Shad Jelavan

Shad Jelavan, a Human male, was born on the planet Taris. One of three children in his family—he had a sister, Shel, and a younger brother, Shay—Jelavan's Force-sensitivity was discovered by a as an infant, and he was trained almost from birth. By 3977 BBY, Jelavan was learning at the Jedi Enclave on the planet Dantooine, where he became fast friends with four other younglings: fellow Human Zayne Carrick, Gharn, a Nagai, Ho'Din trainee Oojoh and Kamlin, a Falleen. Jelavan was especially close with Carrick, who considered Jelavan his best friend; Jelavan often tried to motivate his fellow Human, who generally struggled as a Jedi learner. The five students grew up together, and by 3969 BBY they were all moved to train as Padawans at Taris' Jedi Tower. Each Padawan was assigned to one of the five Jedi Masters stationed in the academy, and Jelavan was given to the Miraluka seer Q'Anilia. In 3966 BBY, Jelavan and his siblings were orphaned as an accident in Taris' Middle City claimed the lives of their parents. Jelavan began giving his stipend to Shel and Shay, as they no longer had anyone else to support them.

By 3964 BBY, Jelavan, along with the rest of his class, was nearing the end of his training. By then, Jelavan had garnered a reputation as a most promising Jedi prospect, whom Jedi Master Lucien Draay mentioned in an interview with the Taris Holofeed as the type of Padawan that every Master wished they could have. That year, he and his friends gathered together for what was to be their final test as Jedi Padawans. The five trainees were dropped from a shuttle onto Taris' rogue moon—a planetoid in the Taris asteroid belt, perpetually bombarded by thousands of meteors an hour—and were told to traverse the treacherous terrain. Furthermore, they would be wearing environment suits with their blast shields down, taking away their physical sight and forcing them to rely solely on the Force for guidance. Jelavan was the first to complete the trial, making it to the Masters' encampment on an overlooking promontory. After the other four Padawans arrived safely, they all returned to Taris. The five Masters cloistered in the Jedi Tower for several days afterward, finally emerging to announce that they had decided who was to become a Jedi, and set up a banquet and ceremony in which their choices would be made known.

However, unbeknownst to Jelavan and his fellow apprentices, the Masters had a different fate in mind for them. While waiting for their Padawans on the rogue moon, the Masters—secretly comprising a Jedi Covenant determined to guard against the return of the Sith—had shared vivid visions of the destruction of the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic by a mysterious figure wearing a red environment suit, identical to the ones the Padawans were wearing at the time. Taking that to mean that one of their apprentices was the destroyer, the Covenant resolved to kill the Padawans in a preemptive strike. Afterward, while cloistered in the Tower, they had time to think of a cover story. Jelavan was to be the scapegoat—the Covenant would tell the public that Jelavan, denied Knighthood due to his headstrong attitude, flew into a rage and slew the other four Padawans, before being killed by the Masters.

At the banquet, Jelavan arrived with his siblings, and hobnobbed with his friends. Carrick showed up late, crashing through a window and breaking a caterer's table, and was ordered to pay for the damages by his Master, Lucien Draay. Jelavan gave Carrick the money to cover the cost, over Carrick's protests. Later, the group retired to the Masters' chamber, where they were to learn their fates. Jelavan made it to the chamber late, having walked his brother and sister home. When he arrived, he found that Carrick was also late, and the ceremony was yet to begin. However, Jelavan quickly deduced that something was amiss. The Masters all had their lightsabers out, contrary to custom, something they explained away as part of the ceremony. However, Lucien Draay also had his, implying that Carrick was to be Knighted. Initially overjoyed that Carrick was to be Knighted, Jelavan's happiness turned to suspicion—although he and Carrick were close friends, Jelavan did not believe he would be promoted to Jedi Knight, as the bumbling apprentice always finished last in every test. The other Padawans followed his lead, and Jelavan, perturbed by the Masters' halfhearted lies, finally asked Lucien Draay directly what was going on. The Masters responded by slaughtering Jelavan and the other Padawans, with Jelavan falling to the blade of his Master, Q'Anilia. Carrick arrived a moment later, and managed to escape. The murders were pinned on Carrick, and large bounties were placed on him and an "accomplice," local Snivvian hood Marn Hierogryph.

