There can be only... how many?

[Jedi Master Spock]

"Always two there are. No more, no less." - Yoda

"The last of the Jedi Knights." - Description applied to Luke.

On the other hand...

... Luke isn't the last hope, as Yoda points out to Ben's ghost. Leia is waiting in the wings as a backup.

... where was Count Dooku during TPM when Darth Maul was the apprentice of Darth Sidious?

... why are dark force users - and even ones with ties to the Sith tradition - a dime a dozen in the EU?

... most importantly, why does the original Star Wars novel talk about "other Dark Lords" when it introduces Vader? Has the Emperor simply broken tradition? Was this simply an early decision that was later changed?

Sometimes, it seems as though there were no more than two active Jedi or Sith at a time - Sidious and Maul, then Dooku, then Anakin; Yoda and Obi-wan, Obi-wan and Luke, Yoda and Luke; other times, it seems implausible that more aren't out there. We see the Jedi massacre in ROTS - is it really so believable that every single Jedi but Obi-wan and Yoda actually bit the dust? Surely there were some on covert missions out of contact with the Temple in any case, left untouched by Order 66. Is it really so believable that one line of Sith could exist for a thousand years with no branches, no secondary lines, and Vader the only Dark Lord of the Emperor?

[GStone]

For the sith, I'd guess the ones that actually make up the line are the ones with the most knowledge. Given that there are ones that probably either would have defected or escaped, trying to hide themselves, they would have cloaked themselves in the Force, so they didn't set off any 'alarms' and relied more on technology and other nonForce methods to do things.

When Yoda says Luke is the last of the Jedi, even when counting Leia, this is true. She isn't a jedi. She hasn't been told she's got the same potential Luke had. She's never had any training. Like her father, her jedi traits are really limited. Plus, with Qui-Gon and Ben being ghosts, you'd think that they'd be able to search out from what they knew themselves about other jedi out in the galaxy. Yoda would have done his own searching probably. So after 30 years, I think it's reasonable that the statement that Luke is the last Jedi is accurate. The ones that got to the rank of just jedi and not necessarily jedi master would still count. Even those that were students would still fall under the classification of 'jedi' if you broadened the definition because they were in the process of attaining the ranks that lead up to full fledge jedi, whatever they were. Issues involving full jedi and/or their students are considered 'Jedi business'. Jedi aren't the only ones to get assignments from the Jedi Council, too.

[Mike DiCenso]

Jedi Master Spock wrote:

... Luke isn't the last hope, as Yoda points out to Ben's ghost. Leia is waiting in the wings as a backup.

But not trained as a Jedi as Luke has.

... where was Count Dooku during TPM when Darth Maul was the apprentice of Darth Sidious?

As I recall the novelizations correctly, Dooku was not yet a Sith apprentice, but a Jedi master who resigned from the Order and became a politican, and becomes Palpatine/Sidious' apprentice some two years or so thereafter.

... why are dark force users - and even ones with ties to the Sith tradition - a dime a dozen in the EU?

It's another SW fanwank tradition; Dark Jedi/Sith are cool. With Vader and Palpatine gone, the authors needed something else to fill in their place as far as the Dark Side of the Force is concerned. Unfortunately for them, George Lucas had his own ideas about the Force and how the Sith and Jedi traditions work, and thus in TPM we are introduced to the idea that at any one time there are only two Sith: a master and an apprentice.

... most importantly, why does the original Star Wars novel talk about "other Dark Lords" when it introduces Vader? Has the Emperor simply broken tradition? Was this simply an early decision that was later changed?

Do you have the full quote/context/page number for that?

Sometimes, it seems as though there were no more than two active Jedi or Sith at a time - Sidious and Maul, then Dooku, then Anakin; Yoda and Obi-wan, Obi-wan and Luke, Yoda and Luke; other times, it seems implausible that more aren't out there. We see the Jedi massacre in ROTS - is it really so believable that every single Jedi but Obi-wan and Yoda actually bit the dust? Surely there were some on covert missions out of contact with the Temple in any case, left untouched by Order 66. Is it really so believable that one line of Sith could exist for a thousand years with no branches, no secondary lines, and Vader the only Dark Lord of the Emperor?

The EU book "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader" deals in great detail with Jedi survivors other than Yoda and Obi-Wan:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Lor ... arth_Vader

-Mike

[Jedi Master Spock]

Here we go - it's not really firm, just a little strange in not emphasizing Vader's uniqueness:

Two meters tall. Bipedal. Flowing black roes trailing from the figure and a face forever masked by a functional if bizarre black metal breath screen - a Dark Lord of the Sith was an awesome, threatening shape as it strode through the corridors of the rebel ship.

Fear followed in the footsteps of all the Dark Lords. The cloud of evil which clung tight about this particular one was intense enough to cause hardened Imperial troops to back away, menacing enough to set them muttering nervously among themselves. Once-resolute rebel crew members ceased resisting, broke and ran in panic at the sight of the black armor - armor which, though black as it was, was not nearly as dark as the thoughts drifting through the mind within.

[Mike DiCenso]

I remember this passage. The first paragraph clearly is only refering to Vader, while the second is far more ambigous; suggesting, but not very clearly that there may be more than one current Dark Lord of the Sith. However, you can also interpret it to mean that there have been other Sith Lords, and Vader just happens to be the latest of them, again without contradicting the PT information. Technically also there is the fact that Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) is also a Dark Lord of the Sith, and so using the multiple Dark Lords in this case isn't entirely out of line.
-Mike

[2046]

suggesting, but not very clearly that there may be more than one current Dark Lord of the Sith. However, you can also interpret it to mean that there have been other Sith Lords, and Vader just happens to be the latest of them, again without contradicting the PT information.

Given that "Fear followed" and such is in the past tense, that's workable. The text seems to shift tense ever so slightly here and there, though ("trailing", "muttering", etc.), which actually helps a bit insofar as putting the following fear as a general, non-time-specific parameter. Of course then we get specific about the one in question.

In short, well said.

[SailorSaturn13]

Sith are only one in many Dark Jedi groups. There are also "Greedies ", using Force for their personal gains and co. "Sith" are from order of the Sith, and there are only two.