Meetra Surik

"&hellip;and where they look at you and see the death of the Force, I look at you and see the hope for all life."

- Mical

The Jedi Exile was a female Human Jedi who studied as a Padawan at the Academy on Dantooine, prior to the Mandalorian Wars. It is not known who she trained under during her tenure, but it is known that she received some degree of instruction under Master Kavar, a member of the Jedi Council.

During the Mandalorian Wars the Jedi Exile fought as a General under Revan. She also attained the rank of Jedi Knight during this time, though the circumstances (eg. when, by who, on what authority...) are unknown.

The Exile also survived the First Jedi Purge and eventually proved essential to the reconstruction of the Jedi Order.

Mandalorian Wars
"When you returned to us, we saw what had happened. You carry all those deaths at Malachor within you, and it has left a hole, a hunger that cannot be filled."

- Vrook Lamar

Before the Exile could begin her trials to become a Knight and take on her own apprentice, the Mandalorian Wars surged through the galaxy. The Exile, who had overwhelming compassion for the lives lost on the Outer Rim, was soon lured to battle and joined Jedi Knight Revan's forces after being personally recruited by Malak himself; leaving a prospective Padawan, Mical, without a master.

The Exile was a general directly under Revan during the Mandalorian Wars. Overseeing the final battle at Malachor V, she gave the order to activate the Mass Shadow Generator. This generator crushed both the Republic and Mandalorian soldiers caught in its destructive sphere. The death and destruction caused such a substantial "wound in the Force" that the shock would have killed the Exile had she not detached herself from the Force. The only Jedi under Revan able to turn away from the dark side after Malachor V, she was also the only Jedi who willingly returned to Coruscant to face trial for her actions&mdash;and also to defend them. Despite an impassioned plea, the Jedi High Council decreed that because she had followed Revan to war, she was to be cast out of the Jedi Order. In reality, the Council feared the "wound" in the Force that surrounded her. Some on the council felt that they were punishing the Exile not because of what she did, but because she was symbolic of the many Jedi that had fallen to the dark side over the course of history. These council members felt that she was the perfect opportunity to examine why and how so many Jedi fall to the dark side. More conservative council members, however, felt no need to do more than exile the former Jedi. Full details of the Exile's adventures in the Outer Rim are unknown, but it is known that Jedi Master Atris had orchestrated the Exile's return to known space. In order to trick the Sith into revealing themselves, she leaked her return to the galaxy and, predictably, attracted the Sith's attention.

Post-Jedi Civil War
"And now you run in search of the Jedi. They are all dead. Save one, and one broken Jedi cannot stop the darkness that is to come."

- Darth Sion.

