Force bond

A Force bond is a special connection between two Force-sensitives. When two subject are bonded, one's pain reflects on another, and, on the other hand, if one grows in strength, so does the other.

While Force bonds are a normal occurrence between a Jedi Master and a Padawan, or at least was in the time of the Old Sith Wars, the mechanism of their formation is not fully understood, and there are known cases in which the bonded Jedi were not a Master and a Padawan and had not even known each other before. Force bonds are usually formed spontaneously, and it requires the subjects' destinies to somehow become intertwined.

For example, when a Jedi strike team, which included Bastila Shan, captured Darth Revan during the Jedi Civil War, Bastila, unbeknowst to herself, developed a Force bond with Revan after saving his mind from total destruction—albeit at the cost of wiping his memory and identity.

At first, this bond was viewed by the Jedi Council as a negative side effect, but the bond was later observed as useful when it was discovered that Bastila could read Revan's dreams, which allowed her and the Council to dig into Revan's memories—hidden from Revan himself—and determine the location of the Star Maps and ultimately the Star Forge. When Bastila was corrupted by Darth Malak, Dark Lord of the Sith and Revan's former apprentice, Revan used the bond between them to return her to the light side.

Five years later, in 3,951 BBY, a similar bond was formed between the Jedi Exile and Kreia, who had previously saved each other's life (or, more precisely, Kreia saved the Exile's life, taking him to the Ebon Hawk in time to escape the Harbinger, a Republic cruiser taken over by the Sith, and made the Exile believe he saved hers as well). The bond revealed itself for the first time when the Exile felt pain as one of Kreia's hands was cut by Darth Sion. After this incident, the Exile, assuming—partially due to Kreia's cryptic explanations of the bond's nature—that the bond was fatal and, should Kreia die, it would bring death to him as well, he was forced to look after her, taking her on his missions on the Ebon Hawk.

The Exile also, not realizing it, developed a number of smaller Force bonds on other Force-sensitive companions who joined him. According to the Jedi Council, these bonds served as a channel that the Exile subconsciously used to succumb his followers to his will and make them follow him without hesitation, against their wishes, indicating that the Exile was, like Revan, a "natural leader" who was able to form such bonds more easile than other Jedi. However, Mical and Visas Marr refused to believe that they followed the Exile because of the Force, seeing it as an example of the Council's ignorance and isolation from the problems of the Republic and the Exile's personality.

The Exile severed his bond with Kreia, who had re-embraced her long-forgotten Sith identity of Darth Traya, after killing her on Malachor V. He survived her death, making the theory that Force bonds of this scale are fatal at least disputable.

Behind the scenes

 * The Exile's survival of Kreia's death, seen by some fans of KotOR II as a plot hole, was initially supposed to be explained by Jedi Master Lonna Vash until her lines, as well as the rest of the droid planet M4-78, were cut from the game due to deadline constraints.
 * In KotOR I, the Force bond between Revan and Bastila is, like Bastila's Battle Meditation, merely a plot device which has no implementation in the game mechanics. However, in KotOR II the bond between the Jedi Exile and Kreia is represented by a special Force power, Force Chain. When Kreia is in the Exile's party, positive Force powers cast on one of them affect the other. However, they do not share any negative effects, be it direct damage or Force powers.