During the era of the Great Galactic War, there existed a male Human Sith Master named Spindrall, a devotee of the Sith Order. As the Cold War unfolded between the Galactic Republic and the reconstituted Sith Empire, Spindrall, an aged Sith Lord and prophet, established his residence on Korriban, the sacred world of the Sith. Within the depths of the tomb belonging to the ancient Sith Lord Ajunta Pall, Spindrall offered guidance to new acolytes regarding the Code of the Sith and provided retraining to unsuccessful students seeking readmission into Korriban's esteemed Sith Academy.
A supervisor at the academy named Lord Zash, who herself had visited Spindrall during her training, made it mandatory during the Cold War for all aspiring apprentices to seek out the hermit during their initial trials to have their worth assessed. Around 3643 BBY, Zash's latest group of students journeyed into the tomb to locate Spindrall within the Sacrificial Chamber. Although all seven successfully navigated the tomb's perils, only one student, a slave-turned-promising acolyte, genuinely impressed Spindrall. While permitting all seven of Zash's Sith hopefuls to depart the tomb, the elder Sith chose to condemn the hesitant acolyte Kory, a judgment that led to her execution upon her return to the Academy.
During the era encompassing the Old Republic and the resurgence of the Sith Empire, Spindrall existed as a Human male. Originating from Imperial territories as a Force-sensitive, Spindrall was initiated into the Sith Order and eventually rose to the rank of Sith Lord. Despite his renowned insight into the minds of young Sith Acolytes and his mastery of the Code of the Sith, Spindrall opted to diverge from the conventional path of a Sith Lord, instead embracing the life of a recluse. Residing in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban, the Sith's ancestral homeworld, he took up residence within the tomb of the ancient Lord of the Sith Ajunta Pall, where he mentored aspiring Sith apprentices and provided tutelage to failed acolytes.
Spindrall aged within the tomb, and despite limited contact with the surface or the nearby Sith Academy, the instructors at the school recognized his expertise and began dispatching their students to meet with the aged Sith Lord. Spindrall convened with the few young Sith who survived the crypt's dangers within the tomb's Sacrificial Chamber. He also welcomed disgraced acolytes who had faltered in the academy's trials and sought instruction to regain a chance at becoming Sith. Among Spindrall's seekers were Zash and Harkun, both Humans who would persist in their training and ultimately attain supervisory roles at the Sith Academy.
Upon ascending to the rank of Sith Lord herself, Zash resolved to dispatch her own students into the Tomb of Ajunta Pall to be judged by Spindrall. Around 3643 BBY, she instructed Harkun, now an Academy Overseer, to guide a new class of seven acolytes into the tombs for testing and evaluation by the hermit. Four of the acolytes—Balek, Wydr, Niloc, and Gerr—successfully completed the task and returned to the Academy without either impressing or disappointing Spindrall. Another student, the timid and kind Kory, managed to reach Spindrall but failed his challenges, resulting in his dismissal as unworthy of the Sith title. A sixth student also arrived at the Sacrificial Chamber to meet the elder Sith, but Spindrall declined to assess them until they completed a trial of blood. This trial also served as the final assessment for the disgraced students who had been studying with the prophet, hoping for an opportunity to kill the new acolyte and seize their position at the Academy. Zash's sixth acolyte effortlessly defeated Spindrall's disciples, thereby earning his attention and judgment. Spindrall recited the tenets of the Code of the Sith to the young Sith and encouraged the student to cultivate their hatred for Harkun and their distrust of Zash.
After the sixth acolyte departed his domain, Spindrall conveyed his judgments to Harkun. The Overseer considered the hermit's words and permitted all the acolytes to continue their studies, except for Kory, whom Harkun executed. Shortly thereafter, Spindrall was visited by Zash's seventh acolyte, Ffon Althe, who also passed his tests. Following the trials of Zash's pupils, more disgraced students and aspiring apprentices sought Spindrall's counsel. The hermit deemed at least one of these acolytes, Shinos, to lack Sith resolve and refused to grant them free passage out of the tombs unless they delivered a message of congratulations and a stimulant to Zash's sixth acolyte, who had impressed him the most. Later, during the Galactic War between the Republic and the Empire, as the Force-user known as Revan was regaining power, Spindrall sensed the turmoil Revan's return caused in the Force. Upon reaching 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 was not alone, but failed nonetheless.
By the time the Cold War had arrived, Spindrall was an aged man, distinguished by a gray beard and a receding hairline. He adorned himself in simple, tattered robes and concealed his head with a raised cowl. His fair countenance was marked by yellow eyes, slight darkened discoloration around his eye sockets, and extensive wrinkles.
Despite possessing a keen intuition and talent as a seer, Spindrall lacked many of the attributes that defined his Sith contemporaries. On the reclaimed holy planet of Korriban, the Sith Lord relinquished the trappings of political power and embraced the life of a religious hermit. Within his hermitage in the Sacrificial Chamber of the Tomb of Ajunta Pall, the prophet welcomed failed students and counseled new arrivals to the planet—two groups that many at the Academy deemed unworthy of attention. His work in the tomb prompted some, like Overseer Harkun, to consider him little more than a madman; others, like Lord Zash, trusted his judgments and adhered to his teachings.
Notwithstanding his willingness to work with young acolytes, Spindrall was a stern Master who readily passed judgment on his pupils. Those who failed to meet his standards, such as Kory and Shinos, faced severe consequences, while others, like the acolyte who slew Spindrall's disgraced pupils, were rewarded for their talent and tenacity. To those he deemed worthy of his teachings, he imparted insights on the Code of the Sith and strategies for surviving the tutelage of brutal or untrustworthy Masters.
Spindrall was a skilled practitioner of the dark side of the Force, gaining sufficient notoriety in the Sith Empire to be elevated to the rank of Sith Lord. His judgments on students were regarded as prophetic and highly valued by Sith Masters who believed in 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 featured as a non-player character in the massively-multiplayer video game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, which launched in 2011. The hermit Sith Lord plays a vital role in the Sith Inquisitor storyline mission, "Of Mind and Matter" on Korriban. He is indirectly referenced 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. If allowed to live, Klemral mentions that the "mad hermit" within the tombs accepts failed acolytes as students. Spindrall was initially showcased in pre-release versions of The Old Republic gameplay on Korriban during the Penny Arcade Expo of 2011. In this earlier game build, Spindrall's character model exhibits minor differences from the release version, including variations in his robing. The voice actor for Spindrall remains uncredited in the game's credits.