KMC Forums - Jedi Exile Meetra Surik: How powerful is she?

First off, the Jedi High Council members of this era are very strong:

quote:
"Regardless.... it had to be done. To have such powerful Jedi still live, still be felt in the Force even on dead worlds as they had chosen, was a threat that had to be ended."
- Darth Traya, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Some are even capable of contending with the great Sith Lords of the Star Wars mythos:

quote:
While he certainly won't outfight Lord Vader or Darth Bane, Draay is capable of putting up a good fight.
- Knights of the Old Republic Roleplaying Game Preview 2

Master Draay is among the most skilled Jedi High Council members:

quote:
If you prove yourself to be among the most skilled and wise Jedi, then you may be given the highest honour — a seat on the Jedi High Council.
- Mysteries of the Jedi

Jedi High Council members Kavar, Vrook Lamar, Lonna Vash and Zez-Kai Ell together are strong enough to strip the Exile of the Force:

quote:
"It is a punishment reserved for only a few - and only when necessary, but we have the power to cut you off from the Force, and it must be done."
- Master Vrook Lamar, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

NOTE: They are however stopped, dominated and drained of power by Darth Traya:

(please log in to view the image)
(please log in to view the image)

The Jedi Exile goes on to defeat the entire Sith Triumvirate:

quote:
"Revan was both Jedi Master and Sith Lord. His student, the Exile, defeated the Sith triumvirate. They were your greatest heroes."
- Lord Scourge, Star Wars: The Old Republic

This is in spite of the fact the entire Galactic Republic is feeding the Sith triumvirate's power:

quote:
Despair was palpable, and many planets offered only halfhearted and ragged defense against Sith attackers. Planets throughout the slice surrendered, and the Sith fed on the psychic misery of a shattered Republic.
- The Essential Atlas

This same energy weakens Jedi:

quote:
Due to her empathic sense, Aryn felt the dread in the air as a tangible thing, a pall that overhung the entire planet. It wore on her, weighed her down. The towers of duracrete and transparisteel seemed ready to fall in on her. She felt hunched, tensed in anticipation of a blow. The dread was omnipresent, an entire planet of billions of people projecting raw emotion into the air.

She could not wall them out. She did not want to wall them out. The Jedi had failed them. She deserved to feel what they felt.
- Decieved

The Triumvirate as a whole maintained a philosophy of a pyramid of power, as we see Sith Blademasters; equivalent to Jedi Battlemasters, actively have to earn their way to the top in duels against Force users:

quote:
Meanwhile, Sith survivors wage civil war, culling the weak and electing leadership by the lightsaber's blade.
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide

quote:
Traced to the Bladeborn, a Sith offshoot dedicated to sword mastery, these cortosis-faced weapons were given to “blademasters” who survived no less than 10 lightsaber-wielding warriors in combat.
- Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Prima Official Game Guide

quote:
The most elite of these assassins are the Bladeborn - Sith blademasters who sometimes use lightsabers but more often wield dreaded tremor swords. Secluded on Malachor V, the Sith Assassins become pivotal tools for the Sith Triumvirate.
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide

These Sith started out as Revanchists and were strong enough to survive the Sith Civil War after Malak's fall:

quote:
The Sith students of Darth Revan and Darth Malak are many of the same Jedi Crusaders that once fought for the Republic. Already proficient in the Jedi arts, these marauders acquire new nefarious talents studying at the feet of Headmaster Jorak Uln - one of Exar Kun's original Sith acolytes.

During the Dark Wars, surviving Sith students submit to the triumvirate.
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide

Meetra Surik is forced to fight through an entire legion of these elite Sith with sheer strength and power:

quote:
Trayus Academy is the home of those Jedi who have succumbed the to dark side taint of Malachor V. To reach the structure's core, where Darth Sion and Kreia await, you must face a legion of elite Sith single-handedly.
- Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Prima Official Game Guide

Darth Traya is the most senior and powerful of the Triumvirate right up to the betrayal of Sion and Nihilus:

quote:
Darth Traya was the most senior of the three, but when Sion and Nihilus united against her, she fled Malachor Five and took the name Kreia.
- Star Wars The Old Republic: Codex Entry: Galactic History 78: The Sith Triumvirate

Traya's capable of using powers in the way Darth Nihilus did:

quote:
The Force, she explains, fuels his hunger, and she will show him how to devour worlds. The Sith and the Force are meaningless to him, but the hunger must be appeased.

