Maul wasn't a fake Sith [Opinion]

The idea Maul is somehow not a true Sith because Plagueis was alive throughout his entire apprenticeship to Plapagine always baffled me.

The Rule of 2 was never a determinant of legitimacy to the Sith title. It was a system the banite lineage should adhere to according to Bane, but it was being broken numerous times by later generations of Masters (take Venamis for instance). The Sith Order itself obviously preceeds the rule by millenia either way.

Yes, Plagueis knew of Maul's existance and specifically instructed Sidious to train him as a dark jedi assassin, like Ventress or Komari Vosa, not an actual Sith apprentice. But that’s what Plagueis wanted, not what actually happened. While Sidious did adjust Maul's training to Plagueis' instructions, he did extend it behind his master's back. He did dub him a Sith Lord and bestowed the title of Darth onto him. He taught him the history of the Sith and limited elements on the Grand Plan.

By the time of The Phantom Menace Sidious and Plagueis operated much more like a Masters' tendem than a usual Master & Apprentice dynamic anyway. In reality Sidious viewed himself as a true Master and manipulated Plagueis just as much as Maul, whom he viewed as his actual Sith apprentice, even if expendible.

Tyranus, even tho more knowledgeble and trained than Maul, was even more of an expendible tool for Sidious in the grand scheme of things.He planned his death from the start. Nobody seems to think he wasn’t a Sith because of that.

What does "legitimacy" to the Sith even mean? Each of the Order's iterations begun with an acolyte, usually fallen Jedi, claiming the title for themselves. The idea later Sith must be trained by a "true" Master to be considered legitimate is inconscequensial in that regard. What makes a Sith is basically understanding their knowledge and consciously adhering to their philosophy.

In Sith Empires of old even low-level inquisitors were considered Sith, simply not Sith Lords. Was Maul a full-quality Sith Lord by banite standards? Probably not, but he was definitely a true Sith apprentice trained as a Sith assassin. Same cannot be said about Dooku's accolytes or Imperial inquisitors for instance. There's a clear difference.

Thouhts?