Essay: Perspective on the Sith Code - by Acolyte Viren Sekker

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What is the Sith Code? The Code is more than just a mantra, something to be repeated before a battle or during a ritual. It is a way of life, a governing structure upon which the very pillars of the society of the Sith as both a culture and an order is built. The Code is more than even this though - it is a path to greater power, to victory, and the freedom which all Sith seek. By a close analysis of it, the pillars of Sith society can be discerned in entirety. Peace is a Lie; It is easy to assume the obvious meanings behind the very first line of the Code. Many choose to interpret it as a literal meaning: peace as a state cannot exist, as conflict is inevitable and therefore Sith should be instruments of war... I however disagree with this. Peace is a Lie can also be translated as Tranquillity is a Lie. This offers a different insight into the meaning - tranquillity, meaning to be still and calm, something which the Dark Side does not allow. I believe that the true interpretation of this first line is that stagnancy is death - to stay still and allow the world to pass you is  weakness. We must seek to seize the moment, to act upon opportunity, to strive to improve ourselves and be better; a theme common to much of the code. There is only passion. This second part of the first line also seems obvious at first - commonly the line is analysed as a whole, Peace is a Lie; there is only Passion, but I believe that the two should be examined separately, as though they were separate lines. Assuming the above analysis of Peace is a Lie,, then the second line immediately becomes less clear. When analysed together, the meaning appears to be that Sith should be warlike, embrace our rage and passions and act without thinking, but I don't think this is true; when seen separately, then the second line appears to be a critique of the ideals of our ancient enemy, the Jedi. If peace (ie: tranquility) is a lie, then it follows logically that its antithesis is truth. So the restatement of this fact is unnecessary - unless we assume this line to hold greater meaning. My belief is that this line is more instructional - Passion is the path to power, victory, and freedom. Only passion will do. But what is passion? Some choose to define it as emotions - anger, rage, love, jealousy, the heights and pits which followers of the Dark Side utilise to such effect. However, I believe this to merely be a surface meaning; we must not only rely on passion to be our strength, but to be our guide. To follow your internal passions, to act according to them. One must have a goal and a reach in mind - to act with passions, but without passion, is chaos - unrefined, undisciplined, uncontrolled. Through Passion, I Gain Strength. This line, I believe, refers more directly to the ways of the Dark Side. Emotions fuel the Dark Side, and the more keenly you feel those emotions, the more receptive you are to their swings and sway, and the more you use them to channel and bend the Force to your will, the stronger and more powerful you become: Passion is Strength. The two are immutable, inseparable. Through Strength, I Gain Power. This line seems at first glance to be redundant - are strength and power not the same, one might ask. I believe the two are different; Strength comes from your own work, from your ability to control the Force, from your connection to the Dark Side. Power, on the other hand, is different; one may have power over others, power in the Force, power of will. So why must the distinction be drawn? I believe that this line is in fact a reminder to cultivate both strength and power. One must be strong - mentally and physically prepared and able to defend against attack, or to crush your opponents - and one must have power too - the ability to execute your will, or have others execute it for you. Power extends beyond the self; it is your ability to influence the world around you, and to influence others around you. Put simply: Strength is internal, personal, your control of the Force and your body. Power is external, your will extended to the world around you through physical means, or the Force itself. Through Power, I Gain Victory. With my previous analysis in mind, this line becomes clearer also - power is what brings victory, not strength. Although Strength is an important tenet of the Code, power appears in the code later; and is therefore more important. If power is the influence one exerts over the world around you, then it is this exertion of your will which brings Victory. In-line with the previous lines, this clearly means that in order to be victorious, one must exert one's will over the world around you. Strength alone is not enough; to have strength and not use it is stagnancy, tranquillity; and as the first line states, Peace is a lie. Through Victory, my Chains are Broken. This final line is perhaps the most complex of the entire code - it encompasses the entirety of our way of life, from the inception of the first Lords of the Sith (who sought freedom from oppression by the Jedi) to the search for complete autonomy from all things. Freedom might seem paradoxical to some in the Empire - how can we talk of freedom in a society which has slaves, emancipated servitude, and a rigid heirarchy? The answer is simple: Freedom is an ideal to strive for, not a constant state. Freedom must be earned, wrenched from the cold dead hands of enemies, and cannot be obtained through other means. Chains, most agree, are things which hold us down - not necessarily in the literal way many think, either. Chains can range from real, physical chains (the chains of being a lesser species, the chain of being subservient to someone else)  to the chains we place on even ourselves (the chain of expectations, the chains of reliance on others). So we are told to break these chains - through having inward strength, striving to reach our goals, enacting our will on the world around us. Stagnancy allows others to place chains on you; but action, motion, will grant freedom. In this way, this line is the last instruction on the Path of the Sith. Allow no one to chain you, to hold you back; exert your will; cultivate your personal strength; be always in motion. The Force Shall Set Me Free.This, the final line, represents the end of this path: the goal which all Sith truly strive for, in the end, is total emancipation. There is another meaning to this line though, one which is also easy to overlook - The Force shall set me free; not merely anything, not the code, not its ideals. This final line also encompasses the superiority of the Sith as an order... those touched by the Force, by the Dark Side, are marked as better than all their peers, from the lowliest Alien scum, to the heights of nobility. It is only through the Dark Side, through this superiority, which true freedom can be achieved. The greatest chain, after all, is to be born without the Force; for without the Force, one cannot exert one's strength over the world around you, cannot break every last chain... cannot be free. This is but one interpretation of the way of the Sith, however - there are almost as many interpretations as there are Sith themselves. The code means something different to each of us, guides us in different ways, and though there is not truly a single correct answer to the question, "what does the Sith Code mean to you", there are of course wrong answers. In any case, the study of the Sith Code remains a fascinating one - and is a subject I hope to write on again in the future.

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