Darth Traya indeed teaches the newly christened Darth Nihilus to harness his life-draining gift to radical heights.
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide

She is defeated by the Jedi Exile in the midst of a massive dark side nexus:

quote:
The nexus of Trayus Academy, the core is a clawlike altar built over a colossal geyser of dark side energy. It is here that you face your ultimate battle and fulfill your destiny.
- Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords: Prima Official Game Guide

This is immense. The Jedi Exile goes from being overwhelmed by the combined might of the Jedi High Council members to defeating an entire legion of elite Sith, Darth Sion and then Darth Traya. The one who effortlessly stomped the Jedi High Council prior to draining their power. In the midst of an immeasurably powerful dark side nexus. Proving she is stronger:

quote:
"From the moment you awoke, I have used you. I have used you so that you might become strong, stronger than I."
- Darth Traya, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

The Exile has years of growth after this:

quote:
Meanwhile, the Exile trained new Jedi recruits, forming a council of her companions who achieved mastery and welcoming others who came out of hiding. After years of slow but steady growth, the reborn Jedi Order made a triumphant return to its long-abandoned temple on Coruscant. With the Jedi Order flourishing, the Exile left the known galaxy to follow her former commander Revan into darkness.
- Star Wars The Old Republic Codex Entry: Galactic History 83: The Republic Rebuilds

On Dromund Kaas she holds her own against Darth Nyriss:

quote:
She raised her free hand above her head and fired off another burst of lightning. Both Scourge and Meetra threw themselves clear of the deadly electrical bolt, but in doing so they gave Nyriss the early advantage.

Before they could recover, she leapt at them. She landed right between her two adversaries, her blade flashing back and forth in a series of slashes and cuts that immediately threw her two opponents on the defensive.

****

Nyriss seized on the opportunity to focus all her efforts on breaking through Meetra’s defenses. The Jedi was clearly overmatched; though she managed to hold her ground, she was forced down to one knee.

****

Dazed, he looked up just in time to see another bolt of violet lightning catch Meetra in the chest. Like Nyriss, she threw up a barrier to save herself from the worst of it, but she was still knocked from her feet.
- Star Wars The Old Republic: Revan

Essentially what happens is:

1.Meetra giving Nyriss the advantage early on by opting to dodge her lightning which forces Meetra to adopt a defensive style and thus Nyriss uses her physicality to force Surik down to her knee when she can't break through the Exile's Soresu.

2.Meetra absorbs the worst of Nyriss' lightning with an instinctive barrier but is knocked back.

3.I ommitted the Lord Scourge parts because all he actually contributes is nudging Nyriss' instinctive barrier enough that she moves slightly. Otherwise he gets one-shotted twice.

None of this accounts for the immense dark side power that Dromund Kaas and the Emperor himself provides here. Dromund Kaas alone, is strong enough to make six Sith sabers a tough fight for Grand Master Luke and FOTJ Jaina Solo.

By far the most impressive thing Meetra gets from SWTOR is this accolade:

quote:
"Revan, the Exile and I were all Jedi-trained. We all resisted the Emperor. What Sith have done so?"
- The Hero of Tython and Lord Scourge, Star Wars The Old Republic

The Hero postulates that the Jedi Exile resisted the Emperor's influence, which Lord Scourge agrees with. This is impressive because this is almost impossible but for only the strongest Force-users:

quote:
His corrupting influence is so complete that none can stand in his presence without succumbing to fear, anger and hatred. The Emperor can wither and ruin even the strongest Jedi's connection to the light side.
- Star Wars The Old Republic: Codex Entry: The Emperor's Fallen Jedi

quote:
These fragmented communiques showed the Emperor's Jedi pursuers descending into fear, madness, and evil when faced with his power.
- Star Wars The Old Republic Encyclopedia

quote:
"I will fly us to the Emperor’s temple, but you must face him alone. No one else can resist his direct influence."
- Lord Scourge, Star Wars The Old Republic

I find the Exile to be easily one of the most underrated Jedi in the mythos.

__________________

Within your furnace heart, you burn in your own flame. This is how it feels to be Anakin Skywalker.