Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

"It does not matter where we go. It is not the destination that matters. It is the journey."

- Kreia

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords is the sequel to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which was widely regarded as a major commercial and critical success. The original game, however, was developed by a different company, BioWare. According to the game's producers, the change of developers was primarily due to BioWare's occupation with other titles, such as Jade Empire and Dragon Age. BioWare is understood to have recommended Obsidian Entertainment as an alternative developer, having worked with many of Obsidian's key members when they were part of the now-defunct Black Isle Studios. The Sith Lords was constructed using an updated version of the original Knights of the Old Republic Odyssey engine, which Obsidian obtained from BioWare.

Conception
"The first story draft was pretty terrible, mostly because we weren't allowed to play K1 before drafting it, so we really knew nothing about the first game and were writing in the dark (Revan who?)."

- Chris Avellone, Lead Designer for The Sith Lords at Obsidian Entertainment, talking about story development.

Development of The Sith Lords began at approximately the same time that the original Knights of the Old Republic was released for the Xbox, on July 15, 2003. From the beginning, the production team had decided that the general atmosphere of the universe would be much darker than in Knights of the Old Republic and that the situation for the Jedi would be grim. Chris Avellone, Lead designer for the project, felt that it would be a challenging task to create a sequel to what he felt was an amazing story that BioWare had developed for the original Knights of the Old Republic and that there would be a lot of pressure created for the team. He began with determining what was considered fun in the gameplay elements and what kind of story would have to be developed to complement those elements. The next step was to watch every Star Wars movie, read every book and comic book about the Expanded Universe and even sitting through The Star Wars Holiday Special. To him, it was vital to understand what adventures had already been created, the parameters of the EU, and which bad ideas it was prudent to stay away from. Only then did he feel it was time to look at the overall vision of the project.

The first phase involved distinguishing the character, or the hero's motivation, from player motivation and how the story would develop to integrate the two. In The Sith Lords, the character was a disgraced veteran of the Mandalorian Wars who was the last known Jedi in the galaxy and the target of dark side assassins who were determined to eradicate all Jedi. Certain circumstances had severed the hero's connection to the Force, but the character was being given a chance to slowly regain that connection and rediscover what it meant to be a Jedi or Sith. The player motivation involved providing the teasers that would stimulate the player into wanting to continue the game and encourage the player to explore the story and locations fully. For example, this could have been accomplished by revealing critical information, introducing a new companion or acquiring new special abilities. It was felt that each stage of the game should ask and answer the question "Why should the player care?"

The following phase involved devising the critical story points and filling in the story to link those points together. The purpose was to throw the player for a loop, but allow enough foreshadowing so that the player would stay interested. After the overall story had been developed, the game outline was divided up between the designers who would then go about filling in the details of their particular section of the storyline. The main goal was to give the player high adventure, lots of alien races and new worlds to visit. The development team also wanted to create a story that would pull the player into seriously thinking about the difference in using the Force for good and evil and the consequences of those actions.

Plot summary
The game takes place approximately five years after the conclusion of the first game, and during the times of the Dark Wars, and focuses on a mostly different set of characters. The conclusion of the first game varied depending on the choices of the player, with either the light side or dark side of the Force emerging triumphant&mdash;at the beginning of The Sith Lords, players specify which of these outcomes they wish the sequel to follow. Regardless of how the original game ended, however, the beginning of The Sith Lords sees the Sith having almost completely destroyed the Jedi Order. The character whom the player takes control of is a Jedi Knight banished from the Order after she went to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. The Sith believe her to be the last remaining Jedi, though in the beginning known simply as the Exile or Jedi Exile by characters in the game due to a customizable name. Although the Exile is by default a female character, players can also choose to set the Exile as a male character.

Among the characters who join the main character are Kreia, who acts as a mentor to the Exile; Mira, a bounty hunter (she only joins if the player is light-side aligned on Nar Shaddaa); Hanharr, a Wookiee bounty hunter (he joins only if the player is dark-side aligned on Nar Shaddaa); Atton Rand, a former elite operative for the Sith during the Jedi Civil War who turned to smuggling after leaving the Sith, having found out that he was Force-sensitive (Atton is the love interest of a female Exile); Bao-Dur, a Zabrak engineer; Brianna, an Echani Handmaiden (she only joins if the Exile is male and is one of the two love interests of a male Exile); Mical, a former Jedi Initiate turned historian (another love interest for a female Exile); Visas Marr, a Miraluka Dark Jedi apprentice to Darth Nihilus (she is the other love interest of a male Exile); and G0-T0, an interrogation droid. Several characters featured in the first game are also brought into this sequel, and a few can join the main character's party: T3-M4, an astromech droid; HK-47, an assassin droid; and Canderous Ordo (as Mandalore the Preserver), a Mandalorian. Enemies include Darth Sion, a Sith Lord with a shattered body, held together with the Force and Darth Nihilus, a being of hunger that fed on Force-sensitive energy. The new planets which the character may visit include Telos IV, the environmentally destroyed home of Carth Onasi; Nar Shaddaa, the Smugglers' Moon; the planet of Onderon; Onderon's jungle moon Dxun; and Peragus II. Korriban and Dantooine, which also appeared in the original KotOR, are also revisited. The Ebon Hawk, the ship used by the main character in the first game, once again is the main method of transportation.

