Meetra Surik was a female Human Sith Lord living during the time of the Old Republic. Once a Jedi Knight, she defied the will of the High Council to join the Mandalorian Wars, serving with Revan and the Jedi Crusaders. As a general, she commanded Republic forces in many battles against the Mandalorians, ending at the decisive Battle of Malachor V, which mysteriously left her deprived of her connection to the Force. Unable to continue serving under Revan, she was banished from the Jedi Order by the High Council, and afterward was known as the Exile.
For nearly a decade, Surik wandered the Outer Rim and beyond, isolated from major galactic events until the height of the Jedi Purge. After being lured back to known space, she was caught up in the plans of the Republic, the Sith Triumvirate, and the remnants of the Jedi Order. Assembling a ragtag party of companions, she regained her connection to the Force and traveled the galaxy, hoping to unite the surviving members of the Jedi Council against the threat of the Sith.
After gathering the Jedi on Dantooine, however, she succumbed to the dark side of the Force and murdered them. Later she played a pivotal role in repelling a Sith attack on Telos IV, before invading the Triumvirate's secret academy on Malachor V. By the end of her journey, Surik had killed all three leaders of the Triumvirate and assumed the title of Dark Lord of the Sith.
From her mentor, Darth Traya, Surik had learned that Revan had journeyed into the Unknown Regions in search of the Second Sith Empire. Along with those of her companions that remained, she departed known space to follow in Revan's footsteps, leaving her own Sith faction in the care of Thoriel Silbus, the Headmaster of Trayus Academy.
Biography[]
Early life and Jedi training[]
After being discovered by the Jedi Order on Bomis Koori IV, Meetra was taken to the Enclave on Dantooine, where she eventually showed herself to be strong in the Force and an exceptionally fast learner. While still an Initiate, she caught the attention of several Jedi Masters, who gave her additional, informal training. The most prominent of these was the Weapon Master[1] Kavar, whom Meetra would eventually come to see as a friend.[2]
After passing the Jedi Initiate Trials, Surik became the Padawan of a Cerean named Juroden Tovering and began down the path of the Jedi Sentinel.[1] With her magnetic personality and especially her unusually strong ability to form Force bonds with others, Meetra's progress was watched and discussed by the Enclave Council, not a few of whom were wary of her ambitious and headstrong attitude.[2] Meanwhile, she received lenient treatment from Master Tovering, who was reluctant to criticize her and believed that she would naturally grow out of her personality flaws on her own.[3]
By the time that debates over the growing Mandalorian threat began to polarize the Order, Meetra had already been knighted.[3] She was swayed by the arguments of interventionist Jedi, most of all those of Revan, a powerful and charismatic Knight who had also been trained on Dantooine.[2] Along with many of her fellows, Meetra grew progressively more frustrated with the isolationist stance of the Jedi High Council, and passionately stood up for Revan whenever she heard her criticized.[3]
Tensions within the Order boiled over in the year 21,090, when an investigation by Revan and her followers exposed the Mandalorian genocide of the Cathar species to the galaxy. Soon after this, her confidant Malak appeared on Dantooine, calling for the Jedi to join Revan in a Crusade against the Mandalorians, with or without the Council's approval. When Malak had finished giving an impassioned public address, Surik was one of several prominent Jedi Knights to join him on the spot.[4]
Before leaving with the Crusaders, Meetra privately spoke with Master Tovering and tried to convince him to join Revan's cause. Up to this point, Tovering had deliberately kept himself away from all debate and controversy. However, he now confessed that he sided with the Council, warning his former Padawan that she would regret joining the war. The two argued, and Surik bitterly denounced him and those like him as cowards and false Jedi. The next day she left with Malak and the other Crusaders, and she and Tovering never spoke again.[1]
The Mandalorian Wars[]
In the years that followed, Surik proved herself in combat against the Mandalorians. One of the first worlds she saw combat on was Hasaq, where she fought for one standard month.[1] Going on to distinguish herself as a natural leader and a skilled tactician, she earned the rank of Jedi General, commanding on the front lines in many of the war's bloodiest campaigns. One of the worst of these was was the siege of the Mandalorian headquarters on the Inner Rim moon of Dxun. Surik's unit took heavy casualties while fighting through the jungles; of those who survived to reach the Mandalorian fortress, most were lost during a desperate charge across a minefield.[2]
As the Mandalorian Wars progressed, Surik's reputation and influence grew, and she came to be known as one of Revan's most capable subordinates. Despite this, Revan's "inner circle" - formed by Malak, Voren Renstaal, and a few other Jedi Generals - remained closed to her.[3] Her success as a leader seemed to be rooted in her extraordinary ability to bond with others through the Force. This bonding affected the Jedi and soldiers who fought beside her and under her command, magnifying their confidence in her and devotion to their cause.[2]
