House of Marek The House of Marek was a Human family known to contain at least three Force - sensitive members , beginning with Jedi Knight Kento Marek , and his wife , Mallie Marek . Both Kento and Mallie were trained as members of the Jedi Order prior to their self - imposed exile during the Clone Wars . Through the two Jedi , the family produced Galen Marek , one of the most powerful Force - wielders in galactic history . Unlike his parents , however , Galen served as an unofficial member of the Sith Order . Under the codename Starkiller , he served as the secret apprentice of the Sith Lord Darth Vader until his redemption and death in the year 2 BBY . As the last scion of the House of Marek , Galen ' s passing brought an end to the Marek bloodline . The most visible sign of the family ' s enduring legacy was its personal crest , which became the official emblem of the Alliance to Restore the Republic . The crest also served as the official symbol of the Alliance ' s successor states , including the Alliance of Free Planets and the Second Galactic Republic . The crest also symbolized the New Jedi Order . A variation of the crest was also used as the emblem of the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances . However , the family would live on in a sense through a variety of clones that were engineered within the Timira City Cloning Facility of the planet Kamino . Utilizing Galen Marek ' s corpse as a genetic template , Darth Vader painstakingly endeavored to create a more powerful version of his late disciple . Out of the numerous genetic failures , including a rogue clone who escaped from Kamino , a single perfect clone emerged and succeeded in accomplishing what all of his precursors had failed at — purging himself of the influence of Galen Marek ' s memories . History . The Secret Apprentice . The first known member of the family was Kento Marek , a member of the Jedi Order who fathered a son , Galen , with his wife , Mallie , also a Jedi . Kento met Mallie were both serving as Jedi officers in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars when they first met . Despite the Jedi Code ' s restrictions against attachments and emotional bonds , the two fell in love . After marrying in secret , the two discreetly left the Jedi Order to start a new life together . After exiling themselves and traveling from system to system , Kento and Mallie became fugitives — along with rest of their former Jedi comrades — once Order 66 had been issued . As the Galactic Empire executed a systematic extermination of the remaining Jedi , the Marek family sought to create a safe haven for themselves on Kashyyyk . Upon their arrival , they were welcomed by the native Wookiees who were sympathetic to the persecuted Jedi Order , thus allowing the Mareks to establish a more permanent home on the Wookiee homeworld . The House of Marek lived on Kashyyyk for roughly ten years . During their time on the Wookiee homeworld , Mallie became pregnant and gave birth to Galen Marek — a prodigy of the Force . Even at a very young age , Galen was abnormally strong in the Force , far more powerful than both of his parents . Not long after Galen ' s birth , Mallie was killed by Trandoshan slavers and mercenaries while protecting a group of Wookiees . At some point during the Great Jedi Purge , while Galen was still a young child , the Sith Lord Darth Vader personally oversaw an Imperial assault on Kashyyyk after learning of the Jedi presence on the planet . Kento made his last stand in front of his hut , but was ultimately slain in front of his son by the Dark Lord . Upon discovering Kento ' s son , Darth Vader was genuinely shocked that a child could possess an immensely powerful connection to the Force at such a young age , much like himself in the past . After a moment of hesitation , Vader took the boy into his custody and secretly trained him as a Sith apprentice , thus violating the Rule of Two . Galen , known only to a select few by the codename " Starkiller , " overcame one brutal trial after another in order to perfect his role as Vader ' s personal assassin . At the same time , his childhood memories became repressed and ultimately forgotten as he became increasingly immersed within the dark side of the Force . As Starkiller , the young " Sith " aspirant executed many assassination missions for his Master over the years , which eventually led to Jedi targets such as Rahm Kota , Kazdan Paratus and Shaak Ti . Nevertheless , his steadfast loyalty was eventually rewarded with Vader ' s treachery after Darth Sidious , publicly known as Emperor Palpatine , " discovered " Starkiller ' s existence . Upon learning that his " death " was faked in order to deceive the Emperor , Starkiller remained loyal to Vader while carrying out his greatest task — the formation of the Rebel Alliance . Even though the mission caused him to develop certain doubts about himself and his Master , Starkiller remained dedicated to his belief in the ultimate goal that he had long since been prepared for ; to become a true Sith Lord upon the Emperor ' s death . His faith in Vader was again misplaced when the Dark Lord betrayed him for a second time after Starkiller succeeded in bringing the Empire ' s most significant enemies together on Corellia . Enraged at yet another betrayal , Starkiller dropped his codename in favor of his birth name , Galen Marek , which he rediscovered from repressed memories during his last mission for Vader . Galen ' s eventual conversion to the Jedi way and the light side of the Force was made possible by certain factors — Vader ' s betrayals , his remembrance of certain moments in his forgotten life on Kashyyyk , and mostly his growing affection for Juno Eclipse . Galen ' s liberation from his role as Vader ' s secret apprentice would not last long . In an attempt to rescue the Alliance leaders from execution , he journeyed to the incomplete Death Star and confronted his former master . Darth Vader ultimately proved to be no match for his younger and more powerful disciple . Although he was initially tempted to kill Vader and take his place at Sidious ' s side , Galen chose to reject the darkness and fought the Emperor for the lives of his allies . In a selfless act of sacrifice , Galen Marek surrendered his own life to provide the Alliance leaders with enough time to escape from the Death Star , thus ending