Major characters
This is based on the canonical female light side version of the game.

Meetra Surik
Meetra Surik (also known as the Jedi Exile) is the protagonist of Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Ten years before the events of the story, Surik fought as a Jedi General in Revan and Malak's crusade against the Mandalorians in the Mandalorian Wars. During the climactic Battle of Malachor V, Surik activated the Mass Shadow Generator, which caused over a thousand instantaneous deaths during the battle. While this event ended the war, the traumatic strain of experiencing so many deaths through the Force caused Surik to instinctively sever her connection to the Force, and she was subsequently exiled from the Jedi Order. After wandering the periphery of the galaxy for a decade, Surik is pulled into the conflict between the Republic and the Sith. Gathering companions and healing the dying Jedi Order in her journey, Surik ultimately eliminates the Sith Lords one by one, encountering the shadows of her past along the way and conquering her inner demons. She eventually defeats Kreia in the Trayus Core on Malachor V, thus ending the threat she posed.

Darth Sion
Darth Sion (also known as the Lord of Pain) is one of the three Sith Lords in the Sith Triumvirate. Formerly a warrior serving under Exar Kun, he was killed in battle during the Great Sith War. However, he harnessed his hatred through the Force, allowing him to rise from the dead whenever he is defeated. His immortality comes at a great cost, however, because his wounds never heal and he constantly experiences pain and agony. During the Jedi Civil War, Sion sided with the Sith against the Republic and helped form the Sith Triumvirate with Darth Traya. However, he betrayed Traya when he believed she was growing too weak for the Sith, and led his forces on a five-year long extermination of the Jedi. When Meetra Surik returns to the galaxy after ten years of absence, Sion becomes obsessed with hunting her down, yet she evades him during each encounter. Eventually, Surik confronts Sion in the Trayus Academy on Malachor V, where she overcomes the Sith Lord and convinces him to abandon his hatred and willingly accept his death.

Darth Nihilus
Darth Nihilus (also known as the Lord of Hunger) is one of the three Sith Lords in the Sith Triumvirate. His past life is almost completely shrouded in mystery, apart from the fact that he was once a Jedi who served under Revan in the Mandalorian Wars. During the catastrophic end of the Battle of Malachor V, the man who became Nihilus miraculously survived Meetra Surik's activation of the Mass Shadow Generator, though the experience left him scarred. The strain of experiencing so many deaths through the Force caused Nihilus to crave Force energy, and he kept himself alive on the dead planet by draining the Force from whatever vessel he came across. This misuse of Force power caused Nihilus' physical form to degenerate until he has to encase his spirit inside his mask and armor in order to stay alive. He was eventually found by Darth Traya, who trained him and Darth Sion as her apprentices and led a five-year long galactic extermination of the Jedi. Nihilus later aided Sion in overthrowing Traya, and actually detached from Sion later on, causing major destruction, and taking on an apprentice of his own, Visas Marr. Nihilus is later lured to Telos IV by Traya under the false pretense that there are Jedi on the planet for him to consume. He is drawn into a confrontation with Meetra Surik and a redeemed Visas Marr, who fight him on board the Ravager and eventually slay him.

Kreia (Darth Traya)
Kreia is a mysterious old woman whom Meetra Surik meets in the Peragus Mining Facility after eluding Darth Sion and his Sith assassins. A powerful Force sensitive, Kreia acts as Surik's mentor throughout her journey to restore order to the Republic, helping her reestablish her connection to the Force. While her motives are initially shrouded in mystery, Surik gradually learns of Kreia's origins as Revan's original master. She was blamed for Revan's fall after the Mandalorian Wars and exiled from the Jedi Order as punishment. Turning to the dark side, Kreia became Darth Traya, took control of the remnants of Revan's Sith Empire, and formed the Sith Triumvirate. Before she could begin her revenge against the Jedi, Kreia was betrayed by her two conspirators, Darth Sion and Darth Nihilus, who cut off her connection to the Force. A maddened Kreia attempts to use Surik as a wound to destroy the Force, thus ending both the Jedi and the Sith. Her plan fails in the end and she is slain by Surik in the Trayus Core on Malachor V.

Atton Rand
Atton Rand is a former Republic soldier who served under Revan in the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War. After the wars, Rand became a smuggler. He was captured and imprisoned in the Peragus Mining Facility, until Meetra Surik finds and frees him. After escaping from Peragus on the Ebon Hawk, Rand travels around the galaxy with Surik as the ship's pilot. Along the journey, Surik learns more about Rand's past and his aversion to the Jedi; he has past experience in killing Jedi. She also discovers that Rand is Force-sensitive and decides to train him to be a Jedi Sentinel.

Bao-Dur
Bao-Dur is a Zabrak mechanical and technical expert from Iridonia. He served under Meetra Surik during the Mandalorian Wars and was responsible for creating the Mass Shadow Generator during the Battle of Malachor V. He carries with him the guilt and shame of being ultimately responsible for so many deaths, both on the surface and in the orbiting fleets, when the device was activated to end the battle.

After the war was over, Bao-Dur wanted to use his skills to help people as a means of atoning for his "sins," so he participated in the Republic-sponsored Restoration Project on Telos IV. He meets Surik again when she crash-lands en route to a Restoration Zone, and decides to follow her around the galaxy. During their travels, Surik discovers that Bao-Dur is Force-sensitive so she trains him to be a Jedi Guardian.

Bao-Dur has replaced his left arm with an energy-arm that allows him to break through force shields and deal more damage. He is also accompanied by a small, spherical remote droid which helps him with repairs.

Mical (Disciple)
Mical (also known as the Disciple) is a Force-sensitive Human who was briefly trained in the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine as a Jedi youngling. By the time he was ready for further training, the Jedi Order had fallen apart due to the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War, so his training was discontinued. He sought to preserve the Jedi's legacy by becoming a historian and soldier in the service of the Republic. He also picked up some medical skills.

While exploring the ruins of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, Disciple encounters Meetra Surik, who is searching for the surviving Jedi Masters. She welcomes him to join her when he offers to use his knowledge and skills to help her. Although Disciple is initially reluctant to reveal his past, he eventually tells her about his Jedi training and how he met her before in his childhood. He accepts her offer to train him again and becomes a Jedi Consular.

Visas Marr
Visas Marr is a Miraluka, a race of Force-sensitives who can "see" through the Force, but are otherwise effectively blind. During the Dark Wars, the Jedi Order tried to hold a meeting on Katarr (Marr's homeworld), hoping that their presence would be masked by the Miralukas' strong Force sensitivity. However, the meeting was disrupted when Darth Nihilus showed up and used his Force drain to destroy all life on Katarr. Marr, the sole survivor, was taken prisoner by Nihilus, who forced her to become his apprentice.

As Meetra Surik rebuilds her connection to the Force, Nihilus senses her growing presence and sends Marr to hunt down and kill her. Marr ambushes Surik on the Ebon Hawk but Surik defeats her and spares her. Impressed by Surik's skill and her perceived destiny, Marr abandons the dark side and pledges allegiance to Surik.

Mira
Mira is a Human female raised and trained by the Mandalorians, who destroyed her home and enslaved her during the Mandalorian Wars. She lost her adopted family when the Mass Shadow Generator was activated during the Battle of Malachor V. After the battle, she ended up on Nar Shaddaa, where she became a bounty hunter. During this time, she got into conflict with the Wookiee bounty hunter Hanharr, who relentlessly tries to hunt down and kill her.

After Meetra Surik arrives on Nar Shaddaa, Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell secretly engages Mira to protect Surik from the other bounty hunters, who are seeking to collect Goto's bounty on Jedi. When Visquis, the local Exchange boss, tries to lure Surik into a trap, Mira knocks out Surik and goes in place of her. However, she ends up being captured by Visquis and forced to fight Hanharr in the arena. She defeats Hanharr and leaves him apparently dead before escaping. She joins Surik's companions in rescuing Surik from G0-T0's yacht and accompanies Surik on her quest after that. Surik discovers Mira's Force sensitivity later and trains her to be a Jedi Sentinel.

G0-T0 (Goto)
G0-T0 is a planning droid created by the Aratech Repulsor Company to assist in rebuilding the Republic after the Jedi Civil War. After some time, the droid found itself unable to follow both of its directives—rebuild the Republic and follow all Republic laws—at the same time, so it chose to follow only the former. It set up a smuggling ring on Nar Shaddaa and pretended to be a proxy for a man called Goto, who does not exist in reality and appears only in holograms.

G0-T0 placed a bounty on live Jedi with the intention of getting them to help rebuild and stabilize the Republic, but bounty hunters misinterpreted the bounty and simply killed Jedi. G0-T0 also reactivated a hidden HK Manufacturing Plant on Telos IV which started producing HK-50 series assassin droids to hunt and kill Jedi.

When Meetra Surik comes to Nar Shaddaa, she is captured and taken on board G0-T0's yacht, where the droid reveals its plans for the Republic and seeks her help. After Surik escapes, G0-T0 presents itself on the Ebon Hawk as "Goto's gift" and insists on accompanying Surik and watching her stabilize Telos, Dantooine, and Onderon.

T3-M4
T3-M4 is a utility droid which accompanied Revan on his search for the Star Forge. After the Battle of Rakata Prime, Revan left for the Unknown Regions and gave T3-M4 special instructions to seek any Jedi for help if they lost contact with each other.

Five years later, T3-M4 finds an injured Meetra Surik on board the heavily damaged Ebon Hawk. It manages to repair and navigate the ship to the nearby Peragus Mining Facility. After Surik awakens in the Peragus medical bay, T3-M4 helps her gain access to the fuel depot before it is attacked and disabled by a HK-50 assassin droid. Surik saves T3-M4 and they escape from Peragus together just before the system is destroyed. Since then, T3-M4 has remained in Surik's team and followed her on her journey around the galaxy.

HK-47
HK-47 is an assassin droid created by Revan after the Battle of Malachor V to assassinate his enemies. The droid was damaged and captured on a mission shortly before Revan was taken captive by the Jedi Order and reprogrammed with a new "good guy" identity. HK-47 reunited with its master on Tatooine later and accompanied him on his search for the Star Forge.