The Exile's return to the Republic space occurred in 3,951 BBY, in a time where Revan had vanquished Malak and the last of the Jedi were hunted and persecuted. The Harbinger, a Republic cruiser bound to Onderon, suddenly received an order to abort the trip and head to the Outer Rim instead. The Exile's description was included, and she was requested to be given status as a diplomatic passenger and escorted to Telos IV. When the Harbinger had the Exile on board, they were ambushed by a Sith warship. Then the Ebon Hawk, a small freighter that once had played a major role in the Jedi Civil War, rescued her from an unappealing fate. With the help of the utility droid T3-M4, the Exile was taken care of, and the Ebon Hawk was guided to the Peragus mining facility. When the Exile woke up from her stupor in the mining facility, she found an old woman left for dead named Kreia (who, as she later found out, was a mysterious Jedi Master exiled by the Council because of her many failed apprentices&mdash;Revan included&mdash;and who later guided the Exile through her journey to find the missing Jedi Masters who sentenced her to exile). They found the facility to be completely abandoned, except for malfunctioning mining droids. To add to the mystery, the Exile's Force connection slowly began to return. While searching for a way off the station, the Exile found Atton Rand, a man imprisoned within the brig. After Darth Sion and a group of Sith Assassins arrived on the Harbinger, intending to kill the Exile (believing she was the last of the Jedi), the three escaped with T3-M4 onboard the Ebon Hawk, traveling to Telos, finding it to be the only available destination in the Peragus navigational charts. While being pursued by the Sith in the asteroid field around Peragus, laser fire ignited the volatile fuel within the asteroids. The resulting explosion destroyed both the facility and the planet itself, though the Ebon Hawk and the Sith onboard the Harbinger were able to escape. After arriving at the massive Citadel Station in orbit around Telos, the Ebon Hawk and T3-M4 were stolen and brought to the Telosian surface while the Exile and her crew were held for questioning in the Peragus explosion. After Republic investigations proved their innocence, they utilized alternative transportation to get down to the surface, where they were shot down by Czerka air-defense turrets. A Zabrak engineer named Bao-Dur, who designed the Mass Shadow Generator and had served under the Exile at Malachor V, saw the crash and pulled the three unharmed from the wreckage. While on the surface, they learned that the Ebon Hawk had been taken to the old planetary aqueducts in the polar region of the planet. Stealing a shuttle from an abandoned military compound, they traveled to the aqueducts and found Atris there, a member of the Council that sentenced the Exile. Atris was attempting to recover lost Jedi teachings and had surrounded herself with several Echani sisters. These sisters, known as Handmaidens, had vowed not to learn the ways of the Jedi. After a heated debate over what the Jedi should have done during the Mandalorian Wars with Atris, the Exile and her party left with the Ebon Hawk and T3-M4.

The Lost Jedi
After leaving the academy, T3-M4 revealed that he had managed to download Atris's database while being held, including a recording of the Exile's trial and records of where the last five remaining Jedi Masters were hiding: Atris on Telos, Kavar on Onderon, Vrook Lamar on Dantooine, Zez-Kai Ell on Nar Shaddaa, and Lonna Vash on Korriban. Coincidentally (although Kreia believed otherwise), these were the same five Jedi on the council that cast the Exile out of the Order. The crew went off to these worlds in search of the Jedi in an attempt to unite them against the Sith and to find the answers as to why the Exile was sentenced as such.

During her travels she managed to 'stabilize' the political conditions on several planets: She helped Khoonda on Dantooine against Azkul on the First Battle of Dantooine, helped Queen Talia against Vaklu's insurrection, and helped the Refugees on Nar Shaddaa. She proceeded to destabilize the Exchange's operations on the moon by killing the crime lords Saquesh and Visquis and by destroying G0-T0's yacht. G0-T0 went along with the Exile in hopes of stabilizing the Galaxy.

In the process, Nihilus had sent his apprentice, Visas Marr to assassinate the Exile. However she was able to redeem Visas and accept her in their company.

"Step away from her! [...] She brought you truth, and you condemn it? Such arrogance!"

- Kreia

After locating and conversing with all of the remaining Jedi Masters (except for Lonna Vash, whom the Exile found dead at the hands of Darth Sion), the Exile returned to Dantooine to find the rebuilt Jedi Enclave. There Masters Vrook, Kavar, and Zez-Kai Ell had formed a council in which they would decide her fate. Right after they re-established her exile and just before the Masters could ultimately strip her of the Force, Kreia stormed into the meeting to save the Exile at the last moment. The Exile, still under her stasis state established by the Masters, was left helpless to defend them as Kreia put the Jedi Masters through the same suffering the Exile had felt on Malachor V, leaving them not only dead, but void of the Force. After she left, the Exile finally regained her strength and departed for Telos IV to find Kreia, now re-established as Darth Traya. There the Exile was forced to confront Atris at the secret academy. After she defeated her, the Exile was able to persuade Atris to forgive her and help her see the folly of her beliefs. Atris then told the Exile that Traya had fled to Malachor V to wait for her there for a final confrontation. Atris then told her that she was no longer a Jedi and would go into exile and try to find understanding. Shortly thereafter, the Exile participated in the Battle of Telos IV and faced Darth Nihilus aboard the Ravager to keep him from destroying Telos, which he was doing to fuel his need and hunger for the Force. With the assistance of Visas Marr, who was a former apprentice to Nihilus, and Mandalore with his Mandalorians, the Exile defeated him and headed to Malachor V.  After crashing on the surface of Malachor, the Exile proceeded to the Trayus Academy, where she battled the Sith assassins and confronted Darth Sion himself. After persuading Sion to let go of his hatred, which caused Sion to finally succumb to his numerous injuries, she confronted and tried to redeem Kreia, who had revealed her true identity as a Sith Lord. After a fierce but short battle, the Exile defeated Kreia but spared her life. Before she gave her life to the Force, Kreia gave the Exile information about Revan's location in the Unknown Regions and about the future fates of the Exile's allies and the planets they had visited. Shortly after this exchange, Bao-Dur's remote reactivated the Mass Shadow Generator in order to completely destroy the planet. The crew of the badly damaged Ebon Hawk retrieved the Exile and escaped the planet.

