Jedi Civil War

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Jedi Civil War

TheJedi Civil War, also known as theJedi Civil Wars,Second Sith War, theOld Republic Insurrection, theMalak War, theRepublic–Sith War, and by theMandalorians as theWar of the Star Forge, was a devastating conflict that began when theJedi KnightRevan, who had led theforces of theGalactic Republic to victory in theMandalorian Wars, founded his ownSith Empire and declared himself theDark Lord of the Sith. The war began when he, along with his friend andapprenticeDarth Malak, led an invasion of the Galactic Republic in the year3959 BBY, returning from theUnknown Regions with a massiveSith fleet, seizing control ofKorriban, revitalizing theSith Academy there and gaining access to theStar Forge early on during amission to Lehon. With the aid of veterans from the Mandalorian Wars, theBrotherhood of the Sith members who joined them, a host ofDark Jedi converts that had served with them prior, the formerJedi hoped to take over the Republic in anticipation of a greater threat posed by aSith Empire that lurked within the unknown regions ofthe galaxy.

During the war, Darth Revan brought the Republic to its knees and nearly succeeded in conquering it, however, atrap set by the Jedi and unwittingly abetted by Malak left him comatose, with his mind nearly destroyed. Barely alive, he was taken from the wreckage by the Jedi KnightBastila Shan, whose skills inbattle meditation andthe Force had allowed the mission to happen. Taken to theJedi Enclave onDantooine, Revan was healed by theJedi Council and reprogrammed to believe that he was an agent loyal to the Republic. Revan was assigned under the command of Shan, who was then placed aboard theEndar Spire. In3956 BBY, with the intention of drawing out Revan's fragmented memories of theStar Forge, the vastspace station that was the source of the seemingly endless resources of the Sith, he was taken to theecumenopolis ofTaris where a Sithfleet under the direct command of Malak was waitingin ambush.

Eventuallyescaping from Taris, Revan, along with Shan, the RepubliccommanderCarth Onasi, and several others, fled to the Dantooine Academy, where theJedi Masters thereretrained him. After several weeks, theDantooine Council sent him and the crew of theEbon Hawk back out into the wider galaxy to track down the Star Forge's location, at the heart of the ancientInfinite Empire of theRakata. Later, after a number of ancientStar Maps had been uncovered, Malak led anattack against the Enclave, devastating it and further crippling theJedi Order. After finding the last Star Map and, from it, deducing the location ofLehon, Revan, the Jedi, and the Republic launched the war'sfinal battle. Revan vanquished Malak aboard the Star Forge, and the Republic successfully routed the Sith forces. With Malakdead, the Star Forge destroyed, and the Sith fleet scattered and defeated, the long and costly war came to an end.

Origins[]

The Mandalorian Neo-Crusades[]

The seeds of the Jedi Civil War were sown nearly twenty years before the conflict would come to pass. Beginning in3976 BBY, theMandalorians, a society ofwarriors, embarked upon a second campaign of conquest after reforging themselves in the wake of the defeat of theDark Lord of the SithExar Kun at the end of theGreat Sith War. Taking worlds and ravaging colonies throughoutthe galaxy beyond the edge ofRepublic space, the many clans ofNeo-Crusaders, under the leadership ofMandalore the Ultimate, carved out a territory greater than that ruled by theHutts in the span of little more than adecade.^[17]

After hearing of what was happening beyond theOuter Rim Territories, theGalactic Senate initially declined to respond, choosing not to act in the defense of planets outside of the Republic's borders. Manysenators, still weary of war after the devastation wrought by Kun and theKrath Holy Crusade, did not wish to subject their constituents to yet another conflict unless the Mandalorians threatened the Republic itself. Once he felt that his clans were sufficiently battle-hardened,Mandalore soon obliged them, taking up the secret offer of theSith to challenge a worthy foe.^[3] Launching a three-pronged invasion in3963 BBY. Mandalorian fleets poured into Republic space through invasion corridors blazed through adjacentsectors along the Outer Rim, sparking theMandalorian Wars.^[1] In the opening battles of the conflict, particularly at theBattle of Serroco,^[18] forces of theRepublic Navy were overwhelmed by superior numbers and tactics. Despite these unfortunate events, theJedi Council refused the Republic's desperate pleas for aid, sensing that there was another, hidden threat that had yet to reveal itself. Though many of the youngest and brightest members of the Jedi Order were eager to combat the Mandalorians, theJedi Masters would not allow it, preferring to keep private their own fears and plans for war.^[3][6]

The Revanchist Intervention[]

TheBattle of Cathar played a large part in changing the situation. During the Neo-Crusades that predated the invasion of the Republic, forces under the leadership ofCassus Fett, Mandalore's chief tactician, attacked the world ofCathar, enslaving and killing as manyCathar as possible. It was theorized later that this flagrant attack was one of many that were calculated to draw the Jedi into the conflict. The gamble paid off; after having revealed the truth about what reallyhappened on Cathar, the young and charismaticJedi KnightRevan—who became known as "The Revanchist"—^[8] defied the Council and began to rally younger members of theJedi Order, including his friendAlek, who began calling himself "Malak" during the wars, to his cause.^[5] After lending their support to the battered Republic fleet, they soon proved to be more than capable commanders in the field, quickly rising through the ranks. Soon, they were given direct control over the entire Republic Navy. Revan used this newly-bestowed authority to spearhead the Republic war effort; under his inspired leadership, the all-but-defeated troops of the Republic recomposed themselves and began to push the Mandalorians back.^[3] Some time during the Mandalorian Wars, Revan visited bothMalachor V andKorriban, slipping closer to the dark side^[1] and alerting theSith Emperor of theSith Empire to his existence.^[19]

After a series of bitterly-contested battles onDxun andAlthir, the war's climax was fast approaching.^[4] As the fighting reached a fever pitch, Revan began to devise a way to end the war before the Republic was too weakened by the conflict to face the threat that was to come. Working in secret, he built a newSith academy over the crumbling ruins of the older complex on Malachor V, and used the dark side energies contained within to bind the most trusted of his Force-sensitive followers to his will. These beings became the building blocks of the order of theSith assassins—a group that he kept secret even from Malak at the time.^[1]

In3960 BBY, Revan forced a final confrontation with the Mandalorians above Malachor V. During thebattle, Revan lured Mandalore into a direct confrontation, facing and overcoming the Mandalorian leader in single combat.^[4] However, Revan learned from the dying Mandalore that the Mandalorian Wars were arranged by the Sith, and that Mandalore had been manipulated.^[20] After ending the Mandalorian Wars with a resounding, if very costly victory thanks to the activation of theMass Shadow Generator by one of hisJedi generals,^[6] Revan and Malak led the remainder of their forces into theUnknown Regions under the pretense of tracking down the remnants of the Mandalorian fleet. As time went by without any word from the Jedi who had won the war for them, the Republic feared that they and the soldiers under them had been lost in some great, unknown disaster in the depths of unexplored space.^[3]

Return of the Sith[]

Following Mandalore's directions to Rekkiad, Revan and Malak hidMandalore's Mask in thetomb of the Sith LordDramath the Second, and they followed the trail to the planetNathema and then toDromund Kaas itself. However, they were led into atrap by the Sith Emperor, who broke the wills of the two Jedi Knights, making them his servants and anointing Revan as the Dark Lord of the Sith. The Emperor then sent the pair back to the Republic as advance agents,^[20] tasking them with the mission of searching for theStar Forge, an ancient Rakatansuperweapon, to accelerate his plans to exact revenge on the Jedi and the Republic.^[21]

Revan and Malak found aRakatanStar Map in the ancientburial mounds on Dantooine, near the Jedi Enclave. After successfully passing the "trials" set for them by the guard droid that had been left behind by the so called "builders," they were given access to the Star Map. Moments before they went beyond the door that led to the dark side artifact, however, Malak warned Revan that stepping beyond this threshold would mean that they could never return to the Jedi Order. Despite this warning, Revan accessed the Star Map, along with Malak, and they later discovered Star Maps onKashyyyk,Manaan, Korriban, andTatooine. Having triangulated the Star Forge's location, the two traveled toLehon,^[3] but they broke free of the Emperor's control and established theirown empire.^[20] Malak became Revan'sapprentice.^[3]

Fueled by the dark side and drawing raw materials from thestar over which it had been constructed, thespace station was both an automated factory and battle dreadnaught, capable of manufacturing a virtually endless supply ofships,droids, and other materials of war rapidly and on an unprecedented scale. In the hands of Revan, the Star Forge would become the heart of a new Sith war effort. From the upper levels of the factory complex, which was hidden within the unmapped Rakata system, Revan founded his new empire, bringing with him all those who had sworn their service to his cause.^[3] Revan and Malak returned to Korriban and seized control of the tombworld, taking control of theSith Academy there and making Korriban the public capital of their empire.^[5]

