Bastila Shan

General Information

Bastila is a Jedi Sentinel and one of the playable Allies in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. She has considerable power since she is able to perform Battle meditation, a Jedi technique that causes an increase in the morale of her allies while decreasing the willpower of her opponents.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

During the Jedi Civil war, Bastila was part of a strike team sent by the Jedi Council to capture Darth Revan, who was currently the leader of the Sith. They surrounded him and were about to capture him when Darth Malak betrayed Revan and fired at his master's ship, so grievously injuring Revan that his mind suffered very heavy damage.

Knowing the importance of capturing Darth Revan alive, Bastila tried to save whatever was left of Revan and his mind but she was only partly successful as he remained alive but had lost all memories. By saving his life, Bastila had formed a strong bond with Revan which is explained in the game as a force bond. The Jedi Council decided to give Revan a new identity of a loyal republic solider and keep him close, in order that they could learn details of the Sith invasion should some of his memories slowly return.

Due to Bastila's ability to perform battle meditation she was a very valuable and a key component of the Jedi Council defense against the Sith invasion. Darth Malak, who had become the Dark Lord of the Sith upon seemingly killing Revan, feared her power and sought to capture her and tempt her to the dark side. Thus, Malak ambushes Bastila ship, the Endar Spire, while it was passing near Taris in the hopes of capturing her. Revan is also present on the ship although he has no memory of his past life. The Jedi Council had wanted to keep Revan close to Bastila so she could keep an eye on him. They both escape, although in separate escape pods to the nearby planet Taris along with Carth Onasi, a veteran captain of the republic.

She crash lands on Taris and while unconscious is captured by the Black Vulkar swoop gang. They put her up as a prize for the local swoop race which Revan wins with the help of one of the gangs, either the Black Vulkars or the Hidden Beks, their rivals, depending on whom the player sides with. If you side with the Hidden Beks and win, the leader of the Black Vulkar gang Brejik is embarrassed and refuses to give her up as a prize.

If you side with the Black Vulkars, Brejik is pleased but says that he has learned the Bastila is a far too valuable to be given as a prize since she is not only a republic soldier but a Jedi. Either way Bastila frees herself after regaining consciousness. In the following skirmish the black Vulkar gang is defeated. Needing a way to get off Taris, since it was being searched high and low by Darth Malak, Revan, Carth and Bastila enlisted the help of a young Twi'lek, Mission Vao; her wookie friend, Zaalbar; a mandalorian mercenary, Canderous Ordo and a droid, T3-M4. With their help they are able to get the passcode to evade the auto-targeting systems of the Sith blockade and steal the ship of a local crime lord, Davik Kang's, the Ebon Hawk, which was fast enough to allow them to outrun the Sith fighters. Right before they are about to leave, a frustrated Darth Malak ordered the destruction of Taris since he would rather be sure the Bastila did not escape than fail to capture her. She escapes from Taris on the Ebon Hawk just as Sith fleet in orbit is destroying the planet.

It is from here that they go to Dantooine where the Jedi Council are residing. Revan is examined and determined to be strong in the force and is worthy to begin training as a Jedi. After Revan passes his test to become a Jedi Padawan, he and Bastila are sent to examine a set of ruins in Dantooine which Darth Revan and Darth Malak had examined five years ago. They hoped that by looking there they may find some clues as to Darth Malak's current whereabouts and intentions. On examining this site they find a partial star map which gives them locations of four other planets that contained the rest of the star maps: Manaan, Korriban, Tatooine and Kashyyyk. Combining the five star maps would lead to the location of the Star Forge, a huge factory Malak was using to create his massive armada.

The player is given a choice in what order they want to travel to the planets but after they have traveled to three of the four worlds they are captured by the Sith and taken to their flagship Leviathan,where Carth's former commander Saul Karath is the one leaders. They were imprisoned and tortured but were able to escape and make their way to the Ebon Hawk. But right before they reach the hanger they were attacked by Darth Malak who just arrived on the Leviathan.

Here Malak informs Revan of his past as a Sith Lord and how the Jedi Council had been hiding this from him. Bastila engages Darth Malak in the hopes of distracting him while the others made their escape. The rest of the party along with Revan are able to make their escape from the Leviathan, although they are uncertain about what fate has befallen Bastila, be it her death or capture. Darth Malak in reality wanted to use Bastila's battle meditation and so kept her alive and tried again to turn her to the dark side.

After the player has recovered all the star maps by visiting all four planets, they get the coordinates to the star forge. Revan and his crew make their way there and inform the republic of the star forge's location so that they can launch an attack on Malak's base of operations. But while they were making their way there, their ship was jammed and they lost control and crash-landed on an unknown planet. They learn that the jamming signal was in fact originating from this planet.

Bastila represents in the game the theme that Jedi pride and inflexibility can destroy the light for which they claim to work. Bastila's great secret dream that she later admits is that the quest with Revan will serve as an audition for the Jedi Council, a sort of test to see if she is ready to be a master. The rest of her group are treated like subordinates who should not question Jedi decisions. It is also arguably that attitude from the Jedi Council that helped push Revan and Malak to the dark side in the face of the invading mandalorians. That same pride and self belief without the consideration of human weakness or pragmatic ability to take other methods helps Malak break Bastila with overwhelming force with which she cannot cope.

Once she has been converted to the Dark Side, Revan must duel her and has a chance of bringing her back the the light without killing her. If the player chooses the dark side path, Bastila becomes Revan's subordinate while they tackle Malak and his armada. They end up defeating him, taking over the Star Forge, and thereby destroying the Republic armada in the process. Revan becomes the new (old) Dark Lord, and Bastila his new dark apprentice. They end up taking over a large part of the whole Sith force, and the game ends with them having a speech about the return of the Dark Lord Revan before a Sith army.

After The Events Of Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

It is revealed in Drew Karpyshyn's novel Star Wars: The Old Republic - Revan, that Bastila and Revan eventually marry, with Bastila coming to carry Revan's child.

Trivia

• She is voiced by Jennifer Hale.
• Early on in development, Bastila was the name given to the Cathar Jedi that the player meets on Dantooine, while Bastila, the character, was to be named Vima Sunrider, daughter of Nomi Sunrider (a character from the Tales of Jedi comic). This idea was dropped possibly due to legal issues, and the Cathar Jedi was named Juhani instead, and Vima obviously became Bastila.