101 Star Wars Variations 52: The Sith Myth

Isn't it a tad...convenient that we only know of the existence of the Sith because the Jedi told us?  Keeps the Jedi looking pure if everything that happened was because of some mysterious bogeymen of small numbers who just happened to have been able to manipulate the course of countless worlds.

I'm just saying.

Well, I'm also saying that...the Sith probably didn't really exist.  Think about it.  According to the Jedi, the Sith put one of their own into the role of Chancellor of the Republic, and within a short period of time this man, practically single-handedly mind you, transformed the Republic into the Empire and wiped out the entire Jedi Order.  When you think about it, it's ridiculous, entirely too simplistic.  Those who lived under the shadow of the Empire knew nothing about the Jedi or the Sith until people started claiming a lone Jedi had emerged to finally end that little internal conflict, or whatever you want to call it, the thing that was beneath the surface of what everyone else experienced...

I don't know.  I mean, really?  This guy shows up and not only claims that he's basically responsible for the fall of the Empire, but in order to achieve this great, historic victory, he had to not only defeat the secret Sith manipulator who he claimed was ruling the Empire, but convert his own father back to the side of the Jedi...

It sounds...stupid.

I have no doubt that the Jedi existed.  They exist now.  You can't just manufacture legend that quickly.  Plenty of evidence spontaneously appeared throughout the galaxy, artifacts of an earlier age, confirming they once served the cause of justice, once the Emperor was overthrown.  What I'm saying is, chances are much greater that they stopped being so noble, and were themselves the cause of the dramatic shift in political circumstances over the last few decades.

Call me a conspiracy nut if you want, but that's the only conclusion I can reach.  Politicians will be politicians.  They hardly need some secret society of evil powers to achieve their goals.  Their constituents are more than willing to go along with policies that go against their own interests, and their colleagues are more than willing to play along.  Whatever works at the time, whatever makes the immediate future look good.

The Jedi, though, what excuse do they have?  As far as I can tell, they did have great powers, something no one else had.  Regardless of their numbers, I find it difficult to believe that they could have been toppled from their perch easily.  More likely, they tore themselves apart.  The best of them walked away, and the rest didn't matter anymore anyway.

This guy who we keep hearing about, I doubt he has any real connections to the Jedi of the past, just someone who randomly came into the same kind of powers and realized he could make a name for himself in a time when those powers didn't exist anymore, when the rest of the people who wanted to call themselves heroes were struggling to enact massive reforms and overturn a reign of tyranny that was fast spinning out of control.  (I mean, you have  heard about the so-called "Death Star," haven't you?  Did you hear that there were two of them?)

But who's going to be able to confirm any of this nonsense?