Darth Traya

"Know that there was once a Darth Traya. And that she cast aside that role, was exiled, and found a new purpose. But there must always be a Darth Traya, one that holds the knowledge of betrayal. Who has been betrayed in their heart, and will betray in turn."

- Darth Traya

Kreia (c. 4,025 BBY – 3,951 BBY, ) was a Jedi Master during the time before the Mandalorian Wars and later Darth Traya, Dark Lord of the Sith. As the guardian and keeper of the Jedi Archives, Kreia was an ardent observer, a patient scholar and a wise master. Later in life, after she turned to the dark side, the traits that she had exhibited in her former profession suited her new role as master schemer and Sith Lord. A woman who has felt the bitter sting of betrayal from both the Jedi and the Sith, she dreamt of revenge not toward both or either group but towards the one that had destined her for such an end, the Force itself. Her story reached its climax when she found the Jedi Exile, a unique being that had the potential of bringing her dream of revenge a step closer to fruition.

Early life
Much of Kreia's early life was shrouded in mystery. It is known that she worked her way up to the rank of Jedi Master and that she trained many students, the most famous of whom was Revan. It is very possible she fought in the Great Sith War. It is also very possible she was the guardian of the Jedi Archives before Atris.

Fall to the dark side
"All that talk of hatred, manipulation, and standing on your own two feet&mdash;sorry, you don't get any more Sith than that."

- Atton Rand

At the close of the Mandalorian Wars and after Revan's disappearance, the Jedi who participated were called back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant so that they might answer for their transgressions. Only one returned, and he was exiled as punishment. The Jedi Council blamed Kreia for the war after several of her apprentices were so easily seduced by the call of battle, most notably Revan. For this, she too was exiled by the Order. Consumed by her guilt and stung by the bitter actions of the Jedi, she questioned the validity of her beliefs in the Grey Philosophy and wondered if this was the reason why Revan had fallen. She followed Revan's footstep in history, traveling from planet to planet searching for an answer that he alone could have answered. In her travels, she encountered many of Revan's acquaintances and found fragments of a man far from the dreaded image history would portray him as. Her crusade ended on the dark world of Malachor V, as she descended to the lowest levels of the world, the extreme caress of dark side energies encompassed the frail Grey Jedi. From the descent of Jedi Master Kreia into the abyss, arose the Sith Lord Darth Traya.

On the surface of Malachor V, she had found her own answers. At the center of Revan's former stronghold was the Trayus Academy, an ancient dark side Praxeum that contained the most intimate and deepest secrets of the Sith culture. From this mausoleum of ancient Sith knowledge she learned of what her apprentice learned, the existence of a more powerful, more dangerous empire far beyond the known borders of Republic space, where the true Sith Empire was waiting.

The august boy who she had taught, the brave knight who defended the weak when his fellows would not, and the fragments of the dark yet noble figure in history was one man trying to carry the weight of the galaxy and its future on his shoulders. There she found Revan's true intentions. From that moment on, she firmly believed that Revan had never "fallen". That a greater cause had come for such acts to be done.

Continuing the legacy of her greatest student, Darth Traya reestablished the Trayus Academy to train, convert, and create the new generation of Sith, men and women who would act as a gadfly to the Republic. After some time she found similar Sith Lords who were interested in rebuilding the deteriorating Sith Order. Darth Nihilus, the Lord of Hunger, and Darth Sion, the Lord of Pain, joined her in the creation of the first Sith Triumvirate. As time passed and the Jedi ran to hide, the Sith Lords' ideals became divergent, Traya and Revan's Legacy fell far from Darth Nihilus' hunger and Sion's crusade against the Jedi. A violent and harsh argument had arisen between the three. Traya being the odd one out was cast aside, beaten and broken. Once again she had been betrayed.

Lost and disheveled, Traya blamed neither side and instead dreamt of revenge on a far greater scale. Revenge against a higher power who destined her to be betrayed by those who she had served with zeal and loyalty. She knew now that this conflict between light and dark was never going to end, and that the galaxy was doomed to chaos forever. Firm in her belief, she engineered a master plan to eliminate this contention, the Force, once and for all. Kreia had come to regard the Force as an uncaring, insidious god. She noted the tremendous loss of life throughout history, and far into the future, during the many battles between the Jedi and the Sith. For this, Kreia blamed neither the Jedi nor the Sith but rather the Force itself. Stopping the Force from controlling the lives of men and women throughout the galaxy was now her crusade.

Kreia and the Jedi Exile
Kreia soon found herself unconscious in the company of a wounded Jedi Exile. They subconsciously reached out to each other, both strengthening each other in the void they fell. This forged a strong bond between the two.

Shortly after, as Kreia and the Exile attempted to escape Peragus II, Kreia encountered her former protégé, Darth Sion. Master and student fought, and Kreia, hardly at her full power, lost her left hand to Sion's lightsaber. The Exile felt the same pain as she did, and the two realized that their link could well be fatal.

Kreia began to shape the Exile as a new pupil, slowly regaining their connection to the Force, and together they fought back against the Sith as they attempted to bring an end to the Jedi. Unbeknownst to the Exile, however, Kreia had a further design. Using the Exile's power as a 'wound in the Force', Kreia intended to bring about the death of the Force, granting true free will to the denizens of the galaxy.

