Dar'Nala
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- "You betrayed every principle the Jedi Order pretends to stand for."
- ―Darth Baras
Dar'Nala was a Togruta female that served the Galactic Republic as a Jedi Master during the Great Galactic War against the resurgent Sith Empire. During the war, the Human Satele Shan served Dar'Nala as her Padawan until Shan reached Knighthood during the latter stages of the conflict. Dar'Nala and Shan continued to serve side-by-side, and were selected to represent the Jedi Order in a peace conference on Alderaan in 3653 BBY. The conference, which was arranged by the Sith, was in truth a method of distraction to pull Republic forces away from the Empire's true goal—the Republic's capital of Coruscant.
Following the Empire's crippling attack on Coruscant, the Republic and Jedi delegates on Alderaan were forced to accept the Imperial-authored peace agreement, the Treaty of Coruscant. Dar'Nala was heavily opposed to signing the document, but acquiesced on the suggestion of Jedi Grand Master Zym and Republic Senator Paran Am-Ris. In the aftermath of the conference, Dar'Nala secretly began to conspire with other individuals within the Republic to dismantle the tentative peace and reignite the war with the Sith Empire. To that end, the Togruta Jedi manipulated Republic and Sith forces to openly combat one another while fanning the flames of rivalry within Imperial ranks. She eventually faked her own death in order to operate in anonymity for a time, during which she orchestrated the assassination of Republic political figures and the continuation of conflicts that began during the Great War.
Dar'Nala's ultimate intention was to assassinate Darth Baras, the Sith Lord who drafted and presented the treaty on Alderaan. She conspired with Republic Lieutenant Harron Tavus, Jedi Knight Fortris Gall, and the Wookiee mercenary Dalborra to confront and kill Lord Baras in the Crystal Caves on Dantooine. Dar'Nala's battle with Baras was interrupted by Satele Shan, who had followed Tavus to the planet. In retribution for her former pupil's devotion to the mandates of the treaty, Dar'Nala attempted to kill Tavus, who she sensed Shan had feelings for. Gall, who had finally come to see the dark obsession with which she pursued her goals, prevented the Togruta from committing the murder while Dalborra killed her.
Biography[edit | edit source]
The Great Galactic War[edit | edit source]
Dar'Nala was a female Togruta alive during the millennium between the Old Sith Wars and New Sith Wars. At some point in her life, she was identified as Force-sensitive and taken into the Jedi Order. She eventually attained the rank of Jedi Master and took the Human female Satele Shan as her apprentice. Shan was the direct descendant of the legendary Jedi Knight Bastila Shan, and Dar'Nala believed she had gifts similar to that of her ancestor. Shan achieved the Knighthood during the Great Galactic War between the Galactic Republic and the revitalized Sith Empire, but the two continued to work closely throughout the remainder of the conflict.
Peace negotiations on Alderaan[edit | edit source]
- "By holding Coruscant hostage, we ensure you Jedi don't paralyze the process with deliberations. You will agree to our terms."
"You're insane Sith! We will agree to nothing!" - ―Lord Baras and Dar'Nala
The Great War dragged on for almost thirty years and devastated the Republic. With a crippled economy and a gradually shrinking territory, the Galactic Senate was desperate for a reprieve, which the Sith offered in the form of peace deliberations on the Core World of Alderaan. The Senate accepted the offer and Dar'Nala, Shan, Aryn Leneer, and Syo Bakarn were selected to represent the Jedi Order during the talks. The Jedi were to accompany the Republic's delegation, led by Cerean Senator Paran Am-Ris, to the planet in order to convey the Order's concerns over a possible truce with the Empire. Unknown to Shan, the other Jedi, and Am-Ris, Dar'Nala had begun plans to derail any sort of peace resolution that the meeting may yield, as she had developed a deep-seeded hatred of the Sith over the course of the war.
