Last week we took our first look at the life of the mysterious Sith Emperor from the time of his birth up to the point when he arrived at Dromund Kaas as the leader of the Sith. Today we will finish looking at what we know of this mysterious being and his life after arriving on Dromund Kaas. Like last week, this article will contain massive spoilers so turn back now if you want to avoid them. Otherwise, join me as we finish our journey looking at this immortal master of the Dark Side.

 

After landing on Dromund Kaas and promising to lead his people to destroy the Republic, the Emperor began to rebuild the shattered Sith Empire. He knew it would be centuries before the Sith would be able to challenge the Republic, but patience was one of the Emperor’s greatest strengths. He did not attempt to rush the rise of the Empire, starting first by establishing Kaas City and beginning the massive military machine that would be the heart of the new Sith Empire. In the early days of the Empire the Emperor would appear frequently in public, giving speeches and raising morale, but as time went by his public appearances became more rare. Eventually, most of the day to day operations were left to the newly established Dark Council, and the Emperor retreated from the public eye to pursue his own goals.

 

The Emperor realized that if the details of how he achieved his immortality got out he could have a full scale rebellion on his hand, he had achieved his power by sacrificing many of his fellow Sith Lords. To this end he erased the location of his former homeworld from Imperial records, and anyone suspected of visiting the dead world was quickly put to death. Yet there was still one loose end that the Emperor needed to deal with, his half brother. When the Emperor was rising to power on his homeworld he was quick to eliminate anyone tied to his illegitimate father. But one man, a Sith Lord named Dramath the Second, fled the world before the Emperor could put him to death. The Emperor realized that even though his half-brother was long dead he may have left behind clues that could lead back to his homeworld.  He dispatched an emissary to track down his brother’s remains, hoping to ensure there was no way they could be used against him.

 

The Emperor’s emissary was able to successfully locate his brother’s remains with the help of the Mandalorians, though the Emperor decided he could use the Mandalorians for far more than a simple search and retrieve mission. He decided to use the Mandalorians to test the strength of the Republic’s military, especially the Jedi. Using his considerable powers of persuasion, the Emperor was able to convince Mandalore that he had a vision of the Mandalorians crushing the Republic in a glorious battle that would bring them everlasting honor. The Emperor did not truly believe the Mandlorians could win, but he learned much of the Republic in the ensuing war. What he did not count on was the fact that Revan and Malak, the leaders of the Republic war effort, would be able to locate Dromund Kaas after the war, intent on stopping the Sith threat behind the Mandalorian Wars.

 

Revan and Malak spent months on Dromund Kaas learning everything they could about the Sith Emperor, eventually discovering that he planned on invading the Republic. Determined to stop the invasion, Revan and Malak attempted to assassinate the Emperor, but they were unprepared for the raw power the Emperor wielded. Sensing the potential of the two, Revan in particular, he did not kill them. Instead he turned them to the Dark Side, a path they had already started down during the Mandalorian wars, and sent them to discover the location of the ancient Rakatta weapon known as the Star Forge. The Emperor knew of the Star Forge’s ability to quickly produce ships and droids with minimal resources, and hoped to use its powers to accelerate his plan to attack the Republic by centuries. Though Revan and Malak eventually turned on the Emperor and attempted to claim the star Forge for themselves, causing the station’s destruction in the process, the Emperor was unfazed. Time was on his side, and he was a patient man.

 

But the Emperor was not free of the threat of Revan just yet. During the course of the Jedi Civil War Revan lost all his memories, causing him to forget all about the Emperor and the massive Sith Empire he commanded. But as time went by Revan’s memories began to return, causing him to seek out the Emperor. He was eventually joined by Meetra Surik, one of his most trusted generals from the Mandalorian Wars, and Lord Scourge, a Sith who felt the Emperor would lead the Empire to its doom if he chose to attack the Republic. The three attacked the Emperor in his citadel, and despite the Emperor’s massive power it looked like they had a chance of killing him and ending his threat to the Republic and the Sith. However in the midst of the battle Scourge received a vision of a future Jedi destroying the Emperor, not Revan. He then betrayed Revan, cutting down Meetra from behind and almost killing Revan on the Emperor’s order. The Emperor ended up sparing them both, placing Revan in stasis and tapping his mind for his extensive knowledge of the Republic, and forcing Scourge to go through a process that would make him immortal so he could serve as the Emperor’s personal enforcer.