The teachings of the dark side began to filter down through the rank-and-file of the Republic military that had been placed under the direct command of Revan and Malak. Nearly all of those who had served under him swore their loyalty to Revan over that of the rest of the Republic and the Jedi Order; included among them were some of the top military leaders of the Army and Navy, such asGeneralDerred, andMon Halan. As they forsook their oaths and followed him beyond known space, Revan's corruption spread downward, forming the core of his newSith Empire.^[6] In addition, Revan also commissioned the creation ofHK-47 and otherassassin droids like him to carry out politically-motivated assassinations all over the galaxy.^[1]

The war[]

Early campaigns[]

The shipyards of Foerost[]

Main article:Battle of Foerost (Jedi Civil War)

Located in theDeep Core, theshipyards atFoerost was one of the largest such facilities in use by the Republic Navy. Forty years prior, during the height of the Great Sith War, the yards had been raided by a combined force ofKrath and Mandalorians, during which they stole approximately three hundred warships for use in anattack onCoruscant.^[22] When Revan and Malak, now called Darth Revan and Darth Malak, declared themselves to be the new Dark Lord of the Sith andShadow Hand^[5], one of their first overt acts was to execute a repeat of this raid; using codes given to them by Saul Karath, Sith bombers passed through the perimetersensor nets without being detected and began ravaging the inner defenses. As the Republic attempted to mount a defense, many of their warships were boarded and seized bySith troopers; these newly-commandeered vessels were quick to join with the fleet of Sith vessels that had arrived to ensure the success of the raid. Thusly armed, the forces under the two former Jedi began their assault on the unsuspecting galaxy.^[3][4]

Conquering an empire[]

Main articles:Battle of Czerka 431 andSkirmish in AB-343

Remembering their leadership during the Mandalorian Wars, large numbers of Republic officers and soldiers began to defect to the newDark Lords of the Sith. Consequently, the two Sith Lords were able to rapidly carve out a newSith Empire without needing to commit to much fighting. Battles were fought atRoche,Axxila,Gizer andRandon as Revan and Malak expanded their empire. Additional actions atYag'Dhul secured a pocket of space around theRimma Trade Route andCorellian Trade Spine crossroads and delivered theTapani sector and the shipyards ofFondor to the Sith. Other pockets of Sith space emerged around theAllanteen system andGamorr. In theCore Worlds,Corellia,Duro andBellassa came under Sith control. Sith attempts to break out of these pockets throughout the war were unsuccessful, however, with the Republic keeping them contained with victories atCommenor,Denon,Devaron,Rhommamool andFoless. Despite this, the new Sith Empire eventually came to control a third of the settled galaxy.^[11]

Seeing the need for corporate assistance in providing necessary materiél for the war effort, Revan also entered into a partnership withCzerka Corporation, a galaxy-spanning conglomerate with such diverse interests as mining, slaving, and manufacturing items such as arms, armor, and droids. Offered a trade monopoly within Sith space, the corporation helped to sponsor the establishment and growth of theDreshdae colony on Korriban as part of their supply network. The corporation continued to provide logistical support for the Sith Empire throughout the course of the war.^[3]

Pollard Seario was one such high-ranking corporate officer; he offered control of one of the corporation's hidden military research facilities, dubbedCzerka 431 to the Sith. Among the activities performed there included experiments onJuggernaut war droids, performed by scientistJoni Ree. Ree, hoping to help the Republic, provided the outpost's location, hoping to escape in the ensuing attack. The Republic sent a small force, whichsucceeded in destroying the base.^[12] Ree, along with three other soldiers, was then sent by the Republic toAB-343, which they had captured near the start of the war, in order to acquire any possible intelligence. Not wishing to reveal their alliance, the Sith sent an assassin to eliminate the team. TheGenoHaradan bounty hunter guild also sent an assassin, as they believed that it was in their best interest for the alliance between Czerka and the Sith to remain unknown. The two assassins, upon finding their marks, proceeded to launch anattack.^[13]

The Bombardment of Telos[]

Main article:Bombing of Telos IV

In the year3958 BBY,Admiral Saul Karath openly declared his intent to abandon the Republic he had once served. As a test of his loyalty, he was ordered by Darth Malak tobombard the strategically-placed Republic world ofTelos IV. Given command of a fleet of Sith warships, Karath surrounded the planet and demanded that its government surrender. After being rebuffed by the local government, he ordered his fleet to commence a devastatingorbital bombardment. The resulting attack was carried out with brutal efficiency, scourging the surface of the once-lush and prosperous world of all animal and plant life and causing the atmosphere to degrade into a miasma of toxic vapors that produced acid rain. While some citizens were able to escape onintra-system shuttles, millions were killed, and many more died soon after due to medical supply shortages and the after-effects of the bombardment. Karath's forces, meanwhile, departed the system, allowing the evacuation ships to survive unmolested so that the refugees contained therein would stand as testimony to what the Sith were capable of. A nearby Republic task force, with which theCommander Carth Onasi was serving, arrived in the system shortly afterward, but by then it was too late to do anything more than ensure the evacuees were able to reach safety.^[4]

Strike on Iridonia[]

Main article:Battle of Iridonia (Jedi Civil War)

The Sith were interested in capturing theZabrak homeworld,Iridonia and destroying the Republic fleet based there, so they sent the former Jedi,Acaadi, to prepare the planet for an attack. He infiltrated a band of Mandalorians, who had been stranded on the planet following the Mandalorian Wars. Over the next few months, they came under Acaadi's leadership and he had them destroy a Republic military communications center on the planet, in preparation for the Sith attack. Afterward, Acaadi no longer needed the Mandalorians, so he rid himself of them by having some of them run into his old comrade, the JediDuqua Dar. Acaadi then killed the Mandalorians and rescued Dar from them, before proceeding to persuade him that the Jedi were holding him back and that he should leave the Order. They were overheard by a group of Jedi and spacers, who had been working with Dar, and Acaadi and Dar were forced to flee. They made their way to a secret hangar on the edge of the city ofWortan and Dar waited there along with some Sith commandos, while Acaadi and some commandos flew off in a shuttle to sabotage the flagship of the Republic fleet above Iridonia,Champion of Iridonia. The Jedi and spacers arrived and tried to persuade Dar that Acaadi had tricked him. They fought and killed the commandos, before learning of Acaadi's plan.^[14]

The Jedi flew to theChampion, to warn its commander, AdmiralRokon, of what Acaadi was going to do. Acaadi spoke into a security camera and revealed that he and his commandos were already sabotaging the ship and that it was too late. At that moment, about a dozen Sith ships arrived and engaged the Republic fleet. The Jedi confronted and defeated Acaadi and the commandos, ending the immediate threat to theChampion. However, a large number of Republic ships defected to the Sith during the course of the battle, and the Sith were ultimately able to secure Iridonia. Asuccessful campaign by the Sith againstPalanhi, a planet on ahyperlane toCoruscant followed, and a Republicoffensive againstIthor ended in failure.^[14][11]

Turning the tide[]

The investigation of Nyriaan[]

Following a vision that he had had of the planetNyriaan, the Sith LordDarth Glovoc decided to travel there, aboard his flagship, theInterdictor-class cruiserDying Sun. TheSun arrived near Nyriaan and carried out a detailed scan of the area surrounding the planet. However, the ship's active sensors were detected by the Republic, which sent a strike force to attack the cruiser. With Glovoc concentrating all of his attention on Nyriaan, the Sith did not detect the approaching Republic ships until it was too late for them to escape. The resulting battle was very violent and the Sith succeeded in destroying three Republic cruisers and many Republic starfighters. However, the Republic forces inflicted heavy fire on theDying Sun and fired many torpedos at it. The ship was crippled and eventually became caught in Nyriaan'sgravity well. It broke up into several pieces, which then fell to the planet's surface. The Republic forces declared that they had been victorious in the battle and never investigated what theDying Sun had been doing at Nyriaan, assuming that it had just been hiding there to avoid discovery.^[16]

Republic victories[]

Following the victory at Nyriaan, the Republic had a string of successes in the south-west of the galaxy. The Sithadvance on New Cov fromAllanteen Six was halted. Meanwhile, in hopes of denying the Republic its greatest source ofscouts andexplorers,Sith forcesattacked neutralRodia. However, theJedi uncovered their plot and signaled the Republic fleet for help. Republic forces on theRimwardCorellian Run drove away the Sith fleet, and in the aftermath of the battle, Rodia officially joined the war on the Republic side. From Rodia, the Republic launched a campaign which resulted in victories atMon Gazza andLannik.^[11]

