Star Wars Day 2020: Did Disney wipe out Sith Lords Darth Bane and Darth Revan from canon?
Darth Vader might be the most famous of all the Dark Lords Of The Sith, but sorry folks, he is not the most powerful. There is a world of Star Wars lore out there, and there are many who wielded the Dark Side of The Force. And two of them happen to be Darth Revan and Darth Bane.
If you look at it, Revan and Bane and the grand stories of ancient Jedi Knights, video games, comic or novel form aren't currently part of the Star Wars canon. However, in 'Rise Of Skywalker' we did get a few questions answered, even if it wasn't the complete closure we wanted. These lords lived a thousand years before the established stories but still make for fascinating topics of discussion for Star Wars fans, even if it isn't part of the official canon.
Darth Bane, the mystical human Dark Lord Of The Sith, was the only one who survived during the destruction of the Sith Brotherhood, conducted by the Jedi Order during the Jedi-Sith war, which was set a thousand years before the Clone Wars. He is also known for the fabled 'Rule Of Two.'
He was first referenced in the novel 'Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace', which was published in 1999. His grim story became the talking point of several comic books as well and then became the mainstay of the trilogy, written by Drew Karpyshyn. These stories have now become a part of the 'Star Wars' legends, and there has been much debate on whether it is part of the new 'Star Wars' canon. In 2014, Lucasfilm had rebranded this expanded universe as 'Star Wars Legends', and declared it non-canon.
However, the character made a surprise cameo during the sixth season of 'Star Wars: Clone Wars', and was later explained in 'The Rise Of Skywalker'. In the episode of 'Clone Wars', Yoda travels to the Sith homeworld of Moraband, in order to understand the Force. He encounters the spirit of Darth Bane. The confusion that arose was that Darth Bane was a Sith, and shouldn't be able to manifest as a Force spirit. In 'Rise Of Skywalker', Palpatine explains that those who came before him, live within him as per the rule of two. So, when the Sith apprentice kills their master, the spirit of their master lives within the apprentice. Therefore every generation of Sith exists within one being at any given time. So in the episode of 'Clone Wars', Palpatine and Count Dooku were trying to defeat Yoda, using their knowledge of the Force. During this time, Bane spoke to Yoda on the Sith Homeworld. We can understand that Palpatine resurrected Bane in the form of a specter, in the hope that he could defeat Yoda. This probably the only canon experience of Darth Bane.
Darth Revan's claim to fame is the player character in 'Knights Of The Old Republic' and within the several storylines of the Old Republic. He was a known leading Jedi Knight in the Mandalorian Wars, who became a Sith Lord and then turned neutral. Revan was expected to make an appearance during Season 3 of 'Clone Wars', but was ultimately cut from production. And so, we have only a deleted scene of Darth Revan. And, in all probability that's the most we get to see of the two Darths.