Star Wars’ One Sith was an order established by Darth Krayt, one that rejected the ancient Sith Rule of Two in favor of one Lord of the Sith with countless followers organized into a singular entity. While the One Sith came about later in Star Wars canon than the Jedi Order (as it was meant to be a resurgence of the original Sith Empire), and was even much smaller than the resurgent Jedi Order, it was still far more powerful during Star Wars’ Legacy era. And the creative mind behind this Star Wars era explains exactly why.
Star Wars: Legacy was a Dark Horse Comics series created by John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, and exists in the Expanded Universe (which has been designated Legends). The series follows Luke Skywalker’s descendant Cade Skywalker, who has renounced his Skywalker name and has become a bounty hunter. Meanwhile, the ultimate evil of this era, Darth Krayt, has aligned himself with the current government – the Fel Empire – and is angling to usurp the governing dynasty and rule the galaxy himself.
In Legacy, it’s revealed that Darth Krayt isn’t a new villain, but has been silently building the One Sith in the background of Star Wars canon since immediately following the Clone Wars. Operating in secret on the planet Korriban, Darth Krayt has been indoctrinating Force-sensitive children into the ways of the dark side, creating an army that was finally ready to be launched against the galaxy by the Legacy era. However, the Jedi Order has been rebuilt as well, and in great numbers. Though rather than being unified to serve one purpose, the Jedi are scattered across the galaxy, doing their jobs as independent peacekeepers wherever they are needed. Unfortunately, that lack of cohesion against the One Sith made the Jedi far weaker – and John Ostrander confirms it.
In a 2006 interview with Wizard Magazine (archived in Wayback Machine), John Ostrander made it clear that, during the Star Wars: Legacy age, the Jedi Order hasn’t been annihilated by any means, simply scattered across the galaxy. To get an idea of the threat the Jedi Order is up against, Ostrander was then asked how many Sith were active at this time. Ostrander’s answer was as follows:
So, assuredly in an effort to clarify, Ostrander was then asked if the Sith actually outnumbered the Jedi at this time. Ostrander’s answer was as follows:
The whole point of the One Sith is to be a unified body working towards a singular goal: complete galactic control. Darth Krayt wanted to usher in a new age for the Sith, one that was reminiscent of the Sith Empire of old. That’s why he did away with the Rule of Two, as Krayt believed that to be the reason why the Sith hadn’t ruled as they could have all this time. Plus, the Sith are a dark side army who have been trained for decades to conquer the galaxy (and they weren’t afraid to outsource to bounty hunters as well). Meanwhile, the new Jedi Order was much more independent and pacifistic than the Order from the age of the Clone Wars, as they were trained to be peacekeepers, not soldiers.
The Jedi weren’t militarized, and they were already spread thin across the galaxy before the One Sith launched its attack against the Jedi’s Temples, which is exactly why the One Sith were far stronger in Star Wars, despite the creative mind behind Legacy confirming their numbers were smaller.
Source: Wizard Magazine (archived in Wayback Machine)