So while we all wait for Lucasfilm to finish their unified canon, we can all theorize as to what will stay, what will go, what will be retconned, etc.

 

One issue that I'm interested in is what will happen to the Sith in this new canon?

 

"You were the Chosen One! It was said you would destroy the Sith, not join them!"

-- Obi-Wan Kenobi

 

One of the questions that's been asked ever since the prequels came out was how do we reconcile the Chosen One prophecy with the existence of Sith after RotJ? Dark Empire saw Palpatine return in a clone body, LotF saw one of Vader's own grandchildren become the new Dark Lord, and Legacy saw the One Sith successfully conquer the galaxy, then get defeated by another Skywalker. If Anakin was the Chosen One, how do these Sith exist?

 

I've heard several fan interpretations attempt to reconcile this. One I heard was that the prophecy was only talking about the Banite Sith, not the Sith as a whole. Another theory I heard actually contends that by "destroying the Sith" the prophecy was actually talking about a singular Sith (i.e. Palpatine). One of the more popular interpretations says that the Chosen One doesn't actually obliterate the Sith utterly, but just severely cripples them to the point that they'll never again reach the same heights they did under Palpatine (although Krayt's One Sith might make that interpretation difficult).

 

Depending on how Lucasfilm decides to approach the prophecy going into this new trilogy, it's possible that they might just take the prophecy literally and have Anakin destroying the Sith in RotJ, making Sidious the last Sith ever and decanonizing all the post-RotJ Sith. Or they could go with the "irreparably damaged" interpretation and have the new trilogy center around the Sith trying to recover from their losses in RotJ, and the heroes trying to reinforce the prophecy by making sure Anakin's accomplishment is not undone. Obvious downside would be that we'll be seeing a Sith Lord weaker than what we've seen before, which might be somewhat underwhelming. After all, we don't want to see a sequel where the hero has already conquered ultimate evil and now faces a slightly less dangerous evil.

 

"A prophecy misread, could have been."

-- Yoda

 

Of course there's also the fan theory that the prophecy never came to pass, that it was misread, or that Anakin wasn't the Chosen One. Obviously Lucas has gone on record as saying that Anakin WAS the Chosen One and he DID destroy the Sith, but it's not like he doesn't have a history of going back on his word; whether or not this will become yet another example remains to be seen. I've heard some people point to Anakin's refusal to take Father's place on Mortis as him missing the chance to bring balance to the Force and thus leaving the prophecy forever unfulfilled. Then of course there's the famous "Anakin fulfilled the prophecy by almost destroying the Jedi, balancing dark and light" interpretation. God forbid Lucasfilm actually goes with that. Then there's the equally famous "Luke is the real chosen one" theory.

 

The upside to this approach is it gives Lucasfilm free license to either preserve the post-RotJ Sith in the EU, or even create an even more powerful Sith enemy for the new trilogy. Since Luke will still be in this trilogy, they can make this the trilogy where Luke finally fulfills the prophecy (although that would make things problematic for Krayt and his Sith).

 

So what're you guys' hopes or fears for any potential Sith appearances in the new trilogy? Or are the Sith making an appearance even an important factor for you in how you will rate these new films?

One I heard was that the prophecy was only talking about the Banite Sith, not the Sith as a whole.

 

This is likely true.

And the Sith'ari prophecy is also likely valid only when compared to the Brotherhood of Darkness.(the making them stronger than ever before part)

It's very unlikely that these prophesies concern themselves with all eternity,past and future.

 

It would be really bad story telling and SW would suffer if that is not the case.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Kaedusz

All the prophecy says is that the Chosen One will restore balance to the Force. It says nothing about the Force staying in balance forever ever ever. Its also possible that by establishing the New Jedi Order Luke disrupted the balance, but that's just theoretical. Anyway I expect they'll retcon Palpy reborn and having the Sith emerge 30 years later seems OK.

All the prophecy says is that the Chosen One will restore balance to the Force. It says nothing about the Force staying in balance forever ever ever.

 

This.

 

The Clone Wars series has an interpretation as well:

 

 

 

This.

 

The Clone Wars series has an interpretation as well:

 

 

Anakin, Asokha, and Obi-Wan get stranded on the planet Mortis where a Father, Daughter, and Son family unit resides. The Daughter embodies the Light Side, the Son the Dark, and the Father holds them in balance. But the Father is dying and the Son (and by association the Dark Side) is gaining strength.

 

So he "summons" Anakin. Anakin, as the Chosen One, is supposed to take Father's place and "restore balance" to the Force. But Anakin refuses.

 

By the end, all three embodiments are dead and so the Force is in chaos.

Well not really, remember the Father's final words:

 

You have brought balance to this world. Stay on this path, and you will do it again... for the galaxy.

 

With the death of the Son and the Daugher Anakin restored balance to the planet. In fact I theorise that the entire Mortis Arc was meant to be an analogy for events happening in the galaxy itself. To quote myself:

 

==================================================

 

Take the Mortis arc from The Clone Wars series, but replace the Son with Sidious and the Daughter with the Jedi. I'll put in in spoiler tags just because.

 

==================================================

 

And like the Father the Jedi did not expect Anakin to fulfill the prophecy in the way he did.

It was explained to me this way, when Darth Vader killed Emperor Palpatine, he wiped out the Sith at that time, for a little while, the Sith were in fact wiped out. However, there will always be a dark side of the force, so because of that the Sith resurfaced, however, balance was brought through the temporary wiping out of the Sith. As was said, that prophesy never stated that it would be a permanent balance.

I believe I read a quote from somewhere in the EU stating something along the lines of "the Sith can never be extinct because their artifacts and tomes remain. The Dark Side will just take another mind and the Sith will rise again."

