First Jedi Purge

By 3956 BBY, the Jedi Order had survived a particularly chaotic chapter in its history. Within a mere fifty years, the Order endured three galaxy-spanning wars, two of which were instigated by fallen Jedi. These devastating conflicts left the Order diminished and weakened, a mere shadow of its former glory. Thousands of Jedi were lost in the Great Sith War, the Mandalorian Wars, and the Jedi Civil War. These conflicts occurred in such rapid succession that the Jedi were unable to replenish their numbers, the Order simply could not recover from such significant losses in such a compressed timeframe.

The Order's troubles were intensified by the significant loss of knowledge, stemming from the destruction of key centers of learning, such as the Great Jedi Library located on Ossus and the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. A great number of important holocrons, records, and historical documents were scattered, lost, or stolen during the wars. Consequently, there were too few experienced Jedi to properly instruct aspiring students, and an inadequate knowledge base for effective teaching.

By the conclusion of the Jedi Civil War, the already depleted Jedi Order had been decimated. Fewer than one hundred Jedi survived to rebuild. As the Galactic Republic teetered on the edge of collapse, the Jedi Order steadily declined. Moreover, a redeemed Revan departed Republic space, depriving both the Republic and the Jedi of a figure to rally around for reconstruction. The Jedi ranks were permeated by intense disillusionment, as the few remaining members faced unprecedented anger and resentment from the Republic's citizens, who had begun to fear their former heroes. The Jedi themselves were losing faith in the Order, questioning how and why so many of their members had fallen to the dark side over the years. Even members of the Jedi High Council began to doubt the Jedi teachings.

Following the demise of Darth Malak and the destruction of the Star Forge, the Sith Empire's infrastructure crumbled. Most of the Dark Jedi who survived the war eliminated each other in struggles for power. However, scattered remnants of Revan's Empire remained hidden in secret locations of power. Over time, they reorganized, and new leaders emerged to guide them. On the ancient Sith world of Malachor V, Revan's clandestine sect of Sith assassins continued to operate. Within the Trayus Academy, specifically the Trayus Core, the Sith Lords Darth Traya, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Sion formulated a new strategy. Engaging in a shadow war, the new Sith Triumvirate pursued a single objective: the complete annihilation of the Jedi. They manipulated events from the shadows, triggering local conflicts on strategically important Republic planets. The fall of these worlds would lead to a swift and decisive end for the Republic.

This was a perilous and chaotic period for the Order. A consistent stream of Jedi, including the Jedi Watchmen overseeing various worlds, resigned, renounced the Order, and vanished without a trace. Entire Jedi gatherings began to disappear, leaving behind a strange disturbance in the Force that only a few members of the Jedi Council could detect. Eventually, the Jedi began to suspect they were being hunted. Finally, Jedi Master Atris convened many of the most powerful and influential remaining Jedi Masters for a secret conclave on the Miraluka world of Katarr, ostensibly to discuss the emerging threat. However, the conclave's secrecy was compromised.

Atris intentionally leaked information about the conclave to the wider galaxy, hoping to draw out whoever was attacking them. Consequently, Darth Nihilus arrived as the Jedi assembled and annihilated all life on the planet, including both the Jedi and the Miraluka colonists. The sole survivor of the attack was the Miraluka Visas Marr, whom Nihilus captured and trained as his apprentice. Following this devastating event, the remaining Jedi Council members, Masters Vrook Lamar, Kavar, Zez-Kai Ell, and Lonna Vash, made the decision to go into exile. Their hope was that this would lull the mysterious and secretive new Sith threat into a false sense of victory, leading them to reveal themselves.

By 3951 BBY, almost all of the Jedi had been eliminated. One of the few survivors was Meetra Surik, known as the Jedi Exile. Surik, who had spent time in the Outer Rim and the Unknown Regions after being banished from the Jedi Order for following Revan into the Mandalorian Wars, returned to Galactic Republic space in 3951 BBY. The Republic cruiser Harbinger, originally en route to Onderon, was redirected by Republic admiral Carth Onasi, a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War, to the Outer Rim to retrieve Surik. While heading for Telos IV, the Harbinger received a distress call and, upon reporting it, was ordered to assist the distressed vessel.

Upon arrival, the captain of the Harbinger discovered both the Ebon Hawk and a Sith warship seemingly adrift. He ordered a boarding crew onto the Sith vessel and the Ebon Hawk to recover any survivors. The Sith warship was found to be completely empty - a "ghost ship" as one unnerved Republic soldier remarked - save for the 'corpse' of the then unknown Lord Sion, which was brought aboard. Over the following days, the crew reported feeling "watched" and experienced unexplained malfunctions, such as systems suddenly failing. These events culminated when Lord Sion awoke and Republic officers were killed by cloaked Sith assassins who had secretly boarded the Harbinger when the ship had attached an umbilical to the 'empty' Sith warship.

