What Happens To Sith Spirits When They Die?

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The Force is a source of not only life, but also in the vast Star Wars galaxy. But one of the most iconic usages of its power is the Jedi ability to transcend life and death itself, preserving their consciousnesses and becoming Force Ghosts. But is there a way to accomplish this through usage of the dark side of the Force?

The dark side is a perversion of the light, and not an equal set of powers, it's simply an imitation of true oneness with the Force. One can tap into immense power through their rage and hatred by using the dark side, but it will always damage them in some way, often times decaying a dark-sider until they are decrepit. Despite wanting to use this power to live forever as a Jedi can through becoming a Force ghost, Sith can never achieve this in the same way – but they absolutely have tried.

Sith Spirits Are Banished To Chaos After Death

The Star Wars Galaxy's "Hell"

Within the mythology of Star Wars exists a realm known simply as "Chaos", or, "Hell" as mentioned by Han Solo, Poe Dameron, and others. Much like our world's conceptions of Hell, Chaos is the part of the netherworld of the Force where evil beings are sent to be punished. This included all Sith who died as active agents of the dark side, and even dark Jedi and other dark-siders who were slain or passed away.

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The realm of Chaos was known for its disorder within the Force's netherworld, and is described as a dark place. Upon banishment to Chaos, Sith spirits were punished to wander its lands in madness, possibly a reason for every dark-sider's endless lust for eternal life. But in a few specific situations, Star Wars has revealed there are ways for Sith to escape Chaos.

The Sith Power Of Essence Transfer Is A Limited Escape

Sith Saving Their Life Force With A Vessel

Essence Transfer is the Force power that comes closest to cheating death. This highly sought-after power allowed a Sith to maintain their consciousness and agency as a spirit shortly after death, and redirect it into another host. Effectively, a Sith transfers their consciousness into another body, lengthening their mortal lives and avoiding Chaos. But this also might lead to degradation of their new bodies, as happened to Palpatine and his clones on Exegol.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker saw Palpatine attempt to persuade Rey to strike him down. It's important to note he tried to persuade Rey to strike him down in anger, perhaps hinting it is only possible for a Sith to transfer their spirit into a host who is subject to the dark side at that moment. This may well also explain why Palpatine seemed to "dare" Luke Skywalker into killing him in anger in Return of the Jedi; if Luke had done so, he'd have possessed Luke.

Sith Spirits Can Be Tethered To Places Or Objects

The Curse Of The Dark Side's Eternal Life

Similar to Essence Transfer, dark side spirits could also be transferred into objects, or even places. This was famously the case for Darth Bane in The Clone Wars, whose spirit was cursed to stay in the tombs on Moraband, where he spoke to Yoda. The Grand Inquisitor was also cursed by Vader himself to remain as a conscious spirit inside an abandoned Jedi temple outpost on Tempes, where he spoke to Luke Skywalker.

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Darth Momin, an ancient Sith Lord by the time of the Imperial era, was also cursed to live on, but within his mask. Momin could only truly act when the mask was worn by a living individual, and his spirit possessed their body. This was not the kind of oneness that Jedi could find beyond death, and was a much crueler fate, with these curses allowing for limited freedom in one's life. But how could one return from Chaos without these cursed chains?

How Did Palpatine's Sith Cultists Bring Him Back?

Dark Sciences, Cloning, Secrets Only The Sith Knew

Palpatine's resurrection on Exegol is the most famous instance of essence transfer, and for good reason. The most powerful Sith Lord of all time, drawn back to the living by his machinations on the homeworld of the Sith. But how did he do this? It seems that everything has to do with Exegol, and what he had prepared there. According to George Mann's Star Wars short story collection Dark Legends, Exegol is a vergence in the Force.

Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars Return of the Jedi

Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious

The senator for Naboo, Palpatine rose to power and influence during the dying days of the Republic. In reality, his public persona was just a mask; he was really Darth Sidious, greatest of the Sith Lords, and he used his political skills and Machiavellian cunning to bring down both the Republic and the Jedi. Palpatine ruled his Galactic Empire for decades, until he was betrayed by his apprentice, Darth Vader. Even this wasn't enough to stop the Emperor, however, as he was resurrected by his followers - only to be defeated once again.

Vergences are specific locations where the Force is especially powerful and dense, allowing for feats not achievable elsewhere. Dark Legends specifically says that Exegol is a place where the boundary between life and death is unnaturally thin, which likely allowed for Palpatine's return. The Sith Eternal cult used that vergence, perhaps amplified through the massive mountain of Kyber crystal Palpatine had under the Sith Citadel on Exegol as seen in the 2020 Darth Vader comics, to ensure his spirit stuck around.

Palpatine's plan, of course, also depended on cloning. The Sith Lord had clones prepared on Exegol, and once he was defeated over the Forest Moon of Endor, he transferred his spirit over vast distances into one of them. The vergence in the Force, and massive amounts of Kyber there on Exegol likely all made this possible, allowing Palpatine to cheat death – only for a limited amount of time. But as Star Wars has repeatedly stated, the dark side is not a path to eternal life, but one of decay.

This is the third installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and serves as the culmination of the Skywalker saga. The film sees Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and Finn (John Boyega) team up to put an end to the First Order after Palpatine mysteriously returns. Jurassic World helmsman Colin Trevorrow was originally named director back in 2015 when the film first entered development, but he parted ways with Lucasfilm due to creative differences over the script. In September 2017, Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams signed on to finish what he started.

Release Date December 20, 2019