Skolas, Kell of Kells

"Listen to me, Wolf-born! Heed me, Whirlwind-scattered! I am the ghost of Cybele, the cunning claw of Iris, betrayed, chained, encrypted by the Queen, sent back from the Darkness to save us all! The days of Kell and House end now. The calendar of slavery and abasement goes to the fire. We are a new calendar! We are an age of beginnings! Each of us is a day!"

- Skolas, Kell of Kells

Skolas, Kell of Kells (formerly known as Skolas, the Rabid and Skolas, Wolf Kell) was a Fallen Captain who became Kell to the House of Wolves during the war against the Reef and sought to unite all of the Fallen Houses under his rule. He serves as the main antagonist of Destiny: House of Wolves.

Biography
"Serve him; he is Kell of Kells."

- Yavek, Wolf Baron

Skolas, the Rabid, a noble of the House of Wolves, emerged as one of three major contenders for the House's Kellship after Queen Mara Sov killed the previous Kell, Virixas, in the battle near Ceres known as the Scatter, where the Awoken annihilated half of the Wolves' numbers. Skolas secured a pyrrhic victory over Irxis, Wolf Baroness in the Eos Clash, and tricked the Awoken into eliminating Parixas, the Howling for him in the Battle of Iris. With his rivals gone, Skolas became the New Kell of Wolves and rallied the remaining Wolves against the Awoken. In the end, due to betrayal by Variks, he was captured in the Cybele Uprising and incarcerated in the Prison of Elders.

The Queen later sent Skolas to the Nine as a gift, in an effort to placate them over sending the Crows into their territory in the search for Kaliks Prime. However, due to a possible betrayal by the Nine, Skolas was freed and returned to lead the House of Wolves in rebellion against the Queen. He had ambitions of making himself ruler over all the Fallen houses, seeking to bring as many as he can under his control. His ultimate goal was not just the destruction of the Reef that imprisoned him and his House, but also the fall of the City and the salvation of the Fallen race by reclaiming the Great Machine.

Though Skolas was able to gain the support of the leaderless House of Winter on Venus, he was unable to gain the support of the House of Devils and House of Kings on Earth. He set the Silent Fang loose on Earth to kill opposing Devils, but a number of them were killed by Guardians. Skolas then sent one of his Barons, Yavek, to negotiate terms with Craask, Kell of Kings at King's Watch. The Kell of Kings instead sent two Barons, Paskin and Vekis, not as ambassadors but as assassins. Prince Uldren speculated that nothing short of the Traveler calling Skolas by name would encourage the Kings to join him. However, before hostilities could occur between the Wolves and Kings, Guardians burst in and killed all three Barons and their guards.

Infuriated by the interventions by the City, Skolas attempted to use Vex technology to further his goals, and his crews breached the Vault of Glass frequently, but his attempts to gain any significant Vex technology were foiled by Guardians. With his plans to gather the Houses in ruins and the Guardians closing in, Skolas made a final stand at the top of the Citadel where he uses Vex Time Gates to bring his House of Wolves from across time to combat the Guardians. With the help of Queen Mara Sov, he was captured and sentenced to the Prison of Elders. Before he was sent to the prison, Mara Sov visited his cell where Skolas kept bellowing "Kell of Kells" and other nonsense. However as the Queen examined him, Skolas whispered something that Variks interpreted as "Light-Snuffer" and "Dark-binder", leading Queen Mara to believe a dark force was about to arrive, and sends for her associates.

After being sent once again to the Prison of Elders, Skolas gathered what followers he had left in the prison and lead a final revolt against the Guardians who captured him. However, in the end Skolas' sentence was carried out as he was executed by Guardians, leaving the Wolves without a Kell.

Legacy
"Skolas's ambition was nothing if not relentless. In certain regards, I almost respect his sense of duty to his people. He was ruthless in his quest to lead his followers to glory. After his final revolt inside the Prison of Elders, Guardians banded together to thwart him once and for all—until today, when the Darkness summoned a Nightmare of him."

- Eris Morn, regarding Skolas.

Though Skolas's efforts in becoming the recognized Kell of Kells did nothing but weaken his House, the Wolves nonetheless attempted to carry on without their Kell, constantly raiding the Moon, or Venus for scraps just to survive. It was not until the Taken War that the Wolves regained a semblance of leadership. The renegade Archon, Keldar, rallied the Wolf-born Fallen after reconstructing the previous Prime Servitor of the House of Wolves: Orbiks Prime. With renewed strength and unity, the Wolves managed to acquire Cabal bases on Mars after the Cabal were severely weakened with the Taken King's arrival. However, their resurgence would be sort-lived as the Guardians, working with their Reef Awoken allies, were able to draw Keldar out and strike him down. Orbiks Prime was located soon after and after a struggle, the Guardians succeeded in destroying the servitor, thereby breaking Skolas's house for good.

Following the heated SIVA Crisis with the Devil Splicers, nearly all the Fallen in the Solar System, including what remained of the House of Wolves, abandoned their holdouts and burned their banners in ceremonial fires. This was due to the rallying cry of Craask, Kell of Kings and Uldren Sov to unite the scattered Fallen across the system.

During the Red War, Ghost noted that where Skolas failed in uniting the Houses, sheer desperation following massive losses during the Taken War and the SIVA Crisis managed to unite the Fallen under the new House of Dusk.

Ultimately, Skolas's house would be doomed to extinction following the last of its servitors being destroyed by the Scorn, a mass band of morbidly mutated Fallen.

Despite his failures, Skolas's grand ambitions of uniting the Fallen and becoming Kell of Kells would make him a notorious Fallen foe that the Guardians would ever know. His form would then be used as a Nightmare, representing the Essence of Pride, as the Guardians traverse the newly emerged crimson Hive fortress on the Moon, constantly appearing and attacking any Guardian that enters.

Personality and traits
"Skolas was vicious, even for a Fallen Kell. I could not stomach his hate."

- Variks

Skolas is extremely prideful and vicious, even for a Kell. He is also quite delusional, according to Variks. He sees himself as fulfilling the prophecy from the House of Rain, in which he is said that any Guardian to face him will "flee or fall". It is also said that he will heal the Fallen houses and make them whole again. His failure at the Cybele Uprising drives him to near fanatical levels to succeed where others had failed, securing the future for his house and the Fallen race once and for all. His failure again at the Terminus left him in a near catatonic state, at least until directly challenged by the Guardians.

Gameplay
He is encountered several times in the House of Wolves expansion. He is first seen on Venus attempting to rally the House of Winter to his cause. He escapes before the player has the chance to stop him. He is encountered again in the Terminus, attempting to use Vex technology to secure the Wolves' power. The Guardian is sent by Petra Venj to stop him before he could pull the entire house through time. Skolas is armed with a Shrapnel Launcher and is capable of teleporting across the map to land an Ultra Smash. However, he is eventually pinned down and captured by the player, and sent to the Prison of Elders.

Skolas is the final boss of the level 35 Prison of Elders challenge, Skolas's Revenge. He retains his teleportation and ground smash capabilities, but this time around, he is armed with a Scorch Cannon, a Fallen rocket launcher capable of killing a Guardian in just a couple of shots at any range. In addition, Skolas is supported by a pair of Servitors, named Kaliks Minor, who increase his defense significantly until one of them is destroyed, after which players can deal normal damage to him. When Skolas reaches a certain health threshold, the bonds will be permanently broken, which causes him to cast a debuff called Devouring Essence upon any random Guardian in the area. They will have thirty seconds to share the debuff with other players or they will die. If this debuff is not attended to at all, the fireteam will wipe.

Trivia

 * Skolas is the first Fallen antagonist to have a speaking role.
 * However, he is the second main antagonist to not speak English. The first being the Black Heart.
 * Unlike the majority of campaign villains within the Destiny series, Skolas is the first and currently only, antagonist that was captured and not killed on the spot.
 * Despite getting a new weapon in the Prison of Elders, its unknown why he didn't discard the title: Kell of Kells, since he failed in controlling the Other Houses, and not continue his Kell of Wolves title.
 * It's possible he continued to use the title because his House still believe he is the Kell of Kells, or he's simply very delusional.

List of appearances

 * Destiny
 * House of Wolves
 * The Taken King
 * Rise of Iron
 * Destiny 2
 * Warmind
 * Forsaken
 * Joker's Wild
 * ''Shadowkeep