 

I interpret this to mean that the Sith are not an order, but an idea. You can't destroy ideas because of hints from the past, and even if the Jedi were to purge the galaxy of memorabilia of the Sith, the dark side would still plant that idea in the mind of someone else. Everyone has a little dark side in them.

Hi,

 

What about Dark Jedi this time?

 

Now...please correct me if I'm wrong, but at the time, when Obi-Wan said "You were supposed to destroy the Sith, not join them!", He was the only one to say that....and we all now how Obi-Wan is with interpretations.

 

Evey thing said the Chosen One was to bring balance to the Force...which he did...since the Dark Side had been clouding, and diminishing the Force as a whole for hundreds of years...and eventually lead to the Clone Wars, and the Great Jedi Purge, and The Galactic Empire, till he tossed Palpatine off a ledge, then balance was brought to the force, and the cloud of the Dark Side had lifted...which all in all would have destroyed the line of the Sith, since there had always been a Sith(in the terms of the sect of force users, not species) since 69,000 BBY. After Vader dies, there is nothing...no more Sith, till Darth Caedus was the first true Sith Lord to pick up the mantle.

 

Technically I find it hard to count Lumiya as Sith, as she is a violation of the Rule of Two, at the time of her training, which was limited, and she really was more of a wannabe that put in motion the resurgence of the Sith.

Well, Anakin did destroy the Sith technically. Since Bane's "Rule of Two," both the Emperor and Darth Vader died, which were the last two Sith(Besides dark Jedi) and the Emperor was the last true Sith with its teachings, but he did ultimately die and the One Sith were lost Sith from long ago, so its safe to say that the "Sith" did survive, but all the original "Sith" teachings were lost with Palpatine. Its still messed up, but who cares.

I just read it as, well, he did -eventually- did destroy Poppa Palpy, so the Sith of his time was destroyed, but it never said anything about them never rising again, did it?

I believe I read a quote from somewhere in the EU stating something along the lines of "the Sith can never be extinct because their artifacts and tomes remain. The Dark Side will just take another mind and the Sith will rise again."

 

I interpret this to mean that the Sith are not an order, but an idea. You can't destroy ideas because of hints from the past, and even if the Jedi were to purge the galaxy of memorabilia of the Sith, the dark side would still plant that idea in the mind of someone else. Everyone has a little dark side in them.

 

I believe that this is true, because I think it might have been somewhere in the story or I have read it somewhere else. In any case I recall hearing that the Sith is an Idea and can therefore never be destroyed. Kreia may have mentioned it in KOTOR 2

You guys have nothing to worry about, I'm sure J.J. will show complete respect to the Extended Universe.

 

He certainly paid respect to the Star Trek EU. He even shows respect for the classic Star Trek movies and television shows in his reboot.

 

- Arcada

All the prophecy says is that the Chosen One will restore balance to the Force. It says nothing about the Force staying in balance forever ever ever. Its also possible that by establishing the New Jedi Order Luke disrupted the balance, but that's just theoretical. Anyway I expect they'll retcon Palpy reborn and having the Sith emerge 30 years later seems OK.

 

It might also help for us to understand what "Balance in the Force" truly means. If we take the early history of the Je'daii order, there was an understanding that there must always be Light and Dark where the Force is concerned.

When the Order was originally founded on Tython, balance was held in high regard, and the planet itself reacted to imbalance:

 

"Observing the world around them, they saw two moons in the one sky—light Ashla and dark Bogan—and they understood the dual aspects to the Force, light and dark. The light defined the dark as the dark did the light. When balance was not maintained, Tython reacted to the imbalance with severe storms and quakes. And so the travelers defined themselves, ever seeking a balance. They became the Je'daii, a Dai Bendu term meaning "mystic center." Only through the harmony of balance could the Je'daii maintain a peaceful world."

― Ketu

Save for Krayt, most of the post RotJ Sith are horrible, especially Cadeus and Ben's girlfriend, they are defiling the name of the Sith.

All the prophecy says is that the Chosen One will restore balance to the Force. It says nothing about the Force staying in balance forever ever ever. Its also possible that by establishing the New Jedi Order Luke disrupted the balance, but that's just theoretical. Anyway I expect they'll retcon Palpy reborn and having the Sith emerge 30 years later seems OK.

 

Mostly this.

 

 

It was explained to me this way, when Darth Vader killed Emperor Palpatine, he wiped out the Sith at that time, for a little while, the Sith were in fact wiped out. However, there will always be a dark side of the force, so because of that the Sith resurfaced, however, balance was brought through the temporary wiping out of the Sith. As was said, that prophesy never stated that it would be a permanent balance.

 

Kind of this.

 

 

At least to me. Then again I take from the movies a different perspective than what alot of other people want to go with. To me Luke never became a full Jedi. He was taught just enough to do what he had to do. The way I look at things, 4,5,and 6 aren't even really about Luke. We believe it is, because we follow him so closely. Rather, it is about Anakin/Vader and the events he had to go through fulfill the prophecy. In falling to the dark side Anakin wipes out the Jedi order. An order that has become so political and wrapped up with galactic politics that it has its own scandals and 'corruptions.' Then when Darth Vader is redeemed in the eyes of the force, it is through destroying the Sith.

 

Anakin/Vader creates a completely level playing field, which is the only way for their to be true balance. In this interpretation, it is like he hit the reset button. From there Luke reestablishes the Jedi Order. So of course to maintain balance, the Sith must reemerge.

Save for Krayt, most of the post RotJ Sith are horrible, especially Cadeus and Ben's girlfriend, they are defiling the name of the Sith.

Or the Name of Star Wars.