The success of The Acolyte’s finale has shone a light on Sith culture more than ever. Though the series had a shaky start, Osha’s (Amandla Stenberg) acceptance of the Dark Side has put a human face on the faction of Star Wars lore.
The last episode of season 1 also had the surprising benefit of seeing a famous Sith Lord who has been often referred to in the past 20 years but never seen. Darth Plagueis the Wise, infamously introduced in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is briefly shown lurking around Osha and The Stranger (Manny Jacinto). But while famous with fans, is he the most powerful Sith Lord in the history of Star Wars? In the face of the well-known Rogues Gallery of Sith Lords, it’s a hard title to win.
Is Plagueis the most powerful Sith Lord?
Out of all the Sith Lords — both canon and not — there are three that come to mind. Revan, Bane, and Plagueis arguably have boasted the most contributions to Sith culture. Be it through combat prowess, knowledge of the Force, or legacy, each of these Dark Force users has their own claim to fame, and that is the issue with trying to find the most powerful Sith. At least with this trio, they are all so different. Each has their own unique story and skill sets and it’s almost impossible to find a clear winner. In fact, it is easier to find a clear loser.
Sorry, Plagueis. When it comes to brute strength, the most powerful you are not. That isn’t to say the Munn doesn’t have his attributes. He of course is the main manipulation that brings Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) to the Dark, but this has less to do with outright Force abilities and more to do with his work as a scientist. As Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) tells Anakin in Revenge of the Sith, Plagueis had the power over life and death. It just didn’t work in his favor at the end of it all. Plagueis could manipulate midi-chlorians to stop those he cared about from dying. However, it couldn’t save himself. Ironically, his apprentice murdered him once he had decided he learned everything he could from his master. This ending is one of the less impressive ones, especially compared to Plagueis’ betters.
What about Revan or Bane?
To get to the heart of the Sith MVPs, we need to go back a thousand years or so. That is when Sith Lords did not mess around and had long lives full of twists and turns where they proved their worth. The first to be born was Darth Revan. The character initially appeared in the turn-based video game Knights of the Old Republic.
Revan has a much-admired legacy, specifically because of how many hats he wore. First trained as a Jedi, Revan was immediately spotted as a prodigy. From a young age, he could master almost any Force power that came his way. So much so that the Jedi Council became concerned about how elevated he was. He later proved himself as a more than capable battle commander in the conflict against the Mandalorians where he defeated their leader in one-on-one combat. And that was only his resume with the Jedi.
He would later join the Dark Side with his associate, Malak, and prove to be an even more formidable force. And again, his story doesn’t end there. After Malak betrays him, the Jedi rescue Revan only to wipe his memories and train him as a Jedi to destroy Malak. They understand that Revan’s talent cannot be wasted and he is the only one who can defeat his former friend. And again, Revan stands apart because he has even another twist. Later, he starts to regain his memories of the Dark side of his life and goes on a journey to recover what he has lost. This results in him splitting his personas in two — one Light and one Dark. Even in death, his Dark side is so powerful he wills himself back to life for the sole purpose of vengeance. When it comes to Force ability alone, it is hard to count anyone against Revan.
However, as everyone must in the end, Revan succumbs to death. Even so, his legacy is so significant that while redeemed by the Jedi, he remains a hero to many Sith. First and foremost among those who revered him is Bane. Darth Bane is most famous because he is the Sith Lord who implements the Rule of Two. Before his time, the Sith were so bloodthirsty that infighting resulted in the dissolution of the sect. Bane was the sole survivor of the destruction of the Sith and decided that in order for them to survive, there could be no more than two of them. A master and an apprentice. This way they could live in secret and destroy the Jedi from the inside out.
Bane is powerful in his own right, though quite different from Revan. His intelligence and cunning allow him to survive the destruction of his people and his teachings become the instrument that many Sith follow until the time of Palpatine and Vader. But it isn’t a stretch to say that without Revan, there would be no Bane. Bane idolized his predecessor, so much so that he sought Revan’s Holocron to further understand his philosophies. Both Bane and Revan are paramount to Sith culture, but Revan started a chain of events that would continue for thousands of years.