Great Leveler

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The Great Leveler, or simply the Leveler, was a powerful Nameless that had the ability to overwhelm Force-sensitives and nullify their connection to the Force. The creature possessed claws, moving on four legs. The being had been trapped within ice within the Shrine inside the caves of the planet Rystan, guarded by droid attendants and revered by the ancestors of Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro, who were unaware that the Leveler was not its true name. The Ro family revered the being but not as a god, instead viewing it as an agent of balance.

History

Hatching

The egg from which^[5] the Shrikarai^[7] known one day as the "Greater Leveler"^[4] would hatch was retrieved from^[5] the Shrikarai homeworld of Sophros^[7] in Wild Space by the smuggler and prospector Radicaz Dobbs^[5] by 382 BBY.^[1] Dobbs, who occasionally fenced Force artifacts, believed the egg was a large jewel. He was eventually approached by^[5] Elecia Zeveron,^[8] the leader of the Path of the Open Hand, a cult based on the planet Dalna which believed the Force needed to be "freed" from those who wielded its gifts. After seeing that Zeveron was unimpressed by the other wares he had to show, Dobbs revealed the egg, which impressed her.^[5] Mind tricked by the Mother,^[9] Dobbs agreed to assist the Path in retrieving other Force artifacts, while Zeveron kept the egg in her possession. Kor Plouth, a Force-sensitive member of the cult, was unsettled by the egg when she saw it, and told her girlfriend Yana Ro of her unease.^[5]

The egg was eventually hatched by Zeveron when two Jedi, Zallah Macri and her Padawan Kevmo Zink, burglarized the Path compound in search of the Rod of Seasons, an artifact stolen by the cult from Hynestia Prime.^[5] Starving because it was not on Sophros,^[7] the newly-hatched Leveler quickly overwhelmed and petrified Macri,^[5] consuming her Force energies.^[10] Zeveron was unharmed, but suffered temporary petrification effects as well as gaining grey streaks in her hair. Zink fled, but was eventually overwhelmed by the creature's energies and was petrified to death in the arms of Yana's cousin Marda, whom he had had a mutual attraction to.^[5]

The Leveler was hailed as a gift from the Force by the members of the cult. Yana discovered that the creature was attracted to the Rod of Seasons, but the Elders of the Path named her the Champion after believing the Leveler was drawn to the Evereni woman herself instead of the artifact. Having developed a grudge against Zeveron, who was responsible for Plouth's death, Yana hoped to use her new power in the sect against the leader.^[5]

Battles of Jedha and Dalna

Over a month later, the Mother took Yana and the Leveler to Jedha to free the Holy City from Force "abusers" like the Jedi,^[11] the Lonto and the Matukai. When The Herald addressed the Convocation of the Force, Yana went with him and eventually unleashed the Leveler using the Rod of Seasons^[12] as the Herald rallied a crowd outside the building into a riotous state. The presence of the Leveler drove Force users in the crowd to near-insanity, unleashing their powers against the citizens and causing the crowd to begin a riot. Using the chaos of the ensuing Battle of Jedha as cover, the Children of the Open Hand stole the Rod of Daybreak, which was combined with the Rod of Seasons to totally control the Leveler as the Rod of Power. The respected Jedi Master Leebon was among those killed by the Leveler during the battle.^[9]

Having secretly allied with the Herald to overthrow the Mother, Yana was able to reclaim the Rod of Daybreak and deliver it back to Dalna, where the Mother reforged the Rod of Power and wielded total power over the terrified Leveler. Meanwhile, a radicalized Marda took part in a mission to Planet X, in which the Path secured more Shrikarai eggs.^[9] With their real name hidden,^[7] the creatures became known as the Shrii-ka-rai, which translated to "Eaters of the Force," or simply "the Nameless."^[13] Marda then assumed total power over the Path, which she redubbed the Path of the Closed Fist, abandoning Yana and leaving both the Herald and the Mother to follow in Marda's wake. The newly collected Nameless were used in the Battle of Dalna. The Leveler became leader of the Nameless pack, who feasted upon Path Force-sensitives—even if they did not use their powers or had failed to realize they were Force-sensitive in the first place—and Jedi alike.^[9] In the end, however, the Battle of Dalna—remembered as the Night of Sorrow—ended in defeat for the Path.^[14]

