Star Wars has revealed how Sith could turn entire planets to the dark side. There are many planets rich in the Force, so-called vergences of both the light side and the dark. Many of the greatest Force vergences are the result of an abundance of life; that’s why Yoda decided to hide on Dagobah, for example. But how exactly are entire worlds aligned with the light or dark sides of the Force?
In the old Star Wars Expanded Universe, many vergences were created by terrible acts or the deaths of Sith Lords, with their inner darkness leaving a stain on the area where they died. But that answer always felt incomplete to me, because it didn’t make sense for an entire world to be aligned to the darkness. Finally, though, Claudia Gray’s latest novel Into the Light has offered an explanation – by revealing the sinister powers of the Sith.
The Sith Used Thornseeds To Turn Entire Worlds To The Dark Side
The cover of Into the Light shows Jedi Knight Reath Silas stood in the forests of Kashyyyk, defending a mysterious crystalline structure. This is actually a Sith Thornseed, which crashed on Kashyyyk thousands of years ago but has been prevented from unleashing its darkness. When a Thornseed lands upon a world, the entire planet is usually corrupted; no doubt the effect would be much more pronounced on vergences. The Sith would then use this planet to their advantage, Reath explains:
“The Sith – this was an ancient empire led by dark side Force users, by the way, long extinct – the Sith could then harvest ᴅᴇᴀᴅly poisons and toxins from those plants. They could use it to devastate a planet’s crops, to cause famine and starvation. According to the lore, apparently they would sometimes lure opponents into battles on terrain corrupted by a Thornseed, giving themselves an advantage – particularly against any Jedi, who would be strongly affected by such a powerful presence of the dark side.”
Thornseeds were the product of the Sith alliance with a race called the Drengir, monstrous plant-creatures that share a hive mind rooted in the dark side. It seems the Sith figured out how to use Drengir sap to create Thornseeds, and spread them across the galaxy, using them to weaken opponents and create toxins and poisons for Sith alchemy. It’s a logical approach, and it draws a lot of threads of lore together rather well.
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Is This The True Origin Of Sith Redoubts Like Exegol?
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker introduced one important Force vergence, Exegol, a place where the boundary between life and death is unusually thin. The Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker junior novelization briefly fleshed out the history of Exegol, revealing notes from the sacred Jedi texts:
“The Prime is One, but the Jedi are Many. The Sith were Many but often emerge Ruled by Two. The Seeds of the Jedi have been Sown throughout the Galaxy, on Ossus, Jedha, Xenxiar, and Others. The Sith have no Seeds, since what they Bury does not Grow. They are the Despoilers of Worlds, and have Laid to Waste once Fertile Habitats such as Korriban, Ziost, Ixigul, Asog, and Others.”
Korriban is an ancient name for the Sith homeworld of Moraband, seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Ixigul is intended as an alternate spelling for Exegol. This ancient text suggested the Sith had claimed these worlds and somehow “despoiled” them, turning them to the dark side – and the focus on seeds seems to hint at the writer’s disdain for Thornseeds. The likely implication is that Exegol was once a fertile world, but it fell victim to a Thornseed. The Sith turned it to the dark side, then stripped it of its twisted life, leaving a barren world behind.
I’ve long wondered how entire worlds could be turned to the dark side of the Force. Star Wars‘ Sith Thornseeds finally answer that question, even explaining how they discovered this – through their brief alliance with the Drengir long ago. Another secret of Sith history has been revealed at last.
Star Wars
- Created by
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George Lucas
- First Film
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Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
