Star Wars Every Sith Lord Referenced In The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Every Sith Lord Referenced In The Rise of Skywalker

The Sith return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and with that comes plenty of references to Sith Lords, past and present – in canon and legends.

You Are Reading :[thien_display_title]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is packed with references to several Sith Lords, many of which are now officially canon. As the ninth and final film in the Skywalker saga, there are numerous Easter eggs to the previous Star Wars movies, spinoffs, TV shows, and even the original Expanded Universe, now known as Legends.

With the resurrected Darth Sidious leading his forces from the Sith world of Exegol, it’s no surprise that this Easter egg-laden film has plenty of references to Dark Lords, past and present. In addition to well-established Sith Lords like Vader and Sidious, more shoutouts can be found in the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Visual Dictionary. The book establishes that each legion of Palpatine’s Sith Trooper army is named after an ancient Sith Lord, which is a roundabout way to confirm their existence in canon without breaking continuity.

In-universe, this nomenclature was due to Sith Troopers being part of the military branch of the Sith Eternal, a cult that worships the Sith and the Galactic Empire. In a meta sense, this allowed several notable Sith Lords from the Legends era to be brought into the new Disney canon in some form or another. Fittingly, these references show that The Rise of Skywalker not only ties the whole Skywalker saga together but also both Star Wars continuities.

Darth Sidious

The most obvious Sith Lord in The Rise of Skywalker is Darth Sidious himself. The Rise of Skywalker cements Sheev Palpatine as the ultimate villain of the Skywalker saga. Not only did he orchestrate the Clone Wars to turn the Republic into his Galactic Empire, but he’s also been the architect behind the First Order all along. As the ultimate Dark Lord, Sidious corrupted Jedi such as Count Dooku and Anakin Skywalker, and as the creator of Supreme Leader Snoke, he’s indirectly responsible for the corruption of Ben Solo as well.

The Rise of Skywalker also shows a more direct and nostalgic side of Sidious. In the saga’s final chapter, he is no longer concerned with subtlety or deception. At this point, everyone knows who (and what) he truly is, so he opts to re-conquer the galaxy through brute force, just as the old Sith empires did over a thousand years before his Galactic Empire. By 35 ABY, most beings knew little about the ancient history of the Sith, so Palpatine’s decision to name his legions after past Sith Lords further demonstrates his new outlook on galactic domination.

Darth Vader

There are numerous references to Darth Vader throughout The Rise of Skywalker. The film opens with Kylo Ren fighting Sith cultists outside of Vader’s Castle on Mustafar. After defeating them, Kylo acquires Vader’s Sith Wayfinder and uses it to reach Exegol in the Unknown Regions. There, he finds the resurrected Darth Sidious (in a clone body), who reveals that he’s been communicating with Kylo under the guise of both Supreme Leader Snoke and Darth Vader, secretly turning him to the dark side of the Force.

With these many references to Vader comes a renewed influence on Kylo Ren to continue the legacy of his grandfather. Kylo reforges his helmet, continues to display Vader’s scavenged mask in his personal quarters, and serves under the very man who corrupted and mentored Vader. Of course, Kylo Ren also follows in the footsteps of Vader by returning to the light side (within the wreckage of the second Death Star, no less), and helping to defeat Sidious once and for all.

Darth Plagueis

Palpatine’s mentor, Darth Plagueis, is subtly and indirectly referenced at the beginning of the film. When Sidious is first revealed on Exegol, he alludes to the mystery of his resurrection with a familiar quote from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith: “The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be… unnatural.” The last time Sidious was heard saying this was during his telling of “The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise” to Anakin Skywalker.

Although the life and death of Plagueis were covered extensively in the Expanded Universe novel Darth Plagueis, the known details of Palpatine’s mentor in Disney’s canon are few and far between. The broad strokes of the Expanded Universe novel could be preserved in the new canon, but there are discrepancies, such as the death of Plagueis. In the Legends novel, Plagueis died during the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, but in the current canon, he was killed before the events of that film.

The biggest impact that Plagueis has on The Rise of Skywalker is Palpatine’s resurrection. Plagueis taught Sidious everything he knew before his apprentice murdered him, including his secret to immortality. The Rise of Skywalker novelization reveals that Plagueis’ secret was transferring one’s consciousness to a new host. Sidious was able to return by transferring his mind to a cloned body on Exegol, proving that his late master’s method did indeed work.

Darth Revan

The 3rd Legion, aka the Revan Legion, establishes that the fan-favorite Expanded Universe Sith Lord, Darth Revan, is also part of the new Disney canon. Though little is known about Revan in the current canon, the Expanded Universe’s version of him is the protagonist of the 2003 video game Knights of the Old Republic. Here, Revan is an amnesiac Jedi who eventually discovers that he’d once been a powerful Sith Lord. The Legends-era RPG takes place thousands of years before the prequel trilogy, so the game’s plot and characters could be brought into Disney’s canon relatively unchanged. The ancient war between the Mandalorians and the Jedi is included in both continuities, so Revan might have participated in the Disney Canon’s version of the conflict as well.

This also isn’t the only time that the new canon has referenced Knights of the Old Republic. Revan’s mask from his time as a Sith Lord bears an uncanny resemblance to Kylo Ren’s, and the Force-bond that Kylo and Rey share is not unlike that of Revan and Bastilla Shan. The design of the Rebellion’s Hammerhead Corvettes seen in Star Wars Rebels and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is taken directly from Knights of the Old Republic. The Sith Troopers themselves are a callback to the 2003 game, where Sith Troopers are the soldiers of the Sith Empire, with many of them wearing red armor. If these details are any indication, the events of Knights of the Old Republic may very well have happened in the new canon in some form, and their influence is felt thousands of years later.

