I have accomplished what no Sith has ever done

before. I have destroyed the Jedi and subverted

Coruscant. I sit on the throne of a new and unstop-

pable regime. I will shape the great Galactic Empire

according to my own design.

The Sith have dreamt of this moment since the

beginning of recorded history. I could not have

achieved this prize without treading on the backs

of those who came before. Exploiting the failures of

others is the way of the Sith.

Since my days as a young noble on Naboo, long

before I joined Darth Plagueis and began my

apprenticeship, I collected dark side lore. These rub-

bings of Sith tablets and untranslatable runic scrolls

were coveted and traded on the black markets by

cultists, collectors, and museum curators willing to

defy the Republic’s ban on Sith artifacts.

PrefaceBy Darth SiDiouS

3

Emp

eror

Pal

pati

ne k

ept

many

sec

rets

in h

is st

oreh

ouse

on

Way

land

, inc

ludin

g a

cham

ber

that

wen

t un

dete

cted

unt

il 2

4 A

.B.Y

. So

far

only

Lei

a, M

ara,

and

I kn

ow a

bout

this

bo

ok. I

wan

t to

mak

e su

re it

’s no

t da

nger

ous

befo

re s

hari

ng

Cou

ncil.

it w

ith

the

Hist

oric

al

assembled this volume soon after From the context, I believe Palpatine

sometime around 19-18 B.B.Y.declaring himself Emperor, or

New Republic Intelligence wants to review this book, and as a favor to Wedge and Iella I've agreed. I numbered the pages for NRI's reference.

The very existence of this illicit trade confirms

many vital truths: Rulers seek to control informa-

tion. The powerful will do anything to hoard their

power. And if something is forbidden, it is likely a

thing worth knowing.

Getting these artifacts past the law officials and

into my quarters on Naboo provided new lessons:

True power brokers dwell in the shadows. Credits

can buy anything, even intangible concepts such as

access and silence. It is necessary to lie to achieve

anything of value. And a skilled liar is nearly impos-

sible to detect.

Although my experience acquiring the texts pro-

vided a practical knowledge of how treasures and

secrets change hands, as well as the roles non-Force

sensitives play in keeping the galaxy running, the

actual dark side tomes deepened my knowledge of

the ancient Sith. I realized that I had all the tools I

needed to craft my own system of power, one that

fused contemporary politics with Sith ideals.

Under the tutelage of Darth Plagueis, I inherited

the Sith Archives—more than a thousand years’

worth of teachings passed in secret from master

to apprentice. But what I learned was that only

a handful of figures had ever truly advanced the

cause of the Sith. Thus I made it my goal to recover

their most famous writings—not the revisions of

misguided chroniclers who lived hundreds of years

after them but the parchments bearing their origi-

nal words and recorded by their own hands. With

the fall of the Jedi Temple, I have finally recovered

the last of these documents, though only fragments

of each have survived the centuries.

Together these pages unite one of the first

Sith Lords with he who shall be the last. Each

author’s voice echoes the era in which he or she

held power, but the Sith Order has evolved over

seven thousand years. The errors made by my pre-

decessors will not be my own. Their triumphs will

be nothing compared to my omnipotence.

4 5

At the time I wrote these words, I hoped my Empire would provide limitless reach. Yet I must still rely on others to do my bidding. And they are so often foolish, flawed, and disappointing.

The very existence of this illicit trade confirms

many vital truths: Rulers seek to control informa-

tion. The powerful will do anything to hoard their

power. And if something is forbidden, it is likely a

thing worth knowing.

Getting these artifacts past the law officials and

into my quarters on Naboo provided new lessons:

True power brokers dwell in the shadows. Credits

can buy anything, even intangible concepts such as

access and silence. It is necessary to lie to achieve

anything of value. And a skilled liar is nearly impos-

sible to detect.

Although my experience acquiring the texts pro-

vided a practical knowledge of how treasures and

secrets change hands, as well as the roles non-Force

sensitives play in keeping the galaxy running, the

actual dark side tomes deepened my knowledge of

the ancient Sith. I realized that I had all the tools I

needed to craft my own system of power, one that

fused contemporary politics with Sith ideals.

Under the tutelage of Darth Plagueis, I inherited

the Sith Archives—more than a thousand years’

worth of teachings passed in secret from master

to apprentice. But what I learned was that only

a handful of figures had ever truly advanced the

cause of the Sith. Thus I made it my goal to recover

their most famous writings—not the revisions of

misguided chroniclers who lived hundreds of years

after them but the parchments bearing their origi-

nal words and recorded by their own hands. With

the fall of the Jedi Temple, I have finally recovered

the last of these documents, though only fragments

of each have survived the centuries.

Together these pages unite one of the first

Sith Lords with he who shall be the last. Each

author’s voice echoes the era in which he or she

held power, but the Sith Order has evolved over

seven thousand years. The errors made by my pre-

decessors will not be my own. Their triumphs will

be nothing compared to my omnipotence.

4 5

At the time I wrote these words, I hoped my Empire would provide limitless reach. Yet I must still rely on others to do my bidding. And they are so often foolish, flawed, and disappointing.