Marvel Star Wars the comics introduced a much-heralded faction of the Dark Side, and they have one big advantage over their Sith counterparts – they do not follow the restrictive “Rule of Two”, which allowed the Sith Order to survive for a thousand years and eventually conquer the galaxy, but ultimately led to their downfall in the Battle of Endor.
In Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Siege (2024) #1 – written by Alex Segura, with art by Stefano Raffaele – Luke Skywalker and his ally Rynn Zenat must fight the Acolytes of the Beyond for possession of an ancient Jedi relic.
As they fight, the leader of this particular group of Acolytes, Yuan Howzell, tells Rynn: “The Acolytes of the Beyond are everywhere – if you defeat one, another will emerge.” This is very different from the Sith's rule if there are two of them, and may give them an advantage over Luke Skywalker that the Sith did not have.
The Acolytes of the Beyond have many members, in contrast to the Sith
Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Siege (2024) #1 – Written by Alex Segura, art by Stefano Raffaele; Color by Alex Sinclair; Lyrics by Joe Caramagna
The Rule of Two Sith was part of an ancient plan, which required the two Sith left to remain secret, allowing them to seek revenge against the Jedi for their destruction in the Jedi-Sith war. The plan was fulfilled by Darth Sidious when he corrupted the Galactic Republic from within and discredited and diminished the Jedi Order, eliminating them and ruling the galaxy through a new Empire. Except that Sidious, or Palpatine, deviated from the plan in one fundamental way: he didn't reestablish the Sith Empire, but rather made it his own and upheld the Rule of Two.
This preserved Palpatine's grip on power, but also created a weakness for the Sith; when Sidious was killed aboard the Second Death Star and Darth Vader was redeemed, ended a line of Sith tradition that had remained unbroken for thousands of years. However, this did not rid the galaxy of Dark Side users, and Republic under siege #1 reminds readers that the Star Wars The Expanded Universe is full of threats to test young Luke Skywalker now that he is officially a Jedi.
Acolytes from Beyond May Be a Greater Threat to Luke Skywalker Than the Sith
An enemy that won't go away anytime soon
In Republic under siege, the Acolytes from Beyond ominously promise that they will keep coming no matter how many times Luke strikes them down, making them potent adversaries for Luke Skywalker. as he seeks to reestablish the Jedi Order and protect the nascent New Republic as the Marvel hero Star Wars comics explore the post-Return of the Jedi era of the franchise's timeline. Even though they're not as powerful as the Sith, Acolytes have numbers, and that can be overwhelming for Luke.
Luke Skywalker will face a greater challenge in becoming a Jedi Master, and his next big test as Star Wars greatest hero comes in the form of the Acolytes.
Acolytes of the Beyond worship Dark Side users who have passed into the “Beyond” and collect Dark Side relics. They then let the dark side presence of the former relic user influence their actions. So not only do the Acolytes have the numbers, but they also have the influence of some of the most dangerous Sith of the past. Luke Skywalker will face a greater challenge in becoming a Jedi Master, and his next big test as Star Wars greatest hero comes in the form of the Acolytes.
Star Wars: The Battle of Jakku – Republic Under Siege #1 and available now from Marvel Comics.