House of Marek

The Family Crest of the House of Marek, later adopted as the emblem of the Rebel Alliance.

The House of Marek was a Human family known to contain at least three Force-sensitive members, beginning with Jedi Knight Kento Marek, and his wife, Mallie Marek. Both Kento and Mallie were raised and trained within the Jedi Order prior to their self-imposed exile during the Clone Wars. Through the two the Jedi, the family produced Galen Marek, one of the most powerful Force-wielders in galactic history. Unlike his parents, however, Galen served as an unofficial member of the Sith Order. Under the codename Starkiller, he served as the secret apprentice of the Sith Lord Darth Vader until his redemption and death in the year 2 BBY. As the last scion of the House of Marek, Galen's passing brought an end to the Marek bloodline.

The most visible sign of the family's enduring legacy was its personal crest, which became the official emblem of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. The crest also served as the official symbol of the Alliance's successor states, including the Alliance of Free Planets and the Second Galactic Republic. The crest also symbolized the New Jedi Order. A variation of the crest was also used as the emblem of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances.

However, the family would live on in a sense through a variety of clones that were engineered within the Timira City Cloning Facility of the planet Kamino. Utilizing Galen Marek's corpse as a genetic template, Darth Vader painstakingly endeavored to create a more powerful version of his late disciple. Out of the numerous genetic failures, including a rogue clone who escaped from Kamino, a single perfect clone emerged and succeeded in accomplishing what all of his precursors had failed at—purging himself of the influence of Galen Marek's memories.

History

"The blood of a true Jedi, my blood, runs in your veins."

―Kento Marek to his son Galen, regarding the Marek family's strong connection to the Force

File:SecretApprentice tfu.jpg

Galen Marek, codenamed Starkiller, was the family's most influential member in galactic history.

The first known member of the family was Kento Marek, a member of the Jedi Order who fathered a son, Galen, with his wife, Mallie, also a Jedi. Kento met Mallie were both serving as Jedi officers in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars when they first met. Despite the Jedi Code's restrictions against attachments and emotional bonds, the two fell in love. After marrying in secret, the two discreetly left the Jedi Order to start a new life together.

After exiling themselves and traveling from system to system, Kento and Mallie became fugitives—along with rest of their former Jedi comrades—once Order 66 had been issued. As the Galactic Empire executed a systematic exterminationof the remaining Jedi, the Marek family sought to create a safe haven for themselves on Kashyyyk. Upon their arrival, they were welcomed by the native Wookiees who were sympathetic to the persecuted Jedi Order, thus allowing the Mareks to establish a more permanent home on the Wookiee homeworld.

The House of Marek lived on Kashyyyk for roughly ten years. During their time on the Wookiee homeworld, Mallie became pregnant and gave birth to Galen Marek—a prodigy of the Force. Even at a very young age, Galen was abnormally strong in the Force, far more powerful than both of his parents. Not long after Galen's birth, Mallie was killed by Trandoshan slavers and mercenaries while protecting a group of Wookiees. At some point during the Great Jedi Purge, while Galen was still a young child, the Sith Lord Darth Vader personally oversaw an Imperial assault on Kashyyyk after learning of the Jedi presence on the planet. Kento made his last stand in front of his hut, but was ultimately slain in front of his son by the Dark Lord.

A defective clone of Galen Marek, one of many aberrant failures

Upon discovering Kento's son, Darth Vader was genuinely shocked that a child could possess an immensely powerful connection to the Force at such a young age, much like himself in the past. After a moment of hesitation, Vader took the boy into his custody and secretly trained him as a Sith apprentice, thus violating the Rule of Two. Galen, known only to a select few by the codename "Starkiller," overcame one brutal trial after another in order to perfect his role as Vader's personal assassin. At the same time, his childhood memories became repressed and ultimately forgotten as he became increasingly immersed within the dark side of the Force.

As Starkiller, the young "Sith" aspirant executed many assassination missions for his Master over the years, which eventually led to Jedi targets such as Rahm Kota, Kazdan Paratus and Shaak Ti. But his steadfast loyalty was eventually rewarded with Vader's treachery after Darth Sidious, publicly known as Emperor Palpatine, "discovered" Starkiller's existence. Upon learning that his "death" was faked in order to deceive the Emperor, Starkiller remained loyal to Vader while carrying out his greatest task—the formation of the Rebel Alliance. Even though the mission caused him to develop certain doubts about himself and his Master, Starkiller remained dedicated to his belief in the ultimate goal that he had long since been prepared for; to become a true Sith Lord upon the Emperor's death.