Some time after Revan left for the Unknown Regions, HK-47 was damaged and left on board the Ebon Hawk, which eventually comes into the possession of Meetra Surik and her companions. Surik repairs HK-47, who recognizes her as its new master and follows her around the galaxy.

Canderous Ordo (Mandalore)
Canderous Ordo (also known as Mandalore) is a Mandalorian who fought in the Mandalorian Wars against the Republic. He joined a redeemed Revan on his quest for the Star Forge and fought in the Battle of Rakata Prime against Darth Malak.

After the Jedi Civil War ended, Ordo claimed the position of Mandalore (leader of the Mandalorians) with help from Revan. He built his base on the forest moon Dxun and started working on reuniting the scattered Mandalorian clans and rebuilding Mandalorian power.

When Meetra Surik is forced to land on Dxun en route to Onderon, she comes across the Mandalorian base and meets Mandalore. Mandalore promises to help her secure passage to Iziz (Onderon's capital) if she can prove herself worthy. Surik manages to impress the Mandalorians through her achievements on Dxun and earns their respect. In return, Mandalore keeps his word and accompanies her to Iziz to find Jedi Master Kavar. After that, he decides to join Surik on her quest to reunite the surviving Jedi and defeat the Sith.

Brianna (Handmaiden)
Brianna (also known as Handmaiden) is a Human-Echani female who served as a handmaiden to Jedi Master Atris at the secret Jedi academy on Telos IV. She has five half-sisters, who also serve as Atris's handmaidens.

When Meetra Surik arrives at Citadel Station, Atris sends Handmaiden to steal the Ebon Hawk and lure Surik to the academy. Surik shows up and convinces Atris to join the fight against the Sith and find the other surviving Jedi Masters. Before Surik leaves, Handmaiden speaks to her and expresses her interest in the ways of the Force.

If the player sets Surik as a male character, Handmaiden will sneak on board the Ebon Hawk and accompany him on his quest. After gaining sufficient influence with Brianna, the player can train her to be a Jedi Guardian.

Hanharr
Hanharr is a Wookiee male from Kashyyyk. A ruthless hunter and brutal sociopath, he slaughtered his entire village in cold blood, believing that this would prevent them from being enslaved by the Czerka Corporation. He eventually ended up on Nar Shaddaa and became a bounty hunter. He also got into conflict with Mira.

When Meetra Surik arrives in Nar Shaddaa and is about to walk into a trap set by Visquis, the local Exchange boss, Mira knocks out Surik and goes in place of her. She is captured by Visquis and forced to fight Hanharr in the arena. She defeats Hanharr and leaves him apparently dead. Hanharr is secretly revived by Kreia, who manipulates him to do her bidding. He appears for the last time on Malachor V, where he fights Mira again and dies by her hand.

If the player sets Surik as a dark side character, Hanharr will kill Mira and join Surik's party.

Atris
Atris is a Jedi Master who served as a member of the Jedi Council during the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War. She was deeply committed to the Jedi Code and felt betrayed when Meetra Surik defied the Council and followed Revan to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. When Surik returned after the Battle of Malachor V to face the Council's judgment, Atris was the first to condemn her and call for her to be exiled.

During the Dark Wars, Atris called the Jedi to attend a secret meeting on Katarr. She then leaked out information about the meeting and hoped that doing so would lure the Sith out of the shadows. However, her plan backfired when Darth Nihilus showed up and used his Force drain to destroy all life on Katarr--leaving only Visas Marr alive.

Atris retreated into seclusion on Telos IV, where she established a secret Jedi academy in the polar regions and recruited the Echani Handmaiden Sisters to be her bodyguards. Gradually and unknowingly, she fell to the dark side as she immersed herself in studying the Sith holocrons she had collected in her efforts to better understand the Sith.

When Surik arrives at Citadel Station, Atris sends Handmaiden to steal the Ebon Hawk and lure Surik to the academy. She initially blames Surik for the destruction of Peragus, but later reluctantly accepts Surik's offer to help her defeat the Sith. She instructs Surik to find the other surviving Jedi Masters and reunite them in the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine.

Synopsis
(Note: This is based on the canonical female light side version of the game. Gender, Force alignment, order of planets visited and other variables can differ depending on the input of the player.)

Escape from Peragus
In 3951 BBY, five years after the Jedi Civil War, and four years after Revan, the redeemed former Dark Lord of the Sith, departed for the Unknown Regions. Revan's ship, the Ebon Hawk, emerged badly damaged in the Peragus system, with six passengers on board: two droids that formerly belonged to Revan, T3-M4 and a disassembled HK-47, two other droids, 3C-FD and a HK-50 assassin droid, and two Humans, Meetra Surik, and an old woman named Kreia, both unconscious. T3-M4 managed to dock the ship into the Peragus Mining Facility, where Surik was put into a kolto tank in the medical bay, while Kreia, mistaken for dead because she was in a deep trance to survive the flight, was placed in the morgue.

After awakening, Surik found Kreia, and a smuggler, Atton Rand, locked in a prison cell. The three of them seemed to be the only people alive in the entire facility, which was covered with dead miners and crawling with assault-programmed mining droids, which started "mining" organics. Eventually, Surik discovered that the HK-50 assassin droid was responsible for the damage done to the facility, and destroyed the droid.

