Freedon Nadd

Freedon Nadd was an Old Republic Jedi prodigy whose conscious decision to embrace the dark side of the Force had a significant impact on galactic events for many generations after his death. Nadd's career began as a student in training on the planet Ossus, but a lust for greater power caused him to slay his Master, Matta Tremayne, and renounce his affiliation with the Jedi Order. He fled Ossus and made his way to the heart of the old Sith Empire, where he gained an enormous wealth of dark side knowledge. He eventually followed the Force to the jungle moon of Yavin 4, where he found and apprenticed himself to the ancient Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow. Sadow trained Nadd in the Sith arts, and led the young Jedi even further down the dark path. When he determined that he had learned all his Sith Master had to offer, Nadd used his newfound powers to kill Sadow and left Yavin 4 behind in search of a world to conquer as his own. He proclaimed himself Dark Lord of the Sith, and used his sorcerous powers to subjugate the world of Onderon, where he ruled as king from the capital of Iziz for more than a hundred years until his physical demise. His body was entombed below the royal palace of Iziz, which became a focal point of Sith power. Nadd's spirit lingered in the tomb, from whence it taught the descendants of his bloodline and further steeped Onderon in the miasma that was the dark side of the Force.

By 4000 BBY, the exaltation of Freedon Nadd's memory was the catalyst for the final battle of the centuries-spanning Beast Wars of Onderon, a conflict that arose between the citizens of Iziz who worshiped the deceased Dark Lord and those who had been cast out for their refusal to pledge allegiance to the Sith. A team of Jedi Knights led by Arkanian Master Arca Jeth came to Onderon, ended the battle, and brought a temporary halt to Nadd's influence over the planet with the defeat of Queen Amanoa. However, Amanoa's husband, King Ommin, reasserted Sith influence over the planet when he summoned Freedon Nadd's spirit from Chaos. The restored Naddist cult then rose up in arms and stole the Dark Lord's sarcophagus in a surprise attack during Amanoa's funeral. Nadd revealed himself to the Jedi and participated in the capture of Arca Jeth, who was ultimately rescued by the Jedi after the defeat of King Ommin during the final stages of the Naddist insurrection. Conceding failure, Nadd abandoned Ommin to the mercy of the Jedi, and his spirit was forever banished from Onderon by the power of Arca Jeth. Prior to his departure, however, Nadd happened upon Tetan heirs Aleema and Satal Keto—who had come to Onderon in search of dark side knowledge—and chose to pass the Sith teachings on to them. While Nadd's tomb was relocated to Onderon's jungle moon by the Jedi, his spirit appeared to one of them, Ulic Qel-Droma, and foretold the young Knight's destiny as a Lord of the Sith.

For months Freedon Nadd trained the Ketos in Sith magic, but his interests shifted when Exar Kun, a powerful fallen Jedi with dark side curiosities, stirred the Dark Lord's spirit from within his lunar grave. Nadd guided Kun to the ancient Sith homeworld of Korriban where, through a series of trials designed to test his resolve, he decided that Exar Kun was worthy of Sith apprenticeship. Nadd then led Kun to the ancient dwellings of his own Sith Master on Yavin 4 and was pleased when Kun wholeheartedly embraced the Sith after he defeated an enormous Sith wyrm and subjugated the native Massassi warriors. Finally convinced that his apprentice had become one with the dark side, Nadd revealed his need for Exar Kun to create a physical body for him through alchemical means, that he might once again command the power of the Force. Kun, however, refused to entertain Nadd any longer, and in that moment betrayed him. His apprentice's strength tremendously amplified by a Sith amulet, Nadd was attacked by Kun with a potent blast of Force energy that mortally wounded the Sith spirit. Consigned to oblivion for a second time, Nadd contacted the Ketos in his final act and warned them of the threat that Exar Kun posed. He then declared that, along with Ulic Qel-Droma, the future of the Sith rested with Satal and Aleema, before fading into Chaos and dying a second death.

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