Who Was Kreia

## Introduction

   "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic The Sith Lords" is the sequel to the previous game, "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic". This game tells the story of "the Exile", once a Jedi Knight in the Mandalorian wars, but left the order and Revan when the Jedi Civil War shortly began. After the Jedi Civil War, the Republic is barely surviving and the Jedi Council is no more, leaving the galaxy in a very dark and scary place. Unofficially, the Sith have ruled the galaxy and have claimed to destroy all but one Jedi: the Exile. The Exile must confront the Sith, Jedi, and other galactic threats while deciding to take the dark or light sided path. Along the way, the Exile will meet companions will aid the Exile on his/her mission. All of the Exile's companions have different viewpoints of the galaxy, and both the Sith and Jedi based on what happened in the two wars and/or before that. However, one of the most intriguing and mysterious companions you come across is a woman who only calls herself Kreia.

The three most intriguing factors to Kreia's character are her past, her philosophy, and her current purpose in the game. Kreia is a Force user, like the Exile, but you do not know her intentions are other than to protect you at the beginning of the game. She becomes your first companion and throughout the story, you discover she has more ties with the rest of the galaxy than she first appeared. Kreia is not a typical force user either, for she never claims which side she is on whether it is the light side or dark side, and she does not value the teachings of the Jedi, but she is also enemies with the Sith. As the story progress, she teaches you certain aspects on life that do not lean toward the light nor the dark side (you are free to reject these teachings too if that is what you desired). To understand Kreia's intentions, there must be more discussion to her past, what her philosophy details, and her current purpose in the game.

## Kreia's Past

According to certain sources, Kreia was once a Jedi master named Arren Kae (Arron Ki) who kept the history of the Jedi Order. However, she believed the Jedi were lacking something because many Jedi were falling to the Dark side, despite their teachings to protect themselves. She sought to understand the Sith teachings to hopefully strengthen the Jedi Order, but she only distanced herself from the Jedi and would eventually fall to the Dark side herself. Also during her time, she taught many beginning students with difficult questions where a lightsaber and the Force would otherwise be useless. Eventually, she came across a particular student known as "Revan" who became a key factor to both the Mandalorian War and the Jedi Civil War. Because of her unorthodox teachings, Revan went to Kae for advice for why the Jedi are doing nothing at the beginning of the Mandalorian War which led to Revan and Kae's students to go against the Order and help the Republic fight in the Mandalorian War. Because of this event, the Jedi order denounced Kae and strip her from the Jedi Order which eventually led her to the Dark side and rename herself "Darth Traya".

Arren Kae, now Darth Traya (tray-a), resided on the planet Malachor V began to teach the ways of the Sith to those

who wish to learn. Two students, in particular, were Darth Sion and Darth Nihilus, both were people with gruesome appearances because of the Mandalorian War. As Traya's numbers grew, she began to plot to have revenge on the Jedi that exiled her. However, before that plan could come into fruition, both Nihilus and Sion betrayed Traya, separated her from the Force, brutally beaten, and once again exiled. Somehow, she survived the assault and escaped on the Ebon Hawk and found a Republic ship with the Exile on board. With her previous title stripped from her, she now goes by the identity as Kreia.

## Kreia's Philosophy

Kreia understood from that the teachings of both the Jedi and the Sith would ultimately destroy them from the inside. Instead, she uses her own methods on how to deal with certain situations.

