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- "We are being driven toward an inevitable and final confrontation. The faction that survives, Sith or Jedi, will determine the fate of the galaxy for the next thousand years."
- ―Lord Kopecz
The Seventh Battle of Ruusan was the final major engagement of the conflict known as the New Sith Wars. There were actually seven prior battles on the world during the last days of the war, but the pivotal and last battle is the one most remembered, due to the use of the thought bomb; it is usually referred to just as the Battle of Ruusan. This was also the event that would lead to the Ruusan Reformation of the Galactic Republic.
Contents
Prelude[edit | edit source]
- "I ask that you join me in one last task: the creation of a weapon so powerful that when it is detonated, the victors shall become the vanquished and be swept from the pages of history."
- ―Kaan
Jedi and Sith battling on Ruusan
The New Sith Wars began 2,000 years before the Battle of Yavin and ended after a thousand years of conflict, including internal Sith conflict, and all-out assaults on the Galactic Republic. At one stage during the long war, the Sith had been in control of most of the galaxy, but the Army of Light slowly regained the Republic's lost territory with decades of hard-fought campaigns.
Eventually, the Sith retreated to Ruusan, where, after six months of battle with the Jedi in six separate battles, the Sith were near defeat.
The Jedi Lord Valenthyne Farfalla crushed the Sith in the pivotal seventh battle of Ruusan, and Lord Hoth journeyed to apprehend the leaders of the Brotherhood of Darkness. The Sith, however, were waiting for them and had one final weapon.
Showdown[edit | edit source]
- "What is this?"
"Kaan's smartest decision—his suicide." - ―Zannah and Darth Bane
In an act of desperation, Lord Kaan, leader of the Sith, unleashed the thought bomb and in an instant, every Force-sensitive in the blast radius was destroyed. Lord Farfalla had retreated with the majority of the Army of Light in accordance with Lord Hoth's final orders. The only surviving Sith was Darth Bane, who, while leaving the battlefield, came across the young girl Zannah.
Legacy[edit | edit source]
- "There are no other Sith. There never will be, except for us. One Master and one apprentice; one to embody the power, the other to crave it."
- ―Bane, to Zannah
Darth Bane, survivor of the Sith
The conclusion of the final confrontation on Ruusan led to the apparent extinction of the Sith, and the restructuring of the Republic and of the Jedi Order.
Afterwards, the Jedi Johun Othone built a monument at the battlefield to commemorate the fallen Jedi of the war. It became known as the Valley of the Jedi, and was a powerful Force nexus. For over a thousand years the spirits of Hoth, of Kaan, and of countless other Jedi and Sith would remain trapped in the Valley, until they would be freed by mercenary-turned-Jedi Kyle Katarn in 5 ABY.
The outcome of the war also resulted in the last surviving Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Bane, deciding henceforth to concentrate the dark side of the Force in only one master and one apprentice thereby restructuring the Sith Order.
This decision allowed the Sith to hide within the Republic until their existence was finally revealed with the rise of Emperor Palpatine, whose apprentices included Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, and finally Darth Vader.
The return of Anakin Skywalker, once Darth Vader, to the light, and the demise of the Emperor, who was the last true master of Darth Bane's reformed Sith Order, brought to fruition the prophecy of the Chosen One who would bring "balance to the Force".
Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]
In the fifth part of the blog series Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut, when covering the cut section of a different take on the Battle of Ruusan, author Paul R. Urquhart stated that the battle's real life equivalents were the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War and the Battle of Waterloo during the Napoleonic Wars.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Jedi vs. Sith 6 (First appearance)
- Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
- Darth Bane: Rule of Two (Mentioned only)
- Darth Plagueis (Indirect mention only)
- The Wrath of Darth Maul (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace novelization (Indirect mention only)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Sacrifice" (Indirect mention only)- Echoes of the Jedi (Mentioned only)
- Dark Forces: Rebel Agent (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)
- Dark Forces: Jedi Knight (Appears in flashback(s))
Sources[edit | edit source]
- The Essential Chronology (First identified as Battle of Ruusan)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 1 (MAU1, Darth Maul)
- The Emperor's Pawns
- The Dark Side Sourcebook (Indirect mention only)
- The New Essential Chronology
- Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties on Hyperspace (content removed from StarWars.com; backup link)
- "The Sith Fortress" on Wizards.com (original article link, backup link)
- Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Rebellion Era Campaign Guide
- The Essential Atlas
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
- Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook
- Star Wars: Sith Wars (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author’s Cut, Part 5: Zenith of the Republic on StarWars.com (article) (backup link)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File Part 6 (Dark Side Influence)
- "A-Z of the Clone Wars R"—Star Wars Magazine 1
- Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook
