- Darth Andeddu Guide - February 1, 2023
- Miraluka Guide - November 20, 2022
- Cathar Star Wars Guide - November 20, 2022
When I first came into contact with Darth Andeddu, I thought of Imhotep from the Mummy movies. He is a Sith Lord mummy. With good writing, however, a lot can be said about such a topic.
Any story about the quest for immortality is bound to turn into a morality tale. It’s as old as the Babylonian Gilgamesh myth, as relevant as Percy Bysshe Shelly’s Ozymandias, and as timely as Botox treatments.
Bottom Line Up Front
So far, Darth Andeddu holds the distinction of being the first known Darth. He wasn’t the first Sith Lord, mind you, but he was the first known to adopt the title “Darth.”
Like Darth Plagueis, this mummy was obsessed with cheating death. Due to his studies of the Dark Side of the Force, his physical body managed to live for centuries and his spirit for millennia.
Quick Facts
- Full Name: Unknown
- Species: Unnamed
- Birthplace: Prakith
- Birthdate: sometime after 6,900 BBY
- Death: Andeddu’s physical death was at least a few centuries after 6,900 BBY. He died permanently in 137 ABY on Prakith.
Overview
Early Life
There is a fan theory that Andeddu was Orlan Cela before becoming the first Darth. Cela was an apprentice to Tulak Hord, the Dark Lord of the Sith. That theory, however, has not been substantiated by canon or legends.
Even in Star Wars legends, not much is known about Andeddu’s early life. What is known is that the ancient Sith Lord’s physical life was sometime after the Hundred Year Darkness, 6900 BBY, and sometime before the time of Freedon Nadd, 4400 BBY.
Dark Lord of the Sith
When the ancient Sith Lord studied the ways of the Sith, he was heavily influenced by the teachings of Karness Muur. Through the knowledge he gained from Muur, Andeddu grew in his mastery of the dark side of the force. Eventually, this acolyte ascended to become the Dark Lord of the Sith.
After claiming this title, the dark one dove deeper into what had brought him to power in the first place: the teachings of Muur. What started out as dark-side healing evolved into a way to cheat death entirely.
Like the Magic Jar spell from Dungeons & Dragons, the dark one learned how to transfer his consciousness, his very life essence, out of his body and into another creature or object. Through the force equivalent of the Magic Jar spell, this acolyte could become an actual mummy.
Here’s the interesting part: unlike Egyptian pharaohs who chose mummification when death was imminent, this mummy was nowhere near a natural death. Due to his mastery of Karness Muur’s dark side healing, he had already lived several centuries past his normal life span. When he voluntarily entombed himself, the Sith Lord was no longer in danger of death due to old age.
So, why did he do it?
He literally killed himself because he was afraid of death.
He was a terrified Sith Lord, and after centuries of hiding, he just couldn’t take it anymore.
You see, when Darth Andeddu became Dark Lord of the Sith, he ruled from the Sith homeworld Korriban. You would think that the more power he had, the more secure he would feel. Interestingly, it had the opposite effect.
The more power he had, the more his Sith subordinates coveted his power. The more they coveted his power, the more he feared losing that power. The more he feared losing his power, the less he was willing to share his secret knowledge. The less he was willing to share, the more the other Sith hated him.
Like Anakin Skywalker, what Andeddu feared most, eventually manifested itself. The Sith eventually managed to overthrow the fearsome Dark Lord of the Sith. Because he foresaw the calamity, he managed to escape Korriban and flee deep into the galaxy’s core.
God-King of Prakith
Prakith was one of the core worlds of the galaxy. The mummy was very proficient in his manipulation of the dark side of the force. Therefore, he was able to conceal his whereabouts from any Sith pursuers. Because of this skill, the fugitive was able to conquer the entire planet of Prakith and install itself as its god-king.
The dark lord mated with much of the planet’s female population and created many offspring. These offspring were sensitive to the force and became his elite warriors, the Malevolence. Over the generations, this Praetorian Guard would grow into a cult since they regarded Darth Andeddu as deathless.
Over the centuries, the hyperspace lanes collapsed, isolating the Deep Core world of Prakith from the rest of the galaxy. One by one, all of the Sith rivals who had deposed Darth Andeddu shuffled off that mortal coil, either through death or natural causes.
You would think such events would make the god-king feel more secure. If you think that, you don’t know diddly about Andeddu.
Limitless wealth, a planet full of awestruck worshippers, the power of a Sith Lord… None of this was enough to make the mummy feel safe.
Darth Andeddu chose to preserve all of his knowledge in a Holocron and keep it in his fortress, Andeddu’s Keep. Then he buried himself alive with his Holocron, his books, and his scrolls.
Spirit Life
Even though Andeddu’s time among the living was somewhere between 6900 BBY and 4900 BBY, his post-death life was another 5,000–7,000 years. Succumbing to the dark side of the force does have its advantages.
