There can be only two...

[Hand of Evil]

Never read the books...

Then you have two Sith Lords and a lot of powerful force users running amok, they just are not trained, maybe named differently Dark Clerics of the Sith. Henchmen for the most part, if one of the lords die, someone is rised from the rank to replace them.

 

[Desdichado]

You don't need to read the books; Yoda explains the Sith philosophy quite well in the movie itself. Lucas gave some more insight into it during interviews associated with the release of the Phantom Menace, which was perfectly corroborated with the extra "thought bubble" text in the novelization of the movie. "Dark Clerics" of the Sith would present the same risk that "Dark Lords" of the Sith would present -- it's completely counter to their philosophy. I think LuYangShih really got it, probably, Vader knew what he was doing but he was willing to do it anyway, because love for his son was his "weakness".

 

[Umbran]

so I dont think the Emperor was changing the tradition- he was too subtle for that.

If the Emperor is that subtle, he can, should, and would not be so obvious as to only follow one path with no other options, hm?

 

[Mark]

If the Emperor is that subtle, he can, should, and would not be so obvious as to only follow one path with no other options, hm?

Posting like Yoda, you are? HmmmMMM?

 

[Daiymo]

Posting like Yoda, you are? HmmmMMM?

LOL.


I wonder if maybe were thinking too hard about it and maybe part of the confusion( if any) was that Lucas didnt make up his mind when writing this stuff between Ep V and VI. I still kinda find Obi Wans rather sheepish explanation in Ep VI why he said Vader killed Lukes father kinda cheesy-that he was "telling the truth in a manner of speaking"(or something like that.)

This sort of reminds me of the cartoon series Clerks when Randal berates George Lucas for all the continuity problems between the Classic Trilogy and the prequel.

 

[Welverin]

I dunno, I find that idea kinda hoaky -- my homebrew Star Wars "after Jedi game will have more Sith Lords than that, as a rival "anti-Jedi" organization, but I'm accepting what I'm given in terms of history, at least.

Well think about it this way, with Palpatine and Vader gone who's left to tell any new potential Sith the rule of two? Of course there's no one around to recruitnew Sith members anyway.

The rule was pretty much ignored in the books anyway, plus there'snothinglimiting other darkside groups, so there's nothing limiting evil force users anyway.

 

[Umbran]

Well think about it this way, with Palpatine and Vader gone who's left to tell any new potential Sith the rule of two? Of course there's no one around to recruitnew Sith members anyway.

One word - Holocrons.

 

[Henry]

Here's my take on the ROTJ scene.

Both Vader and Palpatine are attempting to turn Luke. Each one is trying to turn him for THEIR advantage. Regardless of who wins, there will be a new Sith Lord, and one dead for him to replace.

Vader however, blocks the blow once Luke has given in to Palapatine. In that last instant, he realizes that he CANNOT let his son do the one thing that sealed his fate. (My guess is he kills Dooku in the same way in the Third Episode.) But why was the Emperor not afraid of Luke actually striking him down?

I think he was prepared for it, and knew it was coming. Even if Vader had NOT blocked the blow, Palpatine was powerful enough to have likely blocked it himself using sheer Force alone. We see hoiw easily he manhandled Luke when he saw he couldn't be turned.

Vader stops Luke's Blade not out of loyalty to his Emperor, but out of love for his son.



-----------------

And back off from my Ewoks. I loved those little guys beating the out of the Imperials.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

One word - Holocrons.

Sith holocrons make NO sense. One of the worst continuity breaks ever created by the EU. Knowledge is power. Why would a Sith Lord *ever* decide to just leave power lying around like that? The whole system is designed to maintain personal power. Apprentices are good as long as they're useful, but you just know they're going to betray you eventually in pursuit of their own power. So you have only one so you can keep an eye on him and have a chance of getting rid of him before he decides to get rid of you. If you start leaving instruction manuals around, you generate the possibility of dangerous upstarts wanting a piece of the action. It's not like there's a "Grand Old Sith Tradition" to maintain. Well, actually there is. One of personal power to the exclusion of all else. Which is antithetical to making holocrons.

 

[Umbran]

Sith holocrons make NO sense. One of the worst continuity breaks ever created by the EU. Knowledge is power. Why would a Sith Lord *ever* decide to just leave power lying around like that?
[...snip...]
It's not like there's a "Grand Old Sith Tradition" to maintain. Well, actually there is. One of personal power to the exclusion of all else.

Ah, but you see, you've forgotten something. Accumulation of personal power isn't the only thing on a Sith Lord's mind. There's those pesky Jedi that need to get their butts kicked, you know.

There are at best two Sith at a given time. The Jedi will kill them if they find them. It is expected that the Apprentice will occasionally try to kill the master. And even with the Dark Side, a Sith Lord isn't going to be immortal. This all adds up to the great possibility that at some time or other the Master will die before turning all his secrets over to his Apprentice, leading to the slow waning of Sith power until it is nconsequential. Or, both Sith will die, leading to the end of the Sith entirely. Any Sith who really wants the Jedi to be eradicated will seriously consider leaving holocrons behind, to guard against such eventualities.

You have to remember something - the Sith are not driven by cool logic. They are driven by emotion. Anger and hatred seem to be their favorites, so their need for revenge upon the Jedi is strong. Emotionally driven people will occasionally do things against their own best interests.

Also, the Sith existed before the Rule of Two, did they not? There can be Sith records fro that time.