The Sith Code

[Andnoa]

The Sith Code

by Acolyte Tutam

The code of the Sith, as written by Sorzus Syn over three thousand years ago would read as follows:

Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.
Through Passion, I gain Strength.
Through Strength, I gain Power.
Through Power, I gain Victory.
Through Victory, my chains are broken.
The force shall free me.

I am sure it would come as quite a shock to many outsiders to the order that the code of the Sith was but six lines long. "Surely there must be more to it than that." they would cry. "The laws of both the hated Republic and the Empire would stretch into thousands of volumes by now, centuries and millennia of work, each generation building upon the work last.". This is true of course but the first and greatest understanding of the code is that it is not a set of rules. A work of law to bind your actions. The code is a truth, nae THE truth. Pure and powerful in it's simplicity. Peace is a lie. It is not binding you, as the code of the Jedi would, to harmony and serenity and other such false idols. It would state a fact and leave you to interpret it how you will. Nowhere in the code does it state that you can not lie to yourself, imagine a world of peace and drown out reality in your delusions. Nowhere in the code does it state that passion is the only path you can follow. What it does state, however, is that if you truly wish to succeed at what you desire, to achieve what you wish to achieve in this world, you must follow your passions. Lines two to four make this explicit in their wording. There is no other path as effective and no other path as true.

A question that would arise from this, naturally, would be "How does one define 'Passion'?". The code does not define passion. If one truly wishes to be Sith, one must find this for yourself. The code would bring the implication that those who do not have the passion to follow it would fail so if you would not know what your passions are, then you are doomed to fail. Spelling out what passion would be would prove antithetical to the code. Those who have it already know it and those who do not do not deserve to be freed.

A second question would be "How does a Sith define 'peace'?". This would be rather less subjective. Peace is denying conflict. A true Sith would know the difference between feigned peace (such as the treaty of Coruscant which through great irony weaponized pseudo-peace for the Sith) and an actual attempt at it which is doomed to fail. Peace is an attractive concept for the weak as it would seek to stop the strong from stepping on them on the path to progress. It would have the appeal that "Life could go on forever unchanged.". Could you imagine something so dull? An unchanging universe where there is no chance at improving yourself, no hope of ever advancing your lot in life? To be Sith is to seek self improvement at all costs. To be truly great a Sith must continue to advance, else risk another catching up to them and usurping their throne.

The next four lines are an obvious progression of this initial truth. Like a trickle becoming a stream that begets a river that flows into the ocean, Passion brings Strength which brings Power which brings Victory. What could be simpler? It is a chain of obvious cause and effect. Naturally, as in all things, the weak would seek to subvert this. "What is my passion is not for strength?". Dear reader should you find this to be true for yourself, you are likely too weak to comprehend the truth or you drown yourself in the waters of ignorance on purepose. Strength is not exclusively defined as martial power in the Sith code. Your passion could be to advance your knowledge of the dark arts. Your passion could be scientific in nature. All that matters is the drive to self improvement. The last line of the code would prevent it from ever fully being adopted by those who lack the force, but the first five lines prove true for the less capable as well, whether or not they object to it. All that matters is improvement. A step at a time, an inch it matters not. If you fall behind you should be crushed underfoot byt those who have not.

Speaking of the last line, ("The force shall free me") it would be an element that would appear out of place at first in the code. All the other lines speak of concepts but this deals with the tangible. "Passion" would not be something that could be measured empirically. Take the galaxy and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show the empire one atom of passion, one molecule of power and you will have changed our understanding of reality itself. Yet the force is measurable. A force sensitive so inclined could pull upon a power generator and create measurable energy. There is a reason for this in my view. This would be a direct challenge to those who have fallen at one of the hurdles of the code. Those who truly achieve victory through the force would have absolute freedom from the concerns of others. This would in turn attempt to drive others to consider the code who perhaps would not have otherwise. It is not impossible for the strong to be trapped against their will in apathy or poor tutilege. By offering freedom for those who have the will to take it, Syn sets a bait for those who think they deserve more in life. Perhaps they do or do not, it is irrelevant but by offering this the Sith as a whole would grow and the truths contained in the code would progress further. A life form in and of itself, feeding on the bones of the weak and reproducing with every inductee.

Now this is not to say that the lines would apply in reverse order. I would go as far as to say that the code is a list of targets for those who wish to follow it. Each line a higher calling to progress to, a challenge against which we pit ourselves to advance. An aspirant like myself would have this truth laid out before ourselves and we should measure our self against it often. I would also state that the code does not apply equally in all matters. When I suffered my accident, my passions kept me alive. Through these I apparently gained the strength to call aid to myself and this would have allowed me the power to survive. This would in turn lead to my recuperation and induction into the academy, a victory. The force freeing me from death. This does not make me Sith however. In other matters all I would have is the passion to succeed, not yet having the strength yet to advance to further lines of the code. What this would entail for others however would be up to the individual follower of the code. It can not be that power is given to you, else you will not have earned it. Adversity would breed strength in the strong or cripple the weak.

In his essay "Qotsisajak"1 Apprentice Horuset would attempt to compare and contrast the code of the Sith with the code of the Jedi. Whilst an excellently written essay, I would find it difficult to compare the codes of such diametrically opposite organisations. The Jedi and the Sith are not comparable in my view as they would have fundamentally different goals. The Jedi would seek to raise all up together, deserving or not, whilst the Sith see that this would be foolish and that only the truly strong have any hope of freedom. As stated above, this is not in the Sith view an opinion but a fundamental universal truth by which the galaxy would follow even if the Sith did not exist. The Jedi interpretation would be far more limiting. They would not see a galaxy without themselves in it. The Sith would realize just how cruel nature is. They would know there is no chance that all could be equal and that to do so would be folly. The greatest thing that a child can be born with is force of will. Truly seeking advancement for themselves would force them to come to the conclusions outlined above. Nature is cruel and uncaring. The weak serve the strong. The strong serve the stronger and all the empty platitude and delusions of peace can not change this.

I suspect deep down every Jedi knows this truth too but it horrifies them.

Sources:

1Qotisasjak by Valeus Horuset