After the Republic delegation arrived on Alderaan, Dar'Nala and Shan met in the conference room where the deliberations were to take place. The Jedi Master could sense the unrest within her former Padawan and reminded Shan that in order to become a Master, she would need to relax her mind and learn patience. Shan agreed, but confided in her Master that she simply couldn't ignore her sense that the Jedi Council was unaware of some ulterior motive that had pushed the Sith to propose peace. As they talked, the Sith Lord Darth Baras and his Imperial delegation arrived and the two parties began their deliberations. The talks were interrupted shortly after by an urgent holotransmission for Senator Am-Ris from the Republic's capital of Coruscant. The transmission was from the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, who frantically told Am-Ris to break off the talks, as the Sith had invaded Coruscant and were laying waste to the planet. Dar'Nala and the rest of the Republic delegation watched in horror as Supreme Chancellor Berooken was killed by Darth Angral, the Sith Lord leading the assault.
Shan immediately attacked Baras in demand of answers for the attack on Coruscant. The Sith Lord explained that by holding the Republic's capital hostage, the negotiations on Alderaan could proceed as the Empire wished: without the Jedi stalling the process with deliberations. Dar'Nala claimed that the Republic delegation would never accept the Empire's demands, but was calmed by Senator Am-Ris. Dar'Nala called off Shan and the Republic delegation retreated to discuss the turn of events. As they were unable to establish contact with any authority on Coruscant, Dar'Nala and Am-Ris instead met with Jedi Grand Master Zym later that night via hologram. Zym, who was off the capital at the time, agreed with Senator Am-Ris that without any word from Coruscant, they could not be certain of the damage the Sith had inflicted nor the extent of control they had exerted over the world. It was decided that the Republic delegation would agree to the demands of the Sith Empire and that Master Dar'Nala would request that Satele Shan apologize to Lord Baras for her violent outburst earlier that day.
The two parties later returned to negotiations, where Lord Baras presented Senator Am-Ris with the Treaty of Coruscant—an edict for peace between the Republic and Empire that was heavily biased towards the Sith. With no other choice, the Republic delegation signed the treaty, ending the war and effectively naming the Sith as the clear victors.
Working against the Treaty[edit | edit source]
Moving the pieces and feigning death[edit | edit source]
- "There's no reasonable explanation for this Satele, Master Zym is sending us to the Outer Rim just to keep us out of the way."
"And you say I need to learn patience?"
"That was before anyone agreed to this preposterous peace treaty." - ―Dar'Nala and Satele Shan
As control of Coruscant was handed back to the Republic, the Senate and Jedi Order went about the business of ensuring that their government was in full compliance with the terms of the treaty. Meanwhile, Dar'Nala put into motion a plan to dismantle the fragile peace established by the treaty, establishing a network of individuals within the Republic Military and Jedi Order who still wished to see the Republic combat the domination of the Sith. As she made these preparations, she and Shan were assigned by Master Zym to tour the Outer Rim Territories aboard the Republic transport ship Envoy and monitor the withdrawal of Republic troops from the front lines of conflict. The two Jedi were accompanied on their mission by the protocol droid SP-99, who had been designed and programmed by the Sith Empire to monitor the activities of Republic agents and ensure their adherence to the bylaws of the Treaty of Coruscant.
Before making its hyperspace jump to the Outer Rim, they Envoy toured the Kuat sector in the Core Worlds. During the tour, Dar'Nala met with Shan in the young Jedi's quarters aboard the vessel to discuss recent events. Dar'Nala was infuriated by their mission and believed it was Master Zym's attempt to keep the two of them away from the business of managing the response to the treaty. Shan, who was much more at ease with the situation, attempted to calm her Master, but was interrupted when Dar'Nala sensed a presence outside the quarters. The Jedi Master ignited her lightsaber and lunged out the door, only to find SP-99, who had been listening in on their conversation. Both the droid and Shan reminded her that it was simply his programming to monitor them, but Dar'Nala was angered nonetheless. She elected not to destroy the droid, as it would be a blatant violation of the terms of the treaty, but instead left Shan until the two of them could find a more private moment to talk.
