Visas Marr

In the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II The Sith Lords, we come across a myriad of unique characters who have been touched by the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War. For some context, the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders launch a campaign to test themselves in combat as determined by their creed. This sparks the attention of the Republic, who is too weak to defend properly against the invasion and so seeks out the Jedi Order to assist them. The Jedi Order is hesitant to go to war being the detached “keepers of the peace” they are. Despite this, a Jedi only know as Revan defies the council along with his friends Alek (later changed to Malak) and Meetra Surik (the Jedi Exile as she is known in game) head off to face the Mandalorians. After many battles and casualties, the last battle above Malachor V would prove to be the “wound in the force” that is often referred to in game. The activation of the Mass Shadow Generator brought so much death both from the Jedi/Republic and Mandalorian forces that it leaves a hole, a wound inside of not only the galaxy, but in the force itself. This event is so massive that every force user felt it across all of known space. This leaves the Jedi Exile to unconsciously cut her own connection to the Force in order to survive. It is after she returns to the Jedi Council, she is exiled for defying the Order and following Revan to war. It is said, war changes people and that can be said for Revan and Malak as during the Mandalorian Wars, they grew to defy weakness and become detached from the casualties accrued. They would later return as the Sith Empire and wage the Jedi Civil War (called so because to the non-force users there is not much difference between Jedi and Sith). Revan would be captured by the Jedi after being betrayed by Malak and have his memories of being Darth Revan surpressed. Eventually, Revan would kill Malak in order to save the Republic (as one might say) and then would disappear into the Outer Rim. It is after these events transpire that a new Sith threat emerges and thus the Dark Wars begin which is where we begin in the game as the recalled Jedi Exile. It is learned that less than 100 hundred Jedi remain in the galaxy and that many have been assassinated or have gone into hiding from Sith assassins.

Some time later in the story, we “meet” Visas Marr who we learn is the apprentice of Darth Nihilus, a piece of the Sith Triumvirate that seeks to destroy the Jedi, the Republic, and the Force itself. After defeating her, she joins your party as it is her mission to lead you to her master. What is immediately noticeable is that she is blind and have a veil covering her eyes. If it isn’t obvious by now, her name is a derivative of Latin, Visus - Visas - Vision and Marr means impaired or marred. Hence Visas Marr = Marred/Impaired Vision. This theme of blindness fits her character as her race of people (Miraluka, which is combined derivative of Indonesian and Spanish Mira = Vision and Luka = Wound) as they are a blinded people who can see only through the Force. I find Visas to be one of the most deep characters (in a game with so many great characters and 2nd only to Kreia) as it is noted that she carries many scars from previous events and that her master has shown her a vision of the galaxy in which the Force exists only to feed his hunger. Given that her master completely consumed her homeworld, sparing only her through the Force, she seems to be an assassin much like those you’ve faced previously (depending on how many points towards either side you have) but we learn that, she isn’t actually dark sided even though she is considered a Sith. It is because she has been wounded through the Force, that is unable to see the galaxy for what it truly is. Throughout the game, she will pledge herself to you and her most common phrase is “My life is yours.” She says this both to as an apprentice and as your party member. She, much like many people in your party, are dead in someway but with Visas, it is much more literal. She has lost everything, only to be spared to serve Nihilus (yes derived from the word nihilism) all while her planet orbits in space but with no life to it and as such, she is essentially dead. Throughout your playthrough and depending on your alignment, Visas will give up her pledge to Nihilus and become a Jedi Sentinel. This is due to your actions influencing your companions and if you are persuasive enough, you can give Visas a much better vision of the galaxy quite literally. Lastly, before the encounter with Nihilus, she will say to him “Do not harm her, do not what you did to me, I beg you.” It is then after you kill him, that she removes the mask off of his face and realizes that there was nothing more than a mere man behind the mask and thus, her vision is “whole” once more.