I think one question is to what extent Ryman's Sith is like the real Sitha. I'm not sure I'm really comfortable with either possibility -- very similar or very different -- but I think knowing which it is would help us pin down what Ryman was trying to do with the story. Because I doubt he made that choice casually -- I don't think this is a case where a writer produced a problematic story by not putting enough thought into it, I think it's a case of Ryman shooting for something and missing. I'm just not entirely certain what that "something" is.