The capture of Darth Revan[]

Main article:Capture of Darth Revan

Two years later, the war continued, with the Republic barely holding itself together beneath the hammer blows of Darth Revan and Darth Malak's armadas. In the hopes of ushering in a new phase of the war, or at least to give them breathing space, the Jedi Council drafted a plan by which they could capture both Sith Lords, thus depriving the Sith of their greatest leader and tactician.^[3] A two-part plan was put into action; first, a group of Republic operatives aided by a pair of Jediacquired data on the Sith Lord's fleet onSernpidal. With this data, the Jedi and Republic, aided by the talents of a young Jedi Padawan namedBastila Shan, who had mastered the art ofbattle meditation at a young age, a small force of Republic warships engaged the fleet of Darths Revan and Malak.^[15] While the two sides fought, Shan, accompanied by a number of Jedi Knights, boarded Revan's flagship, overcoming his guards and cornering the Dark Lord on the bridge of his command ship. However, Malak became aware of what was happening and, in a bold maneuver, he ordered the ships under his command to fire upon the bridge of his mentor, intending to kill not only the Jedi boarding party, but his own friend in order to claim the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith for himself.^[3]

Unknown to the newly self-proclaimed Dark Lord, however, Revan was still very much alive. As the only other survivor of the attack unleashed by Malak, Shan used the Force to preserve the flicker of life that still remained within the unconscious Dark Lord. This act caused the formation of a near-physicalbond, linked through the Force, between the two, an event that would have lasting repercussions though nobody knew it at the time. Hoping to save his life and, perhaps, bring about his redemption, Shan took Revan's body from the wreckage of the warship's command deck, escaping from the battle and bringing him to theDantooine Jedi Enclave Council. The Jedi Masters there,Vandar Tokare,Vrook Lamar,Zhar Lestin, andDorak, used their own mastery of the Force to not only heal Revan's wounded body and mind, but to gain access to and erase his remaining memories of having been the Dark Lord.^[3][8]

A new Dark Lord[]

Shifting priorities[]

Though the ultimate objective of that mission had been successful, the result of their efforts ended up backfiring on both the Jedi and the Republic. Emboldened by his seizure of the Sith crown, Malak continued on the crusade began by his former mentor. Although he was far from Revan's equal in strategy or tactics, the new Dark Lord did have numbers—and the Star Forge—on his side. Even as he shifted the scope of his military campaign from one of conquest and conversion to a series of massacres intended to demonstrate his resolve, Malak undertook an active side quest aimed at capturing or eliminating the Jedi Bastila Shan, whose battle meditation he both coveted and feared. The new Dark Lord reasoned that, if he could not have her and her talents at his side, then she had to die in order to secure the chances of success for his war to seize the galaxy.^[3]

As the Jedi worked on the severely-wounded Revan, planting within him the belief that he was a loyal soldier of the Republic serving under Shan's command, Malak prepared atrap of his own, which he sprung on the small Republic fleet led by theEndar Spire, aHammerhead-class cruiser, over the Outer Rimecumenopolis ofTaris. In the skirmish that resulted, Shan, Revan, and Carth Onasi, along with a small number of Republic soldiers and crewers, escaped the doomed vessel, landing in different spots on the surface of Taris; Shan landed somewhere in theLower City while the pod containing Onsai and Revan impacted upon a pedestrian walkway in theUpper City. While Shan was taken prisoner by theswoop gang known as theBlack Vulkars, who intended to sell her into slavery, Onasi pulled an unconscious Revan from their pod and hid out in an abandoned apartment, where he remained in a coma for three days.^[3]

Even as theEndar Spire was being turned into free-floating hydrogen, space and ground forces under the command of Malak were taking control of Taris and instituting a planet-widequarantine, circling the planet with a fleet of Sith warships whose auto-targetinglaser cannons could obliterate any vessel that attempted to leave the surface. With little else to do, Carth, along with Revan's new identity, began to search Taris for clues as to what had happened to Shan, believing her to be the key to eventually stopping the Sith—if that was even possible. Eventually, working with members of theHidden Beks gang and with help from the streetwise duo ofMission Vao andZaalbar, the two Republic soldiers were able to gain an approximation of where Shan was being held and why—as the Vulkars' share of the victory prize for theTarisian Season Openerswoop race. Seeing a chance to rescue her, Revan acceptedGadon Thek's offer to infiltrate the Black Vulkars' base in order to retake a prototypeswoop engine accelerator that had been stolen from the Beks; in return, Thek, leader of the Beks, would let Revan enter the swoop race under the Bek banner. After winning the race with a surprising upset, ostensibly having never piloted swoop bikes before, Revan was accused by the Vulkars' leader,Brejik, of cheating; when Brejik refused to release the hitherto unconscious Shan, she used the Force to free herself. In the firefight that followed, Brejik and many of his Vulkars were dead, leaving Shan and Revan free to return to the apartment where Onasi, Vao and Zaalbar were hiding out.^[3]

Revan's reemergence[]

Main article:Rescue of Bastila Shan

The actions at the swoop race caused quite a stir among the criminal element on Taris, attracting the attention of theMandalorianmercenaryCanderous Ordo, who up to that point had been working as the personal enforcer for crime lord andExchange bossDavik Kang alongside the recently-hired famedbounty hunterCalo Nord. Sensing an opportunity to further his own interests, since Kang had not been paying him thecredits that had been promised, Ordo offered Revan a deal: in exchange for the party breaking into the Sith-controlledmilitary base on Taris and stealing the codes necessary for a ship to leave unmolested by the Sith in orbit, he would offer them access to their ticket out, Kang's personal starship, theDynamic-class freighterEbon Hawk. With the aid of the custom-builtastromech droidT3-M4, Revan, Shan, and Onasi were able to enter the base.^[23] After clearing it out and defeating theSith Governor in charge, the trio met up with Ordo atJavyar's Cantina in the Lower City. The mercenary then took Revan toKang's estate, ostensibly in order to recruit him into the Exchange, however it was instead a ruse to get them inside. Once Kang had left, the party set out to steal theEbon Hawk.^[3] Around this time, a group of six Mandalorian mercenaries stranded on Taris attacked aSith Marauder and a number of Sith troopers in a newly-established Sith outpost on the planet.^[24]

Meanwhile, in orbit, Malak was growing frustrated at the fruitless search for Shan. As a last-ditch measure, and in keeping with his personality, he ordered Admiral Saul Karath to begin a systematic bombardment of the planet. A somewhat hesitant Admiral Karath complied, noting that it would take several hours to reposition the fleet in order to conduct such an operation. This delay would prove to be costly, as it was during that time that Revan and Ordo succeeded in stealing Kang's prized freighter, eliminating the crime boss and, in appearance, Calo Nord as well, even as the Sith bombardment began. Flying amidst a deluge ofturbolaser blasts that was fast turning the city-world into flaming rubble, theEbon Hawk swooped by the apartment where the rest of Revan's companions were staying, picking them up and angling hard for the stars. As they made haste to ascend the planet's gravity well far enough to enterhyperspace, a sextet ofSith fighters began to give chase. Manning the freighter's dorsal gun turret, Revan was able to quickly dispatch the enemystarfighters, leaving the way clear for the ship to flee toDantooine.^[25]

It was during his time on Taris that Revan began to experience odd flashes of his old memories; dreams at first, in which he witnessed snippets of the events which led up to his apparent death, these soon developed further. Upon first meeting Shan as his new self, Revan witnessed avision of his capture, though he did not recognize its significance at the time. As soon as theEbon Hawk landed at the Dantooine Enclave, Shan left the ship to speak with the Council there to report on what had happened upon and to the city-world—including what Revan had reported seeing. Nor was this the last sending, for soon after this both of them shared yet another memory, a vision in the form of a dream depicting Revan and Malak within a nearby set ofruins, who were seeking out "the secrets of the Star Forge".^[3]

The quest for the Star Forge[]

Mission on Kashyyyk[]

