Malachor V

Sometime following 27,700 BBY but preceding the decline of the Infinite Empire, the Sith Empire established a colony on Malachor V.

An ancient Sith Empire erected the Trayus Academy on Malachor V, an event that occurred "thousands of years" prior to the Mandalorian Wars.

At one point, Dakar Sol spearheaded a rebellion on Malachor V, challenging the authority of the Sith Empire.

By the era of the Mandalorian Wars, Malachor V had been completely deserted.

Decades after this abandonment, Malachor became the location of the Mandalorian Wars' concluding battle, which saw the most horrific act of the conflict take place. Mandalorians were forbidden from going to Malachor, a cultural prohibition that Jedi General Revan exploited to his advantage to secure victory in the war. Revan gathered a massive fleet at the world, presenting the Mandalorians with an irresistible target. Meetra Surik, later known as the Jedi Exile, was placed in command of this fleet, as one of Revan's most trusted generals.

During the Battle of Malachor V, Revan personally killed Mandalore the Ultimate aboard the warlord's flagship. While Republic and Mandalorian forces continued their engagement outside the planet's atmosphere, Surik, with a silent nod to its creator Bao-Dur, ordered the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator superweapon. This action was taken to prevent the Mandalorian forces from overwhelming them and attacking Revan's forces from the rear. The gravity on Malachor instantly crushed every combatant within and around its atmosphere, regardless of their allegiance—Mandalorian, Republic, or Jedi. The planet's surface underwent a dramatic transformation, becoming a desolate, shattered, and lifeless wasteland, resulting in the complete annihilation of Revan's adversaries. The planet was scarred beyond recognition, its surface utterly destroyed by the battle. Remnants of crashed Republic cruisers remained buried deep within the surface for a long time after.

After his triumph, Revan, accompanied by Malak, ventured into the Unknown Regions in pursuit of Mandalore's enigmatic masters, whom they discovered to be Sith on the icy planet of Rekkiad. However, the Sith Emperor ultimately corrupted them to the dark side and sent them back to the Republic to initiate a war. Underestimating their strength, the Emperor failed to maintain control over them. They soon broke free of his influence, choosing instead to conquer the Republic for their own purposes and assuming the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. During the Jedi Civil War, approximately 3959–3956 BBY, he used the Trayus Academy, situated on the planet's surface, as one of several clandestine Sith bases dedicated to converting captured Jedi Knights. Throughout the war, Jedi were captured by his Sith Assassins and other specially trained forces, and brought to the Academy. The location's inherent corruptive influence weakened their resolve, allowing Revan and his loyal followers to easily sway them to the dark side. In these places, he transformed numerous Jedi into devoted Dark Jedi and Sith Assassins for his Sith Empire.

Years after the war concluded, Revan's former Master, Kreia, journeyed to Malachor V in search of the source of her apprentice's corruption. Like Revan, she succumbed to the dark side energy that permeated the planet. Secretly adopting the name Darth Traya, she began training new dark side students at the Trayus Academy, which had survived the Mass Shadow Generator's destruction. Darth Sion and Darth Nihilus were among her initial students, and they quickly grew powerful enough to overthrow her. The three Sith Lords formed a tenuous alliance against the Jedi, but the two apprentices eventually dissolved the alliance, resulting in Darth Traya's downfall, the loss of her power, and her exile from Malachor.

In 3951 BBY, Kreia located Meetra Surik, the only Jedi who had fought at Malachor V and not been killed or corrupted. Seeking revenge on her apprentices, Kreia orchestrated events to bring about a final confrontation between herself and Surik at the Trayus Academy. After killing Darth Nihilus, Surik arrived at the Academy and defeated the Sith present, including Darth Sion and Darth Traya, effectively silencing the echoes of the atrocity that had lingered within the Force.

While Surik battled in the Academy, Bao-Dur, the original designer of the Mass Shadow Generator, used his remote to reactivate the superweapon in an attempt to destroy the tainted world of Malachor V once and for all. Despite G0-T0's efforts to prevent it, the remote successfully completed its task. As Surik departed Malachor aboard the Ebon Hawk, the lifeless planet collapsed under the pressure of the mass shadow's gravity, leaving behind only asteroids and the wreckage of countless destroyed warships, a somber memorial to the Battle of Malachor V.

By 3640 BBY, surveys indicated that small pockets of biological life persisted within the remnants of Malachor V. The site also became a location for excavating remaining artifacts and treasures.

The planet's notorious reputation led to its name becoming a curse word, synonymous with "Hell." During the Clone Wars, Republic Colonel Meebur Gascon used it in anger.

Bevel Lemelisk of the Imperial Department of Military Research cited the planet, its infamous use of the Mass Shadow Generator, and its destruction as examples of ancient superweapons in the Imperial Handbook: A Commander's Guide, the official field manual for the Imperial Military. Upon discovering this reference to the weapon and Malachor V, Luke Skywalker considered investigating the planet for potential Jedi or Sith artifacts.

If the player chooses the dark side path in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Meetra Surik throws Darth Traya's body into the abyss and assumes the title of Dark Lord of the Sith, while the planet endures.