Meanwhile, another ship arrived at Peragus: the Harbinger, the Republic capital ship that was transporting Surik to Telos IV before a series of events that resulted in them ending up in Peragus. When Surik, Kreia, and Rand&mdash;in an attempt to escape from Peragus&mdash;boarded the Harbinger, they discovered that the ship had been overrun by the Sith, led by Darth Sion. As Kreia approached Sion, in an attempt to distract him, Surik and Rand escaped through one of the ship's fuel pipes. Meanwhile, Sion severed Kreia's hand with his lightsaber, and Surik discovered her newly formed Force bond with Kreia when she unexpectedly felt her pain. Surik and Rand continued and met up with T3-M4, and after reaching the hangar bay, boarded the Ebon Hawk. As they were trying to stop the Sith from boarding, Kreia caught up with them after escaping from Sion, despite the loss of her hand. As they tried to escape the Peragus system, flying through an asteroid field surrounding Peragus II, the Harbinger fired at the Ebon Hawk and missed, hitting one of the asteroids, which caused a sequence of explosions that completely destroyed the mining facility, asteroid field, and the Peragus system itself.

Refuge on Telos
Using the astrogation charts recovered from the Harbinger containing only the Telos system, which was slowly recovering after the Sith bombardment during the Jedi Civil War, the three had no choice but to go to Citadel Station. There, they were immediately disarmed and detained by Lieutenant Dol Grenn of the Telos Security Force for the duration of the investigation on the destruction of the Peragus Mining Facility&mdash;not coincidentally, the main fuel supplier for Citadel Station, without which the station would not be able to maintain its orbit around Telos. During the investigation, a mysterious woman stole the Ebon Hawk with T3-M4 locked onboard. Chodo Habat, the leader of the Ithorian team responsible for the restoration efforts on Telos, offered Surik to restore some of her lost connection with the Force, and provided a shuttle off Citadel Station in exchange for fending off their rivals, Czerka Corporation. Despite Kreia's disapproval of an alliance with the Ithorians, Surik accepted his offer, uncovered some details about Czerka's illegal business (certainly enough for the Telosian Council to drive them off the planet) and, together with her companions, flew to the surface of Telos IV.

On Telos IV, the shuttle was attacked and damaged by a Czerka air defense turret and crash-landed in a restoration zone, miraculously near the Zabrak mechanic Bao-Dur, who formerly served under Surik in the Mandalorian Wars. He refused to call her anything but "General." He also designed the Mass Shadow Generator, which played a significant role in the Mandalorians' ultimate defeat in the Battle of Malachor V, and currently worked for the Ithorians. Fighting their way through Czerka mercenaries, Surik and her companions reached an abandoned Republic military base, where Bao-Dur pinpointed a breach in the planetary defense system in the polar regions as the most likely location of the Ebon Hawk. Having boarded a yet another shuttle (in the process discovering the base was swarming with hostile droids), Surik, Kreia, Rand and Bao-Dur headed to the polar regions of Telos.

Hidden Academy


Upon arrival, the shuttle once again crash-landed on a polar plateau as a result of being shot down by three HK-50 assassin droids. After dealing with them, Surik discovered a Jedi academy hidden within the plateau. When they entered it, Surik's companions were locked in prison cells, and she was brought before Atris, one of the Jedi Masters (and the only Jedi in the academy) who previously banished Surik from the Jedi Order for fighting in the Mandalorian Wars. Surik offered her help against the new Sith threat that had revealed itself on Peragus by finding any Jedi who may have survived the purge after the Jedi Civil War. Impressed that Surik held no grudge against her, Atris allowed her to take back to the Ebon Hawk (which Surik found out was stolen by one of Atris's handmaidens) and freed her companions.

When the party assembled once again on the Ebon Hawk, T3-M4 "told" Surik that he downloaded a holorecord of her trial from Atris' archives. It turned out that there were four Jedi Masters in hiding—the Jedi Council members who exiled her, namely Zez-Kai Ell, Kavar, Vrook Lamar, and Lonna Vash. She decided to find them to discuss a plan of action against the Sith and maybe even figure out why she lost her connection to the Force.

Nar Shaddaa
The first stop on their search was the moon Nar Shaddaa. According to Rand, Nar Shaddaa was the "gaping maw of Nal Hutta." The massive population and large cityscape of the moon made it easy for one to hide and lay low for a while. Unfortunately, Surik did just the opposite. In her attempt to find Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell, Surik made an effort to cause much anger and distress to the Exchange (a galactic-wide criminal organization), and get the bounty hunters off her back. When Surik was captured, the bounty hunter Mira joined up with her party and they rescued her on G0-T0's yacht. During the rescue, the yacht's cloaking was sabotaged and Vogga, one of the local Hutt crimelords whose freighters were being raided by G0-T0's yacht, quickly seized the opportunity and destroyed it, right as the Ebon Hawk escaped.

