Wookieepedia:Featured article queue/June 10, 2010

The Duel on Rhen Var was a lightsaber battle that took place in the year 3,986 BBY between the former Sith Lord Ulic Qel-Droma and the Cathar Jedi Knight Sylvar. After tracking the self-exiled Qel-Droma to the ice planet Rhen Var with the help of a spacer named Hoggon, Sylvar confronted him and was determined to make him pay for all the lives lost in the Great Sith War, of which Qel-Droma was a chief instigator during his tenure with Dark Lord Exar Kun's Sith Brotherhood some ten years prior. Qel-Droma&mdash;who, while on Rhen Var, had since completed the Jedi training of Vima Sunrider, daughter of his former lover, Nomi&mdash;answered the challenge of his accuser, and the two engaged in lightsaber combat. However, Qel-Droma quickly realized that Sylvar was allowing her anger to drive her dangerously close to accepting the dark side of the Force, like he had once done. Unwilling to be the instrument of Sylvar's downfall, Qel-Droma deactivated his weapon and refused to fight any longer; Sylvar, a devout Jedi, was unable to attack an unarmed opponent, thus forcing her to disengage him and accept the truth of where her emotions had led her. Ulic Qel-Droma, the object of Sylvar's rage, was the same individual to redeem her and free her of the hatred she held on to for so long.

Though Sylvar's inner peace was finally restored, it was immediately put to the test. Hoggon, who had been watching nearby, became embittered by the Cathar Jedi's sudden change of heart and mortally wounded Qel-Droma with a shot from his blaster pistol in an attempt to solidify a place for himself in the annals of galactic history. The spacer then promptly departed, after having been spared the wrath of Sylvar, whose recent redemption had kept her from killing him only moments before. Meanwhile, as Ulic Qel-Droma lay dying on a cliff, he declared Nomi's daughter Vima a fully vested Jedi. Then, much to their surprise, he faded into the Force, in the way of newly deceased Jedi Masters.