For her part, Marda grew horrified by the actions of the Nameless, particularly their targeting of Path members without concern, and used the Rod of Power to assemble the Leveler and its pack in one cavern, allowing Yana to detonate explosives that opened up the area to a flood and wipe out the gathered creatures. The Leveler alone survived the Ro cousins' actions, making its way to the edge of the Path camp, where it was found by Marda. Retaining ownership of the Rod of Seasons, which was broken off from the Rod of Daybreak in the flood, she once more bound the Leveler to her will and resolved to begin a new scheme to free the Force, beginning by killing the Mother—whom she had learned was a Force user who manipulated the Path to her own ends—and fleeing with the creature aboard the Gaze Electric.^[9] Forming the original incarnation of the Nihil pirates,^[15] she kept care of the Leveler.^[16] It eventually became known as the "Great Leveler" but was, at some time, frozen in ice on the planet Rystan.^[4]

Retrieval

The Jedi Masters Yoda and Creighton Sun decided to cover up the existence of the Nameless after the Battle of Dalna for fear of the creatures being used against the Jedi. While they resolved to learn more, their actions^[14] left the Jedi unprepared for the threat the creatures still posed.^[4] Well over a century after the Night of Sorrow,^[17] Marda's descendant^[15] Marchion Ro visited Rystan with the Force-sensitive Talortai Udi Dis and was guided to the Shrine by his cousin, Kufa; by that point, the Leveler had not been visited for some time. As they approached the Shrine, Dis began to be overwhelmed by the Leveler. Ro, who had brought Dis as a test of the Leveler's power, killed both the Talortai and Kufa, retrieving the Leveler and containing the creature aboard his flagship, Gaze Electric at the Nihil marauder base on Grizal. Ro had previously acquired both halves of the rod which could be used to control it.^[4]

Aboard the Gaze Electric, the Chadra-Fan doctor Kisma Uttersond fabricated a heating rig for the ice block, as well as grafting a camera into the Leveler's back so that Ro could view the creature's movements. Some time afterward, during a Jedi attack on the Nihil's camp, Ro used two halves of an artifact to control the Leveler, freeing the creature, which leapt from the starship, having become insatiable due to its time in the ice. Though Ro soon used the artifact to call the Leveler back to the Gaze Electric, which escaped into hyperspace, it left the the Padawan Bell Zettifar overwhelmed and the Jedi Master Loden Greatstorm turned to stone.^[4]

Wishing to test whether the Leveler's effect on Grizal could be replicated, Nihil Tempest Runner Lourna Dee brought the Leveler to the planet Xais, where the Nihil had occupied a former gas refinery.^[18] On Xais, the Jedi Knights Keeve Trennis and Terec had attempted to infiltrate the Nihil's ranks, but had been exposed. Dee had Uttersond bring forward a box^[19] that contained the Leveler,^[18] opening it in the presence of the Jedi and subjecting them to its power.^[19] Trennis was overwhelmed by the Leveler, while Terec began to slowly turn to stone—as did their bond-twin, Ceret, elsewhere aboard the Jedi cruiser Ataraxia. Ceret guided the Ataraxia to Xais, where the Jedi clashed with the Nihil forces, prompting Dee to have Uttersond load the Leveler aboard her ship as she attempted to escape.^[18]

Slave of the Nihil

With the power of the Nameless proven through the Leveler's deployments, Ro sought out and collected more of the Nameless beings from a hidden planet,^[3] the Nameless homeworld.^[7] In possession of a large group of Nameless, Ro unleashed them upon the Starlight Beacon as the Nihil destroyed it.^[20] Upon being affected by one of the creatures as she entered the falling space station, Trennis believed the Great Leveler itself was part of the attacking force.^[21] Instead, however, the Leveler remained in Ro's possession^[22] while the attacking pack was lost in the destruction of Starlight Beacon.^[20]

Through its forced service to Ro, the Leveler became terrified of the man and only wished to return to its homeworld,^[22] Sophros.^[7] During its encounter with Grand Master Yoda, who had discovered showing empathy to the Nameless was the key to not being affected by their power, Yoda discovered the creature's terror and true desire. Thus, Yoda thanked the Leveler for showing him the truth and escaped, promising to tell others what he had learned. Ro, however, was enraged the creature had allowed Yoda—perhaps the most prized Jedi for him to execute—to escape.^[22]

Traits

The Leveler was blue in coloration. It had four legs, hoofed feet, disproportionately large black eyes, and tendrils around its nose.^[5]

Behind the scenes

The Great Leveler was introduced in the 2021 novel The High Republic: The Rising Storm, written by Cavan Scott as part of the Star Wars: The High Republic publishing initiative.^[4]

Appearances

Sources

Notes and references