In another thread it was asked what tthe Sith are and rather than hijacking that thread I thought I’d start a new one.
At the end of RotJ we have the only two Sith that I am aware of killed (the Emperor and Darth Vader). Is that truly the end of the Sith or is there someone hiding in the shadows I am unaware of that will take up the position?
Well, EU sources have the Sith as a species that was conquered by Dark Jedi, who took on the title “Sith Lords”. From what I remember, they were all wiped out during a war (either vs. the Jedi or from in fighting among the Sith Lords). So in that sense, the “Sith” are gone prior to even episode one.
“Sith” in the films is basically just a title. An official “Sith Lord” would probably only count the “two at a time” Master/Apprentice lineage back to Darth Bane (I think) who escaped the Sith genocide in that old war. However, there’s nothing preventing anyone (and I’m pretty sure a few people in the Expanded Universe have done it) from taking up the “Sith Lord” title, since it’s pretty much up for grabs with the Emporor and Darth Vader dead.
Plus, there was the whole “the emporer swaps bodies at will” storyline in the “Dark Empire” comic series, so it’s even debatable whether Palpatine’s line has ended. 
I guess we’ll find out if Episode VII gets made.
And I’m sure it will all make perfect sense.
We find that Ewoks are actually the Sith. They have plotted since the begining of the Republic to rid the galaxy of all Force users other than themselves. They have brought the four strongest users of the Force to their new lair on the moon of Endor and manipulated the trusting, gulible nice guys to get rid of the evil guys…
You shut up right now.
IIRC Lucas has said that this most recent movie (Episode III) is the last one he will make. The series is done either till Lucas has money problems and needs a new cash injection or the copyright expires in 75(?) years and some studio snaps it up.
As for the actual Sith being dead I know that. However, it seems you need to be more than just a bad guy who uses the Dark Side to be a Sith. As I understand it a Sith Lord commanded more power than a mere Jedi gone bad would. At least, it was always my impression that those under the Sith banner became more powerful once signing up (ala Count Dooku going on about how he has become vastly more powerful before having that WWF Smackdown with Yoda).
Speaking of that…I was surprised in the last movie that Mace Windu did so well against the Palpatine. I thought Palpatine had more going for him than that and only Anakin/Vader really had potential to surpass him.
Well, the Sith does creep in on little furry feet.
Of course, that last joke makes more sense if you pretend it comes right after the Ewok bit.
I was really surprised, in retrospect, to see Palpatine using the lightning trick since it kinda leaves the impression that for the next 25 or so years (until Ep 6), he’s not going to learn anything better. You’d think that if he could throw lightning bolts in Ep 3, he’d have learned how to throw something even cooler (like super lightning, or Black Vulcan, baby) by Ep 6.
Yeah…you dont really see too much in the way of Force Powers in the movies. Force Push, Force Jump, levitate some crap around for no good reason and the only really fun one…force lightning.
Oh yeah, See-The-Future-Which-Is-Always-Clouded Force power and the ever fun Target-The-Tiny-Hole-On-The-Death-Star force power…can’t forget those two.
Hey, did Palpatine get all fugly using Force Lightning on Windu cuz it drained him somehow or was he really that fugly and just didn’t feel the need to maintain the mask once the gig was up?
Whoops…also forgot Force Hold Your Breath (when they were trying to poison Obi Wan and Qui-Gon in Ep.I). Gotta admit though not near as cool as Force Black Vulcan would be though.
He zapped Windu with force lightning, and Windu reflected it back onto him, and it made his face melt, or whatever.
Plus a stable of Jedi mind tricks and Force telepathy (Padme’s “There is still some good in him, I sense it,” and Leia’s “Turn back, we have to get Luke!”). The latter trick being so accessible, you don’t even have to have formal Jedi training to have some aptitude for it.
Not a bad set of abilities. And hey, if the Dark Side is so great, then why is the Emperor such a ghastly old hag – can’t he at least get the Dark Side to give him a facelift and correct his osteoporosis?
Hey don’t forget that the Force can (supposedly) let you see the future in the long run, but it helps you react to things faster than non-Force users can. Witness the ability to deflect speeder blasters off a lightsaber and then slicing the front end off as it shoots by you at a hundred mph. Also, If you watch the three-way duel at the end of Phantom, Obi-Wan gasps about two seconds before Darth Maul offs Qui-Gon.
I’m a fan of Force Super-Speed as seen in the animated Clone Wars.
I don’t think people go for the Dark side because it makes them handsome. More like they go for it because then you can kill anyone who says you’re ugly.
Copyright is irrelevant. What’s relevant here is trademark, which lasts as long as the trademark owners defend it. So if all of Lucas’ heirs for the next ten thousand years keep on defending their trademark rights, then for the next ten thousand years, we can’t see anyone else legally make a Star War movie. On the other hand, if Lucas just stopped defending his trademarks in the next few years (very unlikely, but possible), it would then become legal for anyone to make new Star Wars movies, even while the ones Lucas made are still under copyright.
On a completely different note, it wasn’t using the Force Lightning that uglified Palpatine. Remember, Dooku used Force Lightning in Ep II, and it didn’t do anything to him. Mace Windu wasn’t just blocking the force lightning with his lightsabre, he was reflecting it. Since Palpatine didn’t turn it off, he was receiving a very long and extended dose of it himself, and that’s what uglified him.
Not that it really matters, but…
I highly doubt force lightning causes you to get fugly. We have seen four victims of direct lightning attacks and they didn’t change at all physically (aside from being cooked): Yoda, Luke, Mace, and Vader (well, indirect on Vader, but still fried his circuits and we got a peek at his innards)
There are other, cooler possibilties:
he really looks like that all the time and he was using the force to keep him looking normal and he had to use all his powers on the lightning so his disguise went poof.
using such such a strong dark side power uglifies you (Dooku used the lightning, but he’s not as powerful as his master of course).
Personally, I like the first one.
Yeah, but the Sith *really, really *need a good dental plan.
I have a theory along these lines. I think that Darth Sideous (Palpatine) was Darth Plagus’s apprentace, and Plagus taught Sideous the secret to making himself immortal. Palpatine is ugly and baggy-looking because he is actually extremely old. The younger, more attractive appearance was some kind of cosmetic shell, possibly a sort of second skin that was created with cloned tissue. The lightning destroyed the tissue, revealing Palpatine’s true appearance.
After he assumed supreme power, he never bothered to recreate the disguise. He didn’t need to look good for anybody anymore.
I’d like to point out that the script by Lucas says, “Mace pushes Palpatine out to the edge of the ledge. As the Jedi moves closer, the bolts frm Palpatine’s hands begin to arch back on him. The Chancellor’s face begins to twist and distort.”
Sound like the lightning did it.