Main articles:Rebellion on Kashyyyk andRaid on the Sith Embassy

Recognizing the significance of these visions, for it was what they had intended when wiping the memories of the captured and comatose Revan, the Dantooine Enclave Council debated whether or not to retrain the former Knight in the ways of the Jedi. Vrook was cautious, for he believed that there was a distinct possibility of Revan returning to his dark ways; however, after discussing the matter in private, it was decided by the Council to induct the amnesiac warrior back into their ranks. Over the following several weeks Revan went through intense remedialJedi training, working with Shan under the supervision of Jedi Master Zhar Lestin.^[26] After proving his knowledge of theJedi Code, constructing a newlightsaber, and seeking out and redeeming the fallen Cathar JediJuhani, Revan proved to Lestin that he was ready to become a Padawan; thus proven, he, Shan, and Onasi were sent out to investigate the ruins from the vision that the two Jedi had shared. What they found within confirmed what the Jedi Order had previously thought, that Revan and Malak, after falling to the dark side, had sought out and found the Star Forge by means of a series of Star Maps. Armed with this knowledge, they sent Revan, Shan, Onasi, Vao, Zaalbar, Ordo, and the redeemed Juhani out into the larger galaxy to discover where, precisely, the Star Forge was located—and to destroy it.^[27]

As the party sought the Star Maps on Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan and Korriban, word of Shan's escape from Taris reached Darth Malak, relayed by Calo Nord, who had narrowly escaped that world's destruction himself. Malak and Admiral Karath promptly hired the man to track the Jedi down, capturing her if at all possible while doing whatever was necessary to deal with her companions. It was also at this time that the first hints of a certain other being's survival came to the Dark Lord's attention as well, though this fact was kept in strictest confidence.^[28] Throughout their quest, the party led by Revan ran into Sith agents, including detachments of Dark Jedi. After uncovering the first Star Map, hidden within the lair of akrayt dragon in theEastern Dune Sea of Tatooine, Nord caught up with them. Aided by a quartet ofRodian andAqualish thugs, he attempted to carry out his contract; the two Jedi and Onasi proved too much for them, however, and Nord, along with his hirelings, were slain. With nothing left to be done on the desert world, the crew of theEbon Hawk departed for Kashyyyk. While on Tatooine the party was largely responsible for alleviating the threat posed by theSand People to Czerka's mining and the citizens ofAnchorhead, in addition to rescuing Mission Vao's brotherGriff and a number ofJawas.^[3][29]

The Star Maps themselves seemed to be emanating their own dark side aura, as they affected the environment in their vicinity; on Tatooine, the dark side energies attracted one of the largest krayt ever seen by that time, while on Kashyyyk, it was theorized by the reclusive former JediJolee Bindo, who joined Revan's party, that the ancient Rakatan monument was responsible for the dangerous nature of theShadowlands, as the lower levels of the Wroshyr forests were dubbed. As Revan and his companions continued on their journey, they became caught up in theaffairs of the locals; on Kashyyyk itself, Revan, with the help of Bindo and Zaalbar, thwarted theslave trade in Wookiees conducted by Czerka Corporation,^[30]

On Manaan, where strict neutrality laws were enforced by the nativeSelkath under pain ofkolto-export sanctions, Revan, Shan, and Onasi were forced to deal with a sort of shadow war waged by the Republic and Sith Empire's presence on the aquatic world. Afterraiding the localSith Embassy in order to recover an encrypted data module forRoland Wann, the chief Republic diplomat, Revan was provided with the means to access theHrakert Rift andHrakert Station, the secret Republic installation constructed there, where Wann believed that Manaan's relic was located. Once on the ocean floor, Revan cleared out the station, destroying its kolto-harvesting machinery in order to placate theProgenitor and gain access to the map. All was not as it seemed, however, because shortly thereafter he met up once again with Malak'sShadow Hand Darth Bandon, who had been sent after Shan by Malak once word of Calo Nord's death had reached the Dark Lord. Inthe duel that followed, Bandon and the pair of Dark Jedi accompanying him were killed.^[3]

The Jedi Enclave is destroyed[]

Main article:Attack on Dantooine (Jedi Civil War)

Even as Revan and his companions followed their mission, Malak himself was preparing to attack the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. Though the dark side clouded their perception of future events, the Dantooine Council did have sufficient warning to successfully evacuate most of the important relics,holocrons, and other material stored there, as well as to retreat themselves. However, the Sith assault came too quickly for a general retreat; the Enclave itself was pulverized by an orbital strike even as Sith troops descended to the surface to subjugate that world. Many Jedi were killed in the onslaught; throughout the Sith occupation that followed, many civilians were rounded up, most of whom never returned. This sent shockwaves throughout the Order, further weakening it and the Republic; it would not be until well after the war that the Sith themselves would abandon the planet.^[1][6]

Capture and revelation[]

Main article:Skirmish aboard the Leviathan

Leaving the world of Manaan behind, theEbon Hawk set course for the Sith tombworld of Korriban,^[29] where they knew the last Star Map was to be found. However, the ship was intercepted en route by the SithInterdictor-class cruiserLeviathan, the flagship of Saul Karath; after being yanked from hyperspace by the ship'sgravity well projector, the freighter was snagged by the capital ship'stractor beam. Even as they were being slowly dragged into the ship's main hangar, however, Onasi, Shan, and Revan busied themselves formulating a plan for escape; they soon decided that it would be best for another member of the party to use their own talents to either avoid or escape confinement, then liberate the rest of the crew from their holding cells.^[31] Admiral Karath interrogated Revan, Shan and Onasi personally, informing them of thedestruction of the Dantooine Enclave as he attempted to learn what mission the Jedi Council had sent them on; however, despite historturing of Shan, the Sith fleet commander was unable to learn anything, and left the prisoners as they were tortured into unconsciousness.^[32] During this, theEbon Hawk crewmember succeeded in getting away from their guards. With the help of a Rodiancaptive, they were able to access the detention level computer system and unlock the holding cells andforce cages that held the rest of the group.^[3]

Now reunited, the crew planned the next phase of the breakout. While Revan, Shan and Onasi made their way to the ship'sbridge in order to deactivate the tractor beam and open the hangar, Ordo led the rest of the crew in retaking theEbon Hawk in order to prepare it for departure as quickly as possible. Carving their way through the Sith troops and Dark Jedi that swarmed the vessel's command deck, the lead party eventually had to donspace suits and enter the bridge proper through an exterior accessway via an airlock on the ship's hull. Confronting Admiral Karath on the bridge deck, the party was offered a chance to surrender; the offer was rejected, however, prompting a furious fire-and-lightsaber fight that resulted in the Admiral's death. With his dying breaths, however, the onetime Republic officer told Onasi of his companion's true nature, but with little time to spare before Malak's imminent arrival, there was no chance to explain the situation. Making a break for it, the three fled back through the command deck and to the hangar level. Despite their haste, the trio was intercepted by the Dark Lord just meters away from where theEbon Hawk was berthed. As surprised as he was amused at the events that had transpired since his betrayal, Malak gleefully filled Revan in on the details of who he was—and what he had been made into.^[3]

The redemption of Revan[]

Shan confirmed what the Dark Lord was saying, elaborating on her role in the trap that had been set, and the part she had played in saving Revan's life. Believing that she had his best interests at heart and had indeed been attempting to bring about his redemption, Revan forgave Shan; this incensed Malak, who condemned his former Master's attitude as weak and declaring that he had been right to take the mantle of Dark Lord from him. The two fought amongst the blast tunnels on the hangar level, with Revan driving Malak back, but the Dark Lord fought back hard. Catching up with the duelists, Shan, with Onasi watching helplessly, intervened, throwing her lightsaber at the Sith Lord as she interposed herself into the fight and urged the pair to flee to theEbon Hawk and find the Star Forge. Onasi and Revan did so; as the freighter escaped into hyperspace, the party came to grips with what had been revealed. Distrustful at first in the wake of this revelation, Onasi relented when the rest of the crew sided with Revan. With Shan captured, the party had little choice but to press on to Korriban and uncover the final Map.^[3][29]

A barren world that radiated with the dark side, Korriban's only features at that time were the smallspaceport located at theDreshdae settlement and operated by the ubiquitous Czerka Corporation. Also evident was the nearby Sith Academy. Since the planet was well withinSith Space, the Sith Empire held jurisdiction; this meant that, in essence, the Sith there could do as they pleased with little or no fear of retribution. The party was not without direction, though; as had happened on all the other worlds visited thus far by Revan, he was given a vision of his old memories, which showed that that world's Star Map was located within what appeared to be a tomb. Conversations with various denizens of Dreshdae offered yet more clues, and it soon became clear that in order to get to the final map and find the Star Forge, the party had to infiltrate the Academy. Eventually, after securing a medallion from the corpse of a violent Sith student, Revan was admitted into the Academy byYuthura Ban, the Twi'lek apprentice ofUthar Wynn, the Academy's headmaster. As it happened, Ban and Wynn knew full well what the Star Map was and its true significance; though the party now had access to theValley of the Dark Lords, this was only a step in the right direction. Through the two Sith Masters, Revan was able to learn all he needed to "become a Sith in full" and gain access to the Map, which was located within thetomb of the ancient Sith LordNaga Sadow. After finding the ancient structure and finally uncovering the hyperspace coordinates for the Lehon system and the Rakatan homeworld, Revan confronted the two Sith, ultimately killing Wynn and redeeming Ban. With the Academy's leadership taken out of the picture, the other Sith turned on Revan and his companions, bringing about aviolent melee that virtually wiped out the entire faculty and student body.^[3]