Kento Marek ' s bloodline with the death of the last scion of the Marek family . Marek ' s sacrifice not only ensured the survival of the Rebellion ' s founders , but also inspired other dissidents to take up arms against the seemingly invincible Galactic Empire . At the behest of Leia Organa , an Imperial senator from Alderaan , the Marek family crest was converted into the Alliance Starbird ; a symbol of hope for countless Rebels to rally around in their struggle against the Empire . Starkiller ' s clones . Despite the death of Galen Marek , his family ' s bloodline was ultimately preserved by his former Master ' s attempts to replicate a more powerful and loyal version of Starkiller . Deep within a cloning facility on the planet Kamino , Darth Vader initiated a clandestine operation dedicated to creating a perfect and stable clone of his fallen apprentice . Though the " accelerated cloning process " — an advanced but experimental version of the Kaminoan method of cloning — enabled Vader to engineer a clone to full maturity in a matter of weeks , the process was consistently undermined by setbacks such as physical deformities and psychological instability . As a result , the initial tests yielded poor results ; the first series of the Marek clones were deformed and insane . The project was further complicated by the inherent difficulties of cloning Force - sensitives . As the cloning process was gradually refined , new clones of Galen Marek were created with more stability than their precursors . But even these improved test subjects were destabilized as each clone succumbed to madness , brought on by the memory imprints of their progenitor . This form of flash training caused the clones to experience a sense of identity crisis , and thus they adopted certain characteristics of Marek ' s personality . While some clones were affected by memories of Marek ' s father , others were disturbed by recollections of the young boy whom Marek once was during his time on Kashyyyk . At least one clone was known to have been influenced by Marek ' s attachment to his droid PROXY . Overall , however , many of these clones ' training was personally overseen by Darth Vader , who judged them all to be failures . After a long line of failures , Darth Vader hoped to finally find success with Subject 1138 , a clone of Galen Marek who progressed far into his training enough to impress the Sith Lord . In order to discover if the clone was able to free himself from the influence of Marek ' s memories , Vader ordered him to destroy several training droids disguised as Rebel troopers . Unlike his template , the clone spared no feelings for the Rebel Alliance that Galen Marek helped to create . Yet even though he attacked them without hesitation , he could not bring himself to strike down a droid disguised as Juno Eclipse . As with the other failed subjects , this clone was incapable of rejecting all of the imprinted emotions of his progenitor . While he personally cared nothing for Marek ' s deceased parents or the Rebellion , he could not discard his genetically inherited feelings for Eclipse . When Vader declared him to be another failed subject like the rest who came before , the clone turned against his creator and fled from Kamino . Utterly fixated on the Human woman whom Marek fell in love with , the clone embarked on a single - minded journey to locate Eclipse . During his quest , he subsequently became known as " Starkiller " , the former codename of Galen Marek during his time as Vader ' s secret apprentice . The clone , however , refused to acknowledge his template ' s codename — and especially Marek ' s birth name — as his own . From the clone ' s point of view , the names " Starkiller " and " Galen Marek " belonged to a different man . Although Darth Vader made the recapture of the renegade clone a high priority , he continued to concentrate his efforts into creating a single perfect clone of Galen Marek ; a clone who was fit to stand at his side as a Sith apprentice . There were still other clones to choose from , including Subject 1157 . Despite the " hallucinations " he suffered and his rejection of the memory imprints , a cloning technician noted that Subject 1157 ' s development was very remarkable , especially in comparison to the failures who preceded him . At this time , however , Subject 1157 was still being developed within a cloning tank and had to be regularly sedated because of his increasingly volatile temperament . Unknown to Starkiller , another clone had been activated and tested through a variety of trials . Though he was originally confused and distracted by the memory imprints , including the ones of Juno Eclipse , the clone steadily strengthened his resolve as he continuously passed one test after another . As his success continued , the clone was made aware of his deceased progenitor ' s failings , as well as the failings of his cloned brethren who were unable to meet Darth Vader ' s expectations . Determined to not be just another disappointment in a long line of failed test subjects , the clone persevered in his trials in order to prove his worthiness . The lead cloning technician who oversaw his development was astonished by the clone ' s stability . The technician was pleased to discover that the clone compartmentalized his template ' s memories , which thus allowed him to separate the imprints from his own experiences . The clone , unaffected by the identity crisis that undermined his precursors , was able to progress farther than any of those who came before him . As Darth Vader became more impressed with his latest test subject , the Sith Lord eventually judged the clone to be worthy enough to see the proof of his origin . Vader brought the clone into a cold chamber , located in Timira City , that contained the preserved corpse of Galen Marek . The clone , freed from the influence of Marek ' s memories , was unaffected by the revelation of what he already knew to be true : he was a clone and the real Starkiller was dead . By this time , the clone had become his own individual , a person who deeply hated his former self for the weaknesses that made him unfit to be a Sith . By the time of the Assault on Kamino , Darth Vader regarded the clone — who had become utterly immersed within the dark side of the Force — as his " Dark Apprentice " ; the only perfect clone of the original Starkiller .