Saul Karath

"Admiral Karath taught me everything I know about being a soldier. He was a legend in the Republic fleet, and a hero to me. Until he betrayed us."

- Carth Onasi

Saul Karath was a Human male who had been a decorated officer in the Republic Navy during the Mandalorian Wars. After successfully keeping the Mandalorian forces at bay at the Jebble-Vanquo-Tarnith line for six weeks, as well as commanding the fleet at the battle of Vanquo, Karath was promoted to Admiral. He went on to lead the Republic fleet at the Battle of Serroco.

After the war, he defected to the Sith Empire under Darth Revan, and served as the supreme commander of its starfleet during most of the Jedi Civil War, personally overseeing the bombardment of several worlds, including Telos IV, Taris and Dantooine.

Early Life
Saul Karath was the eldest of the five children of Craddock Karath and his wife. He was born on the Core World of Corellia. During the Great Sith War he was too poor and young to enter into the Naval Academy, but was allowed by Fleet Captain Orley Vanicus to serve as a non-commissioned worker on his ship. His first command was the frigate Reciprocity.

Mandalorian Wars
"I'm not a cruel man, but I'm pragmatic when it comes to protecting my forces."

- Saul Karath



In 3,964 BBY, Captain Saul Karath helped organize the defense of Taris and its nearby systems from Mandalore the Ultimate's army. From his flagship, the Courageous, he managed to halt the Mandalorians' progress at the system of Suurja through four large-scale battles, thus keeping the Jebble-Vanquo-Tarnith line intact.

Not long after, Captain Karath was sent to defend the trade post of Vanquo from the invading Mandalorian fleet. As he had predicted, the attack was only part of Mandalore the Ultimate's main plan for invading the Republic; while Karath's forces were busy at Vanquo, the Mandalorians charged the remainder of the Republic fleet at Taris. Karath saw this as a positive thing&mdash;he was certain that when an important world like Taris was threatened, the Republic Senate would put more troops into the conflict. During the battle, he spotted the ship, the Last Resort, speeding away from the planet and entering hyperspace into Mandalorian territories. When informed that it was the ship of the suspected Jedi murderer Zayne Carrick, he vowed that he'd deal with him personally, provided that he survived the day.

He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 3,963 BBY. Soon afterwards, at Serroco, Admiral Karath finally got his chance to deal with the traitor Zayne Carrick when his protégé, Carth Onasi, unknowingly brought Zayne to Admiral Karath. Karath jumped to the conclusion of Zayne being a Mandalorian spy despite his protests and of his vision of the destruction of the Stereb cities. At that point, Mandalorian ships dropped out of hyperspace and launched nuclear bombs towards the Republic fleet. Karath attempted to counter the attack but the missiles, instead of heading towards the fleet, continued towards the planet surface completely devastating the Stereb cities. As Zayne wept on the bridge of the Courageous, Karath knew it was time to rethink their strategies against the Mandalorians. Karath promised to Zayne to hand him over to the Jedi since he knew that what the Jedi would do was far worse then he could ever do. Until then, Karath had him sealed in a cell.

Karath soon found himself in another large battle that caused the Courageous to catch on fire. Forced to abandon ship as Neo-Crusader Shock Troopers invaded the vessel, he reluctantly accepted to take Zayne Carrick along with him and Carth Onasi as they fled to the Deadweight.

Shortly after escaping from the Mandalorians, the Deadweight received a transmission from Eejee, Arkoh Adasca's servant, requesting Karath's presence at a meeting onboard the Arkanian Legacy. After being informed about the exogorths Karath quickly redirected the ship to the Legacy. Carth accompanied Karath, Morris, and Zayne onto Adasca's ship, and was just as shocked as his superiors at the arrival of the Mandalore.

During Arkoh's exhibition of control over the Exogorth Carth Onasi became disgusted at what he witnessed, and left as both Saul Karath and Mandalore the Ultimate watched. Alek Squinquargesimus tried to convince Karath to arrest the Mandalorian leader, but Karath refused, citing their vastly outnumbered position. The discussion continued, and Karath did become interested in the proposition, even going so far as to offering Arkoh Adasca territory within the Republic as part of a deal. Not long after, Carth returned to the observatory having been captured by a Mandalorian, which distracted Mandalore, Arkoh and Karath for long enough so that Lucien Draay could reveal himself. Seemingly betrayed, Mandalore opened fire upon the Jedi and Arkoh's droids. During the brawl, the elderly scientist, Gorman Vandrayk, seized control of the exogorths and plunged them into the Arkanian Legacy observatory, killing Arkoh Adasca. Saul, Morvis, Alek, Carth, his "Mandalorian" captor – Zayne – and Lucien all managed to escape, as did Mandalore; but Karath was injured during the battle, and subsequently carried back to the Deadweight. Morvis commanded Onasi to arrest Zayne, who eventually "escaped". Carth, Saul Karath and Morvis escaped the crumbling Legacy successfully in the Deadweight.