The Battle of Rakata Prime[]

Main article:Battle of Rakata Prime

After clearing out the Sith Academy, the party left Korriban behind, bound for the hitherto unknownhomeworld of the Rakata, where the Star Forge was located in orbit above thesystem's primary star. Elsewhere, theRepublic Navy haddriven the Sith offIridonia and defeated them atBasilisk andthe Chazwa system.^[11]

The crew of theEbon Hawk had barely come out ofhyperspace in theLehon system before they were assaulted by a small, half-dozen strong vanguard of Sith fighters. After eliminating the half-squadron of enemy ships, the freighter inadvertently flew through thedisruptor field that served as the station's primary defense mechanism. With theirhyperdrive damaged and running on only one sublight engine, Onasi was forced to make an emergency landing on one of Lehon's smaller islands—the very same island that held theTemple of the Ancients. After several run-ins with the native Rakata, including violent encounters with members of the tribe ofThe One and peaceful contact with theElder Rakata, Revan was able to piece together what had transpired during his—and Malak's—last visit to the hitherto forgotten world. With the help of the Elders, he, accompanied by Jolee Bindo and Juhani, entered the Temple of the Ancients in order to shut down the disruptor field so that the incoming Republic fleet, summoned by Onasi prior to their crash, would not suffer a similar fate. Atop the Temple they were confronted by Shan—who was now the Sith apprentice of Darth Malak.^[3]

The fallen Shan attacked the trio; however, after being forced back, she attempted to persuade Revan to follow her lead, joining her in embracing the dark side in order to reclaim the title of Dark Lord from Malak; she claimed that the Jedi had brainwashed Revan and used her battle meditation for their own ends and were jealous of the power that they both held. Revan, in turn, entreated her to give up the dark side, citing the fact that he had done the same. Incensed, Shan retreated to hershuttle and fled to the Star Forge. As the trio returned to the repairedEbon Hawk, they discussed what had transpired; Revan declared his intention to save Shan, and so the party left the planet, joining with the battle already in progress. Under the command of AdmiralForn Dodonna, a force ofHammerhead-class capital ships andRepublic blockade runners, supported byA-wing military fighters andassault fighters, engaged theInterdictor-class cruisers and fighters of the Sith armada under the command of AdmiralVarko.^[3]

Supported by Jedi under the leadership of surviving Dantooine Council member Vandar Tokare, theEbon Hawk docked on the station itself; as a number of the Jedi Knights who boarded alongside them secured an escape route, Revan and two of his companions pressed into the interior of the vast complex, engaging Sith troops, assault droids and Dark Jedi at every turn. As the two fleets squared off in the space beyond the Star Forge, Revan eventually penetrated the outer defenses, finding and confronting Shan once again. Still in the thrall of the dark side, Shan dueled with Revan; even though she was re-energized by the Star Forge's dark side energies after each round of combat, she could not overcome him. Professing his own love for her and encouraging her to draw upon their bond within the Force, Revan was able to redeem Shan, convincing her to use her battle meditation to aid the Republic fleet to atone for her betrayal. With this key reversal, the momentum of the engagement shifted; gaps began to open within the Sith battle lines, openings which were exploited by the Republic's starfighters and capital ships.^[3]

As Shan used her powers to turn the tide of the engagement, Revan went on to confront Malak atop the highest levels of the station. After striking down two Jedi he had captured, the Dark Lord activated a number ofancient droid-producing machines; sealing the room, he fled further into the factory complex. Eventually working his way through the onslaught of combat droids and deactivating the factory, Revan pressed on, defeating Malak in a lightsaber duel, during which the Dark Lord attempted to siphon off the remaining Force-energy of several Jedi that had been killed when he attacked the Dantooine enclave. Revan, however, was able to use his own power to prevent further instances of this siphoning. After defeating his former apprentice in blade-to-blade combat, he and Shan, along with Onasi and the others, boarded theEbon Hawk and escaped the station's destruction. With the Star Forge destroyed, the will of the remaining Sith forces in orbit was broken and they were defeated in detail; as a result of this action, the destructive war that had claimed so many lives—on both sides—finally came to an end.^[3]

Aftermath[]

Though the forces under the defeated Malak were routed in the wake of the Star Forge's destruction, the Sith were by no means completely dead; many of the remnants fought amongst themselves for what few scraps of power remained. Also, other empires began to take from the weakened and leaderless Sith, seeing they were too preoccupied with fighting themselves to stand united against real foes. With these events the Sith Empire began to be reconquered by the Republic and anybody else wanting territory. The Sith, helpless to reverse these events began fall into a rapid decline. As well, the Jedi Order was but a shadow of its former self; some estimated that barely a hundred had survived the war and still remained true to the Jedi Code. The war had devastated planets throughout the galaxy, from the farthest reaches of the Outer Rim through to the fringes of theCore Worlds, leaving countless billions dead and many more homeless. These refugees wandered the galaxy, many ending up onNar Shaddaa, becoming prey for criminals,pirates and slavers; veterans of both sides, deprived of an army or cause to fight with or for, found work as freelance pilots, mercenaries, raiders, or petty thugs.^[6]

Restoration and rebuilding[]

Not long after the end of the Jedi Civil War, the Galactic Senate elected a newSupreme Chancellor,Tol Cressa, who on a platform of reconstruction and rehabilitation began to issue directives for such works as theTelosian Restoration Project, an effort undertaken by a herd ofIthorians led by theForce AdeptChodo Habat to restore the surface of Telos IV. Over the years that followed the vastCitadel Station, and beneath it the manyRestoration Zones necessary for the project, took shape. Under Ithorian care, Telos began to show signs of recovery, however the situation began to change as Czerka Corporation gradually took over the project with an eye toward profit. Eventually, the Republic began to overextend itself with their recovery efforts; the Navy was still woefully understrength, and many strategic yet remote worlds became less and less secure for the simple reason that the men and matériel necessary to guard and protect them did not exist. On worlds like Dantooine, which had weathered the occupation by the Sith badly, andOnderon, which had escaped the wrath of the Sith for reasons unknown, the situation began to deteriorate. Criminal elements like that represented by the Exchange, as well as theHutts, became more pervasive than ever, and without adequate pan-galactic law enforcement they soon began to build mini-empires of their own; this contributed to a further weakening of the galaxy's infrastructure.^[6]

An unknown threat and Revan's departure[]

After the war's end, Revan, through the Force, began to recover more and more of his lost memories despite what the Jedi had done to wipe them away. Even as the Republic attempted to stamp out the last vestiges of the Sith Empire,sending a task force to Korriban approximately one year after war's end that found only empty ruins strewn with the remains of dead Sith,^[6] the former Dark Lord remembered a threat that he had encountered in the Unknown Regions: TheTrue Sith Empire. Leaving behind his wife, Shan, along with those who had served alongside him at war's end, and all of his possessions, Revan departed known space in order toface this threat.^[20] The exiled Jedi MasterKreia, who had taught Revan for a time when he was still a Padawan, had gone in search of both him and what had driven him to leave the Republic behind and wage a war against it; eventually she too found Malachor V and, corrupted by its dark energies, began to form theSith Triumvirate.^[1]

The First Jedi Purge[]

Main article:First Jedi Purge

In the years after the close of the Jedi Civil War, the weakened Order became weaker still due to the actions of hidden fragments of the beaten Sith Empire. Though disorganized and lacking strong leadership, the remnants of Revan's Sith assassins began to prey upon stray Jedi, using their unique power to detect and draw upon the Force within another being. When Kreia fell to the dark side and became Darth Traya, the Lord of Betrayal, she found and revitalized this forgotten Sith cult; along with her apprenticesDarth Sion, the "Lord of Pain" andDarth Nihilus, the "Lord of Hunger", she formed the Sith Triumvirate and began to undermine the Republic from within, precipitating a number of incidents that would later be known as the First Jedi Purge.^[4] Some of her actions were unwittingly abetted byAtris, one of the last surviving members of the Jedi Council; such incidents included the devastation of the Miraluka worldKatarr, which resulted when Nihilus used his powers to destroy all life on that world, including the Jedi who hadgathered there. Atris' plan to draw out the hidden threat by leaking the time and place of the Jedi gathering had backfired, with the result that many of the most powerful of the surviving Jedi Masters were lost to Nihilus' hunger.^[1]