Surik commanded Republic forces in the final battle of the war, in which the Mandalorian fleet was baited into a decisive confrontation over the Outer Rim world of Malachor V. Casualties mounted, and reinforcements led by Revan were delayed outside the system by enemy scouts. Following Revan's plan, Surik ordered the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator, a gravity-based superweapon housed on Malachor's surface, in a last-ditch effort to stop the Mandalorians. Upon its ignition, the weapon generated a massive gravity vortex that devastated both the Republic and Mandalorian fleets. Countless starships were crushed into scrap in a matter of seconds, and the planet itself was fractured to its core, causing a kind of metaphysical disturbance known as a wound in the Force. Through the Force, Surik felt the deaths of many thousands of soldiers and Jedi, and most acutely of those whom she had been bonded with. In order to save herself, she unwittingly and instinctively deafened herself to the Force. The battle was a phyrric victory for the Republic, and Mandalore the Ultimate was slain by Revan in single combat.[2]
Since Surik's flagship was badly damaged, she transferred to Revan's flagship, the Obsidian, and the Republic fleet regrouped in the Chorlian sector - ostensibly, in order to pursue recusant Mandalorian forces. When news of the victory at Malachor had spread, the Jedi High Council contacted Revan and her Crusaders via the Temple beacon, ordering them to return to Coruscant to account for their actions in the war. One week after the war's end, Revan summoned Surik to the Obsidian's bridge, where she asked her to go back and face the Council alone.[1]
Out of all of the Crusaders, Meetra Surik was the only one to return to the Jedi Temple rather than follow Revan into uncharted space. Unknown to her, Malak wanted to have Surik assassinated, but Revan forbade it, saying that the former general was "already dead."[2]
On Coruscant, Surik faced the judgment of the Council in a trial presided over by Grand Master Vima Sunrider. She was unrepentant before the Masters, maintaining that she had been right to defy the Council, the Crusade had been justified, and Revan and her followers were the true Jedi. Unmoved by her defense, Sunrider and the other Masters declared Surik an exile from the Order and demanded that she surrender her lightsaber. In a final act of defiance, the Exile stabbed the weapon into the Center Stone of the Council Chamber before departing.[5]
Exile and return[]
After leaving Coruscant, Meetra Surik disappeared from Republic space to wander the fringes of the civilized galaxy. As such, she was isolated from the Jedi Civil War, which left the Republic severely weakened and the Jedi Order close to extinction. Few details of Surik's life during this time have survived, but it is known that she returned to Republic space in 21,102 AR as a passenger aboard the Republic cruiser Harbinger. Secretly, this had been orchestrated by the Jedi Master Atris, who intended to use the Exile as bait to draw out the hidden Sith Triumvirate. The plan worked and Surik soon became a target of both the Sith and the Exchange criminal syndicate. She was attacked first aboard the Harbinger and then at the mining facility at Peragus II.[2]
In the ensuing incident, the mining facility's personnel were all killed by an HK-50 assassin droid employed by the Exchange. To survive, Surik joined forces with a secretive Force adept named Kreia, a criminal known as Atton Rand, and the utility droid T3-M4. Pursued by Sith assassins who had hijacked the Harbinger, the group fled aboard the freighter Ebon Hawk. At Surik's direction, Rand fired on one of the many volatile asteroids surrounding Peragus, setting off a chain reaction which destroyed the entire field and the mining facility, thus covering the Ebon Hawk's escape into hyperspace.[6]
During the group's escape, Surik learned that she and Kreia shared an abnormally powerful Force bond, one which they had apparently formed accidentally while both were unconscious on Peragus; when Kreia's hand was severed by the Sith Lord Darth Sion, the pain was transmitted to Surik. Recognizing that circumstances had tied their fates together, Surik—with some unease—accepted Kreia's presence as a companion and as a kind of mentor figure.[2]
On Citadel Station at Telos IV, the Exile and her companions were temporarily detained by local authorities for their connection to Peragus' destruction, and both the Ebon Hawk and T3-M4 were stolen. Wary of continued pursuit by the Sith, Surik, Rand, and Kreia remained banded together and were embroiled in the intrigues among Telosian authorities, Czerka Corporation, the local Exchange presence, and the Ithorians of Chodo Habat as they sought to recover the missing ship. Their efforts brought them into contact with Bao-Dur, a Zabrak engineer who had been under Surik's command during the Mandalorian Wars. With Bao-Dur's help, the party tracked the Ebon Hawk to Telos' polar region. There they stumbled across a hidden Jedi Academy inhabited only by Atris and a cadre of six Echani handmaidens. A heated confrontation ensued between Surik and Atris, and although the latter blamed her for Peragus' destruction, she was permitted to leave Telos with her ship and her companions.[2]
Afterward, T3-M4 revealed that it had accessed Atris' computer databanks during its captivity, and that it had downloaded a holorecord showing Surik's trial and the Jedi Council's discussion that had immediately followed. The latter segment led Surik to believe that the reasons for her own exile and temporary loss of the Force were more than she had been told. Hoping for answers as well as for help in stopping the Sith who were hunting her, she decided to seek out the members of the Jedi Council who had survived.[2]
Search for the Jedi Masters[]
It does not matter where we go. It is not the destination that matters. It is the journey.