 

For the next 300 years the Emperor continued to build up the Sith forces before finally launching his plan to attack the Republic. While the Emperor was a much more public figure during the opening days of the War, he continued to work on his own private goals in the shadows. He began cultivating a private army that would come to be known as the Emperor’s Children. These Force users were the ultimate sleeper agents, completely hidden in the Force and unaware that they even served the Sith until the Emperor decided to call on them, they were infused with a portion of the Emperor’s power and he was able to communicate with them telepathically. These agents were distributed throughout the Republic at key points for the Emperor to call on whenever he needed, and the leader of these agents, a man known as the First Son, even rose to the rank of Jedi Master within the Jedi Order.

 

Though the Emperor had expected to win the war against the Republic quickly, things did not go as planned. The forces of the Republic  were able to hold the Sith at bay long enough for the Emperor to attempt something desperate. He sent his forces to attack Coruscant while simultaneously proposing peace talks with the Republic. While the peace talks ensued the Sith launched their surprise attack, devastating Coruscant and destroying the Jedi Temple. At this point the Emperor may have been able to end the war if he had ordered his forces to utterly destroy Coruscant, but his decision to spare Revan had side effects that he wasn’t able to foresee. While the Emperor was able to draw upon Revan’s knowledge, the path was a two way street. Revan was able to subtly influence the Emperor and made him believe that peace was his best option, possibly saving the Republic. The Sith and the Republic signed a peace treaty, and the Emperor again disappeared from the public eye to pursue his own goals.

 

During the period that followed the War, known as the Cold War, a young Jedi Knight emerged that posed a serious threat to the Emperor. This was the Jedi that Scourge saw defeating the Emperor, and it seemed that the Emperor was becoming worried about the future of this Knight as well. He attempted to use one of his children, a Jedi by the name of Kira Carsen, to kill the Knight but he was unable to succeed. Worse still, his actions revealed the existence of his Children to the Jedi, who were able to eliminate them with the help of the Barsen’thor, a Jedi known for their skill in battling those being controlled by a Dark Side entity.

 

Realizing he needed to accelerate his plans, the Emperor restarted the war in order to hide his true motives. He planned to absorb all life in the galaxy, Sith and Jedi alike, just like he did to his home planet. This would grant him eternal life and eliminate any threat to his life from outside forces, allowing the Emperor to conquer the one thing he feared most; Death. The Jedi Knight, with the help of Lord Scourge, was eventually able to track the Emperor to his stronghold on Dromund Kaas. Here he confronted the Emperor and seemingly destroyed him in a fatal duel, presumably ending his threat once and for all. In reality the entity that the Jedi Knight destroyed was simply an avatar the Emperor was controlling, leaving the true threat to once again operate from the shadows to manipulate events.

 

This is all we know of the Sith Emperor for now, his role in future TOR content has yet to be announced. One of the most interesting things about the Emperor is how much he personifies about the difference between the Jedi and the Sith. He achieved something that few Sith ever have, true immortality. And unlike others who have achieved the same feat it appears he suffered very few side effects from the process. He showed no signs of being consumed by the Dark Side and was able to maintain a massive empire under his rule. He would have been set for a long, long time if not for one simple thing, he was afraid. It was his fear of death that drove him to attack the Republic, fear that someone or something there could kill him. Fear that, if left unchallenged, his fellow Sith would turn on him and slay him in a bid for power.  If he had put his fear of death aside who knows how long he could have ruled in the Unknown Regions beyond the Republic. This is one of the biggest differences between the Sith and the Jedi; no matter how powerful a Sith becomes they will always fear losing that power, a true Jedi accepts death as a part of life and faces it without fear. The entire premise of TOR, from the war that preceded it, to the Cold war that starts off the game, to the war that eventually starts again, was caused by this one man and his fear of death.

 

Thanks for joining us as we took a look at the life of the Sith Emperor. I hope you join us next week for another exciting installment of TOR Lore!

Tags: Darth Revan, Emperor, Jedi Consular, jedi knight, revan, sith