Powers and abilities
"You are a cipher, forming bonds, leeching the life of others, siphoning their will and dominating them. [...] You are a breach that must be closed. You transmit your pain, your suffering throught the Force. Within you we see something worse than the teachings of the Sith. What you carry may mean the death of the Force ... and the death of the Jedi."

- Vrook Lamar

The Exile, at first, was a Force user of average ability. At a young age she demonstrated an unusual ability to easily form connections with others, forming bonds through the Force that caused her to influence those around her, though she was largely unaware of this ability. After reconnecting with the Force, this ability became even stronger. She was able to gain greater power through all the deaths she caused, a result of her being a "wound" in the Force, but again she was largely unaware of it. By using this unknown power, she became quite possibly the most powerful Force practitioner of the era.

The Exile was one of only four known Force users to voluntarily sever themselves from the Force (the others being Jacen Solo during the Yuuzhan Vong War, Ben Skywalker at the beginning of the Swarm War, and Kyle Katarn after his subsequent near fall to the dark side on Dromund Kaas. In all four cases the severings were temporary and eventually reversed). The Exile differed from the others in that her connection was severed completely, while the others were only partially disconnected.

Significance
"You were always a difficult one to read – both when you were tied to the Force, and even more when it was lost to you."

- Zez-Kai Ell

The ramifications of the Exile's actions are still being felt throughout the galaxy. The Jedi she trained would go on to resurrect the decimated Jedi order into a body that would number thousands until Palpatine's great purge. Furthermore the actions she took on Dantooine, Onderon, and Telos would ensure the solidification of a republic that had been teetering on collapse, and prolong its existence for several thousand more years. Whether this would ultimately prove a good or bad thing will undoubtedly be a subject of debate among historians until time's end, but whatever the result it is undeniable that the Exile is an extraordinary example of a single individual upon which the fate of the galaxy, for an albeit brief time, pivoted.

Gender
The Jedi Exile is the main character in the PC/Xbox video game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. At the beginning of the game, the player may customize the Exile's Jedi character class, appearance, and name. The player may also choose to play a male or female character. The character's gender affects the makeup of his or her party, with Brianna the Handmaiden joining the party rather than Mical the Disciple if the player chooses the male gender. It also affects the optional romantic subplots, with the male player character able to pursue a relationship with Brianna or Visas Marr. Hints of a prior relationship between a male Exile and Atris also appear in the dialogue. The rest of the storyline is unchanged.

While players are free to choose a male or female Exile, the description of the Exile as a "heroine" in The New Essential Guide to Droids has established the Exile as a woman in the paragraphs quoted below:

"G0-T0 soon became mixed up with an exiled Jedi Knight and her mission to destroy the Sith Lords."

- from the entry on the G0-T0 droid, p. 25

"Five standard years later, T3-M4 appeared aboard the abandoned freighter Ebon Hawk, where he fell into the company of the heroine known only as the Jedi Exile."

