Spindrall

Spindrall was a Human male who lived during the reign of the Old Republic and the resurgence of the Sith Empire. A Force-sensitive from Imperial territories, Spindrall was inducted into the Sith Order and eventually attained the rank of Sith Lord. Although he was renowned for his insight into the minds of young Sith Acolytes and his command of the Code of the Sith, Spindrall chose to forgo the traditional path of a Sith Lord and instead adopted the life of a hermit. In the Valley of the Dark Lords on the ancestral Sith homeworld of Korriban, he took up residence in the tomb of the ancient Lord of the Sith Ajunta Pall, and there he counseled aspiring Sith apprentices and took failed acolytes under his tutelage.

Spindrall grew old in the tomb, and although he had little contact with the surface or nearby Sith Academy, the teachers at the school knew of his expertise and began sending their students to meet with the elder Sith Lord. Within the tomb's Sacrificial Chamber, Spindrall held audience with the few young Sith who survived the crypt's dangers. He also accepted disgraced acolytes who had failed in the academy's trials and were seeking tutelage so that they might earn a second chance at becoming Sith. Spindrall's seekers included the Humans Zash and Harkun, both of whom would continue their training and ultimately achieve supervisory positions at the Sith Academy.

When she herself rose to the rank of Sith Lord, Zash chose to send her own students into the Tomb of Ajunta Pall so that they might be judged by Spindrall. Around 3643 BBY, she ordered that Harkun, now an Academy Overseer, direct a new class of seven acolytes into the tombs so that they might be tested and appraised by the hermit. Four of the acolytes—Balek, Wydr, Niloc, and Gerr—completed the task and returned to the Academy without either impressing or disappointing Spindrall. Another student, the timid and kindly Kory, succeeded in reaching Spindrall, but failed his challenges and was therefore deemed unworthy of the title of Sith. A sixth student also reached the elder Sith in the Sacrificial Chamber, but Spindrall refused to appraise them until they completed a trial of blood. The trial also served as the final test for the disgraced students who had been studying with the prophet in the hopes of having an opportunity to kill the new acolyte and take their position at the Academy. Zash's sixth acolyte handily defeated Spindrall's disciples, thereby earning his attention and judgment. Spindrall recited to the young Sith the tenets of the Code of the Sith and encouraged the student to nurse their hatred for Harkun and their distrust of Zash.

After the sixth acolyte left his domain, Spindrall sent his judgments to Harkun. The Overseer took the hermit's words into account and allowed all of the acolytes to continue their studies except for Kory, who Harkun executed. Spindrall was visited a short time later by Zash's seventh acolyte, Ffon Althe, who also passed his tests. After the trials of Zash's pupils, more disgraced students and aspiring apprentices sought Spindrall's counsel. The hermit found at least one of these acolytes, Shinos, to be lacking Sith resolve, and so refused to allow them free passage out of the tombs unless they passed a message of congratulations and a stimulant on to Zash's sixth acolyte, who had impressed him the most. Later in the Galactic War between the Republic and the Empire, when the Force-user known as Revan was returning to power, Spindrall could sense that Revan's return threw the Force into turmoil, and when he reached out to study it, he received a vision of someone standing on a moon before "one who is not one." The subject of his vision did not stand alone, but failed nonetheless.

By the time of the Cold War, Spindrall was an elderly man, sporting a gray beard and a receding hairline. He garbed himself in simple, tattered robes and covered his head with a raised cowl. His fair visage was characterized by yellow eyes, a slight darkened discoloration around his eye sockets, and extensive wrinkling.

Although he was a talented seer with a keen intuition, Spindrall lacked many of the attributes that characterized his fellow Sith of the era. On the reclaimed holy planet of Korriban, the Sith Lord abandoned the trappings of political power and adopted the life of a religious hermit. In his hermitage in the Sacrificial Chamber of the Tomb of Ajunta Pall, the prophet accepted failed students and counseled new arrivals to the planet—two groups that many at the Academy believed were unworthy of notice. His work in the tomb led some, like Overseer Harkun, to believe he was little more than a lunatic; others, like Lord Zash, put faith in his judgments and subscribed to his teachings.

In spite of his willingness to work with young acolytes, Spindrall was a harsh Master who was quick to pass judgment on his pupils. Those who failed to meet his standards, like Kory and Shinos, were dealt with severely, while others, like the acolyte who slew Spindrall's disgraced pupils, were rewarded for their talent and tenacity. For those who he believed to be worthy of his teachings, he offered insights on the Code of the Sith and methods for surviving the tutelage of brutal or untrustworthy Masters.

Spindrall was a talented practitioner of the dark side of the Force, and gained enough notoriety in the Sith Empire to earn elevation to the rank of Sith Lord. His judgments on students were considered to be prophetic in nature, and were highly valued by Sith Masters who believed Spindrall's Force visions. Zash's apprentice, the seeker who slew Spindrall's disciples, even reached the Dark Council after fulfilling the seer's prophecy that they would shape the fates of individuals from both the future and past.

Spindrall is a non-player character included in the massively-multiplayer video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, released in 2011. The hermit Sith Lord acts as an integral part of the Sith Inquisitor storyline mission, "Of Mind and Matter" on Korriban. The character is indirectly mentioned in the Sith Warrior storyline if the player chooses to spare the life of Klemral, an acolyte at the academy seeking to become Darth Baras' apprentice. Upon being allowed to live, Klemral comments that the "mad hermit" within the tombs accepts failed acolytes as students. The Sith Lord was first seen in pre-release versions of The Old Republic gameplay on Korriban during 2011's Penny Arcade Expo. In this earlier build of the game, Spindrall's character model has minor differences from the release version of the game, including different robing. Spindrall's voice actor is not identified in the game's credits.