1. At one point in the game, there is an unavoidable event where you forced to decide whether to give a refugee some money or threaten him to leave. Should you give the refugee the money, Kreia will ask why and will explain that being charitable for no good reason is not only wasteful but dangerous because now the refugee is a target to other people who are looking for money and they will not be as generous as you have been. However, if you threaten the refugee instead, Kreia will still ask why, but for a different reason. She will elaborate that the smallest acts of cruelty will spread like wildfire, and while that refugee is suffering, another will check on him only to be suffered by that same refugee. The point of this lesson was to know when to be charitable when it benefits you and stay your hand on becoming cruel unless there is an opportunity.
2. Another event is when you are surrounded by a group of mercenaries after leaving a cave and their leader has come to speak with you. The leader wants you to offer a deal with you and put past their differences in exchange for assistance. They want to invade the main building that governs Dantooine, but they need help to get in to prevent heavy losses. You can either refuse him directly and fight all of the current mercenaries surrounding you, or say you will aid them and they will let you go without a fight. Kreia would want you to say to agree with them because that way you would hold all the cards in whom you prefer to aid whether they are the villagers in the main building or the mercenaries. She did not care whom you sided with in the end, but she wanted you to have the advantage into how you want your story to play out rather than be guided into one direction only.
3. The next lesson involves inner strength. In about a few hours into the game, you would have to decide whom to aid in exchange for temporary transportation to find your stolen ship. On one side, you have the Ithorians who wish to help bring Telos (the planet you are trapped in) back to its former glory in a spiritual way. On the other, is Czerka, a business cooperation that wishes to aid the Republic and other clients who are not so trustworthy. Whoever you choose to help and within a few missions in, Kreia will ask why are they aiding them so much. You can answer however you like, but she will comment that if they are as great as they seem into saving the planet, then why would they need them at all? The Ithorians are not a species who can take care of themselves in a fight and it is proven when Czerka attempts to kill them by hiring mercenaries (this happens if you side with the Ithorians and not Czerka). The same thing will happen to the person running Czerka when the mercenaries turn on them should you side with Czerka. What Kreia is trying to say is you do not have the ability to defend yourself and be able to rely on yourself, then you should not leading other people, to begin with.

## Kreia's Goals

Kreia wanted to accomplish multiple goals in the game, but could not because she did not have the power to or she was stopped before complete them.

1. She wanted to re-form Force users into a new set of teachings that are from the Jedi or Sith because from her long lifespan, she had discovered that the teachings of both the Jedi and the Sith were so flawed that no matter how long they will last, they will only end up destroying themselves. In the Jedi, you brought to the Temple at a young age where you would not have any attachments with your origins and be taught to always control your emotions no matter where you go. However, having people to become emotionless robots is not healthy for anyone, especially to people who can bring the galaxies to their knees. The Sith are not much better. To the Sith, it is the strongest who lead and you must continue    gather Power to make yourself stronger than you were before. Because of this, there is a constant power grab within the Sith and there is so much infighting, they would only destroy themselves and become so corrupted by power they would not recognize themselves and the pleasure of power becomes an addiction they must fill or they would perish. Because of these reasons, Kreia wanted the next generation of Force users to have the emotions of a human and to not be corrupted by power unnecessarily.
2. She wanted to destroy the Force and prove that Force is just a tool to be used by someone's advantage and not a living being. Despite being a Force user herself, Kreia has developed a hatred for the Force itself. She did not want to believe that the Force has a will of its own because if it did, then the choices that anyone would make would be for nothing because the Force has already chosen their path from the beginning. If the Force was shaping everyone's destiny, then it would also be responsible for endless    death and destruction that it caused on the galaxy (like the Mandalorian and Jedi Civil War). She also detested how both the Jedi and the Sith thought the Force is what makes them strong and not the person themselves. Many of the Force users in this timeline has used so often that it would become a crutch to them. She asked a question to one of the Exile's companions to take the strongest Jedi known in the galaxy and separate him from the Force and what would you get? She was stating the point that the only the reason the Jedi and Sith were so powerful was only the Force, take it away and they would be as vulnerable as anyone else.

## Closing

Kreia (to me) was one of the most interesting characters in the Star Wars franchise, having seen the flaws of

both factions in the Force users, realizing how dependent they are with the Force, and attempt to destroy it for the better of the galaxy. Unlike most characters, she is never predictable. On one hand, she would be aiding your efforts while on the other she is completing her other agenda. She does not tell you everything, instead, she would give you small hints as to what is come, who she was, and what she intends to do. The fact she was able to stay neutral between light and dark and is not afraid to use either if it meant for her survival shows that she is a survivor and she intends to keep surviving until her work was done.

## References

Kreia's Past (Jedi) 7:30-11:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Kreia's Past (Sith) 11:30-12:50 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Kreia's Early Life https://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth\_Traya#Early\_life

Darth Traya https://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth\_Traya#Teaching\_on\_Malachor\_V

Traya's Fall 32:18-32:55 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Traya's betrayal clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISQg6yzWJ2s

Kindness/Cruelty 43:10-47:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Lesson in Inner Strength 39:40-43:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Jedi Children 24:30-26:20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Sith teachings 26:20-27:10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Kreia's hatred for the Force 1:26:00-1:35:42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Z0S0Z8lUTg

Kreia's Question clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDFsOfDAkTk