While the franchise is no stranger to the odd canon shift here and there, a potentially big move was just made almost under the noses of fans, and it could have some interesting implications down the road. Many long-time Star Wars fans are already familiar with the Rule of Two, which seemed to be one of the few actual guidelines held by the normally pretty fast and loose Sith. The rule states that there can only ever be 2 Sith in existence at any given time, a law introduced long ago by Darth Bane, who realized that more Sith meant more infighting.
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Interestingly enough, the idea largely went unexplained and unchanged until The Rise of Skywalker, which seemingly contradicted the whole thing by revealing a massive Sith cult on the planet Exegol. With this legion of acolytes, the formerly unchallenged rule seemed a bit shaky (as with many of the inconsistencies of the Force). However, the film’s junior novelization cleared things up a bit, thanks to an excerpt seen in one of the Jedi texts Rey had obtained. It stated that “the Sith were Many but often emerge Ruled by Two.” This added a clever retcon that mostly preserved the original idea while allowing for some wiggle room.
Now, however, things have changed yet again. The new Star Wars book Secrets of the Sith (written by Marc Sumerak but played off as authored by Emperor Palpatine himself) dives into the history and legacy of the Sith, and yes, that includes the Rule of Two. It brings things back to the original interpretation. But it also adds some more context, saying that the Rule came about due to the existence of Force Dyads, as seen in the powerful connection shared by Rey and Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
The idea was that the Sith, following the ancient prophecy that told of Force Dyads, focused on 2 Sith Lords at a time in order to attempt to create such a bond. However, it turned out that the Sith were unable to create one, as a true Dyad would require Force users from both the light and dark sides. So now, this all culminated in Palpatine bringing Rey and Ben together as part of his master plan, which might have been an interesting idea if Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker wasn’t basically written by angry fans on Reddit.
Palpatine essentially viewed himself as the ultimate Sith, and he very well may have been. So it makes some sort of sense that he would be the one to change the rules a bit. This could have some major implications going forward, like the idea that the Sith will continue attempting to create a Force Dyad, allowing for virtually endless conflicts between the Light and Dark sides. Still, it may have been a little too much to add to a trilogy already teeming with great ideas that were ultimately never used. But what’s done is done, so now all that’s left is to wait for whoever else feels like changing up the canon again. What a fun series.
The Star Wars saga is now available on Disney Plus.
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Source: ScreenRant
