What Makes Revan’s Redemption Story Unique?

Redemption is at the thematic heart of Star Wars. Darth Vader’s heroic sacrifice in Return of the Jedi was as mythological as it was poignant. The trilogy’s villain participated in dismantling the evil empire he had helped to build to save his son from certain death. But there was a price to be paid; it cost him his life.

Thus, redemption is set apart from salvation: deliverance in some form is costly. With Anakin Skywalker’s redemption as the archetype, redemptive character arcs echo consistently throughout Star Wars storytelling. From Lando Calrissian to Kylo Ren, one such story has complex wrinkles worthy of detailed analysis: Revan. 

Revan’s Rise and Fall

Hailing from the beloved 2003 video game Knights of the Old Republic, Revan was introduced as a fallen Jedi who delivered the galaxy from the hands of Mandalorian conquerors but embraced the dark side of the Force along the way. Thus, Darth Revan then waged war against the very Republic he helped to save. A Jedi strike team was dispatched to take down the Sith Lord and was aided by the betrayal of his apprentice, Darth Malak. 

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That’s when things get murky. Breaking from the conventional story beats when Jedi take down a Sith Lord, Revan is neither imprisoned, outcast, or slain for his crimes against the Republic. Instead, the Jedi Council opts to mindwipe Revan and enlist him as a soldier in the Republic military. 

Over time, he rediscovers his Force capabilities and is haunted by Force dreams/memories that echo significant events from his past. After freeing the very Jedi who led the strike team that initially captured him, Bastila Shan, Revan eventually assembles a crew to put a stop to Darth Malak’s domination of the galaxy via the Star Forge, an ancient Rakatan weapons-manufacturing space station. 

The question that loomed large throughout it all: would the Jedi Council’s gamble work, or would history repeat itself with Revan rejecting the Jedi path, going dark yet once more?

Revan’s Companions

Fittingly, the team Revan assembled in this adventure features a motley crew of misfits facing turning points in their own lives: a Mandalorian divorced from his people in Canderous Ordo, a Cathar Jedi who turned against her own master in a fit of dark side rage in Juhani; and Jolee Bindo, a former Jedi who left the Order and lived in self-imposed exile in the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk — among several other lovable characters. In their own stories, each is on a quest to either reconcile with their past mistakes and choices or is on the precipice of major life changes that would transform themselves and the galaxy at large.

Turning Point: Rediscovering his Identity

Revan's true identity is unbeknownst to him throughout his quest to retrace his steps through Dantooine, Manaan, Kashyyyk, Korriban, and Tatooine. Eventually, in a reveal on par with “I am your father,” Bastila reveals the truth. Revan comes face-to-face with his true self. He must then choose to either take down Malak and reassume the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, or reject the dark side in a second chance of epic proportions.

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At this juncture, stories diverge. Due to the nature of the video game medium, with the player given the choice of following either the dark side or the light side of the Force, there is a certain amount of discrepancy inherent in the story itself. The officially “canonical” version of events, as recorded in the novel The Old Republic: Revan, by Revan’s creator Drew Karpyshyn, continues his story from the light-side version of what went down on the Star Forge. Thus, Revan redeemed himself from his checkered past by saving the galaxy he had once begun to conquer from the Sith Lord who had been his former compatriot/apprentice. 

Analysis of Revan’s Redemption 

With all that backstory in view, Revan’s redemptive choice is a uniquely powerful testament to the Jedi ideology, second chances, and forgiveness. 

From a certain point of view, the Jedi Council took a massive risk in their decision to wipe Revan’s memories and redeploy him within Republic forces. On the other hand, it’s an ethically questionable choice to hide his identity from him and manipulate him for their cause without his consent. 

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Either way, what he does when he realizes the truth is what defines him. 

Whereas the Jedi Council didn’t necessarily deserve his help, Revan chose to right his wrongs regardless. Even when he had been wielded as a game piece on the stage of galactic warfare, he chose the light. He chose his friends. He chose to end the terror he had once unleashed on the galaxy. 

Beyond that, Revan rescued Bastila from the dark side when she herself faced a turning point. Captured by Darth Malak, tortured, and turned to the dark side in a twist of events reminiscent of what the Jedi had once done to Revan, Bastila capitulated to Malak’s torturous and treacherous lies. Rather than slaying his previous captor, who had known of the Jedi Council's lies, Revan offered Bastila a redemptive choice to return to the fold.

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Redemption prevailed once again as the thematic heart of Knights of the Old Republic.

Other Notable Redemption Stories in Star Wars

Revan’s redemption stands in contrast to the other similar character arcs within the galaxy far, far away. There have certainly been many stories of our beloved characters attempting to make up for their past sins: Anakin Skywalker eliminates the Emperor to save his son. Kylo Ren/Ben Solo helped to save Rey after turning to the dark side and dominating the galaxy via the First Order, even after killing his father, Han Solo, to advance himself along the dark path.

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Speaking of Han Solo, he has his own redemption arc in turning back to save Luke from Darth Vader in the Death Star trenches after seemingly abandoning him to save his own skin. Han’s story is echoed and nuanced in the betrayal and redemption of Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. 

In the Expanded Universe, Mara Jade is one such character who turned from her checkered past as the Emperor’s Hand to eventually become a Jedi Master in the New Jedi Order, finding light and love in Luke Skywalker, the man she once hunted at Palpatine’s command.

Random House Worlds

Revan’s second chance is perhaps paralleled most closely within Star Wars Legends storytelling by that of Ulic Qel Droma in Tales of the Jedi: Redemption. The fallen Jedi-turned-Sith-Lord is eventually vanquished by Nomi Sunrider, stripped of his Force connection, and exiled from the galactic stage. He eventually trains Nomi’s daughter, Vima, and sacrifices himself to save the daughter of the one who irrevocably changed his life.

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And yet Revan’s story arc is both more complex and, in some ways, more relatable than all of the above. It's certainly more complicated, from the Mandalorian Wars to the Star Forge to the mind wipe to the video game choice system and all the uncertainty accompanying his story. Did he truly save the galaxy for altruistic reasons or simply out of a desire for revenge against Malak for his betrayal? It’s not entirely clear, and that makes his story compelling.

But in other ways, Revan’s story is more relatable on the human level. All can relate to the impossible choice to forgive others when they have done you wrong, even when they aren’t repentant for their atrocities. The choice to forgive and take personal responsibility for righting one’s wrongs to the extent that it’s possible is a powerful, meaningful stamp to leave on Star Wars storytelling — and one that endures beyond the galaxy far, far away.

More to the story. . .

Beyond the aforementioned novel, Revan’s story continues in the Shadow of Revan expansion to the Star Wars: The Old Republic massively multiplayer online role-playing game. It’s a complicated story that’s beyond the scope of this particular article, but it is certainly worth exploring if you want the final chapter to everyone’s favorite Jedi-turned-Mandalorian-slayer-turned-Jedi-rebel-turned-Sith-Lord-turned-brainswashed-Republic-solder-turned-Jedi-again. Does it ruin or add yet another layer to his complex redemption arc? We’ll leave that one up to you to decide.

After all, what’s Revan’s story if not one of ethical ambiguity?