Vergere

"Everything I tell you is a lie. Every question I ask you is a trick. You will find no truth in me."

- Vergere

Vergere was a Jedi Knight and possible Sith apprentice in the waning years of the Galactic Republic. She was the former Padawan of Jedi Master Thracia Cho-Leem and was instrumental in helping the New Jedi Order defeat the Yuuzhan Vong.

Jedi career
Almost immediately after she hatched, Vergere was taken under the wing of Jedi Master Thracia Cho-Leem, who later instructed her in the ways of the Jedi. Not much is known of her early life except for an adventure in 33 BBY, when Vergere was part of a Jedi task force sent to Asmeru by Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum to capture the leaders of the Nebula Front.

According to an account given by Lumiya to Jacen Solo in 40 ABY, Vergere was a rogue student, secretly studying sources outside of approved Jedi doctrine. Lumiya claimed that Vergere's studies of other rogue Jedi, including Count Dooku, had led her to Darth Sidious, and at some point between 32 BBY and 29 BBY, Vergere became a student of the Sith Lord. According to Lumiya, Vergere subsequently attempted to kill Sidious when she discovered the extent of his megalomania, but her murder attempt failed, and she was forced to flee from his assassins, accepting a mission from the Jedi Council to Zonama Sekot, where she was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong. It is unknown how much of this account, if any, is true, and even if it is broadly accurate in outline, Lumiya may not have told the whole story.

In 29 BBY, the Jedi Council received reports of an attack on beautiful and mysterious Zonama Sekot, which was known for making incredibly fast spaceships. Vergere was sent to investigate by the Council, and when she arrived, she discovered that the alien invaders, the Yuuzhan Vong, who were intent on gaining the secrets of the planet's organic technology, were far stranger than she had expected. The Yuuzhan Vong could not be felt through the Force and like the Ferroan colonists on Zonama Sekot, they used biological technology for ships. On top of that Vergere learned that they were actually from another galaxy.

Vergere learned that the Yuuzhan Vong desired to rule more than just Zonama Sekot: they hoped to control the Galaxy. When the Ferroans did not comply with their wishes, the Yuuzhan Vong opened fire on the planet. Realizing that the Galactic Republic and the Jedi were not prepared to fight such powerful creatures, Vergere agreed to leave with them if they would break off their attack. Amazed by her Jedi talents, which she told them came from Zonama Sekot, the Yuuzhan Vong eagerly agreed.

The Jedi Council dispatched Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to Zonama Sekot in an attempt to discover what had happened to her, to no avail. Several years later, the prospect of discovering her whereabouts was part of the impetus that led to the launching of Outbound Flight.

Life with the Yuuzhan Vong


Over the next fifty years, Vergere lived with the Yuuzhan Vong, teaching them about the Republic and the Jedi while secretly building up a collection of information about the extragalactic aliens themselves. Vergere was able to avoid having her Jedi powers detected by the Force-sensing Yuuzhan Vong war coordinators, the yammosks, by learning to "make herself small". Vergere would shrink her presence in the Force to a microscopic size, where she was almost undetectable. In this state she could also modify tiny things like molecules. Vergere became a familiar of Yuuzhan Vong Priestess Falung, and later of the Priestess Elan. She also destroyed her lightsaber, hiding her affiliation with the Jedi Order.

The Invasion
When the Yuuzhan Vong decided to begin their invasion of the Galaxy, Vergere traveled with Elan on several missions and continued to aid the Yuuzhan Vong. Vergere was accompanying her mistress on a covert operation wherein Elan allowed herself to be captured by the Republic, claiming that she was defecting from the Yuuzhan Vong ranks, but in reality was preparing to spring a trap on the Jedi. Elan's fellow Yuuzhan Vong were not informed of her plan and attempted to rescue the priestess.

With her options running out Elan sprang her trap, unleashing a cloud of Bo'tous spores, and adding insult to injury was killed by them. Vergere was able to escape, leaving behind a vial of her tears in the process, which turned out to be successful in slowing the deadly coomb spore disease that was affecting Mara Jade Skywalker. One of Vergere's gifts was the ability to control the molecular structure of her tears, giving her the ability to produce poisons as well as antidotes from her tear ducts.

Jacen Solo
"Vergere sacrificed herself so you could assume the Sith mantle she wanted for you."

- Lumiya to Jacen Solo

After returning to the Yuuzhan Vong, Vergere rose through their ranks, becoming an advisor to Warmaster Tsavong Lah and an important rival to Nom Anor, whom she was partnered with on a mission to Myrkr to capture the Solo twins. The mission turned out to be only a partial success, as only one of the twins, Jedi Knight Jacen Solo, was captured. Vergere took a great interest in the young Jedi, torturing Jacen using the methods of pain that the Yuuzhan Vong had perfected. Through this torture Jacen came to understand the ways and motives of the Yuuzhan Vong. Jacen became Vergere's apprentice, and she passed on to him her unique philosophies and theories about the Force that could return true order and stability to the galaxy. Vergere stressed to Jacen the concept that there was no dark side and that the Force itself is neutral. All bad and dark motions comes through the Force user himself who uses his abilities with wrong and selfish motives.



The unlikely pair hatched a plan to sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong terraforming of Coruscant. The city-covered world had been captured by the Yuuzhan Vong and was slowly being transformed into a jungle planet reminiscent of Yuuzhan'tar, the extra-galactic world that the Yuuzhan Vong had originated from. Jacen had established a psychic connection with the World Brain, the controller of the terraforming process, when it had been a seedling. Using this connection the two were able to wreak havoc on the Yuuzhan Vong-held planet and eventually escape Coruscant.

Vergere and Jacen returned to what was left of the New Republic. Suspicious of her motives, the New Republic authorities imprisoned her for a time while they determined whether she was a defector or a spy. During her internment Vergere had several discussions with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker about the nature of the Force and the Yuuzhan Vong. Skywalker wondered why they were seemingly outside of the Force, and whether they deserved the same rights as others. She convinced him that they did, changing some of his opinions concerning the Jedi Order's part in the war. Soon after Vergere was released, she learned of the deadly Alpha Red bio-weapon and destroyed it using the chemical properties of her tears, which led the New Republic to label her as an enemy and force her into hiding.

But Vergere was drawn to Ebaq 9, where Jacen was participating in a hazardous mission against the Yuuzhan Vong. During the Battle of Ebaq 9, Vergere tricked the Yuuzhan Vong into allowing her to get close to their base. Sensing Jacen was in mortal danger, she acquired an A-wing starfighter and crashed it on the surface of the asteroid, in the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong's forces. The crash killed her along with all of the Yuuzhan Vong, except Warmaster Tsavong Lah, who was defeated in close combat soon after by Jedi Knight Jaina Solo. Vergere appeared to Jacen Solo after her death to comfort him. Vergere and Luke Skywalker believed that he had a special destiny, and that she must aid him in finding it.

Legacy
"The dark side corrupts, the Sith are inevitably drawn to evil." "I can prove one who isn't."

- Jacen Solo and Lumiya

In 40 ABY, Lumiya lured Jacen Solo, his cousin Ben Skywalker, and Jedi Nelani Dinn to the alleged ancient home of Darth Vectivus. She convinced Jacen of Vergere's association with the Sith. Following this, Jacen agreed to learn about the Sith philosophy from Lumiya and, murdering Dinn to prevent Lumiya's arrest and wiping Ben's memory to assure no knowledge of the events would spread, left to make time for his instruction and to search for a Sith apprentice.

Arguments Vergere made to support her statements
Regardless of Vergere's motives in teaching Jacen, she did make some interesting points when trying to convince him that the Force had neither a light side nor a dark one.

To convince Jacen of this, Vergere showed him a species of Yuuzhan'tar predator that had just successfully brought down its prey. She told him that the predator's adopted home was filled with what Jacen would call "the dark side." Jacen responded by telling her that what the animal did was not "the dark side," since it was merely following its nature, killing to get food to keep itself alive. Vergere then said to him "I thought the danger of the dark side was that it is natural; that's why it's easier than the light, yes?"

Jacen told her that the "real" dark side would be if the predator killed not just one animal, but an entire herd, and did so not out of hunger but just for fun, for the joy of killing. This prompted Vergere to ask Jacen if he believed the predator took no joy in its accomplishment of successfully killing its prey. Looking closer at the animal, Jacen was forced to admit it appeared pleased with itself.

As Jacen considered this and became more uncertain, Vergere asked more questions. "Kill one, it's nature, kill them all, it's the dark side? Is the line between nature and dark side only one of degree? Is it the dark side if that predator kills only half the herd? A quarter?"

Becoming frustrated, Jacen asserted that it was a matter of "need." That if the predator killed more animals than it needed to for its survival, those actions would be of the dark side. Vergere then launched a new series of questions, asking how "need" was defined. Was "need" the line of starvation or simple malnutrition? Would it be wrong of the animal to kill its prey and eat only half the carcass, wasting the other half? Would the animal's hunting be of the dark side if it and its family were a few pounds overweight and could survive without food for a time?

Jacen's protests that it wasn't about that made Vergere ask what it was about. She asked if intention always trumped action. What if, she asked, the predator slaughtered an entire herd thinking it needed them for food, then realized that it didn't need them after all and left them to rot? Would its intentions matter?

Vergere's apparent goal was to make Jacen question what he had been taught about the dark side and killing, specifically whether one's emotional state or good faith beliefs justified the taking of life. Another possibility that in raising the questions, she forced Jacen to come up with deeper answers and reasons for the positions he held before, regardless of what Vergere actually believed about the issues she raised.

In an earlier conversation, Vergere had asked Jacen if he believed what he (and other Jedi) did was irrelevant, if he believed that the only relevant thing was why they did it. Jacen had killed Yuuzhan Vong dhuryams when he escaped from captivity. The following exchange took place between Vergere and Jacen:

VERGERE: Does killing a dhuryam for a noble goal make it any less dead? Do you think it matters to these dead dhuryams whether you killed them in a frenzy of rage or with calm, cool Jedi detachment?

JACEN: It matters to me.

VERGERE: Ah, I see. You can do whatever you want, so long as you maintain your Jedi calm? So long as you can tell yourself you're valuing life? You can kill and kill and kill and kill, so long as you don't lose your temper? Isn't that a little sick?

Behind the scenes

 * Vergere was created for the New Jedi Order series, but first appeared in Rogue Planet as a way of linking the Prequel era with the New Jedi Order era.


 * Vergere has become a serious source of criticism over the NJO. Many fans were appalled that a Jedi Knight of the Old Republic would willfully torture anyone, including a fellow Jedi. She has also been criticized over her denial of the dark side, despite what many fans believe is "ample" evidence during the Original and Prequel trilogies. However, Vergere was intentionally created as an unorthodox teacher. Also, many fans point out that she never really encountered an enemy who was truly dark, and that the Yuuzhan Vong, while barbaric, were, at the core, not evil. Vergere herself did regret torturing Jacen Solo, but felt that it was the only way to "teach" Jacen the truth about the Force. Some reasons for her harshness are discussed in the Legacy of the Force series. It is possible either that her cruelty was due to the NJO planners' knowledge of her Sith allegiance or that fan outrage inspired a retcon that reinvented her as a Sith.


 * There have been several clues pointing towards Vergere's corruption and connection with the Sith throughout the NJO series, as well as information from certain out of universe sources.
 * An important source that shows Vergere has been corrupting Jacen with her teachings is none other than the creator of Star Wars, George Lucas himself. While many fans argue that the mentioning of the "dark side of the Force" in the movies could be taken as purely the belief of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. George Lucas has explicitly stated numerous times, in various interviews as well as commentaries for the movies, that the Force indeed has a light and a dark side, much like how in the Taoist beliefs, the Tao is formed by Yin and Yang, opposites of each other. Lucas's statements, along with the movies, are regarded as G-level canon by Lucasfilm Ltd.
 * During the events of Traitor, Vergere deliberately lies to Jacen about the Jedi, claiming that the Jedi knew about the Force having no dark side, and pointed out to Jacen the Force well buried underneath the Jedi Temple, which at the time was filled with dark side energy, and told him that the Jedi would not have built a temple there if it was really dark side energy. However, it has been shown that the Force well has always been pure Force energy with no corruption. The well was only corrupted when Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker and Tahiri Veila encountered and killed Lord Nyax, who died at that very spot, unleashing dark energy into the well and corrupting it.
 * In Traitor, Vergere explains to Jacen that the Force has no dark side, and that what the Jedi call the dark side is actually the true, unleashed nature of the Force. This is in fact the most important Sith teaching, and Darth Vader hinted to Luke the same thing when he was trying to convert Luke to the dark side. He said "The Emperor will show you the true nature of the Force." Also, this belief of the Sith is shown in more detail in Darth Sidious's own thoughts, in the novelization of Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
 * Power of the Jedi Sourcebook, an out of universe Star Wars Expanded Universe source, which was released right after the book Traitor, explains that the belief that the Force has no dark side, which is also called the Potentium Heresy, is in fact a corrupted teaching that leads to the dark side, with the followers believing they are right and the others are wrong, and rarely perceiving their mistake, without help from the Jedi who tried to guide them back to the light.
 * In her RPG statistics, Vergere is shown to have the ability to speak Sith. This is a feat that applies to Sith Lords and Sith apprentices alone, and the only person ever to have the same feat other than the Sith, is the ancient Jedi Master Odan-Urr, who studied Sith holocrons, and is also the person who wrote the Jedi Code. This in itself was one hint that showed that Vergere had some connection to the Sith.
 * Prior to the release of Legacy of the Force, Lucasfilm had stated that the series would answer the "mystery of Vergere."

All these clues offer support for the speculation that the Lucasfilm Ltd. authorities had planned at least some of these factors beforehand. Even then, it remains to be seen whether Vergere was fully corrupted during her failed attempt to be a Sith apprentice, or her stay with the Yuuzhan Vong made her unstable, and venture into corruption as a result.

It is also quite possible that Vergere was neither Jedi nor Sith, following the teachings of neither group. She likely had ulterior motives, which required Jacen to develop a more unique connection to and appreciation for the Force. An example of a very similar character in the Star Wars universe is Kreia, who also had ambiguous alignment and deceived the central character before finally being revealed as a Sith.

Discontinuity
Several claims about Vergere were made in the Legacy series which have severe discontinuities with the Vergere depicted in the New Jedi Order series. Among these problems are:


 * Vergere being a Sith
 * As Qui-Gon said in the Revenge of the Sith novel, the Sith can not retain their consciousness after physical death - it is against their very nature. As we see in Destiny's Way, she's talking to Jacen in ghosty form...having very much retained her consciousness.
 * If the belief that there is a 'happier, friendlier' Sith group which she was part of is to be accepted, there was no indication of Sith skills or magic in her uses of the Force in any of her appearances. (Note: While the Sith could *almost* completely hide their presence with meditations, Vergere did not appear to use these meditations while making herself small. This appears to be something she developed herself) If these 'happy-go-lucky Sith' did use Sith powers for the benefit of all, Vergere never indicated such a desire.
 * Vergere was claimed to be teaching Jacen how to survive, which is a Sith trait.
 * Survival itself is a trait inherent to all life, including the Jedi. Just because it is a Sith trait doesn't mean it is exclusive to Sith philosophies. Such is indicated by Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi fleeing and hiding, and ordering all other Jedi to do likewise in Revenge of the Sith.
 * Vergere was teaching Jacen much more than just survival. She was teaching him ways to end the war without wiping one side out entirely, and finding tools to help him do that.
 * Vergere's character was misrepresented, with character traits injected into her with no prior indication of such traits.
 * Jacen's certainty "that she would have studied every facet of the Force she could find" is unsupported in the New Jedi Order. Her training seems exclusive to the Jedi, her species specific skills, and that which she had to learn while with the Vong to survive. There is no indication she had any desire to learn more than that which she already knew.

Appearances

 * Cloak of Deception
 * Rogue Planet
 * Outbound Flight
 * Boba Fett: A Practical Man
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Balance Point
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Star by Star
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Traitor
 * Destiny's Way
 * Force Heretic: Reunion
 * The Unifying Force
 * Betrayal
 * Tempest