Five years after the end of the war,^[4]Meetra Surik,^[20] an exiled former Jedi Knight, cast out of the Order in the wake of her involvement in the Mandalorian Wars, returned to known space.^[4] Thrust into the midst of the Sith Triumvirate's actions when they learned of her existence through Atris' leaking of her status onto theHoloNet and other coreward databases,^[1] this so-called "Jedi Exile" was forced to contend not only with the legacy of the Mandalorian conflict that she had helped to end, but also the Jedi Civil War that she had chosen not to participate in. Despite the fact that so many people seemed to want to kill her, Surik and those who followed her proved to be the injunction against failure that the Republic so desperately needed in order to survive. Her actions onDantooine,Nar Shaddaa,Onderon andTelos served to strengthen the bonds of the Republic, as well as blunting a resurgence of the Sith. Through her the Jedi Order, having been almost made extinct due to the machinations of Darth Traya and the other Sith Lords, was reborn. Eventually, however, she too departed for the Unknown Regions, in pursuit of Revan and the fight he led against the true threat that still lingered in the dark, unexplored regions of the galaxy.^[6]

Legacy of the Jedi Civil War[]

Fought throughout the galaxy on many different fronts that saw pain and death visited upon hundreds of worlds, the Jedi Civil War was, up to that point, the most destructive conflict in thehistory of the galaxy. The legacy of that conflict would be felt well beyond theGalactic Civil War some four thousand years later, even as many different offshoots and factions of theSith Order attempted to gain control of the galaxy—or simply to become powerful in their own realm—in their own way. Also, not until theGreat Galactic War, around three hundred years later, and theNew Sith Wars, some two to three thousand years after the end of the Jedi Civil War, would forces of the dark side again seek galactic conflict on such a scale.^[33][8]

Eventually, throughPalpatine, the Sith would indeed succeed in conquering the Republic from within, remaking it into anEmpire, ruled by the Sith, and dedicated to propagating the continued existence and dominion of the dark side.^[34][35] Before he defeated theBrotherhood of Darkness,Darth Bane sought out the wisdom of his ancient predecessor, the Sith Lord Darth Revan,^[36] and even as late as137 ABYDarth Krayt would seek the same ancient advice on the dark side of the Force, though from those who flourished before and, in the case of Darth Nihilus, rose to prominence in the aftermath of the Jedi Civil War.^[37]

In response to the devastation caused by the war, the Galactic Senate enacted ananti-Sith bill that outlawed the Sith religion and its teachings—a law that would remain in effect for centuries, until the end of the New Sith Wars.^[36]

Combatants[]

Revan's Sith Empire[]

Main article:Darth Revan's Sith Empire

Formed from the survivors of Revan's forces at the end of the Mandalorian Wars, along with their warships, the new Sith Empire that was created grew exponentially. This was due in large part to the discovery and use of the Star Forge, but also through an influx of volunteers from conquered worlds and elsewhere. The core of the new Sith military, made up of those who had given their allegiance to the Jedi who had come to help them against the Mandalorians, rather than those who had stayed behind, included some of the best and brightest of the Republic's war leaders. Generals such as Derred and Mon Halan, and admirals such as Saul Karath, translated Revan's strategic plans for conquest into winning battlefield tactics, using their knowledge of Republic ships and workings to win a string of devastating victories early on.^[6]

In the wake of the betrayal and capture of Revan by Malak and the Jedi, the Sith Empire continued to assault the Republic without mercy. Malak preferred to abandon his former Master's overall vision in favor of outright slaughter and the utter destruction of all who would oppose him. At the same time, however, Malak and, at his behest, a large part of the Sith military and a number of their Dark Jedi, became focused upon the capture or assassination of Bastila Shan, whose mastery of battle meditation had thus far proven to be one of the few things that held the advancing might of the Sith in check. Even as the reprogrammed Revan undertook the task the Jedi Council had set for him—that of locating the Star Forge—the hunt continued. Eventually, however, at the Battle of Rakata Prime, the redeemed Revan, fighting alongside his companions and the Republic Navy under Admiral Forn Dodonna, prevailed in a duel with his old apprentice.^[3] In the wake of the Star Forge's destruction, Revan's old Sith Empire quickly splintered, with leaders and minions alike hurrying to lay hands upon the few scraps of power that remained. By the time Republic forces arrived on Korriban approximately one year after the war's end, all that remained was howling emptiness and the tattered corpses of dead Sith. By the time of the first Jedi Purge, many scattered remnants, lurking on other worlds, had been reformed by the Sith Triumvirate.^[6]

Jedi Order[]

Main article:Jedi Order

Still reeling from theGreat Sith War even forty years after that pan-galactic conflagration that saw the fall and death of so many of their number, the Jedi Order was hesitant to commit to the Mandalorian Wars. Instead, led by Revan,^[8] a large number of younger Knights, and even some Masters took it upon themselves to leave the Order behind, joining up with Republic forces battling the Mandalorians on the Outer Rim. Even while this was happening, the Jedi High Council were attempting to determine the nature of the threat that lay behind the Mandalorian invasion, though they did not, in the end, commit the whole Order to the fighting.^[6] This hesitancy would come back to haunt them when, three years after the end of that war, Revan and Malak returned to known space at the head of their old fleet, augmented by vast numbers of Star Forge-produced ships, fighters, and war droids.^[3]

As the war unfolded, however, Darth Revan's Sith assassins, working from the shadows, kidnapped and either killed Jedi or tortured them until they gave in to the dark side and joined with Revan, and later Malak's, Sith Empire. Jedi were dispatched by the Council in the hope of finding some way to thwart the seemingly unstoppable advance of the Sith, however many did not return, likely hunted down and killed by the assassins Revan had created. In the wake of the Dark Lord's capture, reprogramming and Jedi retraining, the Council sent Revan out to find the Star Forge and, once pinpointed, to lead Republic forces in destroying it.^[3] As the war ended the trials of the Jedi were far from over as, by the end of the battle that saw the destruction of the Star Forge, barely a hundred Jedi remained. These numbers would be whittled down even further as the Sith destroyed themselves, as Revan's assassins were still active; later, the disaster that befell the Conclave on Katarr and the continuing purge by the Sith Triumvirate would all but eliminate the Order. However, the return of Meetra Surik would breathe new life into the shattered Order, and those she would train in the ways of the Force would take up the mantle of Jedi.^[6]

Galactic Republic[]

Main article:Galactic Republic

Like the Jedi Order, the Republic was ill-prepared to face the onslaught of Revan's new Sith Empire. On top of the massive casualties, loss of infrastructure, and crippling blows to its military borne during the Mandalorian Wars, the Republic still had not yet recovered from the Great Sith War waged by Exar Kun and the Krath. Faced with an enemy that had formerly boasted its finest in military technology and leadership, augmented by the hitherto unknown power of the Star Forge, all the Republic could do was fight as best it could though victories were almost nonexistent. Things began to change slightly when Bastila Shan began to use her mastery of battle meditation to aid the Fleet, helping them to hold off the Sith just enough to prevent their total dominance; through her aid, the Republic military was even able to secure a small number of victories.^[3]

As the war reached its midpoint, with Revan presumed dead and Malak now focusing on a war of destruction rather than simply a war of conquest, the situation seemed to become more and more dire. Even as the reprogrammed and retrained Revan attempted to reacquire his knowledge of the Star Forge, the Republic was barely holding on; reports of battlefleets lost in far-off engagements peculated in and around the Dantooine Jedi Enclave regularly.^[3] After the war's final battle, it seemed that the Republic had weathered its greatest storm, however, all was not as it appeared to be. Despite the well-funded campaign to foster the reclamation and rebuilding of worlds devastated by the Jedi Civil War, five years later the Republic faced imminent collapse not from war, but from the simple inability to support itself. Corporate interests, criminal organizations, secessionist movements and, even, the actions of the hidden remnants of the Sith served to weaken the galactic government from within. However, thanks largely to the return of Meetra Surik, many of these activities on a number of key worlds were halted, and the Republic once again began to reassert itself as the dominant power in the galaxy.^[6]

Key Sith figures[]

Darth Revan[]

