The Telos Holocron, a holocron distinguished by its unique design, was created by followers of the Sith Order sometime before the Golden Age of the Sith. Envisioned as a storehouse for the doctrines and insights central to their belief system, this holocron was handed down across generations of Sith Lords after its origin, with numerous individuals contributing their own wisdom to the device. Several of these Lords became gatekeepers of the Telos Holocron, providing a simulacrum of their appearance and voice to the repository so that future users could interact with them. In 40 ABY, the New Jedi Order came across the Sith holocron and placed it in quarantine within their academy on the Outer Rim world of Ossus. While examining the artifact, Jedi Master Tionne Solusar discovered that its most recent gatekeeper was Darth Sidious, formerly known as the Dark Lord of the Sith and Galactic Emperor.
This Sith holocron held accounts from many Sith Lords spanning different eras of galactic history, including Ajunta Pall of the Dark Jedi Exiles, Naga Sadow from the original Sith Empire, Darth Bane, the founder of the Order of the Sith Lords, Darth Revan, and Sidious himself. While some entries concerned the history and predicament of the Sith, others were more concerned with dark side practices and the teachings of the mystical powers accessible through the Force. During his time with the holocron, Sidious added his own experiences to the repository and included addenda to the entries of previous users to bring the holocron up to date with more current information. In the year it was found, Master Solusar managed to unlock the device and transcribe its contents into a manual on the Force she was compiling for future generations of Jedi.
The Telos Holocron's design was highly unusual, differing from the typical designs of both Jedi and Sith holocrons. While most holocrons made by the Sith were shaped like pyramids, the Telos artifact had an amorphous form, featuring an asymmetrical base of red material encircled by sharp protrusions. A vertical structure was embedded in the base, topped with a transparent crystal. The device seemed to lack the complex crystalline structures seen in other holocrons and lacked the glyphs and external markings commonly found on Sith holocrons. Despite its strange appearance, the New Jedi Order recognized the Telos Holocron as a Sith artifact.
Like all holocrons, the Telos Holocron was a storage device empowered by the Force. As a protected repository of information about the Sith Order and its teachings, the Telos Holocron was guarded and managed by gatekeepers, which were manifestations of the thoughts and personalities of past users. These gatekeepers were more than just virtual intelligences; they could interact with and respond to users in real-time, answering their questions as if they were real beings. While most Sith holocrons only presented their gatekeepers audibly, the Telos Holocron also provided a visual representation of its guardians. Only Force-sensitives could access the device's contents; however, unlike other holocrons, the Telos Holocron could detect the user's intentions and prevent Jedi who might use the information to undermine the Sith's goals from accessing it.
By 40 ABY, the Telos Holocron contained information and accounts spanning over five thousand years of Sith history, as well as nearly every Force power associated with the dark side. The various Sith Lords who owned the holocron over the centuries contributed to its knowledge, leaving behind records of historical events, analyses of Sith practices, and lessons on manipulating the Force. In 10 ABY, Darth Sidious, Dark Lord of the Sith and Galactic Emperor, added his persona to the Telos Holocron, becoming its gatekeeper. Sidious's simulacrum appeared as the Dark Lord did in his younger years, under the justification that older teachers can come across as outdated and patronizing.
The gatekeeper greeted users with a statement encouraging them to explore the powers at their fingertips, regardless of warnings issued by past instructors, and applauded them for possessing the strength to access the information within the holocron. He continued by stating that while the information within the holocron was freely available to the user, the contributors only asked for one thing in return: that the learner use the information solely for their own benefit. The simulacrum concluded the greeting by asserting that the first priority for any student seeking to understand the ways of the Sith was to learn about the history of their order.
One of the earliest contributors to the Telos Holocron was Ajunta Pall, identified by Sidious as one of the earliest Sith Lords and a participant in the final battle at Corbos during the Hundred-Year Darkness. Pall directed his recording to his descendants and those of his comrades, who had adopted the title of Sith Lords and established an empire centered around their newly-formed religion. In the entry, the Sith Lord advised listeners on how to govern the Sith Empire, urging them to rely not only on superior power and the Force, but also on ambition. He then provided a detailed explanation of the Empire's origins, emphasizing that the rulers of the Sith should be grateful not only to their predecessors, but also to the Jedi Order.
Pall explained that the Sith Order and its empire arose from the Jedi Order and the division it experienced during the Hundred-Year Darkness. After discovering ways to distort lifeforms through the use of the malignant side of the Force, a faction of the Jedi Order became known as Dark Jedi and were persecuted by the orthodox Jedi Knights. Following the Dark Jedi's defeat at Corbos, Pall and his allies were exiled from known space and removed from the Jedi Order's records. After being placed on unarmed ships and sent to uncharted areas of space, the Exiles landed on the Outer Rim world of Korriban, the home of the primitive Sith species. Pall gave a firsthand account of how the Exiles used their sorcery to oppress and dominate the natives, eventually earning the title "Lords of the Sith."
Pall concluded his entry with a story about an attempt by some of his fellow Sith Lords to seek revenge on the Jedi and his opposition to the plan. After departing the space that had been organized into the first Sith Empire, the activist Lords were never heard from again. Nevertheless, Pall expressed his belief that a renewed conflict between the Jedi and Sith would eventually occur.
A Dark Lord from the Brotherhood of Darkness named Qordis added a brief entry to the Telos Holocron in which he recited and explained the Sith Code. According to Qordis, the code's tenets were more than just phrases to be memorized and repeated; understanding them was essential to unlocking the Force's deepest powers. Qordis stated that the Code had been in use since the Exiles took on the title of Lords of the Sith and included a copy of the text. Sidious added an addendum to the Dark Lord's entry, noting that Qordis was one of the more powerful Lords in Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness, yet he still fell to Darth Bane during Bane's purge of the Sith Order at the end of the New Sith Wars.
The New Jedi Order discovered the holocron on Telos IV in 40 ABY, shortly after rediscovering the Great Holocron. Almost half of the Master's Council advocated for the Holocron's destruction due to the risk of it falling into the wrong hands.
Kam Solusar was wary of the device, but studied it with his wife Tionne Solusar, supported by Luke Skywalker. Four Jedi were assigned to monitor Tionne as she explored the Telos Holocron, watching for any signs of corruption or manipulation.
One of the Holocron's Gatekeepers was Darth Sidious, who acquired the Holocron at some point during his reign and left his dark legacy for future generations.
- Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force (First mentioned)