Force psychosis

"Once you were with me, here in the Maw. Once you were all with me. Now you are apart, but one by one, you are all awakening. And once awake, you can hear my call, and come to me."

- Abeloth

Force psychosis was a mental disease that began affecting several young Jedi during the time following the Second Galactic Civil War. The disease caused mental deterioration in the individual's brain which manifested itself as a paranoia resulting in the belief that everyone that the being knew&mdash;except for other affected beings&mdash;was an impostor. Several of the afflicted subjects were captured by the Jedi Order to be studied, and it was found that the Jedi who developed the psychosis were able to display rare Force powers that Jedi Knight Jacen Solo had learned, but the psychotic Knights could not have learned themselves. However, another afflicted Knight, Bazel Warv, showed the ability to alter the density of matter, a power that Solo never possessed.

Members of the Mind Walkers&mdash;a group of Force-sensitives who lived at Sinkhole Station, a space station in the Maw&mdash;had contracted and experienced similar symptoms earlier in their lives. However, after living at the station and traveling to a realm of the Force known as beyond shadows, their paranoia was replaced with a belief that nothing was real except for the Force itself. Eventually, Luke Skywalker and his son, Ben, allied themselves with a group of Sith and embarked on a mission to the Maw to destroy Abeloth, a dark side entity whom they suspected was the cause of the psychosis. Despite the attempt of the Sith to betray the Jedi and force Abeloth to serve them, Skywalker defeated Abeloth, and the beings who had been affected by the psychosis were then instantly cured. As the Sith and Jedi continued investigating Abeloth, however, they learned that she had survived and fled.

When Sith High Lord Sarasu Taalon bathed in the Pool of Knowledge, he began to turn into the same kind of entity as Abeloth, until he was killed by Sith apprentice Vestara Khai, although Abeloth escaped once more. Since she was not dead, Luke suspected that keeping her weakened was the only thing keeping the minds of the formerly psychotic Knights free. However, following the rescue of Valin and Jysella Horn from carbonite, they retained their psychosis. Another battle with Abeloth freed the Horn siblings from her control. As Abeloth recovered, however, she was able to influence several Sith into betraying their Tribe and joining her.

Rise of the psychosis in the Jedi Knights
"Valin, I'm going to call your father now.''" "No, you're not. You know what you're going to do instead?" "What?" "You're going to tell me what you've done with my mother!"

- Mirax Horn and Valin Horn, upon the onset of the psychosis in Valin

The dark side being Abeloth used her influence over the minds of Force-sensitives to draw them to her in the Maw, so that she could feed off of their life energy and strengthen herself. She used her powers to make the Force-sensitives believe that only the Force was real, thus making them believe that everyone who had not fallen under her influence was an impostor. She exercised her influence from at least the days of the Galactic Republic and Old Jedi Order, although she did so only rarely at first, and the situation remained unnoticed by the Jedi.

The Jedi Knight Seff Hellin fell under Abeloth's influence and was the first Jedi to be noted by the New Jedi Order for acting strangely. Later, the Jedi Knight Valin Horn contracted the psychosis and was apprehended by his father, Corran, and mother, Mirax. He later escaped, however, and was finally captured by the Jedi Order after a long manhunt. The Galactic Federation of Free Alliances decided that Horn was too dangerous to be confined in a normal prison, though, so he was encased in carbonite and placed in the Armand Isard Correctional Facility. Hellin discovered Horn's presence there and attempted to rescue him, but he was instead captured by Darkmeld&mdash;an organization formed by Jedi knight Jaina Solo to counter Chief of State Natasi Daala's anti-Jedi policies. Jedi Master Cilghal then began to conduct a secret study of the disease in Hellin in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Shortly afterward, Horn's sister Jysella also contracted the psychosis, and after a duel with fellow Knights Bazel Warv and Yaqeel Saav'etu, she was captured by Galactic Alliance Security forces. Natua Wan, a Falleen Knight, also fell under Abeloth's influence. She was subsequently apprehended by Jedi Knights Radd Minker, Jaina Solo, and Leia Organa Solo, and brought to the Temple to be studied.

