re: Jar Jar Binks was a Powerful Force User?

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The Rule of Two was meant to be law,

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The Sith are stated to be completely devoted to the Dark Side, purely evil as it were.

Palpatine fit that.
Maul appears to be, but doesn't last very long while facing just 2 Jedi... possibly he was evil and a Force user but not up to Sith standards (he definitely didn't seem to be involved in any deep strategy, just a warrior).
Dooku was a disillusioned Jedi, and a charismatic leader. He may well have been somewhat honest in his appeal to Obi Wan to join him vs the Sith, as he could have felt the Jedi's mission was already lost. Again, possibly just a pawn, as there were no mentions of him in the first movie, yet he's assumed to be the 2nd Sith after Maul goes down.
Grevious is a villain, but nobody considered him a Sith.

Vader? He entered this with good intent, but clouded judgement. Widely assumed to be the 2nd Sith (and he's called this), but he's again not involved in any strategy, he just carries out missions... and whines about the power of the Dark Side, and plots against the Emperor.

If the Rule of Two is in play, maybe the actual 2 Sith are completely evil/dark, and manipulating things on a much larger scale. No emotional vendettas, no misled intentions; just complete devotion and a clear, well-designed long-term plan.

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Bane's rule of two just needed an amendment. Two Sith Lords to carry on the Sith line and teachings, and a bunch of underling Sith for other shite (like hitmen) that are not intended to know everything and not intended to carry on the Sith teachings.

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And that's where this goofy Jar Jar theory begins to fit in. If Palpatine and Binks are the 2 true Sith, then NONE of these others actually are anything other than tools, and defeating them does nothing to affect the Dark Side, Vader included.

Oh, and then the Anakin prophecy actually becomes a lot more literal: he "brings balance to the Force"; by eliminating all Force users, except 2: Luke, who rejects the Dark Side, and ... Jar Jar? , who would be the final Sith. Balance: one on each side, each capable of starting anew.

edited to clarify: there would be other Force users and adepts, but none with the knowledge or skill to truly shape events, just swordsmen.

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The Rule of Two was meant to be law, but often broken. Considering when the rule was brought about, I don't think it was a ploy to fool the Jedi.

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Yep. The whole point of the rule was to ensure that the next Sith master was always stronger than the last. Sith trains his apprentice who eventually seeks that power and kills the master, and the cycle is repeated.

Also note that the trade federation never once goes after any gungan settlements. In fact, the Gungans are completely neutral until Jar Jar convinces them to ally with the Naboo regime against the Trade Federation.

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The Rule of Two was meant to be law, but often broken. Considering when the rule was brought about, I don't think it was a ploy to fool the Jedi.


Yep. The whole point of the rule was to ensure that the next Sith master was always stronger than the last. Sith trains his apprentice who eventually seeks that power and kills the master, and the cycle is repeated.

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The big problem that presents with the Rule of Two and assuming the second Sith to be Maul/Dooku/Vader is this: there were a lot of Jedi capable of taking down these apparent apprentices; none required a Jedi Master to beat them (Obi defeated Vader but didn't kill him), and one Master (Yoda) fought Palpatine to a standstill.

That's a piss-poor balance of power. If the 2 opposing camps are really almost equal in power, it makes more sense for the 2 Sith to be far stronger than any 2 Jedi.

Fuel for the Binks/Palpatine theory: they were the two Sith, and each were aware of the Prophecy, and Anakin's importance. They both intended to subvert him, because they understood he would destroy the Jedi. Palpatine, being the apprentice, attempted to cultivate him in order to defeat his master (Binks) at some point, and become the Top Sith (with Vader assuming the 2nd role);

Binks (the main Sith) saw that Anakin/Vader was toxic and would take everyone around him down, and stayed back, allowing Palpatine to do the heavy lifting, knowing Vader would eventually bring him down too.

Dear God, this actually could make sense!

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Yea, for this theory to actually work, there really isn't a point to having the rule of 2. There really isn't a point of even bringing it up in the movies.