Freedon Nadd
Sometime around 4400 BBY, fallen Jedi Freedon Nadd found the Holocron of Darth Andeddu. Nadd was supposedly able to use dark one’s knowledge to increase the fallen Jedi’s lifespan.
Darth Bane
Like Andeddu, Darth Bane was interested in acquiring eternal life. Despite the dangers of the collapsed hyperspace lanes, Bane was able to travel to Prakith and obtain the Holocron. Like Nadd, Bane obtained the power to increase his lifespan. Despite this increase, Bane would eventually be slain by his own apprentice, as per The Rule of Two, which he had established himself.
Soon after, however, the Holocron would be stolen from Darth Bane. Eventually, it would fall into the hands of the Dark Jedi Set Harth, who increased his lifespan for centuries as a result.
Darth Tyranus
In 21 BBY, the Holocron was recovered again, this time on Korriban, by Quinlan Vos on behalf of Darth Tyranus. Vos, however, was only pretending to serve Tryanus, aka Dooku. In reality, Vos was acting on behalf of the Jedi to make up for past misdeeds.
Regardless, he delivered the Holocron to Dooku with the Count’s trust. The secrets of eternal life would do Dooku little good, however, as he was ultimately slain by Anakin Skywalker.
Darth Krayt
Fast forward to 137 BBY, over a century after the Battle of Yavin at a time when Luke Skywalker and his friends were long dead. Andeddu’s Holocron turned up again, along with the Holocrons of Darth Nihilus and Darth Bane. This time, Darth Krayt was the lucky owner.
Unfortunately for this particular Sith Lord, he was being eaten by his own crab armor. This was especially bad because the parasites in his armor didn’t even come from his galaxy. It’s hard out there for a Darth!
Darth Krayt felt that the best medication for an intergalactic parasite infection was his personal collection of Sith Holocrons. Who wouldn’t?
Regrettably, the trio of deceased Sith Lords didn’t want to admit Crabguy into their club. Rather than a simple “don’t call us, we’ll call you” response, they decided to feed Krayt to his own armor by accelerating the process. I guess they were feeling “crabby” that day.
Krayt, however, was no drab crab and was not going to be stopped by the dark side’s velvet rope. Refusing to become a crabby paddy, he was able to use his mastery of the force to resist the devouring process. The crab lord still needed to rid himself of the parasites, however, and he knew just the Chagrian for the job.
Darth Wyyrlok
Got a problem you can’t solve?
Dial 1-800- Darth Wyyrlok, Sith Lord, and devil-horned Chagrian extraordinaire.
Like so many hardy Sith Lords before him, the Chagrian Sith Apprentice’s path led him through the perilous hyperspace lanes of the galaxy’s Deep Core to Prakith. On Prakith, Darth Wyyrlok continued his odyssey until he was inside Andeddu’s Keep and at the Sith mummy’s tomb.
The Mummy’s Snare
Darth Andeddu had laid trap after trap for Darth Wyyrlok, only to be frustrated:
- The Sith mummy was hoping the damaged hyperspace lanes to the Deep Core would destroy the Chagrian’s ship, but like Darth Vader before him, some Sith Lords could be very good pilots.
- The Sith mummy was hoping his cultists, the Malevolence would overwhelm the Chagrian with their numbers. Due to the fact that the mummy had been physically dead for thousands of years, the Force-sensitive abilities of his Praetorian Guard weren’t what they used to be. Against a Sith Lord like Wyyrlok, they were little more than cannon fodder.
- The Sith mummy was hoping the Chagrian would fall for the old place-the-Sith-Holocron-on the-millennia-old-mummified-corpse trick. You know that one, right?
Killing Two Birds With One Stone
You see, the dark one had magic-jarred himself into his Holocron and had part of his spirit acting as a gatekeeper for the Holocron. Put the Holocron on his mummified corpse, and “Shabang!” Gramps comes back to life. The catch, however, is that the dark one never wanted to return as a mummified corpse. What self-respecting Sith Lord would want that?
The dark one’s plan was to possess the body of whoever placed the Holocron on the mummy’s chest, as the instructions on the hieroglyphs suggested that the would-be knowledge seeker should do. In that way, the Sith mummy could have killed two birds with one stone:
- He could eliminate a pesky rival.
- He could have a new lease on life with a body that wasn’t thousands of years old.
The Malevolence Minion
The only problem was, “Wyyrlok don’t play that!” (In Living Color reference)
You see, unlike a bunch of Jedi knights who drop like flies every time they decide to take down a Sith Lord, Sith Lords didn’t get where they are in life by being stupid. Rather than follow the instructions written in the convenient Sith script on the wall, Wyyrlok decided to simply loot the tomb. Scrolls, books, etc., all went into the grab bag.
