I’m going to try something new today.
I have heard a few people propose that Emperor Palpatine could actually be Darth Bane.
It’s not a theory that I think is true, but admittedly there is evidence for it.
So I am going to respectfully go over the evidence in support of and against the theory
and let you decide for yourselves.
Darth Bane is well known as the Sith Lord that created the Rule of Two, and shaped Sith
philosophy into what most Star Wars fans are most familiar with.
He wanted the Sith to remain a secret to the galaxy, formulating a longer term plan to
infiltrate the government and destroy the Jedi through sabotage and conniving rather
than a blatant attack.
Emperor Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, is considered by many to be the culmination
of one thousand years of work, the climax of Darth Bane’s grand plan.
But is it possible that there is more going on behind the scenes?
Was Darth Sidious actually Darth Bane all along?
Okay, let me rewind and explain myself, and also make sure you know that everything I’m
about to talk about is only in the context of Star Wars Legends.
There is absolutely no support for this in the current canon.
Darth Bane was fully committed to his Rule of Two.
He felt that passing on all the knowledge he had to an apprentice until they had learned
enough and trained enough that they could kill him and take on their own apprentice
was the only way the Sith would truly grow stronger.
Unfortunately he feared that his apprentice, Darth Zannah, was not strong enough to carry
on his legacy.
He wished to find a new apprentice, so he learned the secrets of Transfer Essence, a
dark side ability that would allow him to move his consciousness into a new body, as
his current body was growing weak.
Zannah did challenge Bane, and in their battle he attempted to transfer his mind into hers.
The conclusion of the fight was ambiguous, but Zannah had seemingly developed some new
physical ticks that were earlier displayed by Darth Bane.
The possible implication there being that Bane had successfully taken over Zannah’s
body, and that he would continue training her new apprentice, Darth Cognus.
So assuming he were successful, what’s to stop him from transferring his essence again
and again?
Could he potentially have just continued learning more in the dark side for one thousand years
until he finally found himself in the body of Darth Sidious?
I know that sounds crazy and unlikely, but now consider this.
Sidious was very talented in transfer essence.
In Legends he cloned himself and moved his consciousness on multiple occasions.
He even did it to other people like Bevel Lemelisk.
It sure sounds like he’s had a lot of practice perfecting the technique.
Maybe even a millennia worth of practice.
So maybe Darth Sidious was more than just the culmination of Darth Bane’s master plan,
but maybe he was Darth Bane himself!
Now I will admit that is a very fun thought, but again, I don’t think it’s true.
I think it’s pretty easily refuted by other Legends books, like Darth Plagueis, where
we see the inner monologues of Plagueis and Sidious, and there isn’t any indication
Plagueis is anyone but who he says he is.
There’s also no scene where anyone tries an essence transfer.
On top of that, both Plagueis and Sidious speak somewhat disparagingly about Bane and
his principles, and they planned to put an end to the Rule of Two so that they could
control the galaxy indefinitely.
They also defy the Rule of Two a bit when they bring in Darth Maul, although they never
considered him a true Sith, but simply an assassin.
And what should be the real nail in the coffin of this theory is that Drew Karpyshyn, the
author of the Darth Bane Trilogy, and the scene where Bane attempts to take over Zannah’s
mind, has state that Bane failed, and Zannah remained herself.
He said the physical ticks she developed were meant to imply that his invasion of her consciousness
did have an effect on her, but that she was ultimately still in control.
Even though I agree with him, I think that an author’s intents can’t be taken as
absolute truth and that if Legends still continued and if an author wrote a story about Bane
controlling Zannah’s body, that would be fully within reason.
But it’s my own belief that Darth Bane died in his duel with Darth Zannah and that his
story continued no further.
So to me, this theory is busted.
But you have all the evidence now to make your own opinion, so what do you think?
If you have any theories you’d like to see me bust or confirm as plausible in the future,
leave them in the comments!
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As always, thanks for watching and may the Force be with you!