JEDI HoloNet

Like most fallen Jedi, Freedon Nadd is known almost exclusively for the time after his fall as a Sith Lord. Perhaps unsurprisingly as a result little is still known regarding Freedon Nadd’s time as a Jedi. What does still remain though serves as a clear warning to the generations of Jedi that have and will follow him.

While his original homeworld has been lost to the pages of history, it is known that Freedon Nadd was a young Human male who appeared at the Jedi academy on the world of Ossus for training. Whether it was during his early time as a student or even before he began his training is unclear, but apparently the Masters of the academy were astounded by Freedon Nadd’s knowledge of the Force and the proficiency with which he manipulated it. He was hailed as a prodigy during his time as a student and it seems the Masters if the academy held his potential high above those of his peers. It is curious then that when the Masters granted a number of the students the rank of Jedi Knight, Freedon Nadd was overlooked.

After pondering on the whys of the situation it is believed (although obviously no eye-witnesses accounts have been recorded) that Freedon Nadd approached his Master, Matta Tremayne, over why he had been over-looked for promotion to Knighthood. It is believed that up to this point Nadd had stoked his anger and frustration over the situation and accused his Master and indeed the Masters of the academy of hiding secrets and teachings from him, unwilling to share their knowledge. It was at this point (again, it is only believed) that Master Tremayne challenged Freedon Nadd to prove that he was indeed a Jedi and worthy of the “power that came with it.” A fierce duel ensued, resulting in the death of Master Tremayne. Overcome with grief and anger, Freedon Nadd fled Ossus, blaming Master Tremayne for her own death by playing games with him.

Despite his level of reputed power and abilty as a Sith Lord (and indeed a Sith Sorceror) it is perhaps worthy of note that Freedon Nadd never advanced past the rank of Padawan during his time as a Jedi. While some may find it curious, given his level of apparent ability, it is clear that Freedon Nadd was a most troubled individual who it seems had failed to grasp the core of Jedi teachings and philosophies.
All he saw with the position of Jedi Knight was the knowledge and the power it brought and it was due to this the Masters of the Ossus academy found him unworthy of the position. Perhaps after a period of reflection and realization Freedon Nadd would have realized why his promotion had been overlooked and he’d have been granted the position a few years later on and an enormous chunk of galactic history would have been quite different. As it happened, Freedon Nadd died on the world of Onderon as the head of its royal family at the age of fifty.

The lesson in the fall of Freedon Nadd should be clear. A Jedi should not crave power, or knowledge in the hopes of acquiring power. Also that they should rely on calm, deductive reasoning to reach conclusions over what troubles them, rather than let their emotions rage out of control, distorting their views as Freedon Nadd did when his promotion to Knighthood was overlooked. Freedon Nadd is yet another clear example of how even the “greatest” and most promising can, under the surface, be quite corrupt and easily fall.

Unsurprisingly almost nothing is known of Ajunta Pall. His homeworld, date of birth, where he was trained (although it is assumed to be Tython) and even his species are all lost to the turning of time. What he is known for however was his role in leading the Dark-Jedi in what came to be known as the Second Great Schism or the Hundred Year Darkness.

Ajunta Pall lived at a time when many mysteries and “uses” of the Force were still being learnt and discovered. A time when the Jedi Order was still young and loosely ordered and the Jedi Code had yet to be properly codified and refined by Odan Urr almost two-thousand years later. As a result of this the Jedi were far more “liberal” in their pursuit of studying the mysteries of the Force in that time. Some more liberally than others. One of these more “liberal” minded Jedi was Ajunta Pall. A number of Jedi (Pall included) had discovered a way to draw on large amounts of the Force and “bend” life, creating new creatures and lifeforms. It was also theorised at the time that they could revive the fallen and bring life to dead worlds.

Needless to say this work became frowned upon by the majority of Jedi at the time, seeing it as unnecessary tinkering of nature and possibly leading to unbridled abuse. The growing distrust and suspicion between the two parties eventually erupted into all-out war and the second sundering of the Jedi Order. With the Republic and the majority of the Jedi Order opposing them, these “Dark” Jedi created a large army of abominations (most notably the Leviathan and waged a war against the Jedi and the Republic that lasted a full century). With Ajunta Pall leading the Dark-Jedi, they met their eventual defeat at the Battle of Corbos and were exiled from Republic Space. The Exiles, as they came to be known, eventually landed on a world in the Outer Rim known as Korriban where they encountered a primitive race known as the Sith. The Exiles quickly set themselves up as the masters of the Sith who took to worshiping the newcomers as gods. With Ajunta Pall as the head of the exiles, he was appointed the first Dark Lord of the Sith and granted the title of “Jen’ari.” Ajunta Pall eventually died in the year 6895 BBY.

Ajunta Pall’s lesson is similar to that of other fallen Jedi in that he gave into his love of power. While some could easily argue that the original research and powers developed by the Dark-Jedi before the war was meant purely for the good, as a means to improve life, one can now see (admittedly with the benefit of hindsight) that such acts and abilities are a perversion of the natural order and, as such, the Forces will. With so much information missing from the period it is difficult to pin any specific blame even at the feet of Ajunta Pall himself. What is known though is that one should not take the Force for granted. One does not plume its depths without the utmost care and the overly curious and adventurous can end up with more trouble than they had imagined.

Exar Kun, like many Jedi who fall to the Dark Side, was noted for his talents and ability. While not hailed as something of a prodigy like others, his abilities as a Jedi Padawan were still considerable. This coupled with a rash and impatient atitude bred in Exar Kun a notable degree of pride and arrogance, neither of which are healthy to a Jedi in training, especially together. He was also known to show a fair amount of agression when duelling his fellow Padawans. Indeed, a few accounts label it as a “barely-controlled rage.” If this wasnt enough, Exar Kun also displayed an unhealthy interest in power, as evidenced when, by all accounts, he managed to acquire and view the contents of his Master’s holocron.

Exar Kun’s Master, Vodo-Siosk Baas, appears to have shown some degree of concern over the state of his Padawan, although it seems he was unable to curb the growing problem within his student. Exar Kun’s arrogance grew to such a degree that he believed he could master the Dark-Side while remaining free of its corruption. Master Baas warned him against such folly but, perhaps expectedly, his warnings were disregarded and ignored. In a final act of defiance it’s recorded that Exar Kun declared himself a Jedi Knight and, apparently, set course for the Mid-Rim world of Onderon.

What he found there and indeed, a large portion of his following travels are unrecorded.
When Exar Kun finally re-emerged however it was on Ossus. Even here accounts are scarce but it is believed that he approached the Master of Antiquities at the time, the legendary Jedi Master Odan Urr and somehow managed to acquire the Sith holocron in his posession. This encounter resulted in the tragic death of Master Odan Urr, the corruption of a multitude of younger Jedi Knights and the start of what became known as The Great Sith War. Exar Kun eventually died in the year 3996BBY on the moon of Yavin IV, his death bringing The Great Sith War to a close.

The lesson to be learned from Exar Kun is clear. Even when still a Jedi student, Exar Kun was clearly troubled with over-wheening pride and arrogance. He also had an unhealthy level of aggression for any Jedi and displayed a lust for power and ambition. Just one of these attributes in a Jedi student is cause for some concern, yet Exar Kun clearly displayed all five during the course of his training under Master Vodo-Siosk Baas. Any aspiring student should take note that be it aggression, ambition, arrogance, a lust for power or ambition, any of these can lead them down the path towards the Dark-Side.