Showdown in the Draay Estate

"Both of you&mdash;stop! Haazen's got more Sith artifacts! He's your enemy!"

- Marn Hierogryph

The showdown in the Draay Estate ocurred in the year 3,963 BBY, when Jedi Master Xamar attempted to exculpate Jedi Covenant founder Krynda Draay by implicating himself as one of the principal participants of the Padawan Massacre of Taris a year earlier. As the fugitive Padawan Zayne Carrick&mdash;who had been framed by the Covenant's First WatchCircle for the murders&mdash;worked to prove his own innocence, Xamar apprehended him, and cleared the young Human's name upon conference with the Jedi High Council. Xamar then planned to bring an end to the Covenant's surreptitious activities and his fellow WatchCircle members to justice in a scheme devised by himself, the High Council, and Carrick, which involved the latter pretending to have fully embraced the dark side of the Force. With Carrick in "custody" and seemingly under the thrall of an ancient Sith artifact known as the Muur Talisman, Xamar brought both the fugitive Padawan and his associate, Marn Hierogryph, to the Draay Estate on Coruscant, seeking examination by Krynda, at which time Xamar planned to spirit her away to safety. Instead, they were met and denied audience by Krynda's son and First WatchCircle leader, Lucien.

As Lucien prepared to kill Carrick and thus eliminate the last surviving witness to the Padawan massacre, Haazen, ersatz leader of the Covenant and Draay family steward, arrived to take control of the situation. Carrick then broke free of his captors while launching what seemed to be a dark side-inspired tirade, which was the cue for Xamar to exit and muster his forces&mdash;those Knights loyal to the Jedi Order and not to the Covenant. Haazen meanwhile denounced Carrick as a fraud and exposed his talisman a fake, but when he attempted to question the Snivvian Hierogryph, Xamar returned with scores of High Council operatives who proceeded engage the members of the Jedi Covenant in battle. As combat raged all around and throughout the Draay Estate, Haazen revealed his own treachery by issuing the command of Vindication to all Covenanteers, an order which caused all those loyal to him and his clandestine organization to turn on the Council in utter pandemonium.

Background
"I am no longer competent to decide. But I will no longer let Lucien Draay decide. I asked him before the murders if Krynda had approved them. I should have sssensed his lie then."

- Xamar, regarding his involvement in the Padawan Massacre



Following the destruction wrought by the Great Sith War, a renowned Jedi Consular named Krynda Draay created a secret organization known as the Jedi Covenant, whose expressed purpose was to forsee and thus prevent the return of the Sith at any cost. One of the Covenant's members was the aide of Krynda's late husband, a failed Jedi apprentice, Haazen. Unlike Barrison, Haazen had survived the war, despite losing three of his limbs after he secretly betrayed Draay to the Sith. Afterward, he privately maintained his dual allegiance by actively participating in Covenant affairs while also manipulating their efforts efforts behind the scenes.

In 3,964 BBY the Covenant was nearly exposed when the organization's foremost group of seers predicted the rise of the Sith among their own Padawans. Thus, they murdered their learners, but by a stroke of luck one of the Padawans, Zayne Carrick, escaped. The members of the First WatchCircle blamed the killings on Carrick forcing him and his companion Marn Hierogryph to become fugitives. Two of the seers, Raana Tey and Feln, met their ends A year later while chasing Carrick, although he was not directly responsible for their deaths. While attempting to prove his own innocence and expose the Covenant's involvement in the Padawan massacre, Carrick came across information that linked the organization to a cache of Sith artifacts which had been hidden from the Jedi High Council. Carrick returned to Coruscant to present his proof to the Council, but was captured by the Khil seer Xamar who brought him before members of the Jedi High Council in order to bargain for favorable terms. Xamar, who realized that Krynda's son Lucien had actually sanctioned the massacre, brought forth the truth of First WatchCircle's guilt in testimony before the Council. He then agreed to help Councilors Vrook Lamar and Vandar Tokare engineer the Covenant's downfall, as long as Krynda would be granted immunity, as he believed that she only played a minor role in its operation. The Jedi Masters then formulated a plan which involved Xamar bringing Padawan Carrick&mdash;who would pretend to have given into the dark side of the Force&mdash;to the headquarters of the Covenant, theDraay Estate. After requesting an audience with Krynda, Xamar intended to wisk her away to safety; then a force of High Council-loyal Jedi Knights would converge upon the Estate and arrest the members of the Covenant.

