The Seventh Battle of Ruusan marked the definitive end to the New Sith Wars. Although six other battles occurred on the planet during the war's closing stages, this final, crucial battle is the one most often remembered, primarily due to the deployment of the thought bomb. It is usually referred to as simply the Battle of Ruusan. Furthermore, this event directly precipitated the Ruusan Reformation within the Galactic Republic.
Commencing 2,000 years prior to the Battle of Yavin, the New Sith Wars raged for a millennium, encompassing internal strife among the Sith as well as large-scale offensives against the Galactic Republic. At one point during this prolonged conflict, the Sith controlled the majority of the galaxy. However, the Army of Light gradually reclaimed the Republic's territories through decades of intense fighting.
Ultimately, the Sith retreated to Ruusan, where, following two years of conflict with the Jedi across six distinct battles, they faced imminent defeat.
In the decisive seventh battle of Ruusan, the Jedi Lord Valenthyne Farfalla achieved a crushing victory over the Sith. Darth Bane, a Sith Lord who sought to dismantle the Brotherhood of Darkness and restructure the Sith Order, indirectly assisted the Jedi. He commanded the Sith's Fleet to deviate from formation and engage the Jedi, thereby giving the Jedi a strategic advantage and forcing the Sith to withdraw. Unbeknownst to either side, Bane harbored ulterior motives. Skere Kaan, another Sith Lord, and his forces retreated into caves, intending to detonate the thought bomb provided by Bane, with the goal of annihilating the Jedi. However, Bane was deceiving Kaan, as the Thought Bomb would actually obliterate every Force-sensitive being within its blast radius. When Farfalla and his troops arrived at the Caves, the Sith guards surrendered, and Sith Lord Kopecz informed him of Kaan's plan before dying in a duel with Farfalla. Upon Hoth and his forces arrival, Farfalla informed him of Kaan's plan. Hoth and 99 other Jedi went inside the Cave to apprehend Kaan and the Brotherhood, despite knowing that they were sure to meet their deaths.
In a desperate gambit, Kaan, the Sith leader, detonated the thought bomb, instantly obliterating every Force-sensitive individual within its range. Lord Farfalla, following Lord Hoth's final instructions, retreated with the majority of the Army of Light. Bane emerged as the sole surviving Sith. While departing the battlefield, he encountered a young girl named Zannah, whom he would take as his apprentice according to his new rule.
The culmination of the final confrontation on Ruusan resulted in the apparent demise of the Sith and the restructuring of the Republic, as well as the Jedi Order.
Subsequently, the Jedi Johun Othone erected a monument on the battlefield to honor the fallen Jedi of the war. This site became known as the Valley of the Jedi, a potent Force nexus. For over a millennium, the spirits of Hoth, Kaan, and countless other Jedi and Sith remained trapped within the Valley, until their liberation by mercenary-turned-Jedi Kyle Katarn in 5 ABY.
Unbeknownst to the Jedi, Bane had survived and perpetuated the Sith Order under his new doctrine, the Rule of Two. Presuming the Sith's annihilation, they were able to operate in secret, beginning with Bane and Zannah. The Sith remained hidden within the Republic until their existence was revealed with the rise of Emperor Palpatine, whose apprentices included Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, and ultimately Darth Vader.
The return of [Anakin Skywalker](/article/anakin_skywalker-legends], formerly Darth Vader, to the light, coupled with the demise of the Emperor, the last true master of Darth Bane's reformed Sith Order, fulfilled the prophecy of the [Chosen One](/article/chosen_one-legends] who would "bring balance to the Force".
In the fifth installment of the blog series Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Warfare Author's Cut, while discussing a deleted section presenting a different perspective on the Battle of Ruusan, author Paul R. Urquhart noted that the battle's real-world counterparts were the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War and the Battle of Waterloo during the Napoleonic Wars.