The Ceremony for Amanoa's Passing unfolded during the Freedon Nadd Uprising, an event in 3998 BBY. In this period, the dark side-infused military force under the command of King Ommin of Iziz launched an assault. Their target was the combined might of the Jedi Order and the Beast Riders of Onderon. This attack occurred during the funeral procession for Ommin's departed wife, the Sith sorceress Queen Amanoa. Concurrently, a group of Jedi Knights, guided by Jedi Master Arca Jeth, were preparing to move Amanoa's sarcophagus, along with that of the ancient Dark Lord Freedon Nadd, to a newly built mausoleum situated on the far side of Dxun, Onderon's jungle moon.
As Amanoa's procession took place, a colossal groundborer erupted from beneath the surface, revealing a legion of darksiders led by the Dark Jedi Warb Null. This force successfully reclaimed the coffins and retreated with them aboard their war machine into the subterranean depths of the city of Iziz. It was suspected that Amanoa's husband, the sorcerer King Ommin, resided there. Arca Jeth, Jedi Knight Ulic Qel-Droma, and Amanoa's daughter, Galia, pursued the borer into the tunnels, discovering that Ommin, previously presumed dead by Onderon's populace, was indeed alive and allied with the spirit of Freedon Nadd.
Under Nadd's directives, Jeth was captured and taken further into the tunnels following a brief encounter with Ommin and his Sith master. As Qel-Droma and Galia attempted to escape, Warb Null confronted them but was swiftly defeated by the Jedi Knight. They then returned to the surface, where Qel-Droma, recognizing the need for reinforcements, sent an urgent plea to the Galactic Republic, requesting their assistance.
For almost four centuries, the Inner Rim planet of Onderon had been locked in a civil conflict between the dark side-devoted inhabitants of the sole established city, Iziz, and the Beast Riders hailing from the planet's wilderness. The final confrontation involved the Jedi Order, who dispatched Jedi Knights Cay and Ulic Qel-Droma, along with the Twi'lek Jedi Tott Doneeta, to act as mediators in the civil unrest. The Knights failed to broker a peaceful agreement between Beast-Lord Oron Kira and Queen Amanoa, the ruler of Iziz. Consequently, their mission quickly escalated into a full-scale battle. Only with the arrival of their Master, the Arkanian Jedi Arca Jeth, who employed his skill in Jedi battle meditation to shift the battle's momentum, was the conflict brought to a conclusion. As a final act, Jeth and his Jedi confronted Amanoa, who had been secretly harnessing the power of the Dark Lord of the Sith Freedon Nadd within his tomb beneath Iziz's royal palace. Jeth used the Force to cast out the darkness emanating from Nadd's tomb with light, and without the Dark Lord's influence, Amanoa's power waned. She passed away in her daughter's embrace, unwilling and unable to embrace the light.
With Amanoa's death, Iziz was left without a rightful leader. Following the traditions of the Onderon Royal Family, Amanoa's daughter, Galia, assumed the throne. She and her new husband, Oron Kira, became the new King and Queen of Onderon. They immediately began preparations to inter Amanoa and Freedon Nadd, whose remains had been seized by the Jedi upon Amanoa's death. A funeral was organized under Arca Jeth's guidance, who remained concerned about the intense darkness emanating from the coffin. To prevent Nadd's dark side power from further oppressing Onderon's citizens, Jeth ordered a new tomb constructed from Mandalorian iron on Dxun, the planet's jungle moon. Amanoa would also be laid to rest there.
Simultaneously, Oron Kira's second-in-command, Gobee, and another Beast Rider were instructed by the Jedi to explore the catacombs beneath Iziz, where rumors persisted of Sith magic practitioners lurking in the depths. As they ventured deeper through miles of tunnels, Gobee and his companion encountered King Ommin himself. Gobee and the other Beast Rider interrupted the Queen's procession when they emerged from the tunnels, just moments before an impending attack. Before they could alert their fellow Beast Riders and the Jedi, the sound of a massive boring machine interrupted them. The war engine emerged from below Iziz, releasing numerous Naddist soldiers. Leading them was a gigantic lightsaber-wielding Dark Jedi, whose armor radiated with Sith magic.
Oron Kira and his men immediately engaged the Naddists as they disembarked from their war machine, while the Knights confronted the Dark Jedi, who identified himself as Warb Null. Before he could join the battle, Arca Jeth was suddenly attacked through the Force by an unknown adversary and incapacitated. Meanwhile, Null's battle with the Jedi provided ample distraction for his Naddist soldiers, who were tasked with recapturing the sarcophagi of Nadd and Amanoa and bringing them aboard the war machine. Successful in their mission, Null then called for a retreat; the tunnel-maker pulled back and descended into the depths, with the Dark Jedi following close behind. Ulic Qel-Droma chased after them, grabbing onto the tunnel-maker and demanding that the armored Null return and face him. Null never came out, however, and Qel-Droma was nearly pulled into the gaping maw left behind in the war machine's wake. He jumped off the machine in time to avoid falling in the hole after it and rejoined his comrades, just as they were tending to the felled Arca Jeth. Meanwhile, Tott Doneeta received a message that another contingent of the darksider army was approaching the city.
