This is Yoda's Padawan. I have been so inspired, I just have to get it all out when I can before I get schooled by the Master yet again. Today's subject: History of the Sith as described by Darth Sidious in TPM novelization. I believe this bit of Canon history in the TPM novelization will HOPEFULLY settle a few of the Dark Jedi(NON CANON)/ multiple Sith possibilities kicked around on the site since I have been checking it out for nearly a year. FROM CHAPTER 10, TPM novelization:

[Darth Sidious is explaining this history to his apprentice Darth Maul on what is inferred to be Coruscant and would have occurred, if included in the film, on the balcony overlooking "the city"/Coruscant] The Sith had come into being almost two thousand years ago. They were a cult given over to the dark side of the Force, embracing fully the concept that power denied was power wasted. A rogue Jedi Knight had fou nded the Sith, a singular dissident in an order of harmonious followers, a rebel who understood from the beginning that the real power of the Force lay not in the light, but in the dark. Failing to gain approval for his beliefs from the Council, he had br oken with the order, departing with his knowledge and his skills, swearing in secret that he could bring down those who had dismissed him. He was alone at first, but others from the Jedi order who believed as he did and who had followed him in his study o f the dark side soon came over. Others were recruited, and soon the ranks of the Sith swelled to more than fifty in number. Disdaining the concepts of cooperation and consensus, relying on the belief that acquisition of power in any form lends strength an d yields control, the Sith began to build their cult in opposition to the Jedi.

Theirs was not an order created to serve; theirs was an order created to dominate. Their war with the Jedi was vengeful and furious and ultimately doomed. The rogue Jedi who h ad founded the Sith order was its nominal leader, but his ambition excluded any sharing of power. His disciples began to conspire against him and each other almost from the beginning, so that the war they instigated was a much with each other as with the Jedi. [DEFINITELY a trait we've seen in the films. Vader hacks his former Jedi Master Obi-Wan, Vader plots against Palpatine and invites Luke to join him in defeating him and, of course, Palpatine's attempted seduction and attempted destruction of Vader b y Luke] In the end, the Sith destroyed themselves. They destroyed their leader first, then each other. What few survived the initial bloodbath were quickly dispatched by watchful Jedi.

In a matter of only weeks, all of them died. All but one. Darth M aul shifted impatiently. The younger Sith had not yet learned his Master's patience; that would come with time and training. It was patience that had saved the Sith order in the end. It was patience that would give them their victory now over the Jedi. \line \line T he Sith who had survived when all of his fellows had died had understood that.

He had adopted patience as a virtue when the others had forsaken it. He had adopted cunning, stealth and subterfuge as the foundation of his way--old Jedi virtues the others had disdained. He stood aside while the Sith tore at each other like kriks and were destroyed. When the carnage was complete, he went into hiding, biding his time, waiting for his chance. When it was believed all of the Sit were destroyed, he emerged from h is concealment. At first he worked alone, but he was growing old and he was the last of his kind. Eventually, he went out in search of an apprentice. Finding one, he trained him to be a Master in his turn, then to find his own apprentice, and so to carry o n their work. But there would ONLY BE TWO AT ANY ONE TIME [Emphasis Mine]. There would be no repetition of the mistakes of the old order, no struggle between Siths warring for power within the cult. Their common enemy was the Jedi, not each other. It was for their war with the Jedi they must save themselves. The Sith who reinvented the order called himself Darth Bane. SO...this addresses the following questions:

1) Yoda knew what he was talking about when he stated the "Only Two" Sith Rule...its the SITH rule.

2) Since the Sith had already conducted its own Civil War (of sorts), then it stands to reason that Sidious/Palpatine is not going to create the NON-CANON "Dark Jedi" that has been speculated about on this site.

3) This should also settle the speculation about "Competing Pairs" of Sith running around. The "Phantom Menace" surrounding the Republic is NOT many Sith, but Sidious in particular and his machinations on the political side as Palpatine.

4) This history establishes WHY Sidious does wha t he does in terms of seeking out apprentices doing it in the tried and true Sith way conducted since Darth Bane. ONE QUESTION: Would anyone know if the name "Darth Bane" is from a non-canon source? It strikes me that I have read or been told of the name Darth Bane as being the founder of the Sith order. SIDE THOUGHT: \line \line Many folks wonder why the name "SITH" is not used in the Classic Trilogy. I SEE IT as being a case of George Lucas not confusing us with the facts he had not presented in evidence. (???) IN OTHER WORDS, since Episodes I-III were to explain the nature of the Sith, introducing the name/concept of the Sith into the Classic Trilogy might have created confusion. THINK ABOUT IT...when Vader says, "Never underestimate the power of the dark sid e," it is not a stretch to assume that it is a change of Lucas' original intention of "Never underestimate the power of the SITH." IN ADDITION, the Sith are mentioned in the novelizaiton. \line \line Therefore, its not a stretch to see that Lucas did not want to create confusion about the subject of the Sith without properly explaining what Sith were/are. Yoda's Padawan promises to study more and write fewer e-mails for awhile. LOVE THE SITE!! KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!