- from the entry on the T3 droid, p. 37

"Five years after the Star Forge incident, HK-47 teamed up with the heroine known as the Jedi Exile to battle a trio of Sith Lords."

- from the entry on the HK assassin droid, p. 107

This means all further canonical printed references to the character will describe the Exile as female.

Alternative storyline
Following the tradition of the first KotOR game, the aforementioned light side story is assumed to be canonical. According to Leland Chee as of February 21, 2006, an official decision on this had not yet been reached. However, the New Essential Guide to Droids clearly defines the Exile as the "heroine" in articles about HK-47, G0-T0, and T3-M4.

The alternate dark side story differs in the fates of the planets Exile visits (Onderon is usurped by Vaklu, Dantooine is captured by Azkul and his mercenaries, Telos becomes a world of machines due to its Czerka takeover, and Malachor V remains intact), as well as one party member (Hanharr joins the player's party instead of Mira). Additionally, the Exile kills the Jedi Masters herself upon visiting each planet, rather than having them converge on Dantooine. She instead speaks with Kreia alone there, before Kreia strikes her down and goes to Malachor V. The Exile also kills Atris upon defeating her after the Dantooine encounter.

Trivia

 * As of this time (and when TSL's game was released) the character called the Jedi Exile has no name, because the player is prompted to create one, or select a randonmly generated identity at the start of the game. Because of this, in game characters only refer to her as "The Exile".
 * Just like in the first game, the random name generator has some Easter egg names, like Lann Darth.
 * Although the player has the choice on what type and color the lightsaber is that Atris takes out during their conversation at the Telos Academy, if the player declines to talk about the lightsaber after Peragus, the default lightsaber is a single-bladed cyan-colored lightsaber.
 * Although the character's canon allegiance (dark/light side) has not been stated precisely, she is called a "heroine" in the New Essential Guide to Droids, which many fans believe shows that she is a light sider. This is backed up by the fact that, as of the release of The Sith Lords, every canon game ending has been the light side version.
 * Very similar to the Exile's lightsaber color before her exile, the player has a choice on what color their lightsaber will be after their new one is built. If the player chooses to set no color for their lightsaber crystal then it is set, by default, green.

Romance
"I do know that you must leave him behind. The same choice that Revan made: where you are destined, you must not take anyone you love."

- Darth Traya

Atton Rand
"So, uh, how long have you been a Jedi? Must be tough, you know... no family, no husband..."

- Atton Rand

Meeting the Jedi Exile when she first walks into his holding cell area in nothing but her underwear, it was an instant attraction for Atton. After she helped him escape and communicated the utility droid, T3-M4, Atton comments that it must be tough considering how she cannot have a family or husband.

After being blackmailed by Kreia, Atton sticks around the Exile during her mission to find the Lost Jedi. Going as far to ask one of the Exile's other companions, Bao-Dur, if he had any chance with the Exile. Bao-Dur does not make a comment at the request and continues his mechanical work on the ship.

Things got more complicated for Atton when the crew landed on Dantooine and the Exile found her prospective Padawan from years before, Mical. Their relationship, though completely friendly, enraged Atton with jealousy, causing Atton to lash out at Mical whenever he simply offered to help. When the bounty hunter Mira joined the crew of the Ebon Hawk, she first noticed Atton's close attention of the Exile and Mical, and even coming close to figuring out his secret.

Though, Atton finally confessed to the Exile after she ran into a pair of Twi'leks on Nar Shaddaa who claimed that Atton was not Atton at all. Atton confessed that he was shown the Force by a woman whom he fell in love with but then killed her for crawling inside his head. With that, the Exile trained Atton as a Jedi.

Mical
"He cannot help but love you, in his way. It is a pure, ideal love he holds, strengthened by your presence and your actions."