By the end of her adventures with the Exile, Traya had devised a method to kill the Force with "echoes" (her term). Tragedies that leave persistent wounds in the universe that made the Force difficult (sometimes impossible) to hear and be used. Her discovery of these "echoes", and her avenue of attack on the Force was due entirely to the Exile; he provided the first 'echo' that she could study by his actions on the planet of Malachor V, and he turned the echoes of his survival from mere curiosity into being a viable mechanism for destroying the Force. By Kreia's reasoning, people who died of these echoes when they could not bear to voluntarily sever themselves from the Force (like the Exile did to save his life), were not strong enough to deserve to live in the first place. Her hatred of the Force was her overriding goal for in her mind, due to her conviction that if she did not kill it, even more would die in the future.

Kreia traveled with the Exile on his search for the Jedi Masters, manipulating him toward the truth of his existence and his bizarre abilities. When the truth was revealed, that the Exile was indeed a wound in the Force, Kreia confronted him and left him unconscious in the ruins of Dantooine. Journeying to Telos, the reborn Darth Traya turned Jedi Master Atris to the dark side of the Force. She became the second Darth Traya, and believed herself to be the heir to Kreia's power, but her duel with the Exile in the Telos academy proved otherwise. Actually, Traya had used her to lure the Exile to her, so she could break him, and use him to end the Force, once and for all.

After the Battle of Telos in which the Exile destroyed Darth Nihilus, the Exile journeyed to Malachor V where Traya and Sion were hidden in the depths of the Trayus Academy. The Exile confronted the Sith Lords, eroding Sion's will, who had sworn to once again serve his old master, and releasing him from all his pain. By giving up the pain, and therefore, the Force, Sion was finally able to die, not before warning the Exile that Traya would try to do the same. The Exile found Traya on the core of the academy, and bested her. Upon her death, as a final act, she drew upon the Force that radiated from Malachor V, in order to give the Exile a final gift. A prediction of the future of the galaxy and the future of his friends. She died from the wounds dealt her by the Exile, leaving her apprentice to follow Revan to the true Sith Empire.

Abilities
Darth Traya had the unique ability to wield three or more lightsabers in combat, holding each of them aloft with the Force, and having them fight with a will of their own.

Kreia's eyes appeared damaged, but in reality were simply atrophied from disuse. It was within her Force ability to have repaired her eyesight, yet she refused to do so, having a superior ability to "see" through the Force and regarding her natural sight as a distraction.

Kreia could easily Force Cloak herself and knew the ability of Breath Control, which she later taught the Exile. She could go into a Hibernation Trance that would make her appear perfectly dead. As Darth Traya, she was a master of Force Drain, which she used to kill Jedi Masters Vrook Lamar, Kavar, and Zez-Kai Ell, and later, dozens of Sith Assassins instantaneously and simultaneously.

Kreia had once been a historian of the Jedi, but realized early on that the Jedi Code did not answer all the questions she posed. She was also a master manipulator, having used this skill to maneuver herself into a position of power at the Trayus Academy and, later, trick the Jedi and Sith into revealing themselves, allowing her or others to destroy them.

Traya was also able to glimpse far into the future, predicting isolated events with incredible accuracy; she was able to predict the death of Jango Fett at the hands of Mace Windu 4,000 years later.

Behind the scenes

 * Like Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, Darth Traya's name suggests another word: betrayal.


 * Darth Traya is the first known Darth to use a Sith alias instead of the real name. Her predecessors, Darth Revan and Darth Malak, both added the Darth title to their actual names.


 * Kreia was not always intended to be the only Traya and final boss in the game. Before the content was cut out, the choices the Exile made could have her or Atris become Traya at the end. The New Essential Chronology introduced even more confusion, as it mistakenly referred to "Darth Kreia" and "Darth Traya" as two separate characters. This error was later addressed by Dan Wallace, but it was too late, as the book was already out.


 * Kreia was voiced by Sara Kestelman.


 * GameSpy declared Kreia the best video game character of 2005.

A mysterious past
The "KotOR Chronicles" located on the Official Knights of the Old Republic II website are the only sources that provide the information on the whens and hows of Kreia's turn to the Dark Side. Unfortunately, the Chronicles often conflict with the dialogue in the games, so there is no clear cut "history," only what can be extrapolated from the various sources.

It could therefore be speculated that she acted as the guardian of Malachor V during the Jedi Civil War at Revan's command. Or it could be suggested that she did not find Malachor until well after Revan's departure; otherwise she likely would have accompanied him in his search for the "True" Sith. After all, he was like her child, and she the only Jedi Master he still trusted in the end.

Mistaken identity
There is an ongoing dispute as to whether the Jedi Arren Kae and Kreia are the same person. Evidence in the game indicates that both Kae and Kreia were both Revan's first and last master. Additionally, Kae was also exiled from the Order, and their names bear a distinct similarity. On the other hand, in the game it was made very clear that Kae was exiled from the order for having her child, and Kreia was disspelled for Revan's turn to the dark side.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords