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Handmaiden

Knights of the Old Republic 2

 

The Handmaiden is a playable KotOR2 character who joins the player's party in the computer and video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. She is only available to join the player's party if the main character is male, though she appears in cutscenes on grey_delisleTelos regardless of the player's gender. (Female Exiles are eventually joined by Mical, "the Disciple," instead.) She was voiced by the beautiful actress Grey DeLisle, who also voiced Padme Amidala, Asajj Ventress and Shaak Ti in the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon, and even she played the red twi'lek girl called Alora in the Jedi Academy game. The Last Handmaiden, or just Handmaiden, was a half-Echani fighter who was the daughter of the Echani General Yusanis and Jedi Master Arren Kae, who both fought in the Mandalorian Wars. So before introducing Handmaiden it may be useful to get know the Echani race, it will help to understand Handmaiden herself.

The Echani had silver-white hair and silver eyes, and had better natural reflexes than other Humans. They held a long-standing rivalry with the Mandalorians, with whom they shared many similarities. They both respected the combat skill of their enemy. Important differences, though, are that the Echani focused on light weaponry and armor, relying more on agility rather than heavier weapons and brute force. Sources indicate that Echani females played a large role in their society.
The Echani were known to focus primarily on melee weapons. Echani were equipped with melee weapons, and personal energy shields but those felt out of general use soon, since the Echani eschewed the use of armor, preferring to fight in minimal clothing. Their fighting style focused more on agility and movement, and so anything that hampered their freedom of movement would be avoided.
Echani Generals were often seen by others as having a "special ability" to predict their opponents next move. This, however was simply a tactical skill arising from the many combat trainings.

Brianna Yusanis was the daughter of Echani politician and master combatant General Yusanis and Jedi Master Arren Kae and was born as a result of a forbidden relationship between the two. Both of Brianna's parents risked their status with their connection, since Yusanis was already married with five daughters and Kae breaking the Jedi rules against attachment. Despite Kae's attempts to keep the affair and Brianna's existence in secret, the Jedi Council eventually found out about the affair, and Kae was exiled from the Jedi Order as a punishment. She went on to join in the Mandalorian Wars, and Yusanis joined her, despite the responsibilities of caring for his other five daughters and Brianna. Yusanis and Kae became known as heroes of the conflict, but Kae eventually fell in battle, and Yusanis returned as a broken man, abandoning battle to serve as a Senator. He avoided speaking of Kae, leaving Brianna with no memories of her mother. Later, when Yusanis's old ally Revan turned on the Jedi and started the Jedi Civil War, he sought to destabilize the Echani, and assassinated an Echani senator. When Yusanis found evidence of the act, he foolishly challenged Darth Revan to a duel, but was ultimately slain by the Dark Lord, so this is how Revan got rid of TWO Echani senators instead of the planned one, but anyway, that was leaving Brianna an orphan.

Sometime after Yusanis's death, Brianna and her five half-sisters were entered the service of Jedi Master Atris, one of the few Masters who survived the Jedi Civil War. Atris hoped to revive the Jedi Order after most of the other Jedi were killed by the Sith, and established a secret academy on Telos IV. The sisters joined her in the academy and agreed to serve as her handmaidens, aiding Atris in gathering Jedi artifacts from around the galaxy. At one point during their service, Brianna and her half-sisters swore an oath to Atris that they would never study the teachings of the Jedi, nor receive any instruction from a Jedi, although only Brianna had any Force sensitivity due to her heritage. While Atris knew of Brianna's heritage, as well as her sensitivity, she never mentioned Brianna's potential, and Brianna remained ignorant of her innate abilities.

Brianna was told to be looked a bit different from the other handmaidens, taking the genetic characteristics of her Jedi mother, however I didn't noticed too much difference. Her father's infidelity had brought shame on himself, and after his death at the hands of Revan that shame was thrust upon her, as the Echani believed that betrayal and shame were passed down through bloodlines. Despite Brianna working hard to disprove this stigma that followed her all through her young life, her sisters still branded her the "Last of the Handmaidens," meaning she worth the least of them. They thought Brianna brought shame upon them. In terms of combat they thought she was the least among them, too. (But they will learn it later on...) Also, Brianna's stance had too much passion for them.

