Star Wars Finally Explains Palpatine’s Sith Cult From The Rise Of Skywalker, 5 Years Later

It’s taken five years, but Star Wars finally seems to have explained Palpatine’s Sith Eternal cult in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Palpatine’s story would have ended in Return of the Jedi if not for his Sith cultists, the Sith Eternal, who were introduced in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Based on the Sith redoubt of Exegol, they successfully resurrected Emperor Palpatine by drawing his spirit into a clone body.

The Rise of Skywalker doesn’t reveal much about the Sith Eternal, but tie-ins have established that the cult was active during the reign of the Empire, worshiping Palpatine and collaborating with him in his cloning experiments – as well as on his Xyston-class Star Destroyers. Some members of the Sith Eternal, known as “Tankers,” were extremely powerful Force-sensitive beings who even served as a potential replacement for Darth Vader. But how did this fit with the Sith Rule of Two? After five years, Star Wars seems to have finally offered an answer.

The Sith Eternal Seem To Break The Rule Of Two

Shouldn’t there only ever be two Sith at a time?

A thousand years before the Skywalker saga, Darth Bane established the Sith Rule of Two. He mandated that there should only be two Dark Lords of the Sith at any one time, helping alleviate inevitable Sith treachery and serving as a stand-in for the older Doctrine of the Dyad. The core problem, though, is that the existence of the Sith Eternal appears to breaks the Rule of Two – especially the presence of Force-sensitives among their number. Had Palpatine betrayed this essential Sith tenet, or is something more complex going on?

Star Wars Is Introducing A Level Of Sith BELOW Master & Apprentice

The hierarchy of the Sith is changing

In the Star Wars Legends continuity, there were many ranks and factions of Sith – and one of the most easily overlooked is the Acolyte. A Sith Acolyte is essentially a cultist, a follower of the Sith who swears to serve them but is not given enough teaching to ascend any higher. Sith Acolytes were common before the Rule of Two, but became rarer after Darth Bane reformed the Sith. They had something of a comeback during the Clone Wars, with Count Dooku giving this title (along with the even rarer Sith Knight) to his unofficial Sith underlings.

Now it seems Acolytes are officially returning to canon. According to showrunner Leslye Headland, The Acolyte TV show draws on Legends lore to reintroduce the concept. As she explained:

“It’s a position, essentially, that someone is going to fulfil, or step into. We know with the Sith that there is a Master, we know that there is an Apprentice. But in deep EU (Extended Universe), there’s a concept of an Acolyte, which is underneath Apprentice. So that is where I got the title from .”

This would allow trained Sith in all but name to exist among the true Dark Lords without breaking the Rule of Two. It would fix the canon hierarchy of the Sith, resolving many continuity problems. The Acolyte’s potential revival of this concept would also affect the members of the Sith Eternal.

The Sith Eternal Are Palpatine’s Acolytes

It is safe to assume most members of the Sith Eternal are not Force-sensitive, despite adhering to Sith philosophy and culture. The Tankers and any other cultists who do exhibit Force-sensitivity, however, can simply be redefined as Sith Acolytes, allowing them to function as Sith without breaking the Rule of Two. Indeed, Palpatine may well have counted the Knights of Ren as Acolytes as well.

It must be noted that Palpatine seems to have moved beyond the Rule of Two after his resurrection. He never explicitly recruited a new apprentice, meaning the line of Darth Bane’s Sith ended after his death. Palpatine saw himself as the end of the Sith, the culmination of all their plans, and he had no intention of encouraging the Sith to continue after the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.