Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 3

Warning: This infobox has missing parameters: release date and unrecognized parameters: publication date Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith 3: Descent to the Dark Side is the third issue in the Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi - Dark Lords of the Sith series of comics. It was published by Dark Horse Comics on December 3, 1994.

Opening crawl

Descent to the Dark Side

After Jedi Knight Exar Kun, in a test of his lightsaber skills, cruelly defeats his Master Vodo Baas, he abandons his teacher and begins a search for the remnants of the ancient Sith race and their Jedi rulers, the Dark Lords of the Sith.

Elsewhere, in the Empress Teta system, Satal Keto and his cousin Aleema lead a planetary attack on Koros Major, the last Tetan planet to resist the Krath dictatorship.

Jedi and Republic joint forces, led by Ulic Qel-Droma and Nomi Sunrider, arrive over Koros Major to deal with the Tetan situation. Sorceress Aleema attempts to terrify the joint forces with Sith illusions, and Satal Keto launches suicidal Chaos attack ships against the Jedi/Republic fleet.

Nomi Sunrider sees through Aleema’s magic – but when one of the chaos fighters plows into the bridge of the Jedi/Republic command ship, Ulic Qel-Droma is seriously hurt.

Meanwhile, on the planet Onderon, Exar Kun finds two followers of Freedon Nadd who guide him to a mausoleum on the Dxun moon. There, the spirit of Freedon Nadd himself appears to Kun and orders him to exhume the Sith scrolls hidden in a Nadd’s sarcophagus.

With the scrolls to guide him, Exar Kun crosses the Galaxy to one of the lost worlds of the ancient Sith magicians and their dark Jedi rulers.

Plot summary

Mustering the Jedi

Due to the recent attacks and declaration of war against the Jedi by the Krath, thousands of Jedi converge on the red planet of Deneba to debate the situation. The telepathic Master Odan-Urr presides over the meeting. On the surface the Jedi ponder the dangers of the darkness that is the come and its relevance among the prophecies.

While carrying her daughter Vima Sunrider, Nomi Sunrider notices that Ulic Qel-Droma's wound from the previous battle has not fully healed. Shoaneb Culu predicts a great conflict with the dark side but Oss Wilum and Tott Doneeta think that the prophecies are vague. Also present are Ulic's brother Cay and fellow Jedi Knights Dace Diath and Qrrrl Toq. Many of the great masters including Arca Jeth and Thon are present, but Master Vodo has yet to arrive; tormented over the whereabouts of his wayward apprentice Exar Kun.

World of the Sith

Meanwhile on Korriban, Exar Kun begins his search for knowledge of the Dark Side. Led by the Spirit of Freedon Nadd, he ventures through the Valley of the Dark Lords where corpses fueled by dark side energies rise and attack. The guardian spirits, which are intended the fend off tomb robbers, force him to flee into the Great Temple. As he enters, the entrance is blocked off, and the Spirit of Freedon Nadd leads him deeper into darkness to come.

Ulic's proposal

Back on Deneba, Ulic Qel-Droma addresses the crowd arguing that a full-out conflict with the Krath may not be worth it. Suddenly an old man, Master Shayoto, speaks up arguing that the Krath must be dealt with now, less they risk events similar to the disasters of the past. In agreement Ulic suggest that one could infiltrate and join the Krath, and then take them down from within. This spawns more argument. Shoateb, Dace, and Arca disagree with Ulic, with the latter warning that the dark path leads to destruction.

Kun's test

On Korriban, Nadd continues to lead Kun deeper into a Mausoleum for Vanquished Enemies. In there Nadd collapses the cave, shattering the crystals carrying the spirits of Jedi past, annihilating them and crushing Kun. Nadd tells Kun all that can save him is accepting the dark side of the Force.

Exar Kun's conflict resonates through the force, alerting Vodo of his predicament. Vodo, Crado and Sylvar are approaching Deneba, and as they arrive Vodo attempts to reach Kun via meditation, but he only reaches the spirit of Freedon Nadd whose darkness is hostile to Vodo. Alone and without help, Kun opens himself to the Dark side, and is healed. The screams of Exar Kun's rebirth echo across the Galaxy and are heard by not only his master, but even the Jedi on Deneba. Vodo fears that this is the first echo of a storm that will consume the galaxy.

Triumph of darkness

All at once, the dark side gains ascendancy, and Deneba is suddenly attacked by a barrage of thousands of Krath war droids, deployed by a hidden Tetan Corsair. A massive battle breaks out as the servant droids draw weapons and attack the Jedi as well. In the chaos, Master Arca Jeth is defeated. As Ulic's beloved master passes into the Force in his arms, Exar Kun experiences rebirth.

Kun marvels at the power of the dark side, and Nadd tells him of the feats of Naga Sadow and what lies at Yavin 4. Suddenly Nadd takes Kun's lightsaber, and several Tuk'ata attack Kun. Through anger and the power of the dark side, he retrieves his lightsaber and slays the beasts, passing the final test. He then begins his journey to Yavin 4.

Following the Battle of Deneba, Ulic grieves over the death of his master. Against the warnings of his friend Nomi, he decides to go through with his mission of infiltrating the Krath and destroying them from within. Though Nomi warns him not to underestimate the power of the dark side, Ulic vows to conquer the dark side of the Force.

Appearances

By type

Characters	Organisms	Droid models	Events	Locations
Organizations and titles	Sentient species	Vehicles and vessels	Weapons and technology	Miscellanea

Characters

Vodo-Siosk Baas
Crado
Shoaneb Culu
Dace Diath
Tott Doneeta
Arca Jeth
Keto (Indirect mention only)
Aleema Keto (Indirect mention only)
Magda Keto (Indirect mention only)
Satal Keto (Indirect mention only)
Exar Kun
Freedon Nadd (Appears as a ghost or spirit)
Nebo (Indirect mention only)
Odan-Urr (First appearance)
Cay Qel-Droma
Ulic Qel-Droma
Rask (Indirect mention only)
Naga Sadow (Mentioned only)
Shayoto (First appearance)
Shayoto's master (First mentioned)
Shayoto's master's master (First mentioned)
Nomi Sunrider
Vima Sunrider
Sylvar
Thon
Qrrrl Toq
Oss Wilum

Organisms

Korriban zombie (First appearance)
Tuk'ata (First appearance)

Droid models

Battle droid
- Krath war droid (First appearance)
Service droid
- T-12 service droid

Events

Gank Massacres (First mentioned)
Great Droid Revolution (First mentioned)
Great Hyperspace War (First mentioned)
Great Sith War
- Krath Holy Crusade
  - Battle of Deneba (First appearance)
  - Conclave at Deneba (First appearance)
  - Battle of Koros Major (Mentioned only)
  - Mission to Empress Teta (First mentioned)
  - Political uprising of the Empress Teta system (Mentioned only)
Hundred-Year Darkness (First mentioned)
Third Great Schism (First mentioned) (Indirect mention only)
- Vultar Cataclysm (First mentioned)

Locations

Ambria (Mentioned only)
Coruscant (Mentioned only)
Deneba (First appearance)
- Mount Meru (First appearance)
- Meru Spaceport (First mentioned)
Empress Teta system (Mentioned only)
- Empress Teta (Mentioned only)
Korriban
- Valley of the Dark Lords (First appearance)
  - Great Temple (First appearance)
Onderon (Mentioned only)
Vultar (First mentioned)
Yavin 4 (Mentioned only)