When Atris later learned that Peragus asteroid mines (Telos' main source of fuel) had been destroyed, and that the Telos Security Force was holding suspects, she sent Brianna to investigate. handmaiden_steals_ebonhawkBrianna snuck onto Citadel Station and stole the Ebon Hawk, as well as T3-M4 astromech droid, who was just working onboard, and brought the ship to the secret polar academy. Atris was unaware that the new owner of the ship was a former friend, the Jedi Exile, another hero of the Mandalorian Wars who was exiled for his defiance of the Jedi Council.

telos_polar_regionWhen the Exile Jedi, Kreia and Atton Rand, located the Ebon Hawk in the Telos Polar Region and entered the academy, handmaiden_makes_exile_surrenderBrianna, and her two sisters advanced on the trio and demanded their surrender. The Exile agreed so as to avoid a conflict, and Handmaiden escorted the Exile in front of Atris. Atris had been one of the masters who decided on the Exile's punishment for her involvement in the Mandalorian Wars, and was not pleased to see the Exile again. After a charged exchange between them, the Exile left. Brianna was startled to have seen her mistress become so volatile, strengthening her growing belief that the Jedi were not the passionless beings Atris had described them to be.

handmaiden_briannaBefore the Exile departed Telos, Brianna was able to speak to him private. Brianna was wary of the Exile at first, but began to speak more freely when the Exile managed to convince her that, contrary to Atris opinion, he had not turned to the Dark Side during the Mandalorian Wars. She confessed that she was eager to learn about life as Jedi. Brianna asked about various details of a Jedi's life, including the issue of attachment. As one final question, Brianna asked what it was like to feel the Force, and was seemingly satisfied by the answers the Exile provided. When a Light Sided Exile got back the Ebon Hawk, and finally could leave Telos Polar regions, the Handmaiden has appeared in the Ebon Hawk in her white robes, and asked them to stay with the team (the Dark Exiles got a special new black robed Handmaiden with a bit more darker facial expression). It looked like she broke out under Atris, but soon it became evident that Brianna was ordered by Atris to sneak aboard the Ebon Hawk and to the help the Exile in his mission to find the missing Jedi Masters, in hopes of gathering the survivors on Dantooine in order to form a plan of action to defend themselves against their Sith hunters. Additionally, Brianna had to monitor the Exile's activities for Atris. While Atton objected to allowing a spy to travel with them, the Exile welcomed Brianna to the crew. At this point however, Brianna was still wary of the Jedi Exile, as Atris had warned her not to trust them. She secluded herself inside the cargo bay so that she could hone her fighting style, while keeping herself separate from the rest of the crew. She was training her body and her mind all the time in the cargo bay, Brianna found the training to be helpful in maintaining her focus, and trained often while she was annoyed by the Exile's other "boring" and "weird" companions.

When the Exile Jedi eventually attempted to get to know her, handmaiden_jealous for visasBrianna didn't trust the Exile at first, but through acts of kindness and charity during their journey, Brianna finally believed that Atris had been wrong in her judgments. The closer Brianna get to the Exile, the more she clashed with Visas Marr, not trusting her due to Visas' Sith past, but after some convincing from the Exile, accepted her presence, although she still kept an eye on the pretty Miraluka girl. Kreia also informed the Exile of Brianna's heritage, but cautioned him against training the Handmaiden to a Jedi.

During their travels, Brianna agreed to teach the Exile Echani fighting techniques, this is how male characters can learn a special feat from the Handmaiden allowing them to add their Wisdom bonus to their defence.

She believed that combat was one of the purest ways of expressing and that a person's fighting style accurately displayed what kind of person they were, and noone can hide the anilam insticts while fighting (which is pretty true from a point of view). Each time learning more about each other and became closer, to the point that both Atton and Kreia would notice and comment on it. Brianna developed romantic feelings towards the Exile as she knew him throughout their fights. She was attracted by the stance, the emotions, the passion, and the inner good of the Exile Jedi, so the Handmaiden started to rival with Visas for his affections. When Visas is first accepted into the group by the Exile, Brianna challenges his choice, stating that Visas could betray them to the Sith, and also displayed jealousy at the Exile's willingness to accept an other woman so easily. If the Exile had higher influence with Visas than the Handmaiden, she confronted the Miraluka in jealousy, accusing her of planning to betray them to the Sith, and ignoring Visas's attempts to placate her. And since the game has more opportunity to build a deeper connection with Visas Marr, the Brianna line is not a big deal, the affair with Brianna is quite poorly made, depletes to learn her true name in the end, and a little bit jealousy in the meantime. (Anyway, a Visas style girl is often better respected than a Handmaiden style girl, so the fans possibly chose Visas more frequently than Brianna.) If your Exile Jedi chose Visas, he will still care for the Handmaiden, he will respect and like her even after, but Brianna's envy would grow to the point where Kreia would take advantage of it, manipulating her feelings and convincing her to be ready to confront Visas when Kreia felt the time was right.

