Karr Shadeez was a male Kel Dor Jedi who lived during the New Sith Wars. A well-respected Jedi Guardian for decades, he eventually became disillusioned with the Jedi High Council's governance of the Order and became a Gray Jedi. He led a two-decade-long campaign against the Sith, recruiting over a dozen Jedi of his own and constantly checking the ambitions of the Sith Lord Zirist Lakalt.
Biography[]
Knight of the Republic[]
Shadeez served the Jedi Order for years as a Jedi Guardian, and was a contemporary and friend of the Boltrunian Jedi Guardian Argus Z'dar. He defeated multiple Sith in lightsaber duels and served as a military commander, earning the respect of the Republic Navy. Despite his valor, however, he felt he was unable to follow the Force's call fully due to his subservience to the Jedi Council.
Feeling the Council unduly restricted Jedi Knights to its own ends rather than allowing them to follow the Force's will, Shadeez began to pursue his own agenda, helping where he could and ignoring the summons of the Council. Though he refused to use the dark side and remained a steadfast opponent of the Sith, Shadeez took official missions from the Republic only when he felt it most valuable. Despite diminishing access to the Republic's resources, he never wavered in his commitment to his view of his duty.
Crusader[]
Eventually, Shadeez forsook what he viewed as the needless bureaucracy of the Order entirely. He had intended to become a Knight errant, traveling from one trouble spot to another alone, but he quickly attracted a following of Republic soldiers who were similarly feeling constrained by the Navy. Bolstered by local forces seeking a leader, Shadeez emerged at the head of his own battle group.
As he led his fleet throughout the galaxy from his flagship, the Crusader, Shadeez also picked up a number of Force-sensitive followers. Some were Jedi Knights and Padawans who shared his grievances with the Council; others he found and trained himself. Most of Shadeez's disciples were recruited from Republic or neutral worlds, though he saved Arlya Kesk from Sith slavery. Shadeez trained his disciples in the way of the light side and, when they had proven themselves against the Sith, knighted them as Jedi. The Republic consistently sought information on Shadeez's movements, but he unfailingly rooted out spies in his midst.
Shadeez's most important recruit was the Omwati Rhosa Xei. Like many Omwati, she was intelligent and creative, but as she grew and trained, Shadeez discovered his pupil was capable of battle meditation. Recognizing the enormous value of this gift, he carefully helped Rhosa practice and hone her skills. She became an integral part of Shadeez's crusade, and her growing mastery of battle meditation helped Shadeez's fleet to victory in many close battles.
The crusade was not without setbacks; more than one of Shadeez's Knights died in battle, and some early defectors from the Jedi Order, drunk on the freedom to follow what they thought was right, fell to the dark side. Shadeez himself was forced to duel and kill a fellow Knight who had become a Dark Jedi and threatened his apprentices. Despite these setbacks, none of Shadeez's own students fell the dark side in his lifetime, and, after over a decade of crusading and training multiple apprentices to Knighthood, they persuaded him to assume the rank of Jedi Master.
What Could Have Been[]
In 1,389 BBY, Shadeez was approached by Republic Admiral Herqilius Arstyn, who sought Shadeez's help protecting his homeworld, Gizer, while Arstyn himself pursued a punitive expedition against the New Sith Empire. Shadeez agreed to the meeting but, unbeknownst to him, the Republic had at last learned of the arrangement, and the Council of Reconciliation dispatched Jedi Knight Tirien Kal-Di to persuade Shadeez to return to the Order.
Apprised of Tirien's arrival at Gizer Battlestation by Rhosa, who had sensed his approach, Shadeez received Tirien. The two debated the philosophy of following the Council versus following one's own perception of the will of the Force. After Shadeez met with Arstyn, however, Tirien remained and spoke with Rhosa, who urged her master to meet the Republic halfway. Taking the opinion of his other Knights, Shadeez remained open to the idea. In discussions with Arstyn and Kal-Di the next day, he conceded a willingness to share intelligence resources to combat the Sith, and pledged to consider further cooperation if that went well.
The following day, Rhosa was uneasy, sensing a disturbance in the Force; no one else perceived it, but Shadeez sent most of his Knights back to the Crusader to protect their Padawans and the fleet out of an abundance of caution. At a ceremonial luncheon, Shadeez and Arstyn met to sign the accords of cooperation. While he was being served Gizer ale, the server spilled Shadeez's mug. As the Kel Dor bent to pick it up, the server—secretly the Sith Acolyte Alecto in disguise—drew her lightsaber and cut off Shadeez's breath mask and part of his face. He died of toxic oxygen inhalation through what remained of his trachea seconds later.
Powers and Abilities[]
Karr Shadeez was considered a skillful and deadly swordsman by his fellow Jedi. He possessed sufficient knowledge of all the forms of lightsaber combat to instruct his apprentices in a number of them; Rhosa Xei studied Makashi while Jylo Naki studied Djem So.
Shadeez was a successful military commander, the victor of dozens of large and small engagements, although in later years some of his success was due to Rhosa's battle meditation.
Appearance and Personality[]
Shadeez stood 1.88 meters tall and, had burnt sienna skin. He had silver irises, a feature only seen among Kel Dor who were Force-sensitive. Away from Dorin or his personal meditation chamber on the Crusader, he wore an antiox breath mask. He wore armor when engaged in direct combat, but for the most part preferred traditional Jedi robes. He carried a lightsaber with a blue blade.
Motivated to defend the helpless and protect civilians from the Sith factions, Shadeez firmly believed in following the Force's will regardless of the orders of the Jedi Council. He trained his own Padawans to follow the light, but also to seek the Force's will, and exercised command based on his greater experience rather than any presumption of de facto importance or superiority.
Though he valued all of his students as individuals, Shadeez was particularly close with Rhosa, who was instrumental to his crusade's success. He was protective of her, refusing to allow either the Republic or her own comrades to treat her like a commodity rather than a person. Rhosa believed Shadeez wished to reunite with the Jedi Order, but was afraid to leave the field and allow innocents to die when he might have saved them.
Behind the Scenes[]
The concept of a Jedi simply assuming the rank of Master initially appeared in Timothy Zahn's 1992 novel Dark Force Rising. The only canon example is Jorus C'baoth; Sakaros thought Star Wars might do with a slightly more benign and less fantastically arrogant example.
Appearances[]
- Twist of Fate
- A Certain Point of View (Mentioned only)
- Danse Macabre (Mentioned only)
- Desperate Measures (Mentioned only)
- Grim Tidings (Mentioned only)
- Revenge of the Jedi (Mentioned only)
- Taken at the Flood (Mentioned only)
- Lightning and Fire (Mentioned only)