While the Sith were seizing control of the Harbinger, the Ebon Hawk docked with the vessel, extracted Surik, and attempted to escape. The Harbinger, now completely controlled by the Sith, fired on the small freighter, heavily damaging it as it jumped to hyperspace, rendering everyone aboard unconscious.

Several days later, Surik awoke from a stupor in the mining facility and encountered an old woman who had been left for dead. This woman later revealed herself to be a Jedi Master named Kreia. She guided Surik in their escape from the mining facility. They discovered the facility was completely deserted, except for malfunctioning mining droids, an HK-50 protocol droid, and an imprisoned Human named Atton Rand.

Soon, the Sith Lord who had attacked the Harbinger arrived. Kreia, the Exile, and Atton escaped with T3-M4 aboard the Ebon Hawk, setting a course for Telos IV—the only available destination in the Peragus navigational charts. While being pursued by the Sith through the asteroid field around Peragus, laser fire from the Harbinger ignited the volatile fuel within the asteroids. The resulting explosion destroyed both the facility and the planet of Peragus II itself, although the Ebon Hawk and the Sith on-board the Harbinger managed to escape.

Upon arriving at the massive Citadel Station in orbit around Telos, the crew of the Ebon Hawk were detained for the destruction of the Peragus mining facility. They were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but not before the Ebon Hawk, with T3-M4 on-board, was stolen and flown to the Telosian surface. Denied a new vessel by the Telos Security Force, the three utilized alternate transportation to reach the surface, where they were shot down by Czerka Corporation air-defense turrets. They were rescued from the burning vessel by a Zabrak engineer named Bao-Dur, who was responsible for designing Telos' planetary shields. On the surface, they learned that the Ebon Hawk had been taken to the old planetary aqueducts in the polar region of the planet. Stealing a shuttle from an abandoned military compound, they traveled to the aqueducts and were once again shot down, this time by three HK-50 bounty hunter assassin droids. After defeating the droids, Atton, Kreia and Surik (Bao-Dur was knocked unconscious by the crash) entered the polar aqueduct system.

There, they were detained once again by the Last Handmaiden and her sisters. They had entered the secret Telosian Jedi Academy. Surik was granted an audience with Atris, the Jedi Master in control of the facility. Following a heated discussion about Surik's actions during the Mandalorian Wars, she and her party were granted leave and departed with the Ebon Hawk and T3-M4.

After leaving the academy, T3 revealed that he had downloaded Atris's database and navigational charts, including a recording of Surik's trial and records of the locations of the last five remaining Jedi Masters: Atris on Telos, Kavar on Onderon, Vrook Lamar on Dantooine, Zez-Kai Ell on Nar Shaddaa and Lonna Vash on Korriban. Surik, seeking to understand why she had been exiled, traveled to these worlds in search of the Jedi, hoping to unite them against the Sith and to find the answers to her questions.

During her search for the remaining masters, Surik arrived on Dantooine to find Master Vrook. She discovered that much had changed since she left for the Mandalorian Wars: the Jedi Enclave had been destroyed, and Dantooine was struggling to survive as a planetary government. The remaining citizens had united and established a new government, based at the old Matale estate, known as Khoonda. After meeting with the administrator, she ventured into the ruins of the Enclave. There, she learned that Vrook had been captured by the mercenaries on the planet.

Surik located and freed Vrook, but Vrook explained that he had allowed himself to be captured to avoid a conflict between Khoonda and the mercenaries. With Vrook's capture, the mercenaries were poised to launch a full-scale assault on the weak government. Surik chose to assist Khoonda, and under her military leadership, the Khoonda Militia defeated the mercenaries.

The second stop in their search was the moon Nar Shaddaa. Nar Shaddaa was known as the "gaping maw of Nal Hutta." Its massive population and sprawling cityscape provided ample opportunity for individuals to hide and remain unnoticed. However, Surik did the opposite. To locate Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell, Surik deliberately provoked the Exchange, drawing the attention of bounty hunters. When Meetra was captured, the renowned bounty hunter Mira joined Meetra's party, and they rescued her on G0-T0's yacht. During the rescue, the yacht's cloaking device was sabotaged, and one of the local Hutts, Vogga, whose freighters were being raided by G0-T0's yacht, seized the opportunity and destroyed it just as the Ebon Hawk escaped.

Eventually, Surik returned to Nar Shaddaa and found the Jedi Master. The Master confessed that he felt the Jedi Order bore significant responsibility for the events that had transpired, and their failure to acknowledge this at Surik's trial led him to leave. He answered her questions, taught her a lightsaber form, and agreed to go to Dantooine to await her arrival.

Surik's journey also led her to Onderon, where Master Kavar, an old friend, was serving as an advisor to Queen Talia. However, like Dantooine, Onderon faced its own challenges: Many people on Onderon blamed the Republic for the suffering caused by the recent wars. Exploiting this sentiment, General Vaklu, Talia's cousin, began to gather followers, advocating for Onderon's secession from the Republic and a return to independence. His ultimate goal was to assassinate Talia and claim the throne for himself.

