In the Ahsoka premier, a pretty huge name was dropped: the Eye of Sion, whom true “Star Wars” enthusiasts will recognize as one of the most powerful Sith Lords of all time. But who was Darth Sion, and does this reference mean we can expect to see a connection to the self-titled Lord of Pain on Ahsoka, the new series on Disney+? 

Geeze, Dave, Name Drop Much! 

It’s clear Dave Filoni, creator of the beloved Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and now Ahsoka (streaming on Disney Plus), is a fan of Star Wars Legends ( (a non-canonical Star Wars timeline), cherry-picking from lore like the Timothy Zahn original Thrawn Trilogy and The Courtship of Princess Leia. This was no clearer than when the Eye of Sion, a massive hyperspace transport ring (Filoni’s take on a Stargate), just happens to share a name with a famous Sith that fans of “Knights of the Old Republic 2” will surely recognize. And if you didn’t play “KOTOR II,” well, that’s why Google was invented. 

According to Legends, about 4000 years ago, give or take a few decades, Sith Lord Exar Kun led a crusade against the Jedi Knights. But while Exar Kun was busy hunting down Sith artifacts and dealing with annoying Jedi like the Qel Droma brothers, Darth Sion was busy kicking a$$ and taking names. 

Darth Sion was one of Kun’s Marauders, serving a similar (but certainly more violent) role as Jedi Knights, but whereas Jedi Knights were peacekeepers, marauders were war bringers. Darth Sion was driven by bloodthirsty combat. But he felt the flesh was weak and fueled his dark rage by the pain he inflicted on others and, in turn, had inflicted on him. As a little green guy once said, “Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering,” and boy did Darth Sion suffer for his hate.

A Pathway Most Unnatural  

Much like light Jedi Ghosts, the Sith also have ways to extend their lifespan. Palpatine did this through Sith alchemy and cloning, but Sion’s approach was more straightforward. Darth Sion was overconfident, to say the least, believing that the Dark Side of the Force made him all but invincible. And for a while, that theory held true. Until one fine day, Darth Sion met his match at the hands of a particularly talented Jedi Knight, and well… he died. 

Unlike other Sith before him, after his first death, his spirit lingered, refusing to pass on. Instead, his anger fueled a dark resurrection – the Dark Side surged through him, and he arose as a sort of Sith revenant, a zombie, a force vampire that feeds on pain. Whatever you call it, Darth Sion was, for all intents and purposes, an immortal undead Sith. And then he promptly killed the Jedi that killed him. Wah-wah.

So, as you might expect, an unkillable Sith Warrior is, like, um, bad news for Jedi. Darth Sion embarked on what can only be described as an orgy of slaughter, and the Jedi didn’t fare so well; in fact, this period is lovingly referred to as the First Jedi Purge. Oh, more than a few Jedi killed Darth Sion again and again and again, but he just kept getting back up. While the Dark Side of the Force did hold him together, technically, much like any zombie, his body festered like an open wound as more and more of his flesh was claimed by wounds that would not heal. More importantly, while Darth Sion was technically able to live forever, the question was what he was living for.