—Kreia
The Smuggler's Moon[]
Atton: “Hey, that's funny. Neither am I.”
―Meetra Surik and Atton Rand as the Ebon Hawk leaves the Y'Toub system
The Exile's travels took her first to the Mid Rim world of Nar Shaddaa. Aside from finding Master Zez-Kai Ell, she hoped to discover why the Exchange had placed a bounty on Jedi. To the chagrin of both Atton Rand and Kreia, Surik repeatedly went out of her way to assist downtrodden beings in and around the Refugee Sector, making enemies with both the local Serroco gang and the Exchange overseer, Saquesh.[1] Ultimately she was captured by the crime lord Goto—secretly a droid intelligence under the designation G0-T0, who was behind the Exchange's bounty on Jedi. With help from the bounty hunter Mira, Surik's companions rescued her and destroyed G0-T0's mobile headquarters. Since his control over Nar Shaddaa had been crippled, G0-T0 joined the Exile's crew, hoping to use them to further his own ends. Afterward Surik met with Zez-Kai Ell on Nar Shaddaa's surface and convinced him to prepare to join the other Jedi survivors on Dantooine.[2]
While in the Refugee Sector, Surik had been approached by a stranger who claimed to recognize Atton Rand and cryptically warned the former Jedi to be wary of him. Despite this, Meetra had developed a closeness with Rand by the time of their departure from Nar Shaddaa.[1]
Return home[]
Twelve years after leaving to join the Mandalorian Wars, Meetra returned to Dantooine. During the Jedi Civil War, Darth Malak's Sith had attacked the Jedi Enclave, leaving behind ruins that were now infested by hostile laigreks. Meetra and her companions were forced to kill dozens of the creatures as they explored the ruins in search of Master Vrook Lamar.[2] Unknown to them, the laigreks were in fact under the control of a Jedi Padawan named Kaevee, who had survived Malak's attack and been living in the Enclave since then. Unwittingly, Surik and her companions spooked Kaevee into fleeing the Enclave for a time.[7] Elsewhere in the ruins they encountered Mical, an historian searching for surviving Jedi and their artifacts at the behest of the Republic. Since they found their goals to be compatible, Mical was allowed to join the crew, much to Atton Rand's chagrin. Secretly, Mical was also a former Jedi Initiate who had been acquainted with Meetra prior to the Mandalorian Wars, but she did not recognize him at first.[2]
The crew finally tracked Vrook Lamar down in the Crystal Cave, and together they helped the local militia defend the Khoonda settlement against Exchange mercenaries. After the battle, Vrook agreed to a conclave with other Jedi survivors.[2] During this time, Meetra finished construction of a new lightsaber, which she ended up testing in a confrontation with several kinrath.[1]
Onderon and the Demon Moon[]
While traveling to Onderon in search of Master Kavar, Surik was forced to land the Ebon Hawk on the moon of Dxun after being attacked by Onderonian Colonel Tobin's starfighters. While Atton Rand set about repairing the ship, the Exile and some of her other companions explored the hostile jungle, skirmishing with Duros bounty hunters before happening upon the old Mandalorian base, which had been reoccupied by the followers of Mandalore the Preserver. Mandalore agreed to provide Surik with passage to Onderon, provided she earn his respect first by aiding with various needed tasks around the compound.[2]
During the time she spent among the Mandalorians, Meetra sparred with a number of their warriors in the Battle Circle, earning their respect. One of the earlier opponents she defeated was the young Davrel, who later accosted her while she was outside the camp. Incensed by his defeat, he sought to regain his lost honor against Meetra in a fight to the death. The former Jedi granted Davrel's request, striking him down before the Mandalorian sentries as well as her own companions. Among the latter group, Mira was secretly disturbed at the Exile for agreeing to what seemed to her an unfair fight and the senseless waste of a life.[1]
Mandalore eventually took Meetra to Onderon's city of Iziz, where it was hoped that a contact, Dr. Dhagon Ghent, would be able to get her in touch with Kavar inside the Royal Palace. However, Dr. Ghent had been framed for a murder, and it fell to the Exile and her companions to clear his name. Meanwhile, Iziz was embroiled in tensions between Queen Talia and her cousin, General Vaklu, who wished to see Onderon secede from the Republic. Meetra hoped to avoid getting involved in the conflict and was particularly wary of Vaklu, since his right-hand man Tobin had ordered the attack on the Ebon Hawk in orbit. Nevertheless, she was approached by one of the general's agents, a woman named Anda, who tried to recruit the Exile to "remove" three Royalist captains from duty. Despite her misgivings, Meetra agreed to the mission, but only in the interest of ending hostilities between herself and Vaklu. Subsequently Visas Marr volunteered to deal with the captains while the others continued with the matter of freeing Dr. Ghent. Meetra loaned Visas her lightsaber for the task, but insisted that the captains not be killed.[1]
After being freed, Dr. Ghent arranged a meeting with Kavar, but the Jedi Master fled after being attacked by Vaklu's soldiers. Colonel Tobin then spoke with Meetra, divulging that the Onderonian Separatists were allied with a Sith Lord. While it was necessary that they placate the Sith by attempting to kill the Exile, secretly Vaklu wished to form an alliance with the Exile and drive the Sith from Onderon while simultaneously deposing Queen Talia. Meetra was instructed to leave Iziz and wait to Vaklu to contact her.[2] Though incensed at having to leave Onderon without Master Kavar, Meetra saw little choice but to commit to the alliance with Vaklu, fought her way through the city with her companions, and eventually left the system.[1] [8]
Planet of Lost Souls[]
The call of Korriban is strong, but it is the call of the dead. It is fitting you came here.
—Darth Sion
While the Ebon Hawk was en route to Korriban, Meetra confronted Atton over what she had been told about him on Nar Shaddaa. Their conversation grew heated, exposing Atton's animosity against Jedi as well as his complicated past: having fought for the Republic during the Mandalorian Wars, he had subsequently defected to Revan's Sith Empire during the Jedi Civil War, serving as a special operative who targeted Jedi, either assassinating or capturing them to be tortured and brainwashed. However, Rand deserted the Sith as well, after a certain Jedi woman sacrificed herself to keep his Force-sensitivity from being discovered by his masters. After confessing all this, Atton asked Meetra to train him to use the Force so that he could better protect her. Meetra, however, was unwilling to decide one way or the other.[1]
In company with Mandalore, Bao-Dur, Mical, and Visas Marr, Meetra explored the Valley of the Dark Lords in search of Master Lonna Vash. When she ventured alone into the Tomb of Ludo Kressh, the dark side nexus there subjected her to visions of her past, including her recruitment by Malak on Dantooine and the catastrophic battle of Dxun. A short time later she was attacked by phantasms of her friends. Finally at Ludo Kressh's sarcophagus, Meetra faced a Sith dopplegänger of herself, followed by a vision of Darth Revan herself, who "killed" Meetra after a ferocious lightsaber duel.[1]
Ultimately the mission to Korriban was a failure, as the Exile and her companions would find Master Vash dead in the abandoned Sith Academy, murdered by Darth Sion. Unable to prevail in battle against Sion and his assassins, the companions fled Korriban in the Ebon Hawk.[2]
Surik was deeply unsettled by her experiences in the Tomb of Ludo Kressh, contributing to her private doubts about the trust she placed in her friends, and about her own place in the galaxy.[1]
War on Onderon[]
Soon after the crew left Korriban, HoloNet news channels reported the outbreak of civil war on Onderon, and Colonel Tobin sent a message urging Surik to return to the system. While they were en route, Surik's companion Mical spoke with her about the likelihood that they would soon be aiding Vaklu's faction in the conflict. Mical expressed misgivings about the consequences of a Separatist victory, and particularly about Meetra's apparent indifference to the civil war's outcome. Surik was unmoved, maintaining that she was only interested in recruiting Master Kavar's aid against the Sith, and that political consequences were not her concern.[1]
General Vaklu ultimately won the civil war thanks to Meetra Surik. A strike team including several of her companions and their Mandalorian allies destroyed a secret Sith base camp at the Tomb of Freedon Nadd, while Surik fought her way through the streets of Iziz to the Royal Palace. Queen Talia was killed, her Royalist forces were defeated, and Master Kavar surrendered after being bested in lightsaber combat with his former friend. Vaklu wished to execute the captive Jedi, but at Meetra's intervention he agreed to permit Kavar to leave Onderon alive. Meetra tried to justify herself to Kavar while escorting him to a shuttle, but the Jedi Master castigated her for aiding the Separatists. Despite the fact she had spared him and driven the Sith from Onderon, Kavar was mortified that Surik chose to join a war, on what he considered the wrong side, for nothing more than her own personal ends. He agreed to rendezvous with the survivors of the Jedi Council on Dantooine, but he and Meetra did not part as friends.[1]
The Sith Lords[]
Betrayals on Dantooine[]
You have failed me, completely and utterly... You showed them life without the Force... and instead of showing them truth, power, all you showed them was how the galaxy may die.