The showdown
"Lay down your weapons! This estate is under the investigation of the Jedi High Council!"

- High Councilors, during the attempted siezure of the Draay Estate



The Khil Master escorted Carrick and his associate, Marn Heirogryph, into the estate to meet with Krynda, while Carrick bore a fabricated version of the Muur Talisman Sith amulet and contact lenses to make it appear as if he had gone to the dark side of the Force. Xamar would then demand audience with Krynda at which time he would be examined. From there, Carrick and Gryph would create a distraction while Xamar took Krynda outside the Estate's gate; en route, he would disable the estate's security measures and a large number of Jedi, led by Vrook Lamar, would storm the building and apprehend the Covenant's leaders. If anything went wrong, Zayne's lightsaber was hidden in the false amulet. However the plan went awry when Haazen suspected Zayne's deception and snatched the false talisman from his neck. As soon as the Jedi launched their assault, Haazen initiated Operation Vindication and used the Jedi attack on the Draay Estate to launch their own attack. Haazen pressed a button on his mechanical hand which linked to the Vanjervalis Chain that kept the ships of Karath's fleet slaved together. This action allowed him to take control of Karath's fleet and bombard the assault team; killing Jedi and Covenanter alike, including Xamar. Haazen then revealed his blood red lightsaber and Sith amulets, finally showing his allegiance to the dark side.

Aftermath


At the same time, Gryph had followed the remaining Covenant member Q'Anilia to Krynda's room where they found her in a stasis pod where she had been placed by Haazen following a stroke as she envisioned the Padawan Massacre of Taris. Inside the oubliette, she was forced to relive their deaths again and again. Q'Anilia, believing her former master to be dead, was overcome by grief and poisoned herself. As she lay dying, she exclaimed that Zayne's vision about the downfall of the First WatchCircle had come true, but Gryph revealed that it was a trick thought up by him to keep the Masters looking over their shoulders. Gryph also recognized that Krynda was still alive and took her out of the torturous oubliette. He brought the stricken woman down to Lucien who immediately threw the Snivvian away, sending him crashing into a wall. Krynda demanded to know whether he had killed the Padawans, which he admitted to, claiming that her teachings had influenced him to act preemptively against any Sith threat. As he cradled his dying mother, Lucien was told by Krynda that her past teachings were wrong and that he had to "face the future with humility". Upon her subsequent passing, Lucien grew enraged when Gryph let it slip that she was alive until he had moved her. Fearing a sudden attack Zayne told Gryph to run while he held his former master off once again. The climactic confrontation between the two had finally arrived.

As Haazen advanced outside to view the destruction Lucien explained Haazen's background to Zayne and remarked on the darksider's similarity to his ex-Padawan, particularly their failed training. At the same time, Vrook Lamar, faced with the Republic fleet's unyielding fire, ordered the assault team's retreat. Lucien then lit his lightsaber and attempted to strike his former master down. However, Haazen revealed the Gauntlet of Kressh the Younger on his arm and unleashed its dark power upon Lucien, knocking him away and electrocuting him when he attempted to kill Haazen with his lightsaber. Lucien immediately blamed Zayne fnot striking down the Sith acolyte when he had the chance. As the two bickered, Haazen told them that they were part of the Prophecy of the Five with Lucien being "for the darkness" and Zayne being "for the light". Haazen then gave Lucien his red lightsaber and tempted him to join his side and become the master of his Sith army. When Zayne attempted to find Krynda, Lucien blocked the ex-Padawan from reaching his mother, and goaded him into unleashing a powerful Force push.

Despite his struggles with the Force as a Padawan and the fact that he was dueling a member of the Jedi High Council, Zayne was able to match Lucien strike for strike. As they dueled, Zayne pleaded with Lucien to stop fighting and help stop Haazen. Lucien, in his grief, said that it was too late for him to escape the dark side, and continued to fight. Zayne angrily retorted that Lucien was, and would forever, remain a tool that others could manipulate for their own ends; a statement that left his former Master taken aback. In the meantime, Gryph ran out onto the estate's balcony, calling for help. A sudden Force push knocked him off the balcony and near the foot of Barrison Draay's statue. Lucien then burst outside and jumped down towards the fallen con artist. Zayne intercepted him in mid-air and knocked his former Master away with a kick. Lucien quickly jumped to his feet and taunted his former Padawan. The two clashed sabers once again, despite Gryph's protests to end their fight and stop Haazen. The former Padawan was able to use his arm vambrace to deflect a strike at his left arm. He then countered with a wide lateral slash severing a piece of his former master's cloak as he jumped over the blade. As Lucien came down, he attempted an attack at Zayne's head, but the fugitive was able to duck out of harm's way. Lucien's momentum caused his lightsaber to hit his father's statue, which was already unstable due to damage by the orbital bombardment. Lucien quickly forgot Zayne as he rushed towards the statue to keep it from falling. However, it toppled onto Lucien pinning him beneath it. Zayne, to Gryph's horror, used the opportunity to stab the helpless Jedi Master where he lay.

