Sith

:For the Irish fairy, see Sídhe. For the hornet-like monster in Edgar Rice Burroughs' fiction, see Warlords of Mars.

The Revenge of the Sith

Bane's reformed Sith Order went into hiding, though they were soon discovered by the Jedi and believed to be destroyed. They survived, of course, but would not resurface for almost one thousand years, with the depredations of Darth Sidious and Darth Maul that began shortly before the Battle of Naboo.

Related Topics:
Darth Sidious - Darth Maul - Battle of Naboo

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Though Darth Maul was slain in that battle at the hands of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, the day proved an unparalleled victory for the Sith; Darth Sidious, generally known to the public as Senator Palpatine of Naboo, was elected to the office of Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.

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More than a decade passed, during which Palpatine manipulated the Senate into granting him more and more power. His new apprentice, former Jedi Master Count Dooku (renamed Darth Tyranus in the Sith tradition), formed the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS), which seceded from the Galactic Republic, beginning a long and bloody conflict known as the Clone Wars.

Related Topics:
Count Dooku - Confederacy of Independent Systems - Seceded - Clone Wars

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During the Clone Wars, many Jedi lost their lives at the hands of the CIS and its Kaleesh cyborg commanding military leader, General Grievous. The Clone Wars eventually stretched to Coruscant, where the cunning general captured Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. A great battle erupted above the planet-city. In that battle, Count Dooku was brutally executed by Anakin Skywalker, goaded on by Palpatine.

Related Topics:
Cyborg - General Grievous - Coruscant - Anakin Skywalker

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The Chancellor then started to use his "emergency" powers to control the Jedi Order. This caused suspicion among the Jedi of Palpatine's motives. They believed that Darth Sidious was a part of Palpatine's inner circle and was controlling him. Using Anakin as a spy, Palpatine appointed Anakin to the Jedi Council, and convinced him that the Jedi were trying to take over the Republic.

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It was also during this time that Anakin began to be plagued with visions of the death of his pregnant wife, Senator Padmé Amidala, in childbirth. Haunted by the murder of his mother three years earlier by Tusken Raiders on Tatooine, Anakin had been determined to find a way to prevent death using the Force.

Related Topics:
Senator Padmé Amidala - Tusken Raiders - Tatooine

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Eventually Palpatine revealed to Anakin that he was, in fact, Sidious. In doing so, he offered him the secret he had been looking for (claiming it had been discovered by his former master, Darth Plagueis{{ref|movie_ref}}), so long as he joined him as his new apprentice. Instead, Anakin went to the Jedi Council and told Jedi Master Mace Windu of Palpatine's true identity. Windu, along with the Jedi Agen Kolar, Saesee Tiin, and Kit Fisto, moved to arrest the Chancellor. However, Sidious quickly cut down the latter three and was battling with Windu when Anakin arrived. Skywalker demanded that Palpatine be arrested and stand trial, but the Jedi master argued that Sidious was far too dangerous to be allowed to live any longer. As Windu moved to kill the Sith Lord, Anakin turned on his ally, allowing Palpatine to strike him down.

Related Topics:
Darth Plagueis - Mace Windu - Agen Kolar - Saesee Tiin - Kit Fisto

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Skywalker became Sidious's new apprentice as Darth Vader, and instructed to dispose of all the Jedi in the Jedi Temple, including children. Most surviving Jedi not present at the temple were disposed of by "Order 66," which instructed all clone troopers to execute their Jedi commanders. Very few Jedi survived this treachery, the most notable among them Yoda and Obi-Wan.

Related Topics:
Darth Vader - Order 66 - Yoda

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When it was over, the Jedi ranks had been thinned considerably. At last, the moment had come for the Sith to reclaim their former glory. Sidious/Palpatine replaced the ancient Republic with the Empire, an oppressive, galaxy-spanning dark-side dictatorship the likes of which had not been seen for a millennium.

Related Topics:
Empire - Dictatorship

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The Great Jedi Purge continued, led by Vader and other Force-sensitive minions of the Emperor (including groups known as the Inquisitorius, the Emperor's Hands, and the Prophets of the Dark Side), until only a handful of Jedi were left alive. It was a dark time for the galaxy, in which the Force became thought of throughout the Empire (except in the cases of Vader, Palpatine, and their Dark Jedi minions, of course) as an arcane philosophy, almost like a fairy tale.

Related Topics:
Great Jedi Purge - Fairy tale

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