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Well, the concept that there are 2 Sith is brought up in the prequels only, yes. But while we are led to believe various folks are Sith, we really ONLY know Palpatine is one.
We assume Maul is one because the Jedi think he is, because he uses the Dark Side and fights them. But he's killed by a Knight and his padawan. Not really a true threat to the Jedi, overall.
We then assume Dooku is one, because he is a powerful dark Jedi and Palpatine's new 2nd in command. He then goes down facing 2 Knights (about the same circumstances as Maul).
Grevious then assumes 2nd in command, and nobody thinks he is a Sith. However, based on the number of lightsabers he's collected, it seems he is more dangerous to Jedi than the first two guys.
We then go with Vader.

The thing is, everything is based on the idea that Palpatine is actually the top Sith, and by him handing out Darth titles, his subordinate is the second Sith. But the fact is, he runs through a bunch of these subordinates, both "Sith" and otherwise, and only Vader lasts and accomplishes a lot... and Luke senses there is still good in him (which would contradict the true Sith notion). And since there was the Prophecy about Vader doing something, it would stand to reason that he would make a mess of the status quo.

Again, I don't care for the Binks theory, don't buy it, but there is a lot of rationale that makes it valid.
And in 1980, I didn't care for the "I am your father" part either

So basically the Usual Suspects with Jar Jar coming out as a Sith?

My theory is that Palpatine turned on Jar Jar when he purged the aliens from the Senate. Jar Jar faked his own death and went into hiding, similar to yoda. He will turn back up at some point in the new series as either an anti Yoda, trying to mold a protagonist to the dark side or as the dark lord who began training Kai-lo Ren.

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Well, the concept that there are 2 Sith is brought up in the prequels only, yes. But while we are led to believe various folks are Sith, we really ONLY know Palpatine is one.
We assume Maul is one because the Jedi think he is, because he uses the Dark Side and fights them. But he's killed by a Knight and his padawan. Not really a true threat to the Jedi, overall

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Well, I believe Palpatine calls him a Sith Lord or something, and considering he is a Darth, that's a pretty good indications he's a Sith. Plus, Qui Gon is basically a master skill wise, just doesn't play politics. Plus, just because he is a Sith doesn't mean he is unbeatable. I mean, he beat Qui Gon, that is no small feat.

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then assume Dooku is one, because he is a powerful dark Jedi and Palpatine's new 2nd in command. He then goes down facing 2 Knights (about the same circumstances as Maul).

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I believe Obi Wan was a master at this point. He also dominates them in AOTC and more than holds his own against Yoda.

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The thing is, everything is based on the idea that Palpatine is actually the top Sith

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I mean, it's not really an idea. There is nothing provided suggesting at all that he isn't. Why are you assuming that all his apprentices are supposed to be world beaters. Though one beat Qui Gon, one went toe to toe with Yoda. These aren't just subordinates

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Plus, you know, that whole scene where the cloaked future emperor tells the Trade Federation dudes that "I'm sending my apprentice to assist" or something like that. So...we are told that he is a Sith.

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No, we are told Maul is Sideous' apprentice. We assume that makes him a fellow Sith; and by accepting the Darth title, it's clear he WANTS to be one. There's a subtle difference from actually being one, though. Grevious was also a prominent anti-Jedi figure, and he also had an ominous title, but he never presumed to call himself a Sith.

Oh, I know. Palpatine is the big bad, and when he tells Anakin the tale of Darth Plageus, he's clearly telling us how he became who he is.

But still, there are plenty of unspoken assumptions made by the audience, that you could work around. All of the various Sith rules came after the original trilogy, I believe. There was no rule of 2 then, and we didn't really get any impression of the Emperor's powers until he lit Luke up with lightning. And I really don't think he was Darth Sideous then, just Emperor Palpatine. Wasn't until the prequels that they started with all the various little rules and titles. Sith guy was Darth (vaguely ominous word), Rule of Two, etc. Then, various books and games further shaped all of the rules.

Truthfully, the Binks theory is a troll that is well researched, but if you wanted to, it wouldn't be very hard to add another layer to the whole story: the 2 Sith were the REAL Siths, and Palpatine is one of those 2; and the lesser of those 2. He made the bolder, splashier moves, the more blatant power grabs in general society, and he bequeathed the Darth title to various ambitious persons as he sought to further his power. The other Sith could have been far more anonymous, far less grandiose, and yet more powerful in the cosmic nature of the Dark Side of the Force; and remained under the radar, while Sideous provoked the entire Galaxy into war with him. Because, you know, the ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force. And thus, he's remained while Sideous wrought his own destruction, and continues to wreak terrible havoc from afar... a malignant blight on all existence.