Haazen, impressed with this dark act, offered Zayne the chance to become his apprentice. Zayne reluctantly agreed, only on the condition Haazen would stop bombarding Coruscant. The Dark Jedi agreed to this, claiming he only needed the fleet to attack one more target. As he knelt before Haazen, Zayne said that he was having a vision of the future. As Haazen drew closer to hear this new prophecy, Zayne grabbed his mechanical arm and said Haazen was not in it. In a quick strike, he sliced the mechanical arm off with his lightsaber, denying Haazen the protection of the Gauntlet as well as control of the fleet. An enraged Haazen blasted Zayne with Force lightning but before harm could be done, Zayne and Gryph were suddenly thrown far away from the burning estate. As Haazen stood in place, flabbergasted by the sudden turn in events, Lucien stood up, revealing that Zayne had not actually killed him. Declaring to Haazen that the whole duel had been a ruse to get him off his guard, Lucien used the control mechanism built into Haazen's severed arm to redirect the Republic fleet's fire at the Estate. The resulting explosion killed Haazen, and Lucien was thought dead as well.

Unbeknownst to Republic officials and the Jedi High Council, Lucien did survive the bombardment thanks to his control of the Gauntlet which shielded him from the worst of the blasts. Despite the Gauntlet, he was badly injured, burning his hands and arms and losing his eyesight. Because of the pain he felt, he would later reflect that he felt himself drawing close to the dark side, specifically close to becoming a Lord of Pain. However he began to think about his father's long journey to become a Jedi, and how he had achieved the impossible by doing so despite his age and high rank in society. Lucien drew on this knowledge of his father to resist the lure of the dark side and break away from what Haazen had felt to be his destiny. After leaving the ruins of his family estate, Lucien was able to journey to a hidden redoubt he had secretly purchased with Draay trust funds. There he met with a handful of Jedi to constitute a new Covenant that would not use an aggressive approach to fight the dark side, but rather surviving the upcoming dark times. Lucien could finally admit to himself that at last he could see his future.

The Republic officially covered up the events of Vindication and blamed the attack on Mandalorian terrorists, with agreement from the Jedi to conceal the true events. However, Zayne was officially exonerated for the deaths of his fellow Padawans and the bounties on him were stripped. Due to his part in stopping Haazen, the Jedi Council offered Zayne the opportunity to come back to the Order as a Jedi Knight. Zayne declined, remembering how the Jedi didn't stick by him when he needed them, and deciding that he owed Gryph for the assistance he gave him became his partner.

Behind the Scenes
The Showdown in the Draay Estate was conceived and written by John Jackson Miller and illustrated by Brian Ching and Michael Atiyeh for the thirty fourth and thirty fifh issues of Knights of the Old Republic comic series. Miller used this event to kill off the character of Haazen and bring an end to the Jedi Covenant. It was also used to wrap up the story of Lucien Draay and send Zayne Carrick towards new adventures.

Although the cover of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 35: Vindication, Part 4 depicts Gryph fighting Lucien, the two don't actually engage each other in battle during the course of the battle.

The scene in which Lucien and Zayne clash sabers before Gryph almost mirrors the scene in Return of the Jedi where Darth Vader blocks Luke Skywalker's attack upon the Emperor. However this scene is almost in direct contrast as a lightsider is protecting an obviously innocent from a darksider while the intended victim pleads for the combatants to put away their lightsabers. In Return of the Jedi, a darksider is defending a villain from a lightsider, and the intended victim clearly wants the duel to take place.

Zayne Carrick lost his lightsaber for good in the battle, he would later build another during his one month vacation after the duel.

To fool the reader (and Haazen) into thinking Lucien had been crushed by the statue, the artists moved around the clouds of dust to conceal the amount of space underneath the rubble.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 34: Vindication, Part 3
 * Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 35: Vindication, Part 4