Jeth had barely recovered from the dark side attack when he realized that the Naddists were only distracting the Jedi; their real intention was to recover the sarcophagi of Amanoa and Freedon Nadd. Jeth had deduced that Nadd's coffin was the source of the dark power plaguing Onderon, and that retrieving it along with Amanoa's was the only course of action. It was then that Galia revealed the fact that her father, Ommin, was indeed alive, and that he may be the Jedi's only hope in recovering the sarcophagi. Tott Doneeta, Oss Wilum, and Cay Qel-Droma remained behind with Oron Kira, while Arca Jeth and Ulic Qel-Droma planned to follow the war machine's exit-tunnel, in hopes of confronting the darksiders. Galia insisted on going with them, due to her familiarity with the catacombs. The trio descended into the darkness of the tunnels, intent on finding the darksiders, the sarcophagi, and possibly even King Ommin.
As they ventured deeper underground, Galia realized her familiarity with the catacombs was less extensive than she initially believed. Jeth, however, sensed the dark side's potency growing stronger, confirming they were on the right path. Ulic Qel-Droma was more focused on confronting Warb Null than their destination or finding the King. Soon, the trio stumbled upon King Ommin himself, supported by a full-body, durasteel exoskeleton. Ommin claimed the frame was necessary to aid his movements, but Jeth sensed a darker force at play. Ommin beckoned him closer, revealing his allegiance to the spirit of Freedon Nadd, whom he had summoned from Chaos. Freedon Nadd then materialized behind Ommin, empowering him with the dark side of the Force.
Arca Jeth immediately confronted Nadd but was intercepted by Ommin, who seized Jeth's throat and began suffocating him with dark side energy. Jeth was incapacitated, and Qel-Droma attempted a rescue but couldn't penetrate the energy field encasing Jeth. Ommin then revealed his Dark Side Army: fully armed, battle-ready, and led by the armored Warb Null. With the Dark Jedi at his side, the King attempted to sway Galia to the dark side. His daughter promptly refused, desiring only to escape. Qel-Droma, however, succumbed to his desire for revenge, cutting through Ommin's warriors to reach Warb Null. As the King and Freedon Nadd descended into the depths with a subdued Jeth, Qel-Droma engaged the armored darksider in lightsaber combat.
Qel-Droma and Null's duel was swift but intense, with Null overpowered by the enraged Jedi. Qel-Droma parried several blows before dodging an overhead slash, flipping over Null, and gaining the upper hand. Qel-Droma immediately attacked, severing Null's weapon arm, leaving him defeated, humbled, and begging for mercy. Qel-Droma ignored his pleas, bringing his lightsaber around and beheading the Dark Jedi. Unbeknownst to him, Null's death had been orchestrated by Nadd, who viewed the duel as a test of the young Jedi's growing dark side power.
Only then did Qel-Droma realize he had abandoned both Galia and Jeth, the latter kidnapped by Ommin and Nadd during the duel. In their place stood Ommin's Dark Side Army, blocking the tunnel Ommin had departed through. Realizing he was no match for an entire army of Sith magic-empowered warriors, Qel-Droma quickly fled with Galia through the tunnels toward the surface.
Galia and Qel-Droma emerged above ground, finding the Royal Palace and the city retaken by the Naddists. They wandered the war-torn streets of Iziz until they encountered Cay Qel-Droma, Oss Wilum, and Oron Kira. Ulic Qel-Droma explained Jeth's kidnapping and the imminent arrival of another of Ommin's dark side militias. It was decided that Galia would be taken to safety, while the Jedi and Oron Kira would assume command from the Beast Rider stronghold, Fortress Kira. Ulic Qel-Droma knew the situation had worsened beyond his and his current force's capabilities. His only recourse was to send a message to the Jedi Order and the Galactic Senate on Coruscant, hoping they would dispatch reinforcements.
Qel-Droma's message was received and debated by the Republic Ministry of Defense, who decided to send the entire Republic Navy to defend Onderon. The Jedi also acknowledged the call for aid, sending five Knights to assist. One of the chosen Jedi, a young woman named Nomi Sunrider, was selected to lead the Republic Fleet into battle. These developments were unknown to Qel-Droma and his companions on Onderon, leaving them with only hope to rely on.
The battle during the funeral was first depicted in Freedon Nadd Uprising 1 from the Tales of the Jedi comic series. It was created and written by Tom Veitch and illustrated by Tony Akins. Veitch and Kevin J. Anderson used the events of this battle and the following battle as background details for Dark Lords of the Sith, exploring characters like Ulic and Cay Qel-Droma in depth as integral parts of the storyline. The battle also served as a backdrop for the Krath Holy Crusade, part of the larger Great Sith War. It was later retold in the Tales of the Jedi audio drama, written by John Whitman and based on Veitch's original script.
In the comic, Queen Galia reunites with Oron Kira and accompanies him to Fortress Kira with the Jedi. In the audio version, Galia is taken to safety by Tott Doneeta, while Oron Kira and the Jedi take command from Fortress Kira. Also, in the audio drama, Warb Null loses his arm to Ulic Qel-Droma before being killed, while in the comic he is simply killed. Another contradiction occurs when Ulic Qel-Droma blames Warb Null for severing Cay Qel-Droma's arm, showing no mercy before killing Null. This conflicts with both the comic and audio drama, where Cay's arm is severed by Amanoa's royal guards in the former and blasted off by Novar in the latter.