The bodies of Jelavan and his friends were carried away by medical droids. The story of the massacre became a huge news focus on Taris, and holograms of Jelavan and his class, dubbed the "Taris Four" by the media, could be found as far deep as the Lower City. Jelavan and his friends were publicly mourned some time afterward, with the Masters of the Covenant speaking kindly of them at the funerals. The year after the murders, Raana Tey, Kamlin's Master, had a nightmarish vision where Jelavan and his Jedi class took the place of the Jedi Covenant, and she took the place of Zayne Carrick, walking in on the murders of her fellow Masters. In her dream, Jelavan wielded a red lightsaber, such as those used by the Sith. Jelavan's sister Shel was devastated by his death—during the Mandalorian siege of Taris in 3963 BBY, Raana Tey exploited this grief in order to use her in an attempt to kill Zayne Carrick, who was on the planet working with the Taris Resistance. Shel was to attack Carrick with Jelavan's old lightsaber, which was held in a storage room of the Jedi Tower. However, Shel learned the truth and turned on Tey, stabbing her with Jelavan's lightsaber before the mad Jedi Master was killed in a massive explosion shortly afterward. Xamar, Gharn's Master, would later confess to the murders to the Jedi Council and clear Carrick's name, and Shel eventually joined Carrick's Rogue Moon Project, an organization dedicated to helping refugees, wrongly accused fugitives and the like.

Despite his considerable talent with the Force, Jelavan remained a loyal friend to his classmates. Jelavan was especially close with Zayne Carrick, whom he often tried to motivate despite Carrick's shortcomings as a Jedi prospect. Believing that the galaxy needed more Jedi Knights regardless of skill level, Jelavan urged Carrick to work hard, and even tried to lift his friend's spirits by claiming that Carrick was actually trying to lull the other Padawans into a false sense of security. Although Jelavan did all he could to help Carrick and deeply wanted him to become a Jedi Knight, he did not think that Carrick could be a Jedi, and certainly did not think that the Jedi Masters would ever grant him Knighthood. Jelavan was generous with his money, routinely using his stipend to support his sister and brother, and giving Carrick all the money he had to pay for a destroyed table at their banquet. Despite this, Jelavan had quite a rebellious and defiant streak in him, and, possessing good insight, was not afraid to question the Jedi Masters when a situation did not seem right to him. In fact, Jelavan's headstrong attitude was part of the Jedi Covenant's original cover story for the Padawan massacre. Jelavan had light skin, blond hair—worn in a Padawan braid—and blue eyes.

Jelavan had a considerable talent with the Force, and was considered to be one of the best and brightest of the five Taris Padawans. Even as a child Jelavan won every game that the Padawans played, and finished first in their final test on the rogue moon. Jelavan possessed the ability to see through the Force when his physical sight was taken away, a skill he used on the rogue moon.

As a Jedi Padawan, Shad Jelevan often wore Jedi robes, along with a belt with several pouches and gloves that extended to cover his whole forearm. By 3964 BBY, Jelavan had his own blue lightsaber.

Shad Jelavan first appeared in Knights of the Old Republic 1, the first issue of the Knights of the Old Republic comic series, written by John Jackson Miller, illustrated by Brian Ching and released in 2006. Killed in the first issue, Jelavan appeared in various flashbacks over the course of the rest of the Commencement arc. Jelavan was also mentioned in a number of later Knights of the Old Republic issues. In 2008, Jelavan received an entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia incorrectly states that Jelavan's parents were killed when Jelavan was an infant, when in fact he was already a Jedi Padawan when the incident occurred.

• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Handbook
• Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia