Second Duel in the Iron Citadel

"This must be the Sith pretender Freedon Nadd warned you about!''" "''Pretender? Nadd only taught you the'beginnings of Sith power, woman&mdash;but I have learned everything!"

- Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun, as Kun enters the Iron Citadel

The Second Duel in the Iron Citadel was a lightsaber duel that occured later in the year 3,997 BBY, between two fallen Jedi: the power-thirsty Exar Kun and the headstrong Ulic Qel-Droma. The duel took place in the Tetan capital city of Cinnagar, in the Iron Citadel of the Krath.

After Qel-Droma engaged and killed the Krath leader Satal Keto, he was given an ancient Sith amulet by Satal's cousin Aleema, and also taken as Aleema's joint partner in leadership of the Krath. Unbeknownst to them, the Dark Jedi named Exar Kun had learned of their existence from the spirit of Freedon Nadd, an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith, who had also given Kun an amulet for himself. Seeing the Krath as a potential hindrance to his vision of a new Sith Empire, Kun traveled to Empress Teta and touched down in the planet's capital city of Cinnagar. Guided by the Force to their location, Kun stormed the Iron Citadel and confronted Qel-Droma.

What followed was a brief but heated duel, with neither combatant able to best the other. As they battled, however, the amulets in each man's possession recognized one another, and began to resonate with dark side energies. The energies in turn summoned the spirit of an even more ancient Dark Lord named Marka Ragnos, who ended the duel, and after a brief proclamation, bestowed Kun with the title of Dark Lord of the Sith, and named Qel-Droma his foremost Sith apprentice.

Prelude


In the year 3,997 BBY, Dark Jedi Exar Kun arrived on the world of Empress Teta, after acquiring tremendous Sith powers under his apprenticeship with the ancient Dark Lord Freedon Nadd. Believing that he learned all that he could from the Sith Lord, Kun used his newfound powers and destroyed the spirit of Freedon Nadd, submitting him to death for a second, and final, time. Moments before his demise, Nadd contacted Satal and Aleema Keto, leaders of the Krath dark side cult, whom he had also initiated in the ways of Sith magic. Nadd alerted them of Kun's treachery and declared Kun a pretender to the Sith legacy. Nadd stated that the future of the Sith was in the hands of the Krath, and the Jedi Knight Ulic Qel-Droma, whom the Ketos had imprisoned tortured under suspicion of being a Jedi spy. Nadd's spirit then departed, leaving the Ketos to contemplate the meaning of his words.

Kun was aware of Nadd's other apprentices and saw them as threats to his plan of resurrecting a new Sith Empire. Planning to eliminate them, Kun traveled to Empress Teta in search of Nadd's other Sith acolytes, just as the Jedi attacked the Tetan capital of Cinnagar in an attempt to rescue Ulic Qel-Droma.

The Jedi, led by Nomi Sunrider, failed in their extraction mission to save Qel-Droma, leaving him and Aleema Keto to their own devices within their palace, the Iron Citadel. After killing Satal in a fit of revenge for a previous attack on Deneba, Qel-Droma was taken by Aleema as her partner in leadership of the Krath. Qel-Droma confessed to her his plan of wanting to infiltrate and destroy her Krath cult, to which she confessed that she was already aware. Unknown to them both, Kun had also come to Empress Teta with his Massassi warriors, in search of Freedon Nadd's other students. Aleema then gave Qel-Droma a Sith amulet that had previously belonged to Satal. When the amulet began to resonate with the power of the dark side, Kun knew that he had indeed located his adversaries. He was led by the Force to the Iron Citadel, where he caught both Qel-Droma and Keto at unawares. He quickly incapacitated the Sith sorceress with a Force blast. With the woman out of the way, Kun and Qel-Droma drew their lightsabers, regarded each other, and prepared to duel.

The duel


"You are skilled with a lightsaber&hellip;yet even my Master could not defeat me! I am the greatest swordsman in the galaxy!" "Come. Let us see!"

- Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma, as they duel

The duel was short-lived, and for much of it Kun and Qel-Droma remained evenly matched, with neither man gaining advantage over the other. Unexpectedly, however, the Sith amulets that the two men wore began to resonate with powerful dark side energies. What they didn't know was that the amulets had in fact been a pair, separated from each other many thousands of generations ago. This sudden and unexpected reunion stirred the spirit of the long dead Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos.

Aftermath
"In time, even as the Galactic Republic battles us to extinction, we now secure the future, when the Sith will take their revenge!"

- Marka Ragnos, to Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun



With the arrival of Ragnos, the ancient Dark Lord immediately put an end to the duel. When Kun and Qel-Droma inquired as to who he was, Ragnos rebuked them saying that his own power was the only thing they should be concerned with, not his name. He explained to them that he was summoned because of the reunion of the ancient amulets. Ragnos sensed that both had chosen the path of the dark side and knew that the two before him were capable of resurrecting the Sith Empire. With that, he seized Kun and marked his forehead with the symbol of the Dark Lords, proclaiming him the new Dark Lord of the Sith. Ragnos tattooed Qel-Droma's forehead with the Sith mark as well, and named him as Kun's foremost apprentice. Ragnos then issued a prophecy, stating that Kun and Qel-Droma would lay foundations that would one day allow the Sith to exact their revenge on the Republic and the Jedi. Bound by destiny and united by prophecy, Kun and Qel-Droma joined forces as Sith Master and Sith apprentice, respectively. Together with Keto's Krath, the trio would later terrorize the Republic in the form of the Brotherhood of the Sith.

Behind the scenes
The Second Duel in the Iron Citadel first appeared in the issue Dark Lords of the Sith 6: Jedi Assault of the Tales of the Jedi series of comics. The duel was conceived and written by authors Tom Veitch and Kevin J. Anderson, and was drawn by artist Chris Gossett. Veitch and Anderson used this pivotal duel to mark the alliance between the two fallen Jedi, Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun, having both characters fulfill Ragnos' prophecy and become Sith Lords. Following the 1995 release of the Dark Lords of the Sith story-arc, the Second Duel in the Iron Citadel also appeared in the Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith audio drama. John Cygan voiced Ulic Qel-Droma, while Exar Kun was portrayed by voice actor Peter Reneday.

Appearances

 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith 6: Jedi Assault
 * Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith audio drama

Notes and references
Segundo Duelo en la Ciudadela de Hierro