Finally, Surik came back to Nar Shaddaa and found Zez-Kai Ell. The Jedi Master confessed that he felt that the Jedi Order had much to take responsibility for, and their inability to do so at Surik's trial caused him to leave. He answered her questions and taught her a lightsaber form. He then agreed to go to Dantooine and wait for her there.

Dxun
Immediately after Nar Shaddaa, Surik sought out Jedi Master Kavar on Onderon. As the Ebon Hawk entered the Onderon system and joined the long line into the starport on Iziz (Onderon's capital), Onderon forces led by Colonel Tobin fired on the ship and began a massive space battle above the planet. The Ebon Hawk took damage during the battle and was forced to crash land on the jungle moon Dxun. In their explorations of the moon in search of passage, Surik encountered a group of Mandalorians led by Canderous Ordo, now known as Mandalore. Mandalore promised to provide her with passage to Iziz if she managed to impress them. Surik did so through her achievements on Dxun and gained the Mandalorians' respect. Mandalore accompanied Surik to Iziz on his own shuttle.

Onderon
Once Surik landed on Onderon, she grew knowledgeable of the crisis that was brewing in Iziz. General Vaklu had declared martial law in the city and began subtly rallying support for his revolution against his cousin, Queen Talia. Mandalore's friend, Dhagon Ghent, after being cleared of charges for the murder of Captain Sullio, thanks to Surik's investigation, found Jedi Master Kavar and made contact. At the time, Kavar was serving as a bodyguard and adviser to the queen, and he left the palace to meet Surik in the cantina.

Their meeting was immediately interrupted by Colonel Tobin and a squad of soldiers. Kavar helped Meetra escape the cantina, and she then retreated back to Dxun.

Dantooine
Surik left Dxun on the repaired Ebon Hawk and departed the Onderon system, to be away until Kavar contacted her. The third stop on their search was the grassland planet Dantooine. Dantooine was devastated by the attack perpetrated by Darth Malak several years before. The surviving populace had established a government in the former home of the Matale family which they named Khoonda, with Terena Adare as their Administrator. The people of Khoonda were fearful of the Jedi, who they associated with the Dark Jedi responsible for attacking them in the past.

Surik came to the world in search of Jedi Master Vrook Lamar. Once on Dantooine, she heard rumors that Adare was in contact with a Jedi, and she approached her to inquire about his whereabouts. Adare realized some time ago that the Khoonda Militia would not provide sufficient protection, so she had maintained secret contacts with the Jedi Master. Adare granted Surik permission to search the Enclave ruins for Lamar. In the ruins, she fought through several waves of laigreks, but found no trace of Lamar. She ran into Mical, a former Jedi Initiate whose Jedi training was disrupted by the Mandalorian Wars. He had been sent by Carth Onasi to find and protect any Jedi artifacts he can find. He agreed to join her group and help find the Jedi Masters with her. Surik also found the corpses of several mercenaries in the library, and a datapad found on one of their bodies indicated that Lamar had been captured.

Surik led her party to the mercenary enclave in the crystal cave not far from Khoonda, where they found the mercenaries preparing to sell Lamar to the Exchange. Surik approached the group and asked for his release, but her pleas fell on deaf ears and she was forced to defeat the mercenaries to rescue Lamar. Unexpectedly, the freed Jedi Master chastised her, telling her her that her actions just caused an all-out war, and revealing that he had allowed the mercenaries to capture him so that they would not attack Khoonda. As Surik left the caves to return to Khoonda, she met Azkul, the leader of the mercenaries. He asked her to join him in his campaign against Khoonda, but Surik refused and fought the mercenaries.

Back at Khoonda, Surik bolstered the stronghold's defenses by activating droids and security systems, as well as recruiting extra members for the militia. Azkul and the mercenaries attacked, precipitating a long and hard-fought battle that culminated with the defeat of Azkul at the hands of Surik and Lamar. With the mercenary threat averted, Lamar answered Surik's questions and taught her a new lightsaber form. Surik left Dantooine, taking the gratitude of its people with her.

Return to Dxun
As Surik left Dantooine, she received word from the Mandalorians on Dxun that Kavar had just made contact, and that she was needed back immediately. The morning of that day, General Vaklu declared Queen Talia guilty of treason and started a revolt against her. But the situation had now become far more complicated, because the Sith, led by Darth Nihilus, had become involved and offered aid to Vaklu's faction. The Onderon Civil War had begun.

The Sith were using the tomb of Freedon Nadd on Dxun as their base. After repairing the telecommunications array, the Mandalorians located the tomb and planned to stage an assault. Surik handpicked a group of her party members to infiltrate the tomb and destroy the Sith forces there, while she would go to Iziz to stop Vaklu and save the queen.

The group hiked through the jungle, engaged the Sith on the field, and cleansed the tomb.

Return to Onderon
Surik, along with Kreia, flew a salvaged Basilisk war droid into Iziz and participated in the battle. They fought their way up the Sky Ramp and into the palace. With the help of Kavar, they got to Queen Talia before Vaklu could kill her, and ended the Onderon Civil War. Immediately afterward, Kreia secretly revived Colonel Tobin from his state of unconsciousness and had him deliver a message to Darth Nihilus, informing him to go to Telos IV, and destroy the last of the Jedi.