Karath was soon assigned to Coruscant Planetary Defense, assigned by Lucien to keep watch for Zayne as he was supposedly going to "raid the planet for the Mandalorians." Master Xamar was assigned to the Swiftsure to make sure the Admiral didn't take prisoners. However, Zayne escaped to the surface while his companions tried to deal with the angry admiral.

Karath's ships were later hacked by Haazen to fire at the skybridge near the Draay Estate, killing Xamar and many Jedi. Karath ordered all non-essential personnel off the Swiftsure while they tried to figure out a way to disable the hack. After the fleet fires again on the Estate, killing Haazen, control was restored. Days later, Karath publicly announced that the Mandalorians were responsible, as the Republic and the Jedi agreed to have the true events covered up.

Jedi Civil War
"The Sith would not accept me until I'd proven I turned my back on the Republic by bombing the planet."

- Saul Karath, referring to his destruction of Telos



Though not one of those who followed Revan and Alek (as Darth Malak) into the Unknown Regions directly after the Mandalorian Wars, Karath was quick to defect to the Sith upon their return to the Republic, attempting&mdash;and failing&mdash;to convince his protégé and friend, Carth Onasi, to do the same. He brough Leviathan and several other ships with him into the Sith service. His first act was to give them the codes to bypass a Republic Navy docking bay's scanners&mdash;allowing the Sith forces to sweep in and destroy over half of the docked ships before they had time to react. At some point after this, Karath was promoted to commander of the entire Sith fleet by Revan himself. Not long after, the turncoat was ordered by Darth Malak to lay waste to the surface of Telos IV.

Karath continued his service as the new Sith Admiral even after Malak usurped power of the Sith Empire from Revan. He was in command of the blockade over Taris, and attacked the planet, reducing it to ruins in order to prevent Bastila Shan from escaping the planet. At first, Karath did not want kill many innocents and waste his own troops on Taris. But after Malak reminded him of what happened to his predecessor, Admiral Karath had no choice but to begin the bombardment immediately. He was also responsible for the attack on the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, which killed many Jedi. However, the Jedi Council on Dantooine was able to escape death and joined the Republic in the Battle of Rakata Prime later on.

During one of the Ebon Hawk's travels around the Outer Rim, the interdiction field of the Leviathan drew the small freighter out of hyperspace and dragged it aboard the heavy starship, allowing Sith forces to capture its crew. Admiral Karath particularly ordered the torture of three crew members: Carth, Bastila, and the amnesiac Revan.

Revan and his companions eventually escaped from their cells and confronted the Admiral on the bridge of his ship. Despite the protection of Sith troopers and Dark Jedi, Saul was mortally wounded in the ensuing battle. As he lay dying, Karath summoned Onasi to his side only to deliver him the shocking truth: his loyal companion whom he had fought side by side with was none other than Darth Revan, the former Dark Lord of the Sith. Admiral Karath died immediately afterwards.

Personality and traits


"In war even the innocent must die."

- Saul Karath

Interestingly, though Karath would attempt to justify the devastation of Telos IV to Carth Onasi upon their meeting on the Leviathan, other evidence points to his distaste for such wanton brutality, as evidenced in his questioning of Darth Malak over the destruction of Taris, though it's possible that Karath had some connection to the planet in which he protected from the Mandalorians eight years before its destruction.

Aside from Basic he could speak Durese, Khilese, Sullustese, Mando'a, Bothese, Zabraki and Kuat languages.

Behind the scenes
Saul Karath was voiced by Robin Sachs in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Despite Bastila's comments of Saul being corrupted by the dark side, Saul has a Force alignment score of 50, which makes him neutral. However, as may be the case with Trask Ulgo, this alignment may be due to neglect or an effort to cut corners on the game programmer's part, as Saul at no point becomes a party member, and thus his alignment is never revealed within the game. It may also be simple game mechanics.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 0: Crossroads
 * The Taris Holofeed: Prime Edition
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 8: Flashpoint, Part 2
 * The Admiral's List: Jimas Veltraa Memorial Edition
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 14: Days of Fear, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 15: Days of Fear, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 17: Nights of Anger, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 18: Nights of Anger, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Daze of Hate
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 22: Knights of Suffering, Part 1
 * The Admiral's List: Karath Home Safely
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 30: Exalted, Part 2
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 31: Turnabout
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 32: Vindication, Part 1
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 34: Vindication, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 35: Vindication, Part 4
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Notes and references
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