Dar'Nala spent the rest of the journey on the transport's bridge. While still traveling through the Kuat sector, the Envoy encountered an Imperial battlecruiser under the command of Captain Sivill of the Imperial Navy. Hoping to frame it as an act of Imperial aggression against the Republic, Dar'Nala ordered the Envoy to fire on the cruiser. Sivill responded by exchanging fire and leading a boarding team onto the Republic transport. Dar'Nala met the team on the Envoy's bridge and feigned resistance to capture by Captain Sivill. In reality, the Jedi Master planned to be taken hostage so she could gain access to the Sith cruiser and to give Shan an opportunity to escape and tell the Republic about the Empire's "attack." After Dar'Nala was trapped within an electrified net, Shan entered the bridge, but quickly fled on her Master's command to inform the Jedi Council of the Sith's violation of the Treaty.
While Shan and SP-99 fled the battle aboard one of the Envoy's escape pods, Dar'Nala was taken back to Sivill's cruiser, where she was interred within a force cage in the ship's detention center. While imprisoned within the cage, she was repeatedly interrogated and tortured by Captain Sivill, who demanded to know why she broke the treaty and ordered the attack on his ship. Dar'Nala, intending to sow discord amongst the Sith, adamantly refused to admit to ordering the attack, and instead insinuated that Sivill's superiors had ordered him to initiate the conflict, and that he was only torturing her out of his own sadistic desire to see the Jedi Master in pain. Sivill was unswayed by her suggestions, and responded by subjecting Dar'Nala to extensive electrocutions via the Force Cage's torture field.
Sivill left the detention center after torturing Dar'Nala. With the captain gone, the Jedi Master was approached by Braden, a bounty hunter and fellow prisoner aboard the cruiser. From his cell, Braden commented that he had never seen anyone survive so many jolts of electricity, and asked why Dar'Nala didn't just give in to Sivill's demands. The Togruta claimed that it was because she knew the truth behind the attack, but Braden rebutted that the truth would do her little good if Sivill were to kill her. In response, Dar'Nala used the Force to deactivate the force field keeping the bounty hunter in his cell and recruited him to act as her messenger. Braden inquired as to why she simply didn't free herself, but Dar'Nala assured him that it was because she was too weak after the torture, and she would never be able to make it off the ship alive. The bounty hunter accepted her explanation and agreed to deliver her message to Shan and Master Zym. The message was Dar'Nala's fabricated account of how she was able to search Sivill's thoughts and discern that Lord Baras had ordered the Sith attack on the Envoy.
Braden departed to dutifully carry out his mission, leaving Dar'Nala behind to face Sivill's wrath. The captain determined that Dar'Nala had been instrumental in Braden's flight from the cruiser, and so summoned the Wookiee Dalborra to the detention center. Sivill explained to Dar'Nala that the penalty for aiding a prisoner of the Empire in escaping from captivity was death, and intended to allow Dalborra to carry out the Jedi's execution, as the Braden had been the Wookiee's quarry. Although Dar'Nala attempted to reason with Dalborra and convince him not to kill her, the Wookiee acted on Sivill's orders and activated the electric field in Dar'Nala's cage. The field sent powerful electric jolts into Dar'Nala's body, apparently killing her.
Subterfuge in the Republic[edit | edit source]
- "Dar'Nala? Satele's master? We thought you were dead!",
"Rumors of my death will be dispelled in time. For now, anonymity allows me to work on saving the Republic from this terrible Treaty ..." - ―Harron Tavus and Dar'Nala
Dar'Nala had in fact feigned her death, and at some point escaped Sivill's ship. Despite being an eyewitness to the botched execution, Sivill was convinced that Dar'Nala had died, and sent a transmission to his colleagues to report the Jedi Master's death. The transmission was intercepted by Republic forces, and reported to Master Zym, who in turn informed Satele Shan of her master's supposed execution. While the galaxy at large believed her to be dead, Dar'Nala continued to pursue her goals. She was joined in her mission by Jedi Knight Fortris Gall, who had served on Balmorra during the Great Galactic War. In accordance with Dar'Nala's plan, Gall continued to instigate violence between the Republic and Empire on Balmorra despite the treaty. The Togruta Jedi also used her Force powers to control the mind of Dalborra, the Wookiee who had supposedly executed her.