Korriban
After ending the Onderon Civil War, Surik went to Korriban, the last world she needed to visit, in an effort to find Jedi Master Lonna Vash in the Sith Academy located in the Valley of the Dark Lords. Unfortunately, Surik was too late to save her from Darth Sion. Sion sealed the door to the academy and attempted to kill Surik. With Kreia's help, Meetra fended off Sion and his Sith assassins and escaped from the academy.

Rebuilding the Republic
Surik learned much about her companions' past, learning that many of them were Force-sensitive, and trained them in the ways of the Jedi. Surik's apprentices would later restore the Jedi Order known as the Lost Jedi. Furthermore, she discovered that Kreia was Revan's first master, exiled by the Jedi and later by the Sith, and that Revan had gone to the Unknown Regions to counter an unseen threat from his past that continued its existence beyond the Outer Rim.

When visiting Dantooine and Onderon, Surik was caught in the middle of conflicts between the weakened Republic and two powers aiming to weaken it further—the Exchange and Onderon separatists. By G0-T0's request (and having no other choice if they needed to contact the Jedi Masters), she stabilized the political situations on these planets, preventing the Republic from losing them, even though the resolutions led to two bloody conflicts known as the Battle of Khoonda and Onderon Civil War.

Kreia's fall
Finally, three of the surviving Masters&mdash;Kavar, Vrook and Zez-Kai Ell&mdash;gathered on Dantooine, in the rebuilt Jedi Enclave. Surik learned from them that the Jedi Council did not cut her off from the Force (as Kreia led her to believe). She instinctively caused herself to become desensitized to the Force after activating the Mass Shadow Generator on Malachor V and being unable to withstand the wound in the Force that she created by doing this.

However, Surik failed to persuade the Jedi Masters to unite against the Sith. The Jedi Masters explained that this new Sith threat, which caught them unprepared, fed on Force users, so that whenever Jedi gathered, they inevitably died, and everyone and everything around them shared the same fate. This was what happened on Katarr, Visas Marr's homeworld and the location of the previous conclave. The Jedi Masters explained to Surik, whom they believed would eventually cause the death of the Force, that they feared that she would lead the Sith to them. Therefore, they refused to accept her back into the Jedi Order and decided to cut off Surik's connection to the Force permanently.

Kreia then intervened, forcing the three Jedi Masters away from Surik and declaring their arrogance and lack of understanding, before forcing them to undergo the same loss Surik had felt on Malachor with an extreme form of Force drain. The Jedi Masters, unable to live without the Force, died almost immediately. Surik retained her connection to the Force, but remained unconscious as Atris's handmaidens ran into the Enclave and took Kreia to their mistress as a prisoner. This left Surik with no choice but to return to the secret Jedi academy on Telos IV, as she believed that the Force bond between her and Kreia was fatal; this meant that if Atris executed Kreia, Surik would die as well.

However, Atris did not execute Kreia, for while Kreia revealed her Sith name, Darth Traya, she also revealed to Atris that she had already unknowingly fallen to the dark side herself while studying the Sith holocrons. Kreia departed for Malachor V; when Surik arrived, she found only Atris, who revealed that Darth Nihilus was about to attack Telos, an event also orchestrated by Kreia through her manipulation of Colonel Tobin. Surik confronted the now fallen Atris and defeated her, but spared her life. Atris told Surik that Kreia threatened to destroy the Force by sacrificing herself in the Trayus Core on Malachor V, and Surik departed to face the more immediate threat of Darth Nihilus.

Battle of Telos


Surik arrived on Citadel Station and learned that the Sith attack had already begun. Fighting their way through Citadel Station, Surik and her companions managed to reach an orbital shuttle which they used to board Darth Nihilus's ship, the Ravager, with the help of the Mandalorians. Once on board, Surik, accompanied by Mandalore and Visas Marr, planted charges on the ship before heading to the bridge to confront Nihilus.

During their duel, Nihilus attempted to consume Surik as he did to other Jedi, but it proved to be his undoing—rather than draining the Force from Surik, he was weakened by the void in the Force, the echo of the Mandalorian Wars that she carried, and was defeated in combat. Surik and her companions escaped from the Ravager just before it blew up, thus saving Citadel Station and Telos.

Upon her return, Carth Onasi arranged an appointment with Surik, and retold the story of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and asked her to search for Revan, to tell him that "Admiral Onasi is following his orders" to keep the Republic safe. After Surik left, Onasi met Bastila Shan, who had followed him to Telos.

The final battle: Malachor V


Surik traveled to Malachor V, where the war-torn planet's unstable environment caused the Ebon Hawk to crash land. Surik found and fought her way through the Trayus Academy to reach the two remaining Sith Lords&mdash;Kreia, now as Darth Traya, the headmistress of the academy, and Darth Sion, his will broken. Despite Sion's regenerative abilities, Surik eroded his will through words, and during their duel convinced him to give up the Force, and his pain, as she had, thus ending his immortality.

Surik confronted Traya in the Trayus Core. Traya refused redemption and challenged Surik to silence the echoes of Malachor V, to kill her former master, lest all she had accomplished "be as nothing, as empty, and as violent as Malachor itself." Surik then dueled Traya and emerged victorious.