Luckily for Rip Van Winkle, Wyyrlok didn’t kill all of the Malevolence warriors. The Chagrian needed a tour guide for the mausoleum, right? Opportunity!
So, the dark one was like, “Hey, loyal Cult Zombie, would you mind sacrificing yourself so that your God-King could be reborn and destroy billions of life forms?”
Cult Zombie was like, “It’s a privilege to serve my guide…
Gramps rudely interrupted, “Just hurry up and get on with it!” “I don’t want to wait another 7,000 years.”
So, rather than give up his life savings for the Mummified Sith Lord Success Through Drop Shipping course, the Cult Zombie snatched the Holocron and placed it on the mummified corpse before the Chagrian Sith Lord could use his telekinesis, lightsaber, etc. to stop him.
Never underestimate what an author-empowered Plot Catalyst can do when a desperate writer needs to somehow move the story forward to a climactic battle between Evil vs Evil.
Get ready for Sithbowl 137 BBY!
Dead-Dead This Time
You’d think that after Wyyrlok had passed through not one, not two, but three Andeddu traps, the Sith Mummy would have figured out that the Chagrian was a worthy opponent. You’d think after thousands of years in cold storage, the Sith Mummy would have gained some wisdom, right?
Again, if you think that, you don’t know diddly about Andeddu.
After a speech that was clearly intended to intimidate, he asked, “Impudent upstart, do you really think that you stand a chance… Blah-blah-blah…”, the Sith Mummy opened up with, you guessed it, force lighting.
The Chagrian absorbed the dark energy like a battery and uttered the obligatory comic book retort, “Foolish old one, my force powers enable me to… Yah-dah, yah-dah.”
Next came force illusions of lava. Wyyrlok turned the dark one’s own illusions against the Sith Mummy and made it appear that the tomb’s entire library of Sith knowledge was being engulfed in flames. This threw Gramps off his game and allowed Wyylock to gain the upper hand.
For the coup de grace, Wyyrlok telekinetically lifted Andeddu’s newly-possessed-only-to-be-quickly-slain body into the Sith Mummy’s own sarcophagus before shutting the lid. By slaying both the body and spirit of the Sith Mummy, Darth Wyyrlok drove the proverbial nail in his coffin and made sure that Darth Andeddu was dead-dead this time.
Worse than a second and final death was the humiliation of being defeated not by another Sith Master but by another Sith Master’s Sith Apprentice. Just as Darth Andeddu was enshrined for the second and final time, Darth Wyyrlok’s reputation would also be enshrined across the galaxy as the greatest office manager of all time.
Legacy
Darth Andeddu is certainly not the most famous Darth in Star Wars mythology. He was, however, the first Darth. For hardcore Star Wars fans, he is an excellent example of an ancient Sith Lord who refused to stay dead.
The Darth Title
Darth Andeddu is credited with being the first to use the Darth title. While ancient, Andeddu wasn’t the first Sith Lord ever. While it is possible that other Sith Lords used the Darth title before Andeddu, there are no such records.
There was, however, some supporting evidence to bolster the claim that the Sith Mummy was the first to use the Darth title. In Bast Castle, a Holocron belonging to Jedi Master Asli Krimsan was uncovered that supported that claim.
Around 40 ABY, Sith archeologist Ingo Wavlud deduced that Darth was of Rakata origin. The Rakata word Daritha means “Emperor.” The Rakata phrase “darr tah” means “victory over death.”
The Rakatha was an aquatic, amphibious species with sideways-protruding eyestalks. They ruled the galaxy before the 25,000-year period of recorded history in the Star Wars timeline. They were masters of the dark side of the force. By the Battle of Yavin in 1 ABY, they were almost completely extinct.
The Chronos Myth
The horrifying nature of the ancient Greek Chronos myth couldn’t be captured more vividly than in the iconic Goya painting. Why would a titan eat his own children?
The myth said it was the fear of being eclipsed and conquered by the next generation. Goya said it was ignorance. (He lived during the Spanish Inquisition.)
Chronos, however, was the Titan of Time. Thus, words like “chronological order” and “chronicle” have their origins. There is something poetic about time devouring its own children. Our past catches up with us all sooner or later.
But even for the Titan of Time, that didn’t work indefinitely. Zeus and his siblings eventually defeated and removed Chronos. Time eventually catches up with Time itself.
Darth Andeddu, however, was a little more relatable than Chronos because he didn’t actually eat his own children. Andeddu was simply the teacher who concealed knowledge from his own students.
As both a teacher of English and martial arts, I can totally relate to teachers who fear their students. It’s the most natural fear in the world. If my students see themselves becoming better than me, they won’t need me anymore! In English class, they’ll tear the room apart. In a martial arts class, they’ll kick my ass!