Her first mission was to silence Sivill, whose death would also serve to fan the flame of contention among the Sith. Dar'Nala arranged for a bomb to be placed on his shuttle, which would detonate after he boarded it on the Sith holy world of Korriban. The assassination was a success, and pushed the militaristic Darth Angral to claim that it was evidence that the Republic was already reneging on the treaty. Angral's claims meanwhile led Baras to believe that it was his fellow Sith Lord who had orchestrated the bombing, in order to give credence to his anti-treaty position. As the Sith descended into infighting, Dar'Nala moved forward to execute an assassination within the Republic. The rogue Jedi dispatched Dalborra to Coruscant, where the Wookiee committed an act of terrorism: he blew up a large portion of the Senate Tower, in the process killing a number of senators who had advocated loyalty to the treaty despite continued Imperial aggressions.
Dar'Nala was convinced that these senators were Sith-Imperial infiltrators, working within the Republic to weaken the government so that the Empire might easily dominate it. The Senate Tower bombing was a success, especially since it occurred in conjunction with an independent assassination of Republic Military Commander Gin Lesl and Grand Master Zym. Both events were initially blamed on Imperial assassins, when the latter was in fact the result of Braden's attempt at relaying Dar'Nala's message to Zym.
The events on Coruscant reinforced doubts regarding the Empire's loyalty to the treaty, and encouraged some, like Republic Major Dael on Dantooine, to continue combating the Sith. In an attempt to defuse the situation on Dantooine, Senator Am-Ris dispatched Satele Shan, Fortris Gall, and Lieutenant Harron Tavus to convince Dael to stand down. Still acting under Dar'Nala's orders, Gall encouraged Dael to continue fighting—an opinion that was echoed by Tavus. Seeing that Tavus shared the views of Dar'Nala's coalition, Gall conferred with the Togruta, and the two agreed that the lieutenant should be brought into the plan. Dar'Nala, Gall, and Dalborra prepared to meet with Tavus while another of Dar'Nala's plans was carried out on Korriban—an attempted assassination of Lord Baras. The assassin this time was a Sith, leading Baras to believe that it was Angral's attempt at eliminating his rival.
Failure on Dantooine[edit | edit source]
- Dar'Nala: “Traitors! Fine! You break my heart, Satele... I break yours! You can't hide your feelings from me!”
- Shan: “No!”
- Gall: “Master Dar'Nala! Have you lost your mind?”
- ―Dar'Nala, Shan, and Gall, as Dar'Nala attempts to kill Lieutenant Tavus[src]
Dar'Nala, Gall, and Dalborra met with Lieutenant Tavus in the ruins of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, where they could be certain that Imperial spies and treaty-loyal Republic forces would not be listening. Tavus was surprised to see Dar'Nala, as he was under the impression that she had been killed by Captain Sivill, but the Jedi Master reassured the lieutenant that the rumors of her death were merely tools to further her plans. Although Tavus initially took Dar'Nala's goals and the size of her following as treason, she was able to calm him by explaining her position and her concerns about the Sith motives behind the treaty. Ultimately, she and Gall were able to convince Tavus to join their cause, and together with Dalborra, the three of them moved to enact the final stage of Dar'Nala's plan—the assassination of Lord Baras. With the Sith Lord out of the way, the anti-treaty coalition could blame him for the violence and assassinations while reigniting the war between the Republic and Empire.