Upon defeat, Kreia gazed into the future, revealing the future of Surik's companions, of the planets they had visited, of the Mandalorians, and even of the Republic itself. She also revealed that Revan had come to Malachor V, after the Mandalorian Wars and again after the Jedi Civil War, where he discovered evidence of the "true Sith," whom he had gone to fight "in his own way." Meanwhile, on Malachor V's surface, Bao-Dur's remote powered up and reactivated the Mass Shadow Generator, despite G0-T0's attempts to stop it, destroying them both. As Malachor V collapsed upon itself once again, the Ebon Hawk arrived in time to rescue Surik, while Traya plunged to her death in the Trayus Core. Surik then headed to the Unknown Regions to search for Revan.

Crew

 * CEO and Executive Producer - Feargus Urquhart
 * Producer - Chris Parker, Michael Gallo
 * Lead Designer - Chris Avellone
 * Design Team - Ferret Baudoin, Michael Chu, Tony Evans, Scott Everts, John Morgan, Kevin Saunders, David Maldonado
 * Composer - Mark Griskey

Art

 * Lead Artist - Aaron J. Meyers
 * Art Team - Aaron Brown, Trent Campbell, Doug Cope, Tim Cox, David Espinoza, Mustazar Essa, Lucas Feld, William Harper, Edward Lacabanne, Brian Menze, Dennis Presnell, Glenn Price
 * Additional Concept Art - T.J. Frame, Chris Appelhans
 * Additional Modeling and Texturing - Robert Giampa

Programming

 * Lead Programmer - Chris Jones
 * Programming Team - Adam Brennecke, Anthony Davis, Jay Fong, Frank Kowalkowski, Ben Ma, Dan Spitzley, Richard Taylor

Appearances
An asterisk ( * ) indicates a character who is essential to forwarding the game's plot. Two asterisks ( ** ) denote a character whose first appearance or mention was elsewhere in Star Wars continuity.

Alternative stories
If the player chooses to follow the dark side, they can throw Kreia into the core of Malachor V and assume the throne of headmistress of Trayus Academy. Meanwhile, G0-T0 destroys Bao-Dur's remote and deactivates the Mass Shadow Generator, keeping the planet intact.

Sequels
Both Obsidian and LucasArts have expressed a desire to yet again expand upon the franchise, LucasArts' representatives stating they have no intention of abandoning Knights of the Old Republic. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3 was in development, but was cancelled sometime in 2004 due to a difficult period for LucasArts. In March 2007, news of a spin-off was made official when "Aristotle," owner of a Knights fansite, interviewed several staff members of LucasArts.

Later in the year, Electronic Gaming Monthly reported in the rumors section of their May 2007 issue that BioWare had hired an online team for work on a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the Knights of the Old Republic series. The game, Star Wars: The Old Republic, was finally and officially announced in July 2008 by EA CEO John Riccitiello. It was finally released December 20th, 2011, and was generally well received by the critics.

Behind the scenes
In June 2009, in Kotaku Australia interview Chris Avellone revealed the "true Sith" planned to be remnants of Naga Sadow's Sith Empire, "orchestrating the collapse of the Republic from behind the scenes, interfering with key events to cause echoes through the Force and leave it ripe for invasion – hopefully without a shot even being fired."

Although the game did allow the game character be named freely, The Old Republic: Revan&mdash;Drew Karpyshyn novel released November 2011&mdash;did reveal her canonical name to be Meetra Surik, and appearance that didn't match any of the available female appearances on the game.

On July 21st 2015, over ten years after the original release of The Sith Lords, Aspyr Media released a port of the game for both Mac and Linux. Aspyr also added several new features to the game including: These features were also passed onto the PC Windows version.
 * 37 Achievements for both Steam and Game Center
 * Gamepad support
 * Support for widescreen and native resolutions, including Retina/4k/5k resolutions
 * Steam Cloud saves (Steam only)
 * Steam Workshop support (Steam only)
 * A number of bug fixes.

An official petition has been started on Aspyr's website for those interested in a potential mobile version of the game.

Game mods
Because of the flexibility of the game's Odyssey game engine, The Sith Lords is often a subject of modding in the gaming community. A number of modding groups have attempted to recreate and restore missing or cut content left in the game files.

Team Gizka's project was the first of these, founded in 2004 to promise restored content and save the cut M4-78 Droid planet. In early 2008 their project reached closed beta stage. Other modders, using the handles DarthStoney and Zbyl, created a restoration mod inspired by Team Gizka which accomplished all of Team Gizka's initial goals, including a restored HK factory and various bug fixes. As of late 2010, the Team Gizka site was disbanded.

However, in 2014, a full-scale mod known as The Sith Lords Restored Content Mod was released that restores most of the cut content.

Gaming sites

 * IGN review
 * X-Play review
 * Game Informer review

Modding

 * The Sith Lords Restoration Project which aims to restore the cut content to the PC version of the game
 * M4-78 Enhancement Project &mdash; expansion of the original M4-78 mod, created by modder Darth Stoney, which restores the cut planet M4-78
 * Download KotOR II mods on the FileFront Network
 * The Sith Lords modding tools
 * Download KotOR II mods on the FileFront Network
 * The Sith Lords modding tools