Tahl

"I pledge myself to you, Qui-Gon."

- Tahl, to Qui-Gon Jinn

Tahl was a female Noorian Jedi Master, a librarian of the Jedi Archives, and was also a close friend of Qui-Gon Jinn, with whom she fell in love. She was also the master of Padawan Bant Eerin. During a mission on Melida/Daan, she was blinded in a prison. However, her improved hearing and Force-sensitivity helped her get back on her feet.

Early life
Brought to the Coruscant Jedi Temple at the advanced age of 6, the young Force-sensitive girl was permitted to start her training at the Temple academy, learning the ways of the Force. A close friend of Initiate Qui-Gon Jinn, the two would maintain a relationship through their apprenticeships and as Jedi Knights.

Having constructed her own blue-bladed lightsaber and training independently as a Consular, Jedi Tahl specialized as a researcher and Lore Keeper and could always be found close to the Temple Archives. However, Tahl still took assignments from the Jedi High Council; in 47 BBY both she and Jedi Jinn were dispatched to the planet Apsolon as supervisors of the first free elections held on the world. While there, Tahl developed a close bond with the twin daughters of the peoples' hero Ewane: Eritha and Alani. As a symbol of the democratization of Apsolon, the planet was renamed New Apsolon; Tahl reluctantly left the planet along with Jinn, as she wanted to stay to ensure the planet was stable.

Jedi Master
After both Tahl and Jinn achieved the rank of Jedi Master, the High Council encouraged them to take Padawans. While Master Jinn successfully trained Feemor and begun the tutelage of a young man named Xanatos, Master Tahl still refused to take a student. In 53 BBY, the High Council assigned Tahl as steward of the orphaned Padawan Orykan Tamarik and dispatched the duo to Telos IV, along with Master Jinn and Padawan Xanatos. While Jinn and his student were to investigate the mysterious death of High Priestess Liora, Master Tahl was tasked with recovering the last of the holocrons from the Order's abandoned academy on the world.

After collecting several volumes of text and the remaining holocrons, Master Tahl departed from the Telosian Archives building and stumbled upon a secret meeting in an exterior courtyard. One of the men, dressed in the garb of an Antarian Ranger, attacked Tahl upon seeing her; though Tahl gave chase all three men escaped. Reporting this news to Jinn, Tahl later attempted to meet with him but a riot interrupted her. The riot, a cover for a group of insurgents to infiltrate the palace grounds, claimed the life of Princess Nason. When the riot was quelled, Master Tahl informed the other Jedi that the Council had reassigned her, sending her to the Landor system to apprehend the pirates who had captured Captain Stieg Wa.

Blindness
By 44 BBY, Tahl was sent to act as a peacemaker to the broken world of Melida/Daan, where the Melida and Daan people were murdering each other. She was caught in the battle and sustained injuries that caused her to lose her sight. As she was unable to free herself from Melida captivity, Qui-Gon Jinn and his new Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, were sent to rescue her. Upon returning to Coruscant, Tahl was assigned TooJay, a 2JTJ personal navigation droid by Grand Master Yoda to assist her in her blindness; though he became more of a bother than a help.

Master Tahl was not greatly affected by her blindness, as she had an immense knowledge of galactic history, politics, and the back story of practically everything and anything going on in the galaxy. Remaining at the Temple, Tahl kept herself useful by assisting Jedi before they departed on missions, giving them detailed backgrounds on planets and species they might encounter. When the Temple was vandalized and an attempt on Master Yoda's life was made, Tahl worked with Master Jinn to try to uncover the perpetrator. With the addition of several thefts, which included lightsabers and the Healing Crystals of Fire, Tahl and Jinn began officially investigating the incident and, with the aid of Mon Calamari Initiate Bant Eerin, discovered that Bruck Chun, a promising senior Jedi student, was the robber.

Following Eerin's display of courage during the Temple incident, Tahl selected the young girl as her Padawan; though she regularly left her behind to go on short missions of her own. This upset the members of the High Council as well as Jinn, with whom she had several arguments about the matter. Indeed, Tahl would accompany Jinn without her Padawan in 42 BBY when the pair worked together to uncover a saboteur in Master Clee Rhara's flight system on Centax-2. Uncovering the saboteur, using the alias of long deceased Tarrence Chenati, the pair were too late to save the school from having its funding cut.

Return to New Apsolon and death
In 41 BBY Tahl received a call of help from the twins Eritha and Alani of New Apsolon, as their father Ewane was murdered after being re-elected Supreme Governor. She answered the call for help and went alone to the world, despite Master Jinn's objections. Upon arriving on the world she accepted the twins' request to go undercover in the former secret police called the Absolutes, now outlawed and trying to coup the planet's democratic government. As Tahl didn't report back to the High Council after several weeks, Master Jinn grew concerned and decided to go looking for her, despite the disapproval from the Council. The Jedi Master and Padawan Kenobi managed to find Tahl and helped her complete the mission. During their struggles, Master Jinn pledged his life to her, and she did the same to him, speaking aloud the feelings they had long held for each other. Little time had passed before Tahl's undercover status was discovered and she was kidnapped by Balog, the Chief Security Controller who had pretended to assist the Jedi. Chief Balog kept her in a sensory deprivation containment device, injecting a drug that slowly drained her of her strength. Upon discovering their betrayal, Master Jinn began a full-scale chase of Chief Balog in the process of rescuing Tahl. When he finally found her she was still alive, but the injuries she had suffered while in captivity were too severe, and she soon succumbed to her fatal injuries. This loss, magnified by Jinn's close relationship to her, drove him to the edge of the dark side. Bent on seeking revenge, Jinn hunted down Balog and was prepared to execute him for his heinous acts. However, before Jinn could deliver the fatal blow to Balog's chest, Tahl's voice came to him warning him not to. He regained control of his emotions and didn't kill Balog, delivering him instead to the authorities.

Behind the scenes
The New Essential Chronology misstates her death as 39 BBY.

Appearances

 * Legacy of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Jedi—The Dark Side 1
 * Star Wars: Jedi—The Dark Side 2
 * Star Wars: Jedi—The Dark Side 3
 * Star Wars: Jedi—The Dark Side 4
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Defenders of the Dead
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Uncertain Path
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Captive Temple
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Day of Reckoning
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Fight for Truth
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Deadly Hunter
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Evil Experiment
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Dangerous Rescue
 * Jedi Apprentice Special Edition: Deceptions
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Ties That Bind
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Death of Hope
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Call to Vengeance
 * Jedi Apprentice: The Only Witness
 * Secrets of the Jedi
 * Jedi Apprentice Special Edition: The Followers
 * Jedi Quest: The Trail of the Jedi
 * Jedi Quest: The Master of Disguise