During their trainings the Exile had to spar with the Handmaiden without clothes because of the Echani traditions, since she thought that bulkier clothes would be less practical. (So Visas could have been more jealous for them as they were lying on the floor halfnaked while "practising".) So the Exile asked Brianna to take on some kind of clothes anyway. She surprised the Exile by then changing into a heavy set of grayed robes, the style associated with a Jedi Master. When asked, she finally revealed that they were the last keepsake of her mother that she had never known. She opened up to the Exile and revealed the story of her past, but she asked that it be kept secret from the rest of the crew, as she had come to trust the Exile over everyone else. But the Exile was approached by Kreia who revealed that she had known Arren Kae. Kreia speculated that because Kae had been strong in the Force, that the potential to become a Jedi also lay within her daughter. However, Kreia didn't want the Exile to train the Handmaiden as a Jedi.

The Exile decided to leave the choice to Brianna, and offered to train her to use the Force. By this point, Brianna greatly trusted the Exile, and realized that she had hoped to follow her mother's path her entire life, and accepted the offer. To train the Handmaiden a Jedi you have to Influence her up and spar with her three times, when you are at least level 10, 14 and 18, and make a comment on the clothes she put on after sparring to learn of her mother. Then learn more of her mother from Kreia, follow that up with Handmaiden and she'll accept your training.

After your Exile passed on his knowledge of the Force to Brianna, and trained her to become a Jedi Guardian, it broke her oath to Atris. Quickly, Kreia sent a message to Atris through the Force telling her Brianna became a Jedi with a single word: "Betrayal". As a Jedi, Brianna followed the Exile truly, and help him in every situations. handmaiden_close combat this knee would have been very painful for this sith if he would be still aliveThe Handmaiden was proficient in combat with Echani martial arts, and you'll find her very strong in fight. She has initially strong feats in Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Two Weapon Fighting, Improved Power Attack, Toughness, Improved Toughness, handmaiden_fights_sithtroopers and deals a not weak 169 damageConditioning, Echani Strike, so she'll be a great lightsaber wielder fighter in your team. She has little INT and WIS points, but has 14 strength, 16 dexterity, 14 constitution, so you might want to train her a strong soldier rather than a weak force user. In addition, handmaiden_staff was her fathersBrianna was skilled in the use of Battle Precognition, which allowed her to perceive her opponents' intentions an instant before they acted giving her an edge in combat. She recognized the Exile's potential with Precognition as well and taught him to use the ability as well. Her combat prowess extended to numerous weapons including Force pikes and blasters. Brianna also utilized a unique staff that possessed qualities similar to a saberstaff, and was given to her by her father. Along with her various weapons, handmaiden_matrix moveBrianna could also fight effectively unarmed due to her proficiency in Echani, but if you listen to me, and train her a strong soldier, you can dress her into thick and strong armors, which will provide extra defence for Handmaiden, she won't be able to use Force powers, but you won't need them anyway, she will wield two lightsabers in melee attacks perfectly. So Brianna continued to aid the Exile, who eventually succeeded in gathering the Jedi Masters on Dantooine. Unfortunately, when the Masters arrived Kreia killed the Jedi in the Light Side quest, or severely injured the Dark Exile during the Dark Side quest, and believing he died, she left the body there, and returned to the Ebon Hawk.

