Although Legends established a long, detailed history of the Sith dating back thousands of years, thus far, little is known about the origins of the Sith in Star Wars canon. When Disney bought Star Wars from George Lucas in 2012, the Star Wars timeline was significantly altered. Along with major changes to the events following the original Star Wars trilogy, the relegation of so many stories to Legends meant that a considerable amount of Star Wars lore was done away with.

The Sith comprised one major group affected by this change. While the Sith have undoubtedly been extremely important to Star Wars movies and TV shows, Legends books in particular fleshed them out in much greater detail. Now, the canonical history of the Sith remains largely a mystery, particularly as it pertains to the Sith’s beginnings.

Star Wars Hasn’t Revealed Much About The Sith’s Origins In Canon

Some of Star Wars’ most powerful Sith have made appearances in Star Wars canon movies and TV shows, but in truth, the Skywalker Saga focused on a very small few. Darth Sidious and Darth Vader obviously dominated the Saga, with Sidious even making his shocking return in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While the prequel trilogy did add Darth Maul and Darth Tyranus to the mix, Star Wars has still shown very little of the Sith, especially their history, in the movies.

Prior to Disney acquiring Star Wars, some aspects of Sith history had already been canonized. In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine discussed the story of Darth Plagueis with Anakin Skywalker, cementing Plagueis—Palpatine’s own master—as a canonical Sith Lord. Since then, Star Wars: The Clone Wars incorporated the ghost of Darth Bane, confirming yet another Sith Lord’s existence in the canon. In fact, Yoda specifically referred to Bane as “the ancient Sith Lord” and credited him with establishing the Sith Rule of Two, thereby offering quite a bit of Sith history.

The Rise of Skywalker also provided new information about the Sith and their origins by introducing Exegol, a planet in the Unknown Regions with a strong connection to the dark side of the Force. Interestingly, Exegol is not the first Sith planet in Star Wars canon. Rather, the planet Moraband in The Clone Wars is considered the homeworld of the Sith and has a much more significant tie to Star Wars Legends. In contrast, Exegol was new to the franchise in The Rise of Skywalker and is not a planet of origin for the Sith but rather comprises Sith colonies.

The Rise of Skywalker also revealed Palpatine’s Sith Eternal, a group of cultists who worshiped him but were not themselves Sith. Star Wars canon has therefore fleshed out the Sith to some degree; however, when it comes to the history and origins of the Sith, the canon is limited. This is quite different from the history provided in Star Wars Legends, which went into great detail and covered thousands of years of Sith history.

Star Wars Legends Established A Lot More About The Sith

Contrary to current Star Wars canon, Legends offered extensive background on the Sith and their origins. In Star Wars Legends, the Sith as they came to be known really developed from two separate groups coming together. On the one hand, the term Sith was already in use and referred to a specific race of people who were strong with the Force. The species lived on Korriban—the planet later renamed Moraband in canon, although Korriban remains another name for it—where they were discovered by Ajunta Pall.

Ajunta Pall is the other half of this equation, as he was the very first Dark Lord of the Sith. After being exiled from the Galactic Republic as a Dark Jedi, Pall discovered Korriban and the Sith and, with his knowledge of the Jedi and the Force to aid him, established the first Sith Empire. This alone represents substantially more history about the origins of the Sith than has been uncovered in Star Wars canon, and Legends went far beyond just this story.

In fact, the Legends history of the Sith includes multiple wars, one of which resulted in nearly all the Sith being destroyed; Darth Bane was the sole survivor. Notably, there are a number of Legends Sith who have been made canon, but most of the canonization happened off-screen in books or other lesser-known Star Wars content. Similarly, while a number of these events seem to be part of canon (given Darth Bane’s appearance in The Clone Wars, for example), often that canonization is not confirmed.

The Sith Race May Still Be Star Wars Canon

Interestingly, one Legends concept that might become canon after all is the origin of the Sith being a specific race. A Star Wars theory suggests that the novel Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade, written by Delilah S. Dawson, has subtly introduced the Sith race into the Star Wars canon via Iskat Akaris, an Inquisitor who fits the description of the Sith species and has a natural inclination toward the dark side. While this theory isn’t confirmed, it is nevertheless a thrilling possibility.

Purchase Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade

If the Sith race was confirmed in Star Wars canon, then the origins of the Sith would finally be revealed, perhaps drawing directly from the story of Ajunta Pall. Given how extensive the lore regarding the Sith was in Legends, it’s likely that many are hoping Star Wars will do precisely that, drawing from Legends as much as possible to flesh out the canonical story of the Sith. It remains to be seen exactly how Star Wars canon will address the long history of the Sith, but clearly, Legends has given the franchise plenty to work with.