Gollum is officially a Sith Lord, according to a new Star Wars legend that seems rooted in historical fact. Everyone knows Gollum from JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings books; Sméagol was one of the secluded Stoorish Hobbits, who unfortunately came across the One Ring. He coveted its power, and murdered his relative Déagol to acquire it.
Gollum possessed the One Ring for many years, and his body became twisted and deformed under its baleful influence. When Gollum was recreated on the big screen, it was with iconic motion-capture technology and the tremendous performance of Andy Serkis. Nobody could quite decide whether Gollum was sinister and evil or oddly cute - or, perhaps, whether he was somehow both at the same time. Gollum became a part of popular culture - and, weirdly, he now seems to have been incorporated into the Star Wars universe as a Sith Lord.
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George Mann's Star Wars: Dark Legends is a book of in-universe myths, but Lucasfilm has stressed they all have an element of truth to them. One of the stories in the collection, "A Life Immortal," is set in the days when the galaxy was young. It sees an ancient Sith Lord named Darth Noctyss travel to the planet Exegol in pursuit of the secret of immortality. Surprisingly, most of the details about Exegol are accurate, suggesting this particular myth seems to be more fact than fiction. And when Darth Noctyss arrives on Exegol, she learns the distant world has just the one inhabitant; a mysterious creature who will be instantly recognizable to Lord of the Rings fans.
"The wretched thing exposed by the crimson light of her blade presented no threat, for it was a broken, stooped creature - the remnants of what had perhaps once been a man but was now little more than a feral beast. Its spine was twisted at an unusual angle, causing it to hunch forward so that its left shoulder dipped almost to its knees. Its flesh was pale and translucent, shriveled and wrinkled so that its immense age was evident, but unreadable. Its stringy hair fell in strands down the side of its face, limp and thick with grime. It wore only rags that might once have been fashioned as clothes. It staggered toward her, clawed fingers outstretched, and Noctyss raised her lightsaber, ready to strike the thing down, to put it out of its misery."
Gollum has come to Star Wars. Darth Noctyss takes the creature as a pet, although she treats her pet about as well as you'd expect for a Sith Lord. Meanwhile, she continues her research, learning that a predecessor - Darth Sanguis - had previously arrived on Exegol and there learned to conquer death. Studying Sanguis' notes, Darth Noctyss uncovers a dark ritual that will allow her to achieve her goal. It requires the taking of a life - and, of course, there is just one life on Exegol to take.
It is only when the ritual has been completed that Darth Noctyss realizes the truth. Yes, she has discovered the secret of eternal life; but the dark side of the Force corrupts her body, transforming her... into another Gollum. The creature she killed was Darth Sanguis himself, who - just like Gollum - had paid a terrible price to acquire the precious thing he coveted. And when the story comes to an end, Darth Noctyss had taken his place.
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