Dark Council

The Dark Council was the supreme governing body of the Sith Empire. A twelve-member council that served as the ruling body throughout much of the Empire's history. Each member of the Dark Council held the title of Dark Lord of the Sith and controlled one of the twelve Spheres of Influence within the Sith Empire, making the Council the most powerful individuals in the Empire below the Sith Emperor himself. Seats on the council were hotly contested among the Sith, with the tenures of some councilors lasting only months while others lasted decades, and every single individual within the entire Empire ultimately answered to one member of the Council through the Imperial hierarchy of power bases.

Since its inception at the Sith Empire's founding in 4980 BBY, the Dark Council tried and failed to overthrow the Emperor twice and its members were purged as a result. After the true plans of Emperor Vitiate came to light, the Dark Council declared Vitiate a traitor and renounced his status as Emperor and became the dominant power of the Empire. Shortly after the conquest of the Eternal Empire, Darth Marr died at the hands of Valkorion, Darth Nox and the Empire's Wrath had disappeared and with that majority of the Dark Council had either been killed or disappeared leaving only Darth Acina to declare herself Empress of the Sith.

Text and facts from the “Dark Council” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.