Barel Ovair

"Ovair's triumph over darkness was celebrated, and the Jedi Council assumed that all was well. The question no one asked was this: 'Why would Naga Sadow’s spirit seek vengeance, specifically against Master Ovair?'"

- Gnost-Dural

Barel Ovair was a prestigious Human male Jedi Master of the Old Republic. He was the scion of a respected line of Jedi Knights who were all secretly spies working for the Emperor of the Sith Empire. Ovair took Eison Gynt, a highly skilled Nautolan Padawan and a fourth-generation Jedi, as his apprentice, but abandoned him during a mission to the tomb of the Sith Lord Naga Sadow on Yavin 4. When Ovair returned to Coruscant alone weeks later, he claimed that Gynt had been killed. Yet, Gynt resurfaced on Coruscant several years later, possessed by Sadow's spirit and determined to kill Ovair. Ovair defeated Gynt in combat, slaying him, and was lauded as a hero for his triumph. It was not until years later that the Jedi historian Gnost-Dural connected Ovair and his family line to the Sith Emperor.

Biography
"Possessed by the dark spirit of Naga Sadow, Gynt attacked his former master in broad daylight. The brutal battle betwen the two was staged with all of the Republic watching."

- Gnost-Dural Barel Ovair was a Human male Jedi Master from a respected family line of Jedi. Secretly, he and his family were spies working for the Sith Emperor in the years prior to the outbreak of the Great Galactic War. In his role as a Jedi Master, Ovair took as his Padawan a talented young Nautolan named Eison Gynt, who was also a fourth generation Jedi Knights. As fellow Jedi scholars, Ovair and Gynt traveled the galaxy, studying the Force and taking on increasingly daring tasks for the Jedi Order.

Their career together culminated with a ambitious mission in 3,756 BBY to explore the tomb of Naga Sadow on Yavin 4. This was ostensibly to rid the temple of dark side energies for the good of the Order, but in truth Ovair was under orders to eliminate any remnant of Sadow's power, which the Sith Emperor viewed as a potential threat to his planned invasion. During the mission, Ovair and Gynt were attacked by Massassi warriors and were forced to go deep within the tomb. Ovair returned to Coruscant weeks later without his Padawan, incoherent and injured. After recovering from his ordeal, Ovair reported to the Galactic Senate that Gynt had been killed during the mission. However, Gynt was in fact still alive and had fallen under the influence of Naga Sadow's spirit.

Gynt resurfaced on Coruscant several years after the failed mission to Yavin 4, dressed in Massassi warrior robes and possessed by the spirit of Sadow. After finding his former master, Gynt attacked him in full view of the public eye. While Gynt's borrowed dark side abilities were formidable, the undercover Sith defeated and killed Gynt. Ovair was interviewed by the Jedi High Council after the duel, but his triumph was praised and he came under no suspicion. Indeed, he was hailed as a hero by the Galactic Republic for his actions. Over a century later, Jedi historian Gnost-Dural questioned why the spirit of Sadow would have sought vengeance against Ovair specifically, and made the connection between Ovair and the Sith. He realized that Ovair and his Jedi ancestors were in fact spies working on behalf of the Sith Emperor. The historian deduced that Ovair had used Gynt to draw out Sadow's spirit to eliminate it prior to the invasion of the Republic.

Powers and abilities
"Ovair’s mission on Yavin 4 was not for the Jedi&mdash;it was on behalf of his true master, the dark Emperor of the Sith. The Emperor knew the spirits of the ancient Sith Lords could be a threat to his power when he returned to the known galaxy a century later…"

- Gnost-Dural

When the spirit of Naga Sadow possessed Gynt, who had been considered the most promising Padawan in the Jedi Order at the time of his selection, Ovair was still able to overcome the formidable dark powers of Sadow occupying the body of such a talented Jedi. Ovair's skills at subterfuge were sufficient to conceal his identity until years later when reviewed by Jedi historian Gnost-Dural. Ovair was known to wield a purple double-bladed lightsaber.

Behind the scenes
Barel Ovair was first introduced in a timeline entry for the Star Wars: The Old Republic video game.

Notes and references
Barel Ovair