- Darth Traya

Mical, or simply the Disciple, knew the Exile from since she was part of the Jedi Order, before the Mandalorian Wars. As a student in the Jedi Order who needed a master, Mical wanted the Exile to be his master above all else. However, when the Exile left for the Mandalorian Wars, Mical was left without a master and thus left the order to work with the Republic as historian and scientist. While investigating the ruins on Dantooine, ten years after the Mandalorian War, he met the Exile again. Though at first he denied knowing her, he confessed that the Exile did know him from long ago. The Exile regretted causing such a rift in Mical's future and so trained him as Jedi.

Of course while traveling with the Exile, Mical found himself at odds with the pilot Atton Rand. Both seemingly desired the Exile.

Darth Sion
"I hate you because you are beautiful to me. And in that weakness lies death."

- Sion

After stalking the Exile for so long, the Lord of Pain grew attached to her, practically falling in love, although he knew that this just weakened him. When the Exile came to Korriban in search of Master Lonna Vash, Sion had his deadly assassins stalk her through the Korriban Academy. However, after Sion confronted her himself, he called off his assassins and allowed her to escape.

Later, while on Malachor V, Sion confronted the Exile again and told her of his love for her (though he could not describe it exactly) and knew she must fall if he is to remain strong. Sion gave the Exile a choice; either return to the surface of Malachor and let the planet take her life, or he would kill her himself, as either death would be far more merciful than what Traya had in store for her should she fail. However, neither Sion nor the Exile was willing to back down, and they battled. After being struck several times the Exile finally convinced him that his struggle was futile, and he surrendered his life. His last words were to tell her that she was Kreia's ultimate weakness, just as she had been his.

Visas Marr (non-canon)
"It is good that you have never wondered what lay beneath her robes, if her alabaster skin was as white and unblemished as her face. Or if perhaps she bore the scars of slavery...and if that would stir you more. Perhaps her deferent tone would change once you held her by the throat, and showed her how far a Jedi can fall."

- Kreia

While Visas and the Exile became close as friends and allies during their journey, in their appearance in TSL video game, Visas developed feelings for, and fell in love with the Exile if the player was male.

From the moment Visas sensed the Exile across space, she recognised that there was someone in the universe who felt the same spiritual emptiness that she felt, someone who had suffered and lost everything they had ever loved, just as she had. But it wasn’t until she had challenged the Exile, and was spared, that she came into his service.

After being shown mercy, she pledged her life to serve him without hesitation, so that she might come to understand how he could go on when he carried so much pain within him. She made it her personal mission to help him and protect him until he would be ready to fight her master, Darth Nihilus, but this ferverant loyalty came at much to the disapproval of Kreia, and Brianna the Handmaiden.

A rivalry for the Exile’s affections boiled over at one point, when Brianna confronted Visas in her quarters on the Ebon Hawk. Brianna was suspicious of her Sith nature, and perhaps even a little jealous that the Exile had welcomed her into their group without hesitation, and was spending time with her as well. Visas quelled her outrage by confessing that she wished only to serve and protect him, just as Brianna did, and that she could “see” from her movements that she was growing to care for him. Visas then hinted at her own feelings, when before Brianna left, she asked her to describe what the Exile looked like. With her species lacking eyes and her Force vision somewhat damaged in unexplained ways, she wanted to know more and more about him.

For the most part Visas kept these feelings to herself, but when Brianna left the group to take Kreia before Atris, she realized that soon they would be forced to confront her old master, and she suddenly began to fear losing him. She came to the Exile and opened her heart to him, begging him to stay with her and not fight. The Exile told her that he couldn’t turn away from this battle, but before they arrived at Telos they shared an intimate moment, using their shared Force Vision to “see” each other.

Eventually Visas was left behind by the Exile, as he traveled into the unknown regions he could not take anyone he cared for with him. However the love she had felt finally helped her to heal her spirit, and make peace with her past. She vowed that she would always wait for him to return, and that if he would not, she would continue loving him for the rest of her life.

Appearances

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