After narrowly avoiding being shot down by Vaklu's forces, Surik landed on Dxun, one of Onderon's moons. There, she found the Mandalorians, under the command of Mandalore the Preserver, who were rebuilding their forces. She secured an alliance with the Mandalorians and obtained safe passage to Onderon. However, her meeting with Kavar was interrupted by Vaklu's troops. She departed the planet with Kavar's promise to contact her again.

By the time Kavar contacted Surik, Vaklu was prepared to strike, initiating a civil war in the streets of Iziz. Upon hearing this, Surik traveled to Dxun. Surik, alongside the Mandalorians, launched a counter-attack from Dxun and successfully defeated Vaklu before he could overthrow Talia.

Surik also traveled to the Sith world of Korriban in search of Master Lonna Vash. Shortly after the Ebon Hawk landed on the planet, Darth Sion killed Vash in the Sith Academy. Surik encountered Sion while searching the academy for Vash. As they dueled, Surik gained the upper hand, striking down Sion multiple times. However, the Lord of Pain used his Dark Side powers to heal himself each time. Eventually, Kreia contacted Surik telepathically, urging her to flee, telling her that this was a battle she could not win.

After escaping from Sion, Surik discovered the lost Tomb of Ludo Kressh, where she confronted and overcame several visions from her past and present. These included Malak recruiting her to join the Revanchists in the Mandalorian Wars, the Battle of Dxun, a fight between Kreia and her other companions, and Revan. She emerged from the tomb with a stronger conviction that her decisions had shaped her into the Jedi she had become.

After locating and conversing with all of the remaining Jedi Masters, the Exile returned to Dantooine to find the rebuilt Jedi Enclave. There, Masters Vrook, Kavar, and Zez-Kai Ell (Master Lonna Vash had already been killed by the Sith) had formed a council to decide her fate. Just after they reaffirmed the Exile's banishment and before they could strip her of the Force again, Kreia stormed into the meeting. The Exile, held in stasis by the Masters, was helpless to defend them as Kreia subjected the Jedi Masters to the same suffering the Exile had felt on Malachor V, leaving them dead and devoid of the Force.

After Kreia departed, Surik regained her strength and set off for Telos in search of Kreia, who had once again assumed the title of Darth Traya. There, the Exile was forced to confront Atris, who had been corrupted by the dark side through the Sith holocrons at the secret academy. After the Exile defeated her, she persuaded Atris to forgive her and helped her recognize the folly of her beliefs. Atris then revealed that Traya had fled to Malachor V to await their final confrontation. Afterward, Atris declared herself an ex-Jedi and went into exile to seek understanding.

Shortly after, a Sith fleet led by Darth Nihilus arrived at Telos, drawn to the academy in the polar region. With the assistance of the Mandalorians and Mandalore Canderous Ordo, the Exile boarded and engaged Nihilus aboard his ship, the Ravager, to prevent him from destroying Telos to feed his hunger. With the help of Visas Marr and Canderous, the Exile defeated him and headed to Malachor V.

Having successfully defended Telos and defeated Darth Nihilus, the Exile and her companions journeyed to Malachor V. After crash-landing on the planet's surface, the Exile proceeded to the Trayus Academy, battling her way through storm beasts, Sith warriors, and assassins before confronting Darth Sion. After an intense and prolonged duel, the Exile finally made Sion realize that Kreia was using him and did not care about his fate. Persuaded to relinquish his hatred, the only thing sustaining his life, Sion finally succumbed to his numerous injuries. The Exile then made her way to the Trayus Core, where she confronted Darth Traya.

After a fierce battle, the Exile defeated the Sith Lord but spared her life. Traya, however, refused to surrender and attacked the Exile again. The Exile defeated her once more. Before giving her life to the Force, Kreia shared information about Revan's location in the Unknown Regions and the fates of the Exile's allies and the planets they had visited. Shortly after this exchange, Bao-Dur's remote reactivated the Mass Shadow Generator to completely destroy the planet. The crew of the badly damaged Ebon Hawk retrieved the Exile from the Core and escaped the planet.

With the defeat of the Sith Triumvirate and the "restoration" of the Jedi Order, the Exile entrusted the Republic to her Lost Jedi and embarked on her own journey to find Revan in the Unknown Regions.

• Jedi Master Dorak : Killed by Darth Nihilus on Katarr. [1]
• Master Zez-Kai Ell : Killed by Kreia on Dantooine. [1]
• Master Kavar : Killed by Kreia on Dantooine. [1]
• Master Vrook Lamar : Killed by Kreia on Dantooine. [1]
• Master Zhar Lestin : Killed on Katarr. [1]
• Master Vandar Tokare : Killed on Katarr. [1]
• Master Lonna Vash : Killed by Darth Sion on Korriban. [1]
• Jedi Knight Nebelish : Killed in the Tomb of Ludo Kressh on Korriban. [1]
• Unidentified Jedi (Tomb of Ludo Kressh) : Killed in the Tomb of Ludo Kressh on Korriban. [1]