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- "Once we were brothers in the Force. But from the Hundred-Year Darkness were born the Sith."
- ―A Jedi
The Hundred-Year Darkness was a period of time that led to the formation of the Sith, who were once considered brothers in the Force with the Jedi Order. The birth of the Sith led to a number of wars over the course of galactic history.
History[]
The Hundred-Year Darkness[]
- "Legend has it the Jedi Order suffered a deep schism millennia ago. An opposing sect dedicated to the glory of the dark side arose from the ashes."
- ―Darth Sidious
The Hundred-Year Darkness was the result of a rogue Jedi who turned to the dark side of the Force.
Thousands of years before the Clone Wars,[4] the Jedi Order and the individuals who became the Sith were considered brothers in the Force. This unity fractured, however, during the period of time known as the Hundred-Year Darkness,[5] when a rogue Jedi came to believe that the true power of the Force lay not through contemplation and passivity, and that only by tapping its dark side could its true potential be reached. The Jedi High Council balked at this new direction and the fallen Jedi was cast out, but he gained followers and formed a new order,[6] which eventually became the Sith.[5]
According to a later Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, the Sith "rose up" against the light side of the Force.[9] During the Hundred-Year Darkness, hellhulk stations were used,[10] and the Shadowfang Beast, a bioconstruct that generated a resonance-absorptive shield, was created.[11] The Tah'Nuhna species were neutral during the war.[12]
Legacy[]
- "Lesson Two. Now that they're extinct, the Jedi are romanticized—deified. But if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, from the birth of the Sith to the fall of the Republic the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy. Hubris."
- ―Luke Skywalker, to Rey on the legacy of the Jedi
Numerous wars ensued between the Jedi and Sith following the Hundred-Year Darkness.
The birth of the Sith led to countless wars between the two rival sects.[14] The Sith were believed to have been destroyed in the Jedi-Sith War, but they eventually returned to galactic prominence[15] and ushered in the Clone Wars.[16] Both sides of the war were controlled by Darth Sidious, known publicly as Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine,[17] and allowed him to gain enough power over the galaxy to transform the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire.[18] This led to decades of Sith rule over the galaxy,[7] which lasted until Sidious' first death[8] during the Battle of Endor[19] in 4 ABY.[20] The Sith Eternal cult conspired to revive Sith rule across the galaxy, but the return of the Sith was aborted by Sidious' final demise[7] during the Battle of Exegol[21] in 35 ABY.[22]
Behind the scenes[]
The Hundred-Year Darkness was a conflict originally created for Star Wars Legends, previously known as the Expanded Universe, and made its first appearance in the comic book series Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.[23][24] The event was canonized in the 2015 comic book Star Wars (2015) 9.[5]
Appearances[]
- The High Republic: A Test of Courage (Indirect mention only)
- The High Republic: A Test of Courage audiobook (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars (2015) 9 (Mentioned only) (First identified as Hundred-Year Darkness)
- Darth Vader (2015) 20 (Indirect mention only)
- Doctor Aphra Annual 2 (Mentioned only)
- Doctor Aphra (2016) 16 (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition audiobook (Indirect mention only)
- Allegiance 1 (Mentioned only)
Sources[]
Jedi Order in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link) (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only) (Concurrent with the entry for Sith)- Sith in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link) (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only) (Concurrent with the entry for Jedi Order)
- Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know (Indirect mention only)
- Knights of Fate
- Star Wars Helmet Collection 65 (Highlights of the Saga: Life after Jedha)
- Star Wars - The Official Magazine 101 (Database: Before the dark times…)
- Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith (Indirect mention only)
- Jedi Order in the Databank (backup link)
- Sith in the Databank (backup link)
- The Force in the Databank (backup link) (Indirect mention only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary
- ↑ Star Wars: Complete Locations
- ↑ Star Wars (2015) 9 establishes that the Hundred-Year Darkness resulted in the creation of the Sith. Since the Sith Empire participated in the Great Hyperspace War shortly after the Unification Wars, and since it had to have existed after the formation of the Sith, it can be deduced that the Unification Wars took place after the Hundred-Year Darkness.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The novel Tarkin established that the Sith were in existence at least five thousand years before the Clone Wars.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Star Wars (2015) 9
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3
Sith in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 The Star Wars Book
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith
- ↑ Darth Vader (2015) 20
- ↑ Doctor Aphra (2016) 16
- ↑ Doctor Aphra Annual 2
- ↑ Allegiance 1
- ↑ Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Sacrifice"
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Shadow Warrior"
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker
- ↑ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary dates the events of Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker as taking place one year after the "Starkiller Incident." As Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the Starkiller Incident to 34 ABY, it can be deduced the events of Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker take place in 35 ABY.
- ↑ Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 3
- ↑ Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 4
