After defeating Darth Malak and destroying the Star Forge, Revan returned to the Republic as a hero. His redemption became known throughout the galaxy, but within the Jedi Order, not everyone believed that destroying his former apprentice had erased everything Darth Revan had done.
The Legends novel The Old Republic: Revan reveals that some members of the Jedi Council still wanted him expelled from the Order. Their problem was not limited to his history as a Sith Lord. Revan had also returned with beliefs about love, emotion and the Force that directly challenged the Jedi teachings they expected him to follow.
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Revan’s Redemption Did Not Erase His Past
Before becoming Darth Revan, he had already defied the Jedi Council by joining the Mandalorian Wars. While the Council refused to intervene, Revan gathered other Jedi to fight alongside the Republic.
He eventually defeated Mandalore the Ultimate at Malachor V, but the battle ended with the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator. Republic troops, Mandalorians and Jedi were caught in the destruction. Revan then disappeared beyond known space with Malak before returning at the head of a new Sith Empire.
Revan and Malak launched another war against the Republic, turned captured Jedi to the dark side and brought the Jedi Order close to destruction. Malak eventually betrayed his master by ordering an attack on Revan’s flagship while Bastila Shan and a Jedi strike team were aboard.
The Jedi found Revan barely alive. They erased his damaged memories, gave him a new identity and used his connection with Bastila to help locate the Star Forge. Revan later learned the truth, defeated Malak and chose to remain on the light side.
But according to The Old Republic: Revan, some Jedi believed his return could not remove the “indelible corruption of the dark side.” To them, Darth Revan had not simply disappeared when his memories were taken away. They feared that the Sith Lord might still exist somewhere inside him.
Revan Returned With Teachings the Council Considered Dangerous
After the war, the Council offered to place Revan under another Jedi Master so he could be retrained in what they considered the proper ways of the Order.
Revan refused.
His experiences had changed his understanding of the Force. He no longer accepted the belief that Jedi had to suppress every powerful emotion or avoid all personal attachments. Revan believed emotions such as love and happiness could strengthen someone without automatically leading them to the dark side.
His relationship with Bastila was central to that belief. Bastila had fallen to the dark side after being captured and tortured by Malak, but Revan’s love for her helped persuade her to turn against him. Instead of destroying them, their emotional connection helped bring them both back to the light.
Revan approached the Council and offered to share what he had learned with the rest of the Jedi. The novel describes the Council’s response as “sheer hostility.” They rejected his offer, and a handful of Councilors wanted him banished from the Order completely.
His Marriage to Bastila Nearly Got Him Banished
Revan’s marriage to Bastila made the conflict even worse. Their relationship openly violated the Order’s restrictions on attachment, yet both of them remained famous heroes after the defeat of Malak.
Removing Revan from the Order would have created a serious problem for the Council. The Republic knew him as the redeemed Jedi who had destroyed the Star Forge and ended the Jedi Civil War. The public did not know the full story of how the Council had erased his identity and rebuilt him as someone they could use against Malak.
The Jedi benefited from the legend of Revan, even when some of its leaders no longer trusted the man behind it.
A compromise was eventually reached. Revan and Bastila were allowed to remain married and officially retain their standing as Jedi. In return, Revan agreed that he would not spread his new beliefs throughout the Order.
Bastila initially wanted to reject the arrangement, but Revan convinced her that continuing the conflict with the Council would accomplish nothing. They remained part of the Jedi Order, but only under the condition that Revan kept his teachings to himself.