‘Secrets of the Sith’: A Review Of Palpatine’s Work
Are you a fan of the Sith, but have trouble keeping track of all knowledge revealed throughout the years? Then you should check out Secrets of the Sith, written by Marc Sumerak and illustrated by Sergio Gomez Silvan. Secrets of the Sith is a sequel to the 2019 book Secrets of the Jedi. While Secrets of the Sith does not introduce any new major plot elements to the Skywalker Saga, it does enlighten the reader to the not-so-late Emperor Palpatine’s whereabouts in the time after Return of the Jedi.
Secrets of the Sith is written from the point of view of Emperor Palpatine as he details his knowledge of events from the Sith perspective. From the birth of the Sith, all the way to what appears to be right before the events of The Rise of Skywalker, the reader gets an inside look to the formation of the Sith, and important Sith locations. The book also reveals Palpatine’s thoughts on Darth Maul, Count Dooku, Asaaj Ventress, Savage, Opress, Quinlan Vas, the Inquisitors, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, a look into Rey's father (who is a Palpatine clone), and why the Rule of Two was enacted by Darth Bane.
RELATED: Palpatine Himself Confirms Why He Let Rey’s Father (A Failed Clone) Live
For one section of the book, the reader is introduced to how Palpatine had lived, managed to transfer his mind across the galaxy to Exegol, and created Snoke and the failed clone who would become Rey's father. Snoke was a clone that had a strong connection to the Force, but was unable to host the dark essence that is Palpatine’s conscience. As for Rey's father, he was a perfectly fine clone, except for the fact that he had no access to the Force. Therefore Palpatine chose to let him live in hopes he would be useful in the future, perhaps in the form of providing a proper heir. Little did he know, that failed clone would produce his downfall, instead of an heir to the Sith Lord.
According to the accounts of Darth Sidious, Darth Bane created the Rule of Two to keep the knowledge of the Sith safe. There would be a master to possess the unlimited power of the dark side, and an apprentice to covet it. it was based off of the Doctrine of the Dyad, which spoke of two Force users that shared a bond so strong that they could use their life force to heal each other, and pass objects to each other through time and space using the Force. In essence, the Rule of Two was meant to limit the number people accessing the Force, thus increasing the two users' connection to the Force in hopes of creating a dyad. It seems the Sith were unaware that a Force dyad could not be forced by will, but had to happen naturally. Despite that, the Sith believed this to be the secret to unlocking the full powers of the dark side of the Force.
Throughout the pages of Secrets of the Sith, readers can find many special extras within the pages of the book, such as a pop up holocron, a copy of the decree that grants emergency powers to Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, and a copy of the notice that would be left on the doors of those found to be harboring Jedi after Order 66 was given. There are also many pages with flaps that can be opened for even more information for readers to find, and even more artwork to enjoy.
Secrets of the Sith aims at readers that do not have a vast amount of Star Wars knowledge who is seeking to learn more. For those who already know the information, they may find themselves revisiting the original source material for the stories within these pages, either to point out discrepancies, or just to revisit the stories with the extra knowledge they have gained from this book.
Insight Kids’ Secrets of the Sith is available now in the children’ section of your local bookstore.
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Source(s): Wookieepedia