In Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, we watched as Palpatine issued Order 66, commanding the clone army to storm the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and wipe out the Order once and for all. But did you know that wasn’t the first time the Jedi Temple was destroyed?
Long before the Clone Wars, over 3,600 years earlier, another Sith Lord led an assault that brought the Temple to its knees. His name was Darth Malgus, and his invasion of Coruscant remains one of the bloodiest events in galactic history.
This story doesn’t come from modern canon, but from Star Wars Legends, specifically the Old Republic era, a time when the Sith Empire still rivaled the Republic for control of the galaxy.
The Deception Before the Strike
The event, known as the Sacking of Coruscant, took place in 3,653 BBY during the Great Galactic War. While the Republic believed peace talks were underway on Alderaan, the Sith were quietly preparing an ambush.
The Sith delegation, sent by the Dark Council, arrived under the guise of negotiating a ceasefire. Meanwhile, Darth Malgus’s fleet slipped through hyperspace toward Coruscant, undetected.
As the Jedi and Republic diplomats discussed peace, the Sith Empire unleashed its full might. Orbital bombardments hammered the city-planet, and Sith warriors descended upon the capital in waves. The illusion of peace had served its purpose, Coruscant was defenseless.
Malgus Destroyed the Jedi Temple into Ashes
At the heart of the attack stood Darth Malgus, leading the assault directly against the Jedi Temple.
As seen in Star Wars: The Old Republic’s cinematic trailer Deceived and detailed further in Paul S. Kemp’s novel, Malgus spearheaded the attack himself. His ship crashed through the Temple’s great entrance, tearing apart the massive doors as his Twi’lek companion Eleena Daru fought at his side. Smoke and fire filled the air as Sith warriors ignited their crimson blades, storming through the marble halls that had once been symbols of serenity.
Inside, the Jedi defenders gathered to resist the invasion. Among them was Master Ven Zallow, one of the Order’s finest duelists. He met Malgus head-on in the Temple atrium, their lightsabers clashing in a fierce and symbolic battle between light and dark. Zallow fought with the calm precision of the Jedi Order, but Malgus was a storm of rage and brutality, fighting not just to kill, but to prove the superiority of the Sith.
Their duel was short but unforgettable. As blaster fire and explosions echoed through the Temple corridors, Malgus struck Zallow down, driving his blade through the Jedi’s chest. The fall of Ven Zallow became the defining image of the Sacking of Coruscant.
The Aftermath of the Sacking
After Ven Zallow’s fall, the Jedi Temple lay in ruins. Smoke and fire poured from its shattered spires, and the symbol of the Order crumbled into dust. Darth Malgus stood among the wreckage, watching Coruscant burn as Imperial warships unleashed bombardments across the city. For him, it was the realization of a vision — the moment he had foreseen on Korriban, when he would finally break the Jedi’s hold on the galaxy.
But his triumph didn’t last long. Though Malgus believed the Sith would annihilate Coruscant completely, his superiors had other plans. Darth Angral, commanding the overall invasion, and his political ally Lord Adraas used the devastation as leverage for negotiation. While Malgus led the assault, the Sith Dark Council had been secretly holding “peace talks” with the Republic on Alderaan. The invasion was never meant to destroy, it was meant to intimidate.
As the smoke settled, Angral ordered a halt to the bombardment. Instead of finishing the planet, the Sith demanded unconditional surrender in exchange for peace. Coruscant was occupied, the Jedi were scattered, and the Republic, desperate and humiliate, had no choice but to sign what became known as the Treaty of Coruscant.
To Malgus, this was betrayal. He saw it as proof that the Dark Council was corrupt and weak, more interested in politics than victory. He had envisioned total destruction of the Republic, but his masters turned his conquest into a diplomatic stunt. The anger that defined Malgus’s life began to shift inward, fueling his eventual rebellion against the very Sith Empire he had fought to expand.
Malgus’s Disillusionment and the Fall of Eleena Daru
In the days following the assault, Malgus’s bitterness deepened. His lover, the Twi’lek Eleena Daru, was injured during the battle, and his rivals, particularly Lord Adraas, used her against him. When Malgus discovered that Adraas had denied her proper medical treatment, mocking her as a “mongrel,” the Sith Lord’s fury erupted. Their confrontation nearly turned into a duel in front of Darth Angral himself.
To the rest of the Empire, Malgus was a war hero. To himself, he was a weapon betrayed, a reminder that the Sith’s lust for control could even corrupt victory. His devotion to Eleena, rare for a Sith, would later be tested to the breaking point, ultimately leading to tragedy. But that’s another story, one that shows why Malgus, despite his power, could never truly be loyal to either side.