His faith in Vader was again misplaced when the Dark Lord betrayed him for a second time after Starkiller succeeded in bringing the Empire's most significant enemies together on Corellia. Enraged at yet another betrayal, Starkiller dropped his codename in favor of his birth name, Galen Marek, which he rediscovered from repressed memories during his last mission for Vader. Galen's eventual conversion to the Jedi way and the light side of the Force was made possible by certain factors—Vader's betrayals, his remembrance of certain moments in his forgotten life on Kashyyyk, and mostly his growing affection for Juno Eclipse.

File:StarkillerLightsabersCatoNeimoidia.jpg

Starkiller, a renegade clone of the original Starkiller

Galen's liberation from his role as Vader's secret apprentice would not last long. In an attempt to rescue the Alliance leaders from execution, he journeyed to the incomplete Death Star and confronted his former master. Darth Vader ultimately proved to be no match for his younger and more powerful disciple. Although he was initially tempted to kill Vader and take his place at Sidious's side, Galen chose to reject the darkness and fought the Emperor for the lives of his allies. In a selfless act of sacrifice, Galen Marek surrendered his own life to provide the Alliance leaders with enough time to escape from the Death Star, thus ending Kento Marek's bloodline with the death of the last scion of the Marek family.

Marek's sacrifice not only ensured the survival of the Rebellion's founders, but also inspired other dissidents to take up arms against the seemingly invincible Galactic Empire. At the behest of Leia Organa, an Imperial senator from Alderaan, the Marek family crest was converted into the Alliance Starbird; a symbol of hope for countless Rebels to rally around in their struggle against the Empire.

However, the Marek bloodline was ultimately preserved in an unnatural way, ironically by Darth Vader and his attempts to engineer a perfect genetic replica of his former apprentice. After Galen Marek's death, Darth Vader brought the body to Kamino and stored it within the Timira City Cloning Facility where he endeavored to create a more powerful and obedient version of his dead apprentice. The cloning process initially yielded a variety of aberrant clones, both physically deformed and psychologically deranged. Other clones were said to have progressed far in their training, only to be undermined in the end by the imprinted memories of their clone template.

File:DistantThunderNoWeakness.jpg

The Dark Apprentice, the only perfect clone of the original Starkiller

Despite the fact that many clones amounted to nothing more than genetic failures, one clone in particular progressed far enough in his trials for Vader to hope that this clone would be the first stable version of Marek. Unfortunately, the clone could not overcome the imprinted memories of his progenitor, which also happened to be a common side effect of the cloning process that the other clones suffered from as well. Although he showed little reluctance with the notion of destroying the Rebel Alliance or killing Rahm Kota, he absolutely could not bring himself to kill Juno Eclipse. Deemed as yet another failure, the clone spontaneously chose to escape from Kamino. While he had no interest in the Rebellion or its war against the Empire, he was determined to track down Eclipse. After rescuing Kota, he was subsequently known as "Starkiller" (Marek's former codename). The clone, however, refused to use either the birth name or codename of his template since both belonged to a different man.

Unknown to the renegade clone, however, Vader had also given his attention to another clone who stood out amongst all of the others. This clone also possessed the same imprinted memories as his rogue counterpart. But unlike his clone brethren, he was able to compartmentalize his template's memories, thus separating them from his own personal experience. Hence, the clone's development was not influenced or undermined by Marek's emotions or attachments. He ultimately proved to be the most successful attempt in Vader's goal to replicate his deceased apprentice. As a result, he displayed the preserved corpse of Galen Marek to the clone. In doing so, he revealed what the clone already knew to be true; the real Starkiller died and the clone possessed nothing more than the memories of a dead man.

As his training neared completion, the clone assured Darth Vader that he was no longer burdened by Galen Marek's memories, whose weaknesses he came to despise. In order to prove his full rejection of the weaknesses that undermined the original apprentice, the dark clone coldly struck down a holodroid that was disguised as Juno Eclipse. At that moment, he felt nothing other than hatred for Marek, yet pride for rising above his template's shortcomings. Although one final test remained, Darth Vader regarded this act as proof that his latest experiment was almost ready to be deemed a success. By the time of the Battle of Kamino, the Sith Lord regarded the dark clone as his new apprentice.

Family tree

   Kento Marek--+--Mallie Marek
                |
           Galen Marek
                |
           +---------------------+---------------------+
           |                     |                     |
Starkiller (clone)  Dark Apprentice (clone)  Various failed clones

Appearances

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game
• The Force Unleashed novel (First appearance)
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic (In flashback(s))
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

Sources

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Prima Official Game Guide
• Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 29 (First identified as House of Marek)
• Starkiller (Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice) in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)