Ask A Jedi: Imperial Agents Below Sith?

If you spend any time on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forums, you are sure to have seen his passion and prose regarding all things Jedi. You know him as Professor Walsh. Each week (or thereabouts,) Professor Walsh will answer a few reader-submitted questions in order to enlighten us all with the ways of the Jedi. You can submit your own question at the end of the article!

Greetings everyone! It’s time for another round of Ask A Jedi! As always I am your host, Professor Walsh.

As you all know, each week or so I do a column where I answer the questions that you have about the Star Wars universe, as well as any questions that you have regarding how lore may, or may not work, regarding The Old Republic.

This week we have a special question that was submitted to me via a Private Message at the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forums.

The questioner asks:

“Hey Prof, why do you keep saying that Imperial Agents will be below the Sith? Aren’t all classes supposed to be balanced?”

This is an excellent question and I’d like to dedicate this column to it.

The first thing that one must understand is how canon, or the official events and facts of the Star Wars universe, works.

You have a ladder of canon, starting with G-Canon and ending with N-Canon. Each “higher” step can overcome each “lower” step and overrule it. Likewise later information from the same “height” can overrule earlier information.

The ladder is as follows:

• G-Canon – Canon present in the movies or that directly comes from George Lucas.
• T-Canon – Canon that comes from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
• C-Canon – Canon that comes from the novels, comics, video games, and elsewhere.
• S-Canon – Canon that is only canon if referenced by a C-Canon or higher source.
• N-Canon – Canon that isn’t canon at all, such as the Infinities comic series.

Videogame mechanics are always considered N-Canon. This means that regardless of what a character did during game play, his ability to do that may or may not be canon. It would only be canon if it played a part in the main storyline. Meaning in game play a class might be able to beat another class, that doesn’t mean they could do so storyline-wise.

Now, on to the main part of the question. In the novel “Star Wars: The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance” one of the main protagonists was an Imperial Agent who was displeased that non-Force Sensitives (henceforth abbreviated in this article as NFS’s) had no political power. It was stated that the Minister of Intelligence was the highest ranking position a NFS can get and it was also stated that he would never dare to disobey a Sith. This indicated that the Sith do not recognize the authority of NFS’s.

Though people like to point out, and rightly so, that in the biography section of the Holonet, we’re shown that there are NFS’s who seem to hold positions of power. These same people are very quick to point out that in the Sith Warrior Flashpoint The Black Talon (known to fans as “Kill the Captain,”) a Sith Warrior seems to be following the orders of a Grand Moff. These points of debate have caused this to rage back and forth for a very long time.

The fact is, however, that the Sith are basically set up like a pyramid scheme. You have, at the top, the Emperor. Below him are the Dark Council members. Below them are the Darths. Below them are legions of Sith. It is intrinsic to the Sith philosophy that Force Sensitives (henceforth in this article referred to as FS’s) are better than NFS’s by default. To allow NFS’s to hold sway over Sith would be to weaken the position of FS’s within the Empire.

At PAX East we did get to question some people about this, the answer that we got was simple, though I must state that this was information gathered by a conversation and not in the context of an official interview. As such this information may or may not be final or even accurate:

“The non-sensitives of the Empire aren’t second class citizens… The Moffs who have ties to the Dark Council are second class citizens. The other non-sensitives are third class citizens or slaves.”

That comment is very much in line with everything we know about Star Wars. It also makes sense when we consider that the Sith Warrior in The Black Talon Flashpoint seems to have no problem with not following the orders of the Grand Moff and choosing not to kill the Captain. Thus making the arguments based around that anecdotal and circumstantial at best.

The NFS biographies do present a bit of a stumbling point, until it is noted that it doesn’t contradict them being considered on a lower level. It is possible that a NFS might gain respect much the same way a slave can gain respect from their master. By being loyal, serving, and always knowing his place there is little doubt that a NFS within the Empire can gain respect, because to a Sith, bowing before your superior (especially when they are the superior) is being respectful and intelligent.

In any case, that is where I weigh in on this topic.

Thanks for reading everyone, and may the Force be with you.

Do you have a question for our Jedi-in-residence, Professor Walsh? Submit it via the form below, and we’ll be sure to pass it along to him when he emerges from meditation.