Maybe, if you’re a mediocre teacher who doesn’t deserve exceptional students, you’ll succumb to that fear. Mediocre teachers hide from their challenging students. Great teachers are inspired by them to become even greater.
Me? I do something completely different. I let the students get better than me as soon as possible. Then, I relax while they do my job for me, as long as I’m the one getting paid.
Of course, I say some Yoda/Morpheus stuff like, “It was inside of you all along.” The truth is, I’m just lazy.
The Vanity of Immortality IRL
We can put down this Star Wars comic book and say, “That’s wicked cool, but I’m not a Sith Lord. I’m not going to build Holocrons and live for millennia.”
Correct. It’s a myth. But, can a myth teach us something IRL (in real life)?
I’m a man in the middle of his life. Can I be Darth Andeddu?
I can cling to my 20s and 30s, and the athleticism I once had. I can hold onto the past too long and have my hands too full to grasp the present.
I can run from a future that hasn’t happened yet and run right past the here and now.
I don’t need to be a mummified Sith Lord to make those mistakes.
There is something so deliciously ironic about an evil, powerful Sith Lord autocrat who was so afraid of dying that he killed himself. Trying to stay immortal is not an act of courage, but neither is throwing one’s life away. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable and open to everything life has to offer—both the highs and lows—is a brave act that people perform every day without superpowers.
Key Moments
- Andeddu becomes Dark Lord of the Sith and takes the title Darth.
- Andeddu gets deposed by the other Sith and flees to Prakith.
- Andeddu conquers Prakith and rules as its God-King.
- Andeddu entombs himself and all his knowledge within Andeddu’s Keep.
- Andeddu’s spirit is destroyed by Darth Wyyrlok.
Quotes
“Knowledge is power and true Sith do not share power.“
―Darth Andeddu
“They were searching for me—my enemies—searching through the Force to find me, end me, steal away my knowledge—my power!“
―Darth Andeddu, recounting his escape from Korriban
“The heretic comes for the same reason it came last time. Its body is failing. It fears that which is consuming it.“
―Darth Andeddu, to Darth Krayt
“Essence transfer is the secret of eternal life. The physical body will always weaken and fail, yet it is nothing but a shell or vessel. When it is time, it is possible to transfer your consciousness—your spirit—into a new vessel…as I have done with this holocron.“
―Darth Andeddu
FAQs
Question: Was there any good in Darth Andeddu?
Answer: In many ways, Andeddu was a comic book villain, and being no more than that is perfectly ok. I could easily identify Darth Andeddu’s life on Prakith as Jim Jones with Sith powers in outer space. Jim Jones was probably a sociopath or psychopath, and I could easily identify Senator Palpatine as a born psychopath.
Part of the allure of the Sith Lords, however, is that they had a sincere belief in what they were doing. They actually felt that the dark side of the force had a legitimate role to play. Maybe the Dark Lord of the Sith honestly believed he was acting for the greater good.
Question: What kind of job did Darth Andeddu do as a ruler?
Answer: As far as God-Kings go, Prakith could have done far worse. Once its conquest was complete, life on Prakith was relatively peaceful, as long as you followed the god-king’s will.
Prakith was the Switzerland of the Star Wars galaxy in that it sat out virtually every war in the galaxy’s known history: the Great Sith War, the Mandalorian Wars, the Hyperspace War, the Clone Wars, the Galactic Civil War, etc. Part of this was due to the collapsed hyperspace lanes, but part of this was also due to the mummy’s use of the dark side of the force to conceal Prakith from Sith rivals, if only for his own self-interest.
Question: Is Darth Andeddu considered canon?
Answer: Yes. Darth Andeddu appears in Star Wars canon through the comic book Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle 2.
Most of his appearances, however, are through Star Wars legends. His permanent death is definitely not canon because Darth Wyyrlok and Darth Krayt are solely legends characters. Since the advent of Star Wars Episodes VII-IX, Wyyrlok and Krayt might never become canon. A lot of previously created New Republic storylines became incompatible with the new reality created by Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. This type of consistency issue is the main reason why Star Wars lore was divided into canon and legends in the first place.
Conclusion
Darth Andeddu was an ancient Sith Lord, a mummy in fact. He sought to cheat death by transferring his life essence into a Sith Holocron and burying his written knowledge with his body in his tomb. Eventually, he was defeated and permanently annihilated by Darth Wyyrlok, who called him a coward for hiding from his foes rather than facing them.
It’s up to the readers to decide whether Sith Mummy would have been better off staying on Korriban and facing his Sith opponents. Regardless, his Holocron and his spirit have managed to interact with many Star Wars characters throughout the ages: Freedon Nadd, Set Harth, Darth Bane, Darth Nihilus, Darth Tyranus, Darth Krayt, and Darth Wyyrlok.
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