After Kreia had arrived back to the spaceport, Brianna, believing the Exile to be dead, took Kreia directly to Atris, knowing that her mistress would execute any Sith. (Or in the DS version Kreia kidnapped her to get in the Ice Palace, which codes were only known by Brianna.) However, Atris had been slowly corrupted by her collection of Sith holocrons, which she had gathered in hopes of using their teachings to fight the Sith. Instead, the influence of the artifacts proved to be strong, and they slowly twisted Atris thinking, causing her to closing the Dark Side.
kreia_infests atrisAdditionally, Kreia announced her title as Darth Traya, and infected the brain of Atris, caused her to finally give in to the Dark Side. handmaiden_returns_telos but she is not welcomedAtris told her remaining five Handmaiden sisters that Brianna had fallen to the Dark Side and joined the Exile against Atris's wishes, and sent the five against Brianna. Brianna could not convince her sisters to hear the truth, and was forced to fight them. Brianna proved herself to have surpassed her sisters in ability, handmaiden must kill_her_sistersand the five sisters soon realized that they were mistaken when they nicknamed Brianna as the last of them, since the last one easily defeated them all. So the last of the Handmaidens became the last living Handmaiden, so Brianna had modified her title as the Last Handmaiden from this point.
 

handmaiden_vs_atris So the infected Atris had to attack Brianna herself. Though Brianna was stronger than before, the corrupted Jedi Master eventually overwhelmed her. She was unprepared that Atris would use Dark Side forces, and thrown to her knees after one Force Lightning hit. atris ironic one exile came to save an otherThe Dark Atris began torturing her with Force lightning, (like the Emperor tortured Luke Skywalker in the Return of the Jedi) because she was jealous of Brianna's closeness to the Exile, accusing the Handmaiden of falling in love with the Exile but before she could finish the Handmaiden off, the Exile arrived at the last second, and exile defeats atrischallenged Atris to fight and leave Brianna alone and defeated Atris in a duel. After the duel, Brianna pledged undying allegiance to the Exile, renouncing her title of Last of the Handmaidens, and that was the point when handmaiden_saved by exileshe first told the Exile her true name - Brianna - which up to this point, she had kept secret even from the Exile. The Exile learned that Kreia has returned to the Trayus Academy on Malachor V, intending to create a Wound in the Force in order to carry out her ultimate goal of destroying the Force itself. Brianna then accompanied the Exile to Malachor V for the final confrontation with Kreia. You may know the rest from my Kreia article.
Kreia, shortly before her death on Malachor V at the hands of the Exile, looked into the future, and according to her final predictions Brianna would give up her ways of battle, and would play a vital role in rebuilding the Jedi Order, taking Atris' role as Jedi historian and teaching future padawans.

Funny moment:

In the Nar Shaaddaa SIDEQUEST "Dance for Vogga the Hutt" you'll have to enter into Vogga the Hutt's secret vault, which is not so easy. There will be a guy in the Cantina of the Entertainment District" who wants a new female dancer for Vogga the Hutt. We gotta go up to the Docks area, and then into the side hallway then into the Flophouse. In the very first door, we need to Stealth in and listen to the conversation of two aqualish thugs, to learn that the Kath hounds in Vogga's lair will fall asleep if they drink juma juice. So get some Juma juice from the bartender in the Cantina. Now talk to the Twi'lek Domo. He was the one who wanted your help to find some new dancerin! You can volunteer yourself if you are a female Exile, or ask Handmaiden. Visas will refuse this dance unfortunately. Brianna takes on a handmaiden_dancetiny sexy dancer costume, and volunteers for the dance. It is known that the dance puts Vogga the Hutt to sleep! And really, the rolling breasts, the slim waists cause a weird effect in the Hutt male, Vogga gets asleep! So a female hutt must think twice if she plans to turn her man on the honeymoon with a tempting dance!
(It is a bit more difficult, though. Hutts were hermaphroditic, and as a result, gender was more of a case of a Hutt's deliberate decision. Often, Hutts carrying children were referred to as female, though it was entirely up to the Hutt. But for a joke, it was good.)

 

Take a look at my custom Handmaiden figure!

 

Handmaiden custom figure front

handmaiden_custom handmaiden


 

Handmaiden custom figure side

handmaiden_custom_side handmaiden_staff


 

Handmaiden custom figure back

handmaiden_custom_back handmaiden_back


 

Handmaiden jedi custom figure


 

Handmaiden miniatures figure

echani_handmaiden_miniatures_figure

 

Thanks for choosing CustomStarWars!

written by: Norbert Rostas 2008.08.15. the figure was made years before

 

handmaiden briana

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