—Kreia
With the remaining Jedi Masters accounted for, Meetra set out again for Dantooine. While still en route, she decided to open Atton Rand to the Force and begin training him in its use. Under her supervision, Atton reconstructed one of Kavar's lightsabers, which Meetra had disabled in their duel on Onderon. Once the Ebon Hawk arrived, however, the Exile left off the training sessions and spent most of her time wandering Dantooine alone while awaiting the Jedi's arrival. Brooding over what she saw as Kavar's betrayal, she came to doubt the good will of the Council and even of her own companions, fearing that all would turn on her or abandon her sooner or later. Though she had angrily rejected Kreia's exhortations to treat others with ruthless pragmatism, Meetra now believed—despite herself—that her mentor was correct.[1]
Troubled by Meetra's sudden distance, Atton sought her out, eventually meeting her in the ruins of the Grove near the Jedi Enclave's ruins, where the two slept together.[1]
In the end, Meetra decided that the Jedi Council would only view her as a tool, and that she needed to strike first to protect herself from their manipulations. She hunted Master Vrook Lamar down in the Taikaha Hills and attacked him by night, mortally wounding him with her lightsaber before draining his Force essence. The next morning she found Kavar and Zez-Kai Ell in the ruins of the Enclave's Council Chamber. Having sensed their fellow Jedi's death, the two had few words for Meetra before committing to battle. Despite their skill, Meetra was victorious and drained the Force from them as she had from Vrook. Immediately afterward she was struck with dread; she had not told any of her companions about her decision to turn against the Jedi and feared what their reaction would be. Before Meetra could decide on a course of action, though, Kreia confronted her in the ruins.[1]
The Exile's mentor revealed the true nature and effects of her unusual aptitude for Force bonding, the true reason she had lost her powers after the battle of Malachor V, and the way her actions there had made her into a kind of wound in the Force, carrying the "echo" of Malachor as she traveled the galaxy. Such echoes, she theorized, could be manipulated to weaken the connections of life, to the point that those capable of hearing the "echoes" would either be rendered deaf to the Force or killed. Furthermore, the Sith and their legions had learned to reproduce Meetra's abilities, feeding off of the Force in their victims in order to exterminate the Jedi. Visas Marr's master, Darth Nihilus, had all but perfected this power, using it to consume the life of entire worlds such as Katarr. Kreia was ambivalent over the deaths of the Jedi Masters, claiming that she would prefer to have convinced them of the faultiness of their teachings. In a similar vein, she wished that the Exile—in the course of their journey, and finally in slaying the Jedi—would have come to understand the desirability of a galaxy freed of the Force's influence and the role Meetra herself could play in bringing about such a galaxy. However, it became clear that Meetra did not share these views. Condemning her final student as a failure, Kreia incapacitated the Exile and left the Enclave. Upon awakening, Meetra spoke with Atton, who explained that Atris's Echani handmaidens had come for Kreia and taken her to Telos as a prisoner.[2] Upon reuniting with her crew, the Exile told them that Kreia was the one who had killed the Jedi Masters.[1]
Return to Telos IV[]
Racing back to the hidden academy on Telos, Surik found that Kreia had already left, having convinced Atris of her own corruption. The Jedi Master admitted that she had used the Jedi Conclave at Katarr as bait for the Sith, resulting in the planet's destruction by Darth Nihilus. Subsequently, Atris had secretly gathered and studied many holocrons, gradually falling under the sway of their teachings. Now Darth Nihilus was being drawn to Telos, lured by false rumors of a Jedi presence; after destroying him, Atris intended to confront Kreia at Malachor V and put an end to her as well, then remake the Jedi Order according to her own ideals.[2] Meetra dueled Atris and bested her, severing one of the fallen Jedi's hands and burning out her left eye. Meanwhile, Atton Rand and Mical had decided to follow the Exile into the academy, based on a Force premonition by the former that Meetra should not be allowed to confront Atris alone. After being delayed by a battle with several of the handmaidens, the two entered the meditation chamber, where Meetra had begun to drain the fallen Jedi's Force essence. As they arrived, the Exile left off and spared Atris's life, fearing that otherwise her true nature and her guilt for killing the Masters on Dantooine would be revealed.[1]
Subsequently the fleet of Darth Nihilus arrived and attacked Telos IV. Meetra and her companions helped defend Citadel Station, along with the fleet of Republic Admiral Colby Cede and a detachment of troops from Vaklu on Onderon. With the help of Mandalore's Mandalorian followers, the Exile and Visas Marr boarded the Ravager and confronted Darth Nihilus. Though the Sith Lord possessed incredible power, he was also vitiated by his hunger for the Force. Driven by this, he attempted to turn his draining power on Meetra, but because the Exile was a wound in the Force, there was in truth nothing to consume. Having exhausted himself in the attempt, the Lord of Hunger was now weak enough to be defeated in single combat, and he fell to the Exile's lightsaber. Afterward the Sith armada was routed and the Ravager was destroyed.[2]
Endgame: Malachor V[]
This planet's core will be your grave.
—Meetra, to Darth Traya
When they had recovered from the battle, Surik and her companions ventured to Malachor V, but the ravaged planet's treacherous storms caused Atton to crash the Ebon Hawk outside the Sith Triumvirate's Trayus Academy.[2] Surik ventured to the academy, instructing her companions to remain and repair the ship, though several attempted to follow her. Among them was Mira, who ran afoul of her Wookiee nemesis Hanharr and was badly injured, though Mical reached her in time to tend to her injuries.[8] As well, Bao-Dur secretly instructed his Remote to reactivate the Mass Shadow Generator and destroy Malachor, but the droid was intercepted and disabled by G0-T0.[2]
In Trayus Academy, Surik fought her way through numerous Sith before being confronted by Darth Sion. Having developed a sort of twisted infatuation with Meetra, the Lord of Pain urged her to return to Malachor's surface and die among the storms, as he considered this a more merciful fate than what awaited her if she reached Kreia. He explained Kreia's reclaimed identity as Darth Traya, Dark Lord of the Sith, as well as Trayus Academy's ancient origins as belonging to the "true Sith", which Revan had disappeared in search of. In their duel, Sion proved a match for Meetra's skills as a warrior, but in time she caused him to question his loyalty to Traya, gradually eroding his will to fight. Ultimately she convinced him that his continual fighting and reliance on the dark side was futile, and that his only hope of peace was to let go of the Force and embrace the death that he had so long kept at bay. Abandoning his power at last, Sion expired, leaving the way open to Trayus Core.[2]
In the heart of Malachor V, Meetra met Darth Traya for the last time. Her former mentor opined on her resentment of the Force for stifling the freedom of sentient life; she desired to use the "wounds" sustained within Malachor, similar worlds, and Meetra herself to destroy the Force and free the galaxy from its influence[2]—a goal which Meetra herself regarded as insane.[8] Traya also shed light on the topic of the true Sith, whose empire existed deep in the Unknown Regions, plotting revenge on the Republic; that Revan had disappeared in search of this empire, though she would need other warriors to aid her against it.[2] At one point Traya also offered to look into the future to foretell the fates of Meetra's other companions, but Meetra declined to listen.[1] Inevitably the two dueled and the Exile struck Traya down, draining the Force from her before casting her body into the abyss beneath Trayus Core.[2]
Contrary to their initial fears and speculations, the severance of their Force bond did not kill Meetra, but she was left feeling that she had lost a part of herself in more ways than one.[8]
Dark Lord of the Sith[]
Meditating in Trayus Core after the duel's conclusion, the Exile reflected on what she had learned from Darth Traya and decided that she would stand with Revan against the threat in the Unknown Regions. When Trayus Academy's denizens at last approached Surik, she presented herself as the new Dark Lord and ordered them to find and care for her companions. Subsequently Meetra met in private with them, relating her new knowledge and plan for using what remained of the Triumvirate for their own ends (Mira was among the few crew members not present, as she had been confined to the academy's medical bay). The next morning, Meetra formally met with the lesser Sith Lords who had served under the Triumvirate, and they ratified her claim to the title of Dark Lord. During this meeting she passed Visas, Atton, and Mical off as her Sith apprentices; indeed, she planned to train them fully in the ways of the Force before they left in search of Revan. Additionally, to augment her legitimacy as the new Dark Lord, Meetra told her new underlings that she had in fact killed the last Jedi Council on Dantooine—though she intended for her companions to interpret this as a lie.[8]
Meetra ordered the former Triumvirate's military commanders and sector governors summoned to Malachor, in order to confer with them and familiarize herself with their capabilities and resources. While they were still en route, however, the Exile wished to make a brief return visit to the academy on Telos, as Atris and her collection of Jedi and Sith artifacts remained as a loose end. Since the Ebon Hawk remained too damaged to fly, she instead took a Sith scout flyer, the Celestus. Accompanying her were her three apprentices, a company of Sith assassins, and an interrogation droid, X-C88. Mandalore and G0-T0 wished to be taken to Citadel Station as well, as they needed to return to the Mandalorian base on Dxun and to the Exchange, respectively (though both intended to remain in contact with the Exile for the foreseeable future).[8]
During the meeting with the lesser Sith Lords, Atton Rand had begun to suspect that Meetra's "lie" about killing the Jedi Masters was in fact the truth, and he chose to privately confront Meetra over it during the journey to Telos. Meetra explained her reasons and admitted she had deceived the crew out of fear. She promised not to do so again, provided that Atton keep what he had learned to himself; she particularly doubted that Mical or Bao-Dur would ever forgive her for killing Jedi. Though willing to accept her terms, Rand suspected the Exile of hiding her true motives for turning on the Jedi. He knew she had cared deeply for Kavar, and as such had difficulty believing she was capable of killing a friend preemptively. Rather than explaining herself directly, Meetra accused Atton of being blind to the Jedi's true natures as ruthless manipulators. To drive this point home, she spoke of Atton's Jedi "savior" and cast aspersions on her motives, claiming that she could only have been acting out of a desire to remove a threat, rather than any care for Atton's well-being. This shook Atton to his core; infuriated though he was by Meetra's presumptuousness, upon reflection he could not come up with a refutation for her claims. Ultimately he forgave her for her earlier deception, agreed to keep the rest of the crew in the dark, and began to believe that his Jedi "savior" had indeed manipulated him.[8]
In the meantime, they found the academy on Telos IV abandoned. Atris and her handmaidens had disappeared, along with the collection of Jedi and Sith artifacts. Remembering the brutal injuries she had inflicted on the fallen Jedi, Meetra dismissed her as a serious threat, but decided to task her Sith minions with hunting her down.[8]
In the months that followed, the Triumvirate was reorganized into a new regime known as the Sith Remnant. One of her most valuable supporters in the Sith hierarchy was the learned Sith Lord, Thoriel Silbus, a Nautolan scholar residing in Trayus Academy. Silbus courted the Exile's favor both by arguing in support of her legitimacy and by ratting out dissenters within the ranks. For this he was rewarded with rapid promotions and expanded duties, eventually being made into Trayus Academy's headmaster. He was also tasked with formally training Atton Rand, Visas Marr, and Mical as Sith. Eventually Meetra Surik did leave for the Unknown Regions with her remaining companions, taking both the Ebon Hawk and the Celestus, and leaving Thoriel Silbus in charge of the Remnant Sith Order.[7]
Through an unknown series of events over the next six years, the Exile and her companions apparently found Darth Revan and helped her to destroy the Sith Emperor Vitiate. Rather than continuing to undermine the Second Sith Empire, however, they instead supported Revan as she took Vitiate's place, intending to carry out the invasion of the Republic according to her own designs. This was to take place in 21,108 AR, but Atton Rand unexpectedly turned against the Sith, stole the Ebon Hawk, and fled back to known space, intent on warning the Republic. The Exile sent Visas Marr in pursuit of her rogue apprentice. Despite her efforts, Atton successfully alerted Republic Admiral Sargo Opelle, and at the same time gathered a small party of allies which included both Atris and a former Padawan named Kaevee. Consequently the Republic launched an attack on Malachor V, during which Atton activated the Mass Shadow Generator, destroying the planet and the Sith academy as Bao-Dur had hoped to six years before. Since the true Sith had intended to use Malachor as the arrival point for their invasion, this delayed their plans for several standard months. Visas Marr returned to the Unknown Regions, intent on answering for her failure to Meetra Surik and to Revan.[7]
Personality and traits[]
As a young Jedi, Meetra was naturally drawn to the company of others, where her argumentative and headstrong personality quickly won her either devotees or rivals. As debates concerning the Mandalorian threat took over the Enclave, she unabashedly spoke out in favor of Jedi intervention and never missed a chance to defend Revan and Malak from criticism.
After the war's end, Surik tended to be extremely reserved and unexpressive, even in tense situations. According to Atton Rand, whenever Meetra was angry enough that a normal person in her position would be shouting, she merely raised her voice slightly. She rarely laughed or joked, but displayed a caustic wit whenever frustrated.