After studying Hellin's brain, Cilghal discovered that he had been experiencing dreams while he was awake. It was also found that several of the affected Knights were able to display rare Force powers that Jacen Solo had possessed and that the Knights could not have learned themselves. Additional research found that the symptoms of the disease were lessened if the victim was cut off or isolated from the Force for extended periods of time. This revelation led some healers to suggest that the disease may have been transmitted through the Force itself. It was noted by Cilghal that all those who were affected with the disease had been stationed on Shelter in the Maw during the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Rising tensions with the Galactic Alliance
"He [Sothais Saar] ran into Jedi Master Cilghal, dueled with her briefly, and was flattened like a bug. She commandeered a passing commercial speeder and took him back to the Temple. The Coruscant Security officers I dispatched to the Jedi Temple are there now and have issued an order to the Jedi. They must turn over Jedi Saar within the hour or there will be consequences.''" "Will there be consequences?" "''Oh, yes. Defninitely, yes."

- Chief of State Natasi Daala, to her aide, Wynn Dorvan; regarding Sothais Saar and the upcoming Mandalorian raid on the Jedi Temple

After being isolated inside an ysalamir-induced Force bubble, Hellin began showing signs of recovery. Meanwhile, Saav'etu and Warv also contracted the disease, although Warv was able to recognize Organa Solo as a non-impostor for a brief time. The two Knights were captured by Organa Solo, her daughter, Jaina, Imperial Remnant Head of State Jagged Fel, and Han Solo. A Galactic Alliance Security force under the command of Captain Atar attempted to arrest the two psychotic Jedi, but Fel and the Solos managed to get the Jedi to safety. It was also noted that Warv was able to alter the density of matter, a power which Solo never displayed. Later, Warv, Saav'etu, Wan, and Hellin were smuggled offworld to Shedu Maad in the Hapes Cluster in order to escape conviction by the Galactic Alliance. A group of Jedi and press also gained access to the blockhouse where the Horn siblings were being held. They found the Horns' carbonite blocks suspended over a fish tank in the executive offices of the building, garnering sympathy for the Jedi from the public.

Meanwhile, exiled Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker and his son, Ben Skywalker, had embarked on a quest to learn more about the cause of Darth Caedus' fall to the dark side of the Force. During their travel they saw Jedi Knight Qwallo Mode&mdash;who had gone missing a year previously and had been presumed dead&mdash;floating in the vacuum of space without a vac suit. Their journey soon after led them to Sinkhole Station, a space station in the Maw that was home to a group of Force-sensitives known as the Mind Walkers. There, they found Mode and discovered that he had also been inflicted with the psychosis. However, he recognized the Skywalkers and did not believe them to be impostors. The Jedi interacted with the Mind Walkers, who possessed the ability to separate their minds from their bodies in order to travel in a realm of the Force known as beyond shadows. Luke Skywalker traveled in the realm as his Mind Walker guides showed him the places that they had taken Caedus during his visit. Ben eventually grew concerned for his father and convinced the Mind Walker Rhondi Tremaine to take him beyond shadows, too. After catching up to his father, they saw Abeloth&mdash;known to the Mind Walkers as the "Lady in the Mists"&mdash;in the Mists of Forgetfulness. They intended to travel toward her to discover what exactly she was, but after speaking with the spirit of Caedus in the Lake of Apparitions, they decided that they needed to return to their physical bodies. The decision proved to be correct&mdash;the Jedi were ambushed by a strike team of Sith from the Lost Tribe on Kesh. They defeated the Sith, however, and Ben later conjectured that Abeloth was causing the illness.

Shortly after, a Chev Jedi Knight, Sothais Saar, developed the psychosis while reporting to Wynn Dorvan, Daala's personal aide, in the Senate Building. After escaping to the Senate Plaza, Saar was confronted by Cilghal, who captured him before Coruscant Security Forces could arrive. The Security Forces attempted to force the Jedi to hand Saar over, but the Jedi refused. In retaliation, Daala sent a task force of Mandalorians to attack the Jedi Temple.

Abeloth's defeat
"I am&hellip;delighted beyond words to report that all three of the ill Jedi appear to have made a full recovery.''" "What? All of them? How?" "''I'm not sure, but it seemed to happen to all of them simultaneously. We've run test after test; all three seem to be back to their old selves. My best guess is that, somehow, Master Skywalker was successful in his quest to find a cure."