Darth Andeddu

The Sith Eternal army’s 5th Legion is named after Darth Andeddu, who is also referenced in the second issue of the Disney canon comic series Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle. In the Expanded Universe, Darth Andeddu appears in the Legacy comic series.

In Legends, Andeddu is the leader of both his Deep Core homeworld of Prakith and the dark side cult known as The Malevolence. Long after his physical death, Andeddu survived by storing his spirit inside a Sith Holocron. Over a century after the events of the original trilogy, Andeddu briefly came back to life but was ultimately defeated by the third Darth Wyyrlok. This mirrors the resurrection and final defeat of Sidious in The Rise of Skywalker and makes it possible that the Disney canon version of Andeddu was the first Sith to begin studying methods of preserving one’s life through the dark side.

The Andeddu in Disney’s Star Wars canon might have been one of the first to transfer his consciousness, but if the Expanded Universe version is any indication, he could only place his spirit into an artifact, as opposed to a functioning body. Nevertheless, his methods may have influenced Plagueis and allowed Sidious to return from death generations later.

Darth Tanis

Out of all the Sith mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker, Darth Tanis is the only one who is exclusive to Disney’s Star Wars canon. The Sith Eternal’s 17th Legion bears Tanis’ name, and though this Dark Lord has yet to make a full appearance in the current canon, their influence is felt directly in the second season finale of Star Wars Rebels, and indirectly throughout the Skywalker saga.

Darth Tanis created a massive superweapon within the Sith temple on the planet Malachor, powered by kyber crystals and the dark side of the Force. It was during a battle between the Jedi and Sith forces outside the temple that the weapon was activated, wiping out all forces, Jedi and Sith alike. Almost every superweapon in the Disney canon is powered by kyber crystals and is directly or indirectly used by the Sith. The superweapon that Tanis built might have been the first kyber-powered Sith superweapon, which would make it the precursor to the Death Stars and Starkiller Base, and potentially Palpatine’s fleet of Xyston-class Star Destroyers.

Darth Tenebrous

This Sith Lord’s name is used by the Sith Eternal’s 26th Legion, and like Revan, Darth Tenebrous exists in Disney’s canon only in name. In the Expanded Universe, Tenebrous is the Sith Master of Darth Plagueis. Darth Tenebrous is featured prominently in the novel Darth Plagueis, where he is shown to have stoked the fires of his apprentice’s intense fear of death and interest in combining the mystical dark side of the Force with rational science. Tenebrous met his end on a mission with Plagueis, where the latter found and exploited an opportunity to murder his mentor is the classic Sith tradition.

The Disney canon version of Tenebrous may have retained these details, and possibly introduced Darth Plagueis to Andeddu’s powers of transferring one’s spirit. This would allow Plagueis to perfect the ability so that one could inhabit an entirely new body. Of course, these teachings would be passed down to Sidious, who proves their effectiveness in The Rise of Skywalker.

Darth Phobos

The Sith Eternal’s 39th Legion is also known as the Phobos Legion, referencing Darth Phobos, another Legends-era Sith Lord with few known details in Star Wars canon. In Legends, Darth Phobos is featured in 2008’s The Force Unleashed as a simulation that Starkiller battles as part of his training under Darth Vader.

The Force Unleashed also delves into Phobos’ backstory, revealing her to be a particularly sadistic and cruel Dark Lord who is skilled at controlling minds and exploiting peoples’ greatest fears. The abilities and terrifying reputation of Phobos could easily be brought into canon. Phobos could have also been the Dark Lord who developed the Sith power of probing one’s mind, a destructive application of the dark side, used by Vader, Maul, Kylo Ren, and Snoke.

Darth Desolous

Darth Phobos is not the only Sith from The Force Unleashed who is referenced in The Rise of Skywalker. Darth Desolous’ name is used by the Sith Eternal’s 44th Legion. Like Phobos, Darth Desolous is a simulated adversary that Starkiller fights to hone his combat skills.

Darth Desolous wasn’t always a Sith, though. He began his life as a Jedi, achieving the rank of Master before his increasing bloodlust led him to fall to the dark side and join the Sith Order. After becoming the Dark Lord of the Sith, Desolous led an army that killed over a thousand Jedi before he died fighting the entire Jedi Council at once. Yaga Minor, the planet where Desolous met his end, is included in the official Star Wars canon, so Darth Desolous and his battles against the Jedi could easily fit into the new continuity. Moreover, Desolous used a cortosis shield in battle, which may have been a precursor to the lightsaber-resistant armor worn by Snoke’s Elite Praetorian Guards.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/star-wars-rise-skywalker-sith-lords-canon-references/

• Superstore’s America Ferrera Hopes To Return As Amy Before Show Ends

• The Man From Nowhere Is South Koreas Superior Answer To Man On Fire

• The 9 Most Devastating Betrayals in Batman Comics

• The Act 5 Things They Changed From The True Story (& 5 They Kept The Same) RELATED The Act Trailer Hulus True Crime Series Is Stranger Than Fiction

• Suicide Squad Warner Bros Asked James Gunn to Make His DC Movie PG13

• Sofia Coppola Every Movie She Directed Ranked

• The Big Bang Theory 10 LowKey Villains On The Show