Though Meetra grew disillusioned with most of her principles, one enduring aspect of her personality was a deep sense of loyalty. As a general during the wars, she was steadfastly obedient to Revan, and genuinely trusted and cared for the people under her command, Jedi and common soldiers alike. Many years later, she regarded the rest of the Ebon Hawk's crew in a similar way. Though she kept aloof from some of them and actively disliked Kreia, she remained fiercely protective of them all, believing they had earned her trust by traveling with and fighting alongside her. In fact, she ultimately didn't consider herself duty-bound to anyone except her companions.
Powers and abilities[]
It's almost like a sound... Voices. Or music, maybe. But it always seems far away, and you can never be sure where it's coming from.
—Meetra Surik, attempting to describe the Force to Brianna Yusanis
Duelist[]
In lightsaber combat, Meetra favored Form VI: Niman, prizing its versatility and liberal integration of Force powers into battle. After regaining her connection to the Force, she learned many fighting techniques from the last Jedi Masters as well as many Sith by sparring, fighting, or training with them. Over the years, she developed an advanced, personalized style which was based upon Niman, but augmented by her knowledge of more advanced techniques, including ones from Makashi and Juyo. Thus, while her style had neither the impenetrable defense of Soresu or the irresistible offense of Djem So, it was flexible, well-rounded, and seemed to lack the fundamental weaknesses of the standard Niman form.
Bonds[]
As a consequence of her advanced ability to create Force bonds, Surik was able to quickly grasp and imitate combat styles and powers used by other Force-users; often she only needed to observe them in battle or training for relatively short periods. This had the additional effect of augmenting her precognitive abilities when in battle, to the point that she sometimes referred to it as "battle sight." While dueling an opponent, she was able to analyze and adapt to their offense or defense with relative ease.
Meetra instinctively and unconsciously fed off of Force energy through her connections to other beings, and it was by this means that she regained the use of the Force which she had lost at Malachor - beginning with her contact with Kreia at Peragus. She grew progressively more powerful as she formed symbiotic bonds with more Force-sensitive companions. Additionally, as she involved herself in skirmishes and battles on numerous worlds, she unwittingly increased her strength by absorbing the Force energy from those she killed, essentially feeding off of the deaths that she caused.
After Surik had discovered her own true nature and embraced the dark side of the Force, her presence tended to parasitically sap the will and life of her companions, as well as anyone else she came in contact with. If desired, she could either slow these corrupting effects, or else direct and magnify them in order to drain and kill her victims in short order. In combat, her dark side aura enabled her to automatically feed off of her opponents, gradually overshadowing and debilitating their connections to the Force.
Conventional powers[]
During her informal apprenticeship to Kreia, Meetra learned several unusual Force powers, including Beast Trick and Breath Control.
As she regained her connection to the Force, Meetra rapidly demonstrated advanced proficiency with telekinesis, being able to crush or rend her opponents, as well as to throw them with abandon during the heat of battle. After embracing the dark side, she eventually learned to cast Sith lightning.
Equipment and apparel[]
As a Jedi Sentinel, Meetra carried a single-hilt lightsaber with a yellow blade. At some point during the Mandalorian Wars, she replaced the crystal with a red one in a small act of defiance against the Jedi Council, which frowned upon use of the color. Master Atris kept this weapon for many years after Surik was expelled from the Order, but its original owner reclaimed it after their duel on Telos IV. During her adventures after Peragus' destruction, Meetra constructed a second lightsaber with an orange blade. After assuming the title of Dark Lord of the Sith, she exchanged its crystal for a traditional red one.
For much of her exile, Surik wore generic apparel of the sort common to spacers. Shortly after initially regaining her connection to the Force, she took to wearing standard Jedi robes. In place of these, she later donned a white tunic and a black armorweave cloak, the latter of which was a gift from Visas Marr, who had taken it from the corpse of a Sith on Dxun.
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (First appearance)
- Critical Points
- Exile's Snare
- Torchbearer (Mentioned only)
- Salvage Team Four (Mentioned only)
- Edge of the Storm (Mentioned only)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 Critical Points
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Fanon addition
- ↑ The significance of the Cathar genocide's discovery is based upon its portrayal in the comic Knights of the Old Republic 42: Masks. Malak's recruitment of Meetra Surik is shown via a vision of the past in The Sith Lords. However, the exact sequence of events, with Surik's recruitment occurring shortly after the mission to Cathar, her already being a Knight, and it taking place specifically on Dantooine, are all fanon.
- ↑ The Exile's trial is seen in Knights of the Old Republic II, but Vima Sunrider's presence (and rank as Grand Master) is a fanon addition.
- ↑ Meetra's decision to fire on the asteroid is meant to be implied in Chapter 10 of Critical Points, in which she resents Atris and G0-T0 for holding her responsible for the wider consequences of Peragus' destruction.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Torchbearer
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Exile's Snare