Episode VII. What is the Ancient Fear?

If you were the Jedi Order what would you fear?

To answer that question we’ll borrow a line from Jedi Master Yoda.  In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Yoda says, "Always two there are, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice.”  The Star Wars universe has established this as the Rule of 2.  According to Star Wars Wikipedia page the Rule of 2 is defined as “that there must be only two Sith Lords at a time: a master to embody power, and an apprentice to crave it and eventually overthrow his master and adopt an apprentice of his own.”

The ancient fear referred to in the working title for Episode VII is simple; the Sith are no longer following the Rule of 2.



A master and an apprentice.

In the six previous installments of the Star Wars franchise we’ve always seen the Jedi battling one Dark Lord of the Sith at a time with brief moments against two at the end of each of the trilogies. Think about a movie where the likes of Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader, and Darth Sidious were all on the screen at the same time, would that be something you were interested in watching? 

We're facing the realistic possibility of three films where Luke Skywalker and a fragile new Jedi Order are faced with the daunting task of battling numerous Sith Lords.  Count me in for that.

*Just to elaborate on this a little more, here is how I would have the story play out.  I would have the back story be that Christopher Lee's character (Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus), having been a member of the Jedi order, never truly saw the rational behind the Rule of 2.  Dooku decides to take on his own apprentice in secret and thus sets the ball in motion for a Sith Academy on a remote planet.  Based on his age, the character that Max von Sydow is playing would make sense to be Dooku's former apprentice and master of the Sith academy.  In the 50 years since Dooku's death, the academy very well could have amassed hundreds of Sith Lords who finally feel the time is right to strike and usher in the age of the Sith Order.