Main article:Revan

A highly-gifted and charismatic Jedi Knight, Revan was sometimes considered one of the most powerful Force-users of his day. An enigmatic figure when it suited him to be so, he sought out the teachings of many contemporary Jedi Masters, including Zhar Lestin, Dorak, and the woman who would become known as Kreia. When the Mandalorians began their Neo-Crusade, Revan made it his business to monitor the events unfolding on the edge of the Outer Rim, eventually earning the ire of the Jedi Council for his willingness to investigate on his own.^[18] Even before the Mandalorians directly attacked the Republic, he was urging the Jedi to intervene, however it would not be until war was declared that his message gained notoriety. Known as "the Revanchist", he gathered followers to him and set off to war; soon after becoming involved, the tide of the conflict changed, with the Republic beginning to halt the advance of the Mandalorians and, eventually, pushing them back.^[8][6]

By the end of the war that followed, having embraced the dark side in order, as believed by some, to prevent a greater evil from conquering the galaxy, the newly-crowned Dark Lord of the Sith launched upon his campaign of conversion that incorporated his incredible abilities as a tactician and strategist. Aside from engaging in open warfare that, for reasons unknown to everyone else, attempted to preserve both military and civilian infrastructure whenever possible, the Sith Lord engaged in political assassination. His assassins and assassin droids targeted politicians that he saw as destabilizing influences on the Republic, some of the more powerful of which he confronted and killed himself.^[3] After the trap which nearly killed him, Revan's memories of being a Sith Lord were scrubbed from his mind as he was being healed at the Dantooine academy; the result of which was a man who believed himself to be a loyal agent of the Republic.^[8] Over the course of the next year, however, Revan began to regain fragments of his lost memory and identity, fragments which aided the search for the Star Forge. After a confrontation with his old apprentice, in which he was informed of his true name and nature, Revan nonetheless chose to remain on the path of the light. His part in ending the Jedi Civil War, both in defeating Malak and redeeming the fallen Shan, secured his redemption.^[3] When his full memories returned, however, Revan departed known space for reasons that he would not disclose, apparently never to be seen again.^[6]

Darth Malak[]

Main article:Darth Malak

Formerly known as the Jedi Knight Alek, Darth Malak apprenticed himself to his old friend Revan not long before the pair began their campaign to enlist Jedi into fighting the Mandalorians on the Outer Rim.^[18] Though a powerful Jedi in his own right, he did not have the same skill in strategy or tactics, as well as the wisdom or charisma of his counterpart. Nonetheless, during the Mandalorian Wars he was as crucial to the success of the Jedi involvement as many others, and when Revan fell to the dark side, he was one of the first to join him on that path, diving headfirst into the teachings of the Sith.^[8] By the Jedi Civil War Malak was as ruthless and brutal as his Master, if not more so, and nursed an ambition to eventually supplant his mentor and friend as Dark Lord, an ambition he acted upon even as the Jedi attempted to capture Revan. Malak ordered his ship to fire on the bridge of the flagship, killing everyone there save for Bastila Shan and, barely, Revan.^[3][38]

With the title of Dark Lord of the Sith his at last, Malak continued to prosecute the war his mentor had started, though without the latter's abilities as a commander and war leader. While Revan preferred subtlety, cunning, and the use of appropriate force to win his victories, Malak resorted to simple brute force, a strategic and tactical shift made possible by the increasing productivity of the Star Forge. Even as he spurred his armies on to commit greater atrocities, Malak soon became obsessed with finding and, preferably, capturing Bastila Shan, whose battle meditation had thus far been one of the few bright spots for the Republic during the war. Eventually getting his wish in the end of the battle that saw the death of Saul Karath, his foremost admiral, Malak took the captured Shan to Lehon where, using a combination of torture and seductive teachings, bound her to him as his apprentice. Not long after, however, the redeemed Revan arrived on that world, bringing along with him the Republic fleet. In the massive battle that resulted, Shan was redeemed and Malak, confronted by his former Master, was slain in an epic duel.^[3][38]

Saul Karath[]

Main article:Saul Karath

A decorated officer of the Republic Fleet prior to the start of the Mandalorian Wars, Admiral Saul Karath was one of the first senior commanders to confront the Mandalorians in open warfare, at the Battle of Serroco that saw the massed Republic fleet overwhelmed and the planet's famedStereb cities turned into radiation-filled craters.^[18] When the Jedi Knights Revan and Malak, along withtheir followers, joined the war effort, Karath eventually became one of their subordinates. Serving throughout the rest of the war, the admiral lent his considerable talents to battling and eventually defeating the Mandalorians. When his superiors fell to the dark side after the conflict's conclusion at Malachor V, and later when they began to reorganize the Republic forces under their command into their Sith Empire, Karath joined them, eventually becoming the supreme commander of the Sith fleet.^[3][39]

As a final test of his pledge of loyalty to the Sith, Karath was ordered by Malak to take his fleet to Telos IV and demand its surrender and, if he was rebuffed, to destroy the planet utterly. Such was the case and, following his orders, Karath and his fleet bombarded the planet ceaselessly until it had been turned into a scarred and scourged rock coated in an acidic, toxic atmosphere. His worth proven to those with whom he would join, Karath soon became, in the words of his former protégé, "half the reason the Sith have done so well in the war." Some time later, he was tasked by Malak with the destruction of the Outer Rim world of Taris in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the escape of Bastila Shan from the planet. He eventually met his end after capturing theEbon Hawk, the transport used by Revan and his party while seeking the location of the Star Forge; confronted on the bridge of his flagship by Revan, Shan and Carth Onasi, he revealed the identity of Revan to the latter just before dying.^[3][39]

Key Republic figures[]

Bastila Shan[]

Main article:Bastila Shan

An apprentice during the outbreak of the Mandalorian Wars, Bastila Shan was still in training at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine when Revan and Malak went off to war, her skills in battle meditation not having been revealed. As she matured within the Force, she maintained faith in the choice of the Jedi Council to not get involved in the conflict. By the time of the outbreak of the Jedi Civil War, however, she had attained the rank of Knight,^[5] becoming more and more skilled with the art of battle meditation. During this time she began to actively participate in the Republic's struggle against their former allies and comrades, using her talents to stave off the Sith just enough to ensure they did not achieve total dominance. As the situation became dire, she was tapped to lead a small Jedi strike team on a mission to infiltrate the flagship of Revan, even as a small force of Republic capital ships drew the Sith into battle. Despite the betrayal of Darth Malak, Shan was able to use the Force to preserve the flicker of life within Revan, taking his comatose form from the heavily-damaged warship and fleeing to Dantooine.^[3][40]

The bond created by this act allowed Shan to perceive the thoughts and feelings of the reprogrammed Revan, thus she was assigned to accompany him during the later quest to track down the Star Forge. She was captured, however, during the otherwise successful attempt by the crew of theEbon Hawk to escape the Sith Interdictor shipLeviathan, the flagship of Admiral Karath. Seduced to the dark side over a period of one week, she became the apprentice to Darth Malak, who wished to graft her battle meditation to the endless fleets brought forth by the Star Forge. She confronted Revan twice after this, once at the Temple of the Ancients on Lehon itself, and again on the Star Forge; Revan, however, was able to draw upon their Force-bond and the love they held for each other to bring her back to the light. As an act of redemption, Shan focused her battle meditation once again, this time to enable the outnumbered Republic fleet to achieve its objectives—the destruction of the Star Forge.^[3] In the aftermath of the war, however, she began to realize that Revan had remembered something from his time as the Dark Lord, the bond between them allowing her to catch glimpses of what he recalled. Shortly before his departure into the Unknown Regions, Shan, concerned that Revan may not return, implored the astromech droid T3-M4 to find someone capable of helping him, which the droid did, in the form of Meetra Surik.^[6][40]

Carth Onasi[]

Main article:Carth Onasi

A native of Telos IV, Carth Onasi was serving in the Republic Navy when the Mandalorian Wars erupted, earning the rank oflieutenant in the wake of the Battle of Serroco.^[18] A protégé of Admiral Karath, he fought with distinction during the conflict, earning many decorations throughout the course of the war. One of the few soldiers who remained loyal to the Republic after Malachor V, Onasi was shocked when Karath proposed that he "think about his own survival," though he did not immediately realize that his mentor was trying to recruit him into the Sith. Onasi took this betrayal hard, but what happened during the Battle of Foreost, and particularly the bombing of his homeworld that saw the death of his wife,Morgana and the disappearance of his son,Dustil, inspired a very strong desire for vengeance against Revan's Sith, and Karath in particular, within him.^[3][41]

Stationed aboard theEndar Spire with Shan and, unknown to him, Revan, Onasi, now a commander, eventually ended up on Taris after the warship was destroyed. After escaping that world, he and the rest of those aboard theEbon Hawk fled to Dantooine, where in time he would be sent along with Revan, Shan, and the others to seek out the location of the Star Forge. Serving as the freighter's pilot, he also participated in the successful escape of the ship and crew from his former mentor's vessel after having gotten the chance to face Karath in battle. Though the revelation that the one with whom he traveled was in fact Revan disturbed him, it nonetheless did not dispel his belief in the mission or of Revan's intentions. It was Shan who sent out the call for Republic reinforcements in the Lehon system to destroy the Star Forge, and it was he who advised Forn Dodonna and Vandar Tokare as to the situation in the unfolding battle.^[3] Following the war's conclusion, he was promoted to the rank of admiral and, acting on orders from Revan before the latter's departure from known space, took charge of the Republic's recovery efforts. Five years later, he participated in theBattle of Telos IV, as the commander of the reinforcement fleet dispatched to thwart Darth Nihilus's attack on Citadel Station.^[6][41]

Vandar Tokare[]

Main article:Vandar Tokare

A respected Jedi Master who was seated both on the Dantooine Enclave Council and the Jedi High Council, Vandar Tokare was one of the foremost leaders of the Jedi Order at the time of the Mandalorian Wars.^[18] Like the large majority of the rest of the contemporary Masters, he advised caution while appraising the threat that the Mandalorians posed to the Republic.^[3] Either unable or unwilling to reveal his and the rest of the Council's fears about the unfolding war or their plans for intervention in the conflict he, like the rest of the Jedi Council, did not support Revan and his followers' desire to enter the war on behalf of the Republic.^[6]

During the Jedi Civil War that followed, Tokare oversaw the Jedi Order's attempts to aid the struggling Republic against the Sith under Revan and Malak. Giving his approval to the attempt to capture Revan, he also presided over the Council's decision to use the memories of the comatose Revan against the Sith. Later, when Revan, unaware of who he was, was brought before the Dantooine Council by Bastila Shan, Tokare kept the other Masters present, Dorak, Vrook Lamar, and Zhar Lestin, in check lest they accidentally let slip certain information; at the time Revan was, in fact, the only one present who did not know the true extent of what the Council had done. Tokare concluded for the Council present that Revan was to be retrained as a Jedi, and it was also he who set the crew of theEbon Hawk out into the galaxy in order to track down the Star Forge. Escaping along with the other Masters the attack launched on Dantooine by Darth Malak, he returned to command the Jedi contingent that participated in the Battle of Rakata Prime.^[3] Around five years later, he would perish along with many other Jedi at the Conclave on Katarr, when Darth Nihilus used his power to destroy all life on the planet in order to feed his hunger.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

According toChris Avellone, the retroactively applied name "Jedi Civil War" came fromObsidian Entertainment, and it was approved by LucasArts andLucasfilm on the first pass, citing that the war was fought primarily between the Republic and a Sith Empire that was, at its core, made up of forces formerly of the Republic. Additionally, it could be seen as another galactic civil war in which Jedi, both light and dark, played vital roles on both sides.^[42] According to the reference articleThe History of the Mandalorians, written byAbel G. Peña and appearing inStar Wars Insider 80, the Jedi Civil War was known to the Mandalorians as the "War of the Star Forge".^[17]

Many of the details of the latter part of the Jedi Civil War are determined by player choices within the video gameStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Even though the player can seek out the Star Maps in any order they like, journeying from planet to planet at will,^[3] it is assumed for sake of clarity that the party visited Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban, in that order, before journeying to Lehon.^[29] While thecanon version of the story features a redeemed Revan who becomes the savior of the galaxy,^[8] there is also an alternate, dark-side ending in which Revan can choose to reclaim the title of Dark Lord of the Sith after slaying Malak.^[3]

Drew Karpyshyn, in his articleHeritage of the Sith which appeared inStar Wars Insider 88, stated that "Revan and Malak began a 20-year campaign to end the 'tyranny' of the Jedi Council once and for all."^[43] Though Karpyshyn was in fact the lead writer working forBioWare on the story forStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, this account does not seem to mesh with the timeline given in the game's sequel, as well as theKnights of the Old Republic series ofcomic books, published byDark Horse Comics. Information presented inJedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force also suggests that this could either be an error on Karpyshyn's part, or that theHeritage article was written from an IU perspective, taken from the point of view of the Sith themselves.

The2007Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force states that3961 BBY was when Revan became a Sith and the Jedi Civil War was fought.^[8] However, the2012Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia states that Revan became a Sith in 3960 BBY and started the Jedi Civil War in 3959 BBY.^[7]

Appearances[]

• "Shadows and Light" — Star Wars Tales 23(Vision toDuron Qel-Droma)
• Lost Tribe of the Sith: Sentinel(Mentioned only)
• Iridonian Darkness onWizards.com(backup link) (original site is defunct)
• Czerka 431 onWizards.com(backup link) (original site is defunct)
• Permanent Demotion onWizards.com(backup link) (original site is defunct)
• Knights of the Old Republic: Opportunities
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic(First appearance)
• The Old Republic: Revan(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords(First identified as Jedi Civil War)
• The Old Republic: Fatal Alliance(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Cartel Market
• Star Wars: The Old Republic(Codex entry)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Onslaught(Mentioned only)(Codex entry)
• Darth Bane: Path of Destruction(andaudiobook)(Mentioned only)
• Darth Plagueis(andaudiobook)(Indirect mention only)
• Jedi — The Dark Side 1(Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: Empire at War(Indirect mention only)
• Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption(Indirect mention only)
• Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines(Mentioned only)

Non-canon appearances[]

• "The Betrayal of Darth Revan"(Unlicensed)

Sources[]

Explore all of Wookieepedia'simages for this article subject. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - The Mandalorian Wars onLucasArts'sofficial website(original site is defunct) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Manaan onLucasArts'sofficial website(original site is defunct) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Prima's Official Strategy Guide Darth Malak onWizards.com(original site is defunct)(Indirect mention only) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords - Planets onLucasArts'sofficial website(original site is defunct) Chronicles of the Old Republic onLucasArts'sofficial website(backup link) (original site is defunct)(First identified as Old Republic Insurrection) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Prima Official Game Guide "The History of the Mandalorians: Exploring the Evolution of a Mighty Race of Warriors" —Star Wars Insider 80(First identified as War of the Star Forge) The New Essential Chronology(First identified as Second Sith War) Star Wars: Empire at War: Prima Official Game Guide "Heritage of the Sith" —Star Wars Insider 88 Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties onHyperspace(backup link) (original site is defunct) Star Wars: Empire at War: Forces of Corruption Expansion: Prima Official Game Guide Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force(as Second Sith War) Starships of the Galaxy, Saga Edition Threats of the Galaxy Behind the Threat: The Sith:Part 1: Portrayal onWizards.com(original site is defunct) Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide Payback onWizards.com(backup link) (original site is defunct) The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia Korriban Creatures onWizards.com(original site is defunct) Timeline 1: Treaty of Coruscant onThe Old Republic'sofficial website(article) (backup link)(Mentioned only) Jedi Academy Training Manual Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 22 The Essential Atlas Scavenger's Guide to Droids Galaxy of Intrigue The Unknown Regions Timeline 8: The Jedi Civil War onThe Old Republic'sofficial website(article) (backup link)(Appears in hologram) Nar Shaddaa onThe Old Republic Holonet(original site is defunct) Miraluka onThe Old Republic Holonet(original site is defunct) XS Freighter onThe Old Republic Holonet(original site is defunct) The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force HK-47 in theDatabank(original site is defunct) Karath, Admiral Saul in theDatabank(original site is defunct) Malak, Darth in theDatabank(original site is defunct) Onasi, Carth in theDatabank(original site is defunct) Shan, Bastila in theDatabank(original site is defunct) Star Forge in theDatabank(original site is defunct) HK-51 onThe Old Republic Holonet(backup link) Nar Shaddaa onThe Old Republic Holonet(backup link) XS Freighter onThe Old Republic Holonet(backup link) The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side The Essential Guide to Warfare Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded The Essential Reader's Companion Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook(Indirect mention only) So Uncivilized: Great Gunslingers inStar WarsPart 1 onStarWars.com(original link is obsolete) Slugthrowers: An Overview of Popular Music and Musicians in a Galaxy Far, Far Away:Part 1 onStarWars.com(original link is obsolete) Star Wars: Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook(Indirect mention only) Lords of Nal Hutta Star Wars: The Black Series Archive(Pack:Darth Revan) (backup link) ToppsStar Wars Living Set Card:#497: Darth Nihilus (backup link)(First identified as Jedi Civil Wars)

Notes and references[]