- Jedi Master Cilghal and Grand Master Kenth Hamner

Later, the Sith confronted the Skywalkers on Dathomir and allied with the Jedi in an effort to eliminate Abeloth; although the Sith's true motive was to betray and kill the Jedi and force Abeloth to serve under them. The allied forces traveled first to Klatooine to restock on supplies before embarking on their mission. There, the Force-sensitive Dyon Stadd succumbed to the psychosis while planet-side with Ben Skywalker and the Sith apprentice Vestara Khai. He was captured and taken into custody aboard the Jade Shadow. Meanwhile, several more Jedi on Coruscant began to develop the psychosis, including the Human Jedi Kunor Bann and Turi Altamik, prompting Cilghal to write a report on the psychotic Jedi, presenting her worry that the number of Jedi developing the illness was rapidly increasing.

While Bann had been captured inside the Jedi Temple, Altamik had managed to escape the Temple and lead a chase that was caught on holocam by journalist Javis Tyrr before she was finally captured by the Jedi. The Galactic Alliance began demanding custody of Altamik and Saar, and when the Jedi refused to turn the two over, Daala ordered a Mandalorian siege of the Jedi Temple. The Jedi, trapped inside the Temple, began to run low on supplies, including the medications they were using on their psychotic captives. However, Leia Solo came up with a plan to use the Force to compel some rodents into service. She then used them to sneak supplies in to the Jedi Temple.

Meanwhile, as the Sith and Jedi continued on their mission, they discovered that Sinkhole Station had been destroyed, and suspected that Abeloth had been confined there, but that she had finally grown powerful enough to break free. They traveled straight to a planet in the Maw where Khai and the strike team that attacked the Jedi at Sinkhole Station had met Abeloth. There, the Skywalkers realized that the locations they had seen beyond shadows corresponded to real locations on the planet. As Skywalker and three Sith attempted and failed to locate Abeloth by traveling beyond shadows, Khai pretended to help Stadd by allowing him to escape his confinement aboard the Jade Shadow. In reality, however, she had placed a homing beacon on him. The Jedi and Sith followed him to Abeloth's cave, where they found that Abeloth had drained his life force and then fled deeper into the cave, leaving Stadd for dead. After coming into contact with her, Stadd finally realized that Abeloth was not what she claimed to be. Although he still felt as though he were surrounded by impostors, he realized that this was based solely on her influence and thus knew it was a lie. The Jedi and Sith finally found Abeloth, but she took on the appearance of Callista Ming and pretended to be Skywalker's long-lost lover. He soon realized that it was a lie, however, and attacked Abeloth. During the ensuing skirmish, Skywalker apparently killed Abeloth, resulting in the termination of her induced psychosis and the instant cure of all affected beings. Cilghal reported the sudden cure of Saar, Altamik, and Bann to interim Grand Master Kenth Hamner.

Recovery
Saar and Altamik were then presented to Daala in the Fellowship Plaza and examined by Doctor Thalleus Tharn under Daala's orders. They were proclaimed sane, and the siege was lifted. However, the Sith and Jedi on Abeloth's planet meanwhile discovered that the entity had not actually died. As they continued to search for her, the Sith High Lord Sarasu Taalon bathed in the Pool of Knowledge and began to change into the same kind of entity as Abeloth. However, the Sith and Jedi alliance ended, and the Skywalkers and Khai tracked Abeloth to the moon Pydyr. They soon learned that she was living among the Fallanassi, and Luke found that she was using the White Current to create the illusion of a planetary plague&mdash;succeeding in tricking all of the Sith and Jedi except for Luke Skywalker.

Meanwhile, on Coruscant, strife grew within the Jedi Order. The Jedi Council desired to act quickly to rescue the Horns and help the Skywalkers by sending out a strike team of StealthXs, but Hamner wanted to negotiate with Daala for the Horns and delay the launch, since he had made a deal with Admiral Nek Bwua'tu during the siege of the Temple to wait until the Admiral's word to send the StealthXs, in return for cooperation of the Alliance navy with the Jedi. However, Bwua'tu had since been attacked by assassins, leaving him in a coma. The Jedi Masters grew frustrated with Hamner's inaction, and when they learned of the deal he had made with Bwua'tu&mdash;in which he had neglected to consult with them&mdash;they removed him as acting Grand Master and decided to launch the StealthXs. Hamner attempted to stop the launch, but failed, and fell to his death from a catwalk in the hangar. Afterward, Master Saba Sebatyne was voted unanimously to take his place as interim Grand Master.

