The Dark Truth Of How A Sith Can Become Trapped In The Dark Side
Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength.
Through Strength I gain Power.
Through Power I gain Victory.
Through Victory my chains are Broken.
The Force shall free me.
As laid out in the Sith Code, “Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.” The Sith have always followed the narrative that anger and hatred are the pathways through which they gain power in the Dark side of the Force. Darth Vader was an embodiment of hatred and anger given the tragic death of the love of his life Padme, his humiliating defeat and bodily injuries by his brotherly figure and mentor Obi-Wan, and his being trapped in a tortuous mechanical suit. His constant state of anger and hatred fueled him as he followed his master’s bidding and crushed dissidents of the Empire with an iron fist. However, contrary to the conventional understanding of the Sith's way, Emperor Palpatine raised the peculiar notion to his apprentice that too much hate could counterintuitively enslave oneself to that hate.
In Marvel's 2017 Darth Vader #8, readers saw the story of Darth Vader in a timeline before A New Hope. Among other things, he was portrayed as being even more brutal and filled with pure hatred. We see the dark lord channeling such emotions at the expense of his subordinates, particularly in the classic fashion of dishing out punishments and Force chokes on Imperial officers for their failure or being the messenger of bad news. While this side of Vader was not completely unprecedented or unheard of in our eyes (as seen in the death of Admiral Ozzel in Empire Strikes Back), it was certainly unexpected for Emperor Palpatine to warn him of the consequences of being enslaved by the negative emotions frequently used by the Sith.
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While reinforcing the maxim that the Sith utilizes things such as death, pain, and rage to gain power in the Dark Side of the Force, Palpatine told his apprentice that falling too deep in hatred would turn Dark Side users into slaves of the emotions themselves. This was strangely analogous to the Jedi's teaching of not “giving in to emotions.” While this may appear contradictory to the Sith way, there may be a more logical explanation for it. After all, emotions serve as source of power for the Sith. However, it would indeed be counterintuitive if these emotions were to stand in the way of their goal.
On the flip side, what if Palpatine brought this up to Darth Vader only to keep him firmly under his control. Palpatine’s ultimate pursuit was to wipe out all seeds of the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance, and rule the galaxy with a fearsome force. His apprentice was just an expendable tool for his goals. In Darth Vader #8, we saw Vader killing a considerable number of Imperial officers out of spite or momentary bursts of rage. While it was important for the Empire to be a dominant force to be feared in the galaxy, it was pointless for the Imperial agenda to lose manpower and resources needlessly. Interestingly, in Darth Vader #12 after Vader was led to believe that a group of Imperial officers were planning to assassinate him, Palpatine instructed him that he could only kill five of the suspected officers.
While it is uncertain whether the Sith, who thrive in rage, could end up being trapped in an endless cycle of anger and hate to their own detriment, it is indeed most intriguing to consider how the source of their power could ironically be their undoing. Perhaps a Sith can gain strength through passion, only if they do not lose control. Perhaps Palpatine was only preventing his apprentice from gaining too much power.
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Source(s): Screen Rant