful than Ruin, too.

Ruin's supposed to be pretty impressive, considering he gathered his own movement. It'd be really nice if someone with talent sat down and fleshed out the pre-movie timelines more. I thought PoD was a nice start. Doesn't surprise me that it came from someone involved in the KotOR project, though.

However, being confirmed to be the heir by the actual spirits of your forebears would probably be enough to put you in.

Yes, it has to count for something. But the last confirmed heir we have was perhaps Kun, unless I'm missing someone here. The right of ascension has a lot less to do with the ancients' blessing than it does from simply taking what you can when your master's not looking.

I think there's a bit more than that: Many Sith have taken the Ancients' teachings and devised new twists on it. A problem, however is, that aside from Palpatine himself, we have very little idea how the Sith actually train their apprentices. Most of the Sith we actually see are at the pinnacle of their evil career....certainly, Ulic received no training from Exar and it's doubtful Malak received much from Revan.

Sidious' teachings were likely very different from some of the others, considering he said that the Sith's greatest ally was stealth. Sith like Bandon, Malak, Kun, etc. are all very aggressive and open Sith, eager to do what they need to do. Really, no Sith before Bane had the ability to mold an apprentice from youth, so it's doubtful how much "training" really occurs. The Rule of Two gives the Sith a lot of room to concentrate on one apprentice as opposed to a whole muck of an empire.

Well, Nadd's master was an Ancient Sith. Exar was described as having mastered Nadd's teachings and was confirmed as the Dark Lord by the one described as the greatest of the Ancients.

Who also notes that he's using Exar and Ulic as his revenge against the Jedi for despoiling his empire. Ragnos' concern appears to have been the strong empire he spent his life maintaining, whereas Exar Kun simply wants to curbstomp everyone who doesn't join his club. It's worth noting that while Sith Empire traits may trickle into latter Sith Empires, none are copies of the original in intent or deed. It's sort of like Julius Caesar naming Octavius his heir and then Octavius inherits a couple of Julius' textbooks on military strategy as opposed to inheriting his empire. Then Octavius goes out and makes his own little fiefdom in the Urals.

Maybe that's just my take on it.

Originally posted by Janus Marius
[B]Ruin's supposed to be pretty impressive, considering he gathered his own movement. It'd be really nice if someone with talent sat down and fleshed out the pre-movie timelines more. I thought PoD was a nice start. Doesn't surprise me that it came from someone involved in the KotOR project, though.

Yes, it has to count for something. But the last confirmed heir we have was perhaps Kun, unless I'm missing someone here. The right of ascension has a lot less to do with the ancients' blessing than it does from simply taking what you can when your master's not looking.

Sidious' teachings were likely very different from some of the others, considering he said that the Sith's greatest ally was stealth. Sith like Bandon, Malak, Kun, etc. are all very aggressive and open Sith, eager to do what they need to do. Really, no Sith before Bane had the ability to mold an apprentice from youth, so it's doubtful how much "training" really occurs. The Rule of Two gives the Sith a lot of room to concentrate on one apprentice as opposed to a whole muck of an empire.

Who also notes that he's using Exar and Ulic as his revenge against the Jedi for despoiling his empire. Ragnos' concern appears to have been the strong empire he spent his life maintaining, whereas Exar Kun simply wants to curbstomp everyone who doesn't join his club. It's worth noting that while Sith Empire traits may trickle into latter Sith Empires, none are copies of the original in intent or deed. It's sort of like Julius Caesar naming Octavius his heir and then Octavius inherits a couple of Julius' textbooks on military strategy as opposed to inheriting his empire. Then Octavius goes out and makes his own little fiefdom in the Urals.

And Palpatine's empire spanned pretty much the entire galaxy, consisting of the territories of the Ancient Sith Empire, to all of Ruin's and then some.

You forget that Revan created a new sith empire as well.