On Pydyr, Khai had called for reinforcements, and three shuttles of Sith arrived with Taalon. Taalon decided not to kill the Jedi yet, as they might still prove useful, but in the ensuing confrontation with Abeloth, Skywalker killed another of Abeloth's bodies&mdash;the Fallanassi Akanah Norand Goss Pell&mdash;and Taalon was killed by Khai in order to prevent him from becoming another Abeloth. However, when the other Sith learned that Khai had killed him, unaware as they were of why, she was forced to flee with the Skywalkers, who escaped under cover of the arriving StealthX wing, and continued to chase after Abeloth. Luke suspected that it was their constant pressure on Abeloth, keeping her weak, that was making her lose control of her influence over the Jedi Knights' minds, and thus did not want to lose her.

Meanwhile, the rescue of the Horns was successful, and they were brought back to the Jedi Temple to be freed from carbonite. Though they acted normal upon their reawakening, it was just an attempt to throw the Jedi off&mdash;the Horn siblings retained the psychosis. Through a careful pretense of full recovery, the Horn siblings succeeded in being assigned missions, giving them the chance to escape from Coruscant. Upon coming into contact with journalist Kandra Nilitz, they traveled to the planet Nam Chorios, where Abeloth as in hiding. There, they deserted Nilitz and Jysella commandeered one of the planet's defending gun platforms while Valin located Abeloth on the surface. However, Khai and the Skywalkers were also searching for Abeloth on Nam Chorios, and they found her and severely weakened her, causing the Horn siblings to be freed from their psychosis. The Skywalkers, Khai, and the Horns escaped while a Jedi StealthX wing defeated Sith forces in orbit.

Soon afterward, however, Sith Saber Gavar Khai, Vestara Khai's father, and several other Sith defected from the Sith Tribe to join Abeloth's forces, as her influence over him grew stronger. Khai was later killed in a duel with his daughter, and during the duel she realized that he had fallen under Abeloth's influence. Later, when the Jedi Order embarked on a mission to the planet Upekzar, they found that the Sith Saber Tola Annax&mdash;another Sith who had followed Abeloth&mdash;had been stripped of her power and infused with dark side energy that would explode upon Annax's death. The Jedi recognized the trap and fled before the explosion, minimizing their losses.

Symptoms
"Jedi Saar, I suspect I know what you are experiencing.''" "What have you done with Master Cilghal?" "''I know how this conversation progresses. There is no point to it. You cannot be reasoned with."

- Cilghal and Saar, shortly before their duel

The symptoms of the psychosis included a general paranoia, accompanied with the belief that everyone had been replaced by impostors, except for other similarly affected beings. Moreover, the infected Jedi were able to instinctively use rare Force powers which they did not have before contracting the psychosis. Several Mind Walkers experienced similar symptoms before joining the group at Sinkhole Station, where they came to believe that nothing was real except for the Force. This belief eased the psychotic beings' paranoia&mdash;Mode and the other Mind Walkers did not believe the Skywalkers to be impostors. Another symptom was the belief that Abeloth and the other affected beings were the only truthful, trustworthy beings in the galaxy. While affected, Stadd felt that Abeloth desired him, and he viewed her as beautiful until the moment he came into true contact with her, when she began to draw upon his life energy and he realized that her influence had been a lie. Later, when Gavar Khai fell under Abeloth's influence, he was convinced to desert the Lost Tribe even though Abeloth had just killed his wife. He later made a claim that losing his wife and even his daughter did not matter to him, as he could replace both. The irrationalities he showed during his duel against his daughter revealed to her that he was no longer the same being he had once been.

Infected beings

 * Mind Walker Feryl
 * Mind Walker and former Jedi Knight Seek Ryontarr
 * Mind Walker Rhondi Tremaine
 * Mind Walker Rolund Tremaine
 * Mind Walker and former Jedi Knight Qwallo Mode
 * Jedi Knight Seff Hellin
 * Jedi Knight Valin Horn
 * Jedi Knight Jysella Horn
 * Jedi Knight Natua Wan
 * Jedi Knight Yaqeel Saav'etu
 * Jedi Knight Bazel Warv
 * Jedi Knight Sothais Saar
 * Jedi Knight Kunor Bann
 * Jedi Knight Turi Altamik
 * Force-sensitive Dyon Stadd
 * Sith Saber Gavar Khai

Behind the scenes
This psychosis first appeared briefly in the novel Millennium Falcon. It later played a significant role in the Fate of the Jedi series.

Appearances

 * Millennium Falcon
 * Outcast
 * Omen
 * Abyss
 * Backlash
 * Allies
 * Vortex
 * Conviction
 * Ascension