Meanwhile, Darth Baras, who had survived his previous assassination attempt, confronted Darth Angral, and together the two of them came to the conclusion that Dar'Nala was indeed alive and instigating the violence. Although neither of them trusted the other, they agreed to travel to Dantooine together to confront and kill the Jedi. Dar'Nala learned of this, and together with her small band of co-conspirators, traveled to the ancient Crystal Caves of Dantooine to confront the Sith Lords. Within the caves, she, Tavus, Dalborra, and Gall discovered Baras and Angral and a small contingent of Sith troopers. The two forces engaged one another, with Dar'Nala dueling Baras while Tavus battled Angral and Gall and Dalborra combated the troopers. The melee was briefly interrupted by the arrival of Satele Shan, who had followed Tavus into the caves. As Dar'Nala threw Baras into the cavern wall with the Force, she explained to her former Apprentice what her goal was, and implored her to join in the battle.
Together, the former Master and Apprentice dueled Baras while the Sith Lord attempted to back away from the onslaught. During the fighting, he was able to separate from Shan, but Dar'Nala continued to press the attack. Baras explained to the both of them that the battle revealed to true purpose of the treaty: to expose the hypocrisy of the Jedi Order. Dar'Nala was blown away from the Sith by a blast of Force lightning, and so ordered Shan to continue the attack, however the young Jedi refused, knowing that by continuing Dar'Nala's plans, she was proving the Sith right. Shan ordered Tavus, who had gained the upper hand over Angral, to let the Sith Lord live. Witnessing her plans crumble, Dar'Nala declared Tavus and Shan traitors, and moved to punish her former pupil for her disobedience. She could sense Shan's affection for the Tavus, and in a fit of rage, attempted to kill the lieutenant.
Tavus was saved from execution by Fortris Gall, who blocked Dar'Nala's attack with his own lightsaber. In retribution, the Jedi Master threw Gall to the ground and ordered Dalborra to kill him. Dalborra, who had managed to break free of Dar'Nala's control, delivered a mighty punch to her face, causing bleeding, serious physical damage, and ultimately death. As Shan inspected her Master's body, Dalborra fled the scene and Lord Angral attempted to re-initiate the battle. With their leader dead, Gall and Tavus followed Shan's lead and retreated from the caves, leaving Dar'Nala's body there.
Dar'Nala's goal of breaking down the treaty was never realized and the document held for future years. Shan's experience in defeating her Master and preserving the peace eventually led her to both a seat on the Jedi High Council and a place as the Grand Master of the Order.
Personality and traits[edit | edit source]
- "This is not treason, Lieutenant. Treason would be standing by while the Republic succumbs to Sith deception yet again..."
- ―Dar'Nala to Harron Tavus
Despite attaining the rank of Jedi Master, Dar'Nala was unable to abide by the Jedi Code due to the hatred she had developed for the Sith over the course of the Great Galactic War. While the Code claims that there is no place for emotion and passion in the life of a Jedi, Dar'Nala embraced these two vices during her campaign against the treaty. Her anger with the submission of the Jedi High Council and the Galactic Senate drove her to commit crimes that ultimately pulled her to the dark side.
Dar'Nala was very close to her old apprentice, Satele Shan. When the Council told her to tell Shan to apologise to the Sith she could not bring herself to do so. She was a violent Jedi and, despite having calmed Satele, raised her lightsaber against the Sith in anger. Over the course of the war, Dar'Nala developed a deep-seated hatred for the Sith and mistrusted their intentions. It was this hatred, a violation of the Jedi Code, that led her close to the dark side and to go as far as assassinating members of the Galactic Senate, which she considered "traitors".
Powers and abilities[edit | edit source]
- "Dalborra was actually working for the Empire, but such minds are easily... redirected."
- ―Dar'Nala
Dar'Nala was able to dominate the mind of the Wookiee Dalborra. She was skilled in lightsaber combat as well.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- The Old Republic: Deceived
- Star Wars: The Old Republic, Threat of Peace (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Old Republic (Codex entry)
Sources[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
This page was moved from wook:en:Dar'Nala. It's edit history can be viewed at Dar'Nala/edithistory
