Freedon Nadd was an ancient Jedi apprentice. He later fell to the dark side of the Force and apprenticed himself to Naga Sadow, an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith. Freedon Nadd claimed the rank of Dark Lord by murdering his Master, and crowned himself as the King of Onderon. After his physical death, Nadd’s spirit attempted to resurrect himself and have revenge on the Jedi. Nadd was completely destroyed on Yavin 4 by Exar Kun, the would-be Dark Lord. Freedon Nadd was the first Dark Lord of the Sith after the fall of the Old Sith Empire.
Biography
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| Freedon Nadd as seen in Vodo Siosk Baas’s Holocron |
Ambitious Jedi
Freedon Nadd was a Jedi student trained at the Jedi Temple on Ossus around 4,400 BBY. He was amazingly open and willing to touch the Force, which may have inevitably led him down the dark path. While strong in the Force, he failed his first true test, when he was told by the Jedi Masters at Ossus that he would not receive his promotion to become a Jedi Knight.
Enraged with the Masters’ decision, Freedon Nadd reached out to his anger and struck down Jedi Master Matta Tremayne in a lightsaber duel. Now, fallen to the dark side, beyond the point of no return. Nadd completely succumbed to the teachings of the Sith, and became proficient in the use of the dark side and the Sith teachings. Fleeing from Ossus, he set his ship’s course for deep within the ancient Sith Empire, eventually making planetfall on the world of Ashas Ree and finding the long lost Sith holocron of King Adas.
Sith career and King of Onderon
From this point, Nadd journeyed deeper into the old Empire, and eventually came to the jungle moon of Yavin 4, where he came across the ancient Dark Lord, Naga Sadow, and sought to complete his training under his tutelage. Before the completion of his training, however, Nadd felt he was strong enough to conquer and claim the Sith throne as his own. He murdered Naga Sadow and left Yavin 4.
After collecting many Sith artifacts from old Sith ruins, and feeling that his training was at long last finished, Nadd fled to Onderon. There, he proclaimed himself King and taught the Onderonians about Sith lore and magic. He spread legends of himself single-handedly using Sith magic to repel the Beast Riders; legends which spread down through generations on Onderon, until Nadd himself became somewhat of a god within Onderon truism for defeating the planet’s “wild beasts and aborigines.” Even after many years of “Beast Wars,” a civil war against the Beast Riders, they continued to pose a threat to the city of Iziz where Nadd ruled. Although his rule was cruel and opressive, his teachings were widely accepted by the Onderonian people. The dark side grew on Onderon as Nadd’s bloodlines were extended during his stay.
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| The remains of Freedon Nadd. |
Onderon was not cleansed with the death of Freedon Nadd, because physical death could not claim him. Nadd’s descendants often summoned his spirit in order to study the power of the dark side and the magic of the Sith. Thus time could not put Nadd’s dark techniques and influence to rest, as the rulers of Iziz constantly refreshed their skills and the presence of darkness, and the tomb of Nadd deep under the palace in Iziz became a focal point of the dark side. Around three hundred years after Nadd’s death, his direct descendant King Ommin rose to power. Nadd’s spirit taught Ommin the ways of the Sith, and later the pair corrupted Queen Amanoa to the dark side as well.
Nadd’s ultimate goal was to physically resurrect himself. By teaching his descendants well, Nadd hoped to find a powerful candidate to study Sith Alchemy and create a body to hold his spirit. To ensure Ommin or Amanoa would be powerful enough, Nadd made them to compete with each other.
Eventually, as Ommin lost the ability to control his body, Nadd realized that the couple had failed him: Ommin himself would never be strong enough to fulfill Nadd’s dream, while Amanoa would not further her study once her husband failed to compete with her anymore. Indeed, Queen Amanoa assumed the daily duties as the ruler of Onderon and abandoned her dark side study. Freedon Nadd told the woman she would be destroyed if she allowed the Beast Wars to fully erupt, hoping to con the Queen back to studying.
The Freedon Nadd Uprising
However, the Queen completely misunderstood Nadd. As a desperate measure of survival, Amanoa asked for the help of the Jedi. When negotiation failed, Queen Amanoa called upon the power of Freedon Nadd during her confrontation against a Jedi team led by Ulic Qel-Droma. During the chaos Amanoa fled to Nadd’s tomb, while Nadd’s dark power aided the Iziz defense forces against the intruding Beast Riders.
Jedi Master Arca Jeth arrived in time to use his Battle meditation technique to turn the tide of battle. Eventually Arca drove the darkness away from Amanoa, and prepared to move the sarcophagi of Nadd and Amanoa to Dxun.
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| Nadd’s spirit guides Satal Keto and Aleema to safety. |
However, Freedon Nadd’s revenge had just begun. King Ommin mustered a group of dark side followers to revolt, which resulted in the Naddists, led by Warb Null, stealing the sarcophagi of Nadd and Amanoa from the Jedi. In order to recover the sarcophagi, Master Arca visited King Ommin, but Nadd’s spirit appeared to confront the Jedi. With the help of Nadd’s dark power, Ommin defeated Arca and kidnapped him.
Retreating to his stronghold, King Ommin attempted to corrupt Arca to the dark side. Meanwhile two dark side initiates, Satal Keto and his cousin Aleema, visited King Ommin with a stolen Sith magic book, hoping the King’s dark side knowledge could translate it. Ommin gave Satal a Sith amulet which enabled him to read the book, in exchange for making a copy for himself. Ommin’s plan was short lived, as reinforced Jedi Knights stormed into his stronghold. As Ommin fought for his life, Nadd forsaked him, leaving King Ommin to his fate. The long dead Dark Lord saw potential in the Ketos, giving them not only the book and the amulet, but also a pair of Sith swords. After guiding the young initiates to safety, Nadd’s spirit confronted the Jedi and the dying Ommin. Nadd personally terminated the King and declared the defeat of the Jedi, but Master Arca called upon the light to drive Nadd’s spirit away.
At long last the Jedi were able to move Nadd’s remains to Dxun. In a tomb made of Mandalorian iron, the Jedi hoped to seal Nadd’s influence forever. But the long dead Dark Lord was far from defeated.
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| Freedon Nadd foretelling the destiny of Ulic Qel-Droma. |
Corrupting Exar Kun
Although his spirit was trapped in the new tomb on Dxun, he could still appear if a Sith amulet was activated. Ulic Qel-Droma discovered one such amulet on Onderon, and Nadd’s spirit appeared to speak of a new prophecy. Nadd claimed that the young Jedi would be one of the great Sith, but there would be another who would become even greater than Ulic.
Soon, another ambitious Jedi learner named Exar Kun learned the legend of Nadd. Abandoning his Master Vodo-Siosk Baas and the Jedi way, Exar Kun journeyed to Onderon for dark side knowledge. Getting no help from the Jedi there, Exar went to Dxun searching for Nadd’s new tomb. There he burned through the Mandalorian iron and entered the tomb, discovering it’s many Sith artifacts and the spirit of Freedon Nadd. The broken tomb could no longer trap the ancient spirit, and Nadd once again saw his chance. He commanded Exar to uncover two Sith scrolls, which would guide the young Jedi to Korriban.
On Korriban, Nadd’s spirit approached Exar and tricked him to trap himself. Nadd claimed to the injured Kun that only the dark side of the Force could save him. Refusing to join the dark side, Exar’s mind called for his Master. When Master Vodo received the call, the Jedi Master meditated with the light, trying to shield Exar from the dark side influence. Freedon Nadd detected Vodo’s interference, and in a masterful display of his dark power, Nadd attacked Vodo from light years away. Vodo suffered no injury, but was not able to help his apprentice anymore.
Receiving no help from his Master, Exar pledged himself to the dark side, and was healed by Nadd’s dark power. Nadd then led Exar to the resting place of the ancient Dark Lords, unleashing guardian beasts to attack Kun while Nadd himself took away Kun’s lightsaber. In order to survive, Exar Kun called upon the power of anger and slaughtered the beasts, thus gaining the approval of the ancient Sith spirits in the tomb.
The end of Freedon Nadd
Exar Kun then journeyed to Yavin 4 and was captured by Massassi warriors. In Naga Sadow’s temple, Exar was attacked by a monster made by Sadow’s Sith alchemy. Unable to defeat the monster by himself, Exar took the Sith amulet of Marka Ragnos to boost his dark power, eventually destroying the powerful monster. As Kun gained the loyalty of the Massassi, Nadd finally found what he desired for three centuries: a candidate strong enough to learn the lost art of Sith Alchemy, which could create a fresh body to hold Nadd’s spirit. Sensing the time of resurrection was near, Nadd urged Kun to study Sith Alchemy at once. Exar Kun had enough of Nadd’s guidance, however, and wiped out Nadd’s spirit once and for all with his new found power through the amulet. Before his ultimate destruction, Freedon Nadd appeared before Satal and Aleema one last time to warn them about Exar Kun, declaring Exar Kun as a pretender to the Dark throne. Freedon Nadd, the ancient Dark Lord of the Sith and King of Onderon, was finally destroyed.
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| The tomb of Freedon Nadd during the Onderon Civil War. |
Legacy of the Dark Lord
Approximately fifty years later, during the Onderon Civil War in 3,951 BBY, Nadd’s tomb on Dxun was occupied by Darth Nihilus‘s Sith forces, which allied with General Vaklu. This posed a threat to Canderous Ordo‘s Mandalorians, and their base on Dxun. Eventually, the Sith camp near the tomb was spotted by the Mandalorians, and three of the Jedi Exile’s allies were dispatched there. They broke through the Sith defenses, and killed a group of Dark Jedi and Sith Lords, who were performing a ritual in an attempt to siphon the tomb’s dark side powers, and very possibly to resurrect Nadd’s ancient spirit. The expedition scavenged through his sarcophagus and took several of his belongings, including his shoto.
Freedon Nadd’s legacy proved to be his biggest contribution to the dark side: a role in the formation of the powerful Order of the Sith Lords which would one day triumph over the Jedi and rule the Galaxy
Interesting Stuff
Freedon Nadd used a short lightsaber, which could be found as an usable item in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Another item of the Dark Lord which could be found in the game was a “Freedon Nadd’s Blaster,” a vile ranged weapon with a bronze surface which “has killed more Jedi than any lightsaber.””
