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Character page for the Path of the Open Hand in the High Republic era, set 400 years before the Battle of Yavin.

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Path of the Open Hand

A religious cult based on Dalna — founded by Sachar Rold, a former Guardian of the Wills from Jedha — that was active 150 years before the Great Disaster and claimed to be seeking to liberate the Force from all who would misuse it.

In General

Anti-Magical Faction: Subverted. They acknowledge the Force and appreciate it, but only from a distance. This puts them at odds with religious groups who fully interact with and make use of it, such as the Jedi. Unfortunately, Force-sensitives who are born in the Path have to suppress themselves under fear of persecution and being fed to the Great Leveler.
Arc Villain: The Path serves as the overarching antagonists of Phase II of The High Republic, serving as an origin point for the Nihil, and while they aren't directly involved in every conflict of the phase, their meddling to keep the Forever War between Eiram and E'ronoh hot motivates a lot of war profiteers.
Belief Makes You Stupid: Being made almost entirely out of non-Force users and isolated to a backwater agricultural world, many of the cult members fervently believe that using the Force at all (even to help others) will create a ripple in the Force and cause disaster, despite there being no evidence of doing so. When a low-level Force-user (who's only notable power is being a Charm Person) comes to Dalna and claims to have received messages from the Force validating their beliefs, most of them buy into it and promote her to the Path's head prophet.
Contrasting Sequel Antagonist:
- To the Nihil. The Nihil were a large group of Space Pirates who had a tactical advantage over the Jedi and Republic Defense Coalition, but also had a charismatic leader that sought to defeat the Jedi and control a significant chunk of the galaxy. The Path of the Open Hand is very similar to them, but instead of being pirates, they are a religious cult. Amusingly, the Nihil have roots in this cult. Both of them have leaders that speak grandiose pretenses, but are secretly egomaniacs.
- To the Sith. The Sith were a religious group that followed the Dark Side of the Force, whereas the Path of the Open Hand is a Force cult mostly made up of non-Force users (with a Force-sensitive leader) that preaches against the use of the Force at all, but are nonetheless antagonistic towards the Jedi the same way the Sith are.
Disaster Dominoes: The core reason they preach not to touch the Force is that taking from it — even if it is to do good like when Kevmo saves some of the Path members from a flood — may create a ripple effect and have disastrous consequences elsewhere.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: Their practices and ways of gaining followers on top of their headquarters being based on a rural planet bring to mind many real world (and highly controversial) religious cults and extremists.
- Their interpretation of the Force is that it should not be used at all, even if it is used to save lives, and that any tragedy that happens (such as death by illness or natural disaster) is simply the Force's will. This is reminiscent of how some real life religious cults reject scientifically-proven medical practices in favor of faith-based healing (often to disastrous results) or claim that natural disasters are God's judgment on a community as a pretense to refuse them aid in their wake.
- While on Jedha, the Path sets up an almshouse to gain followers.
- Force-users who are born in the Path have to hide that they are such lest they be persecuted and fed to the Great Leveler. One can easily draw comparisons to religious homophobia.
Equal-Opportunity Evil: Just about anyone from any species, race or gender can join the Path as long as they are willing to abstain from using the Force.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: One of the keys to the Path's downfall is that despite believing that the Jedi are evil and trying their best to implicate them in front of the whole galaxy, the Path's efforts end up only reinforcing why people look up to the Jedi. In fact, some Path members begin to reevaluate when some Jedi risk their lives to help them in the face of their insufferable zealotry.
Evil Is Not a Toy: The Mother has led the Path to believe that the Great Leveler was brought to them by the Force to bring judgement upon those who abuse it. However, what they don't realize is that they are just ravenous beasts that feed on the living Force. When the crew of the Bonecrusher (having been separated from the rest of Sunshine's expedition on the return trip) try to bring a batch of Nameless eggs back to Dalna from Planet X and their ship is shot down, some of the eggs hatch prematurely. Without any of the control rods around, the newly-hatched Nameless attack the crew members, as even though most of the Path aren't Force-users (those that are try to hide it or don't realize it), the Force stills flows from life itself, and the Nameless are very hungry.
Evil Luddite: Subverted. They present themselves as eschewing low-tech, being based on an agricultural planet, having buildings made from stones and wood, and refusing to use droids for their farming due to viewing them as an aberration to the Force. However, they still use some technology, such as ships for offworld travel and blasters for combat, and their low-tech image is actually a front to disguise that they are much better equipped for war with the Jedi than they make themselves out to be, having a stockpile of rocket launchers and enforcer droids, and a lab for manufacturing the ecosystem-killing bioweapon Klytobacter for reheating the Forever War between Eiram and E'ronoh.
Facial Markings: Most Path members paint three blue streaks made from brikal shell paste across their faces.
Faction Motto: "The Force will be free" is the Path's creed.
From Nobody to Nightmare: At first, they seem to be little more than a small, but very influential anti-Force user cult based on a rural planet. Once they have access to the Nameless, they prove to be a major threat to the Jedi Order. The Path also has a few planetary leaders ingratiated to them by simply providing them relief without asking for anything in return.
Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?: The core of the Path's ideology on Force abstinence is built on the presumption that one can simply restrain from using the Force, when in reality, being Force-sensitive is like a sixth-sense.
Heavenly Blue: Path members usually wear blue robes and face paint made from brikal shell paste and are a very spiritual group. However, many of them are violent religious zealots at worst.
Improvised Training: Their life as farmers who eschew modern harvesting technology isn't just a philosophical choice or a front to cover up the fact they are surprisingly well-armed. It also physically strengthens their bodies so they can challenge Jedi Knights in melee combat, and many of the cultists are well-toned.
Insane Troll Logic: When their compound is threatened by dangerous rain storms, the first thought for the majority of them is that the Jedi's usage of the Force is to blame for the storms. It doesn't occur to them that this may just be Dalna being a Death World and/or their compound being poorly designed in regards to the planet's weather phenomena.
Knight Templar: At worst, many of the cult's members are fanatically devoted to the Mother and have an intense hatred of Force users, blaming them for the galaxy's or their own problems. This flavor of cultist is what makes up the ranks of the Path of the Closed Fist during the Night of Sorrow.
Light Is Not Good: Members of the Path wear robes that are usually a mix of white, blue and gold, colors that aren't dissimilar from what High Republic era Jedi would wear, but while they claim to be trying to liberate the Force, they are actually a cult with authoritarian motives.
N.G.O. Superpower: On the surface, they just seem to be a minor cult based on a backwater agricultural world that uses little high-tech. However, thanks to the Mother getting in the good graces of a number of wealthy figures (including planetary leaders) throughout the galaxy and implicitly selling some of the Force artifacts the Children stole on the black market, the Path has enough money that, as Matthea Cathley puts it, "the Hutts would kill for" (money that she donates to the rebuilding of Jedha City to divert suspicion from the Path's role in the battle). They've also got a stockpile of missile launchers and enforcer droids, and a laboratory for producing an ecosystem-destroying chemical weapon.
No OSHA Compliance: Their compound on Dalna is made up of a series of manually dug up underground tunnels. This becomes a problem when faced with strong rainstorms, as the tunnels would have gotten flooded one time had it not been for Kevmo Zink using the Force to hold the floodwater back, nor do they have energy shields to protect from this sort of thing as part of maintaining a low-tech front (having doors only made of wood or stone). With the no Jedi to bail them out and the Mother plotting to weaponize this in a trap against them, the tunnels get flooded for real during the Night of Sorrow.
Predecessor Villain: They serve as one to the Nihil, as not only were two of Marchion Ro's ancestors, Marda and Yana part of this group, some of their assets belonged to them too. The Nihil are explicitly confirmed to be a Renegade Splinter Faction of the Path started by Marda in the wake of its fragmentation and some of the longer-lived cult members later worked with the Nihil in some capacity (with Boolan becoming Marchion's Minister of Advancement and Vol Garat being hired as a mercenary).
Scam Religion: The Mother turned the Path into one after becoming its prophet, as while she's having them steal Force artifacts under the pretense of trying to liberate the Force, she's actually selling some of those artifacts on the black market and more interested in building power for herself by pitting the whole galaxy against the Jedi Order.
Tyke Bomb: Predictably, many of the cult's more fervent believers are those who were raised in it since they were children.
Villain Has a Point: While their arguments about using the Force doing harm to it are dubious at best, they aren't entirely wrong about certain Force groups truly abusing it to oppress those who can't use it, such as fallen Jedi or the Sith. Where their arguments fall flat are that not only do some of these groups genuinely use the Force for good (like the Jedi, who they are trying to pit the galaxy against), their leader is a Force user who is doing so to prop herself up as a prophet and is secretly using the cult for her own personal gain, the very thing the cult preaches against.
Villain with Good Publicity: The Path has as many followers as it has because it has given people who have been displaced a home, especially those who resent the Jedi for whatever reason. After an accident on Jedha in which Nadi released some vicious, Force-sensitive Wargarans into the city, the Path gains even more followers by stopping the Wargarans. However, this ends up being short-lived, as their attempts to undermine the Jedi's image end up only resonating with a small subset of people who already resented Jedi, the Jedi otherwise maintain their good image by helping Jedha's residents and minimizing loss of life during the Battle of Jedha, and the Path's reputation ends up getting tarnished when the Herald is captured after being caught inciting riots.
Would Harm a Senior: During the Night of Sorrows, a number of bed-ridden elderly Path members are put in a number of huts right outside the Path compound, with the intent of being caught in the crossfire to further discredit the Jedi. Disturbingly, said elders are perfectly fine with this, since it furthers the Path's agenda.

Leadership

The Mother

Elecia Zeveron, "The Mother"

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elecia_sw.png

Species: Human

Voiced by: January LaVoy

The head religious figure and prophet of the Path of the Open Hand, also formally known as "The Mother".

Admiring the Abomination: She is absolutely enamored with the Leveler and how she can use it against the Jedi in spite of the fact that this creature is slowly killing her by just constantly being around her.
Agent Provocateur: While she didn't start the conflict (as it's being going on far longer than she's been alive), she has a vested interest in keeping the Forever War between Eiram and E'ronoh going via her own proxies. Not only does she try to use the ongoing-conflict as a form of anti-Jedi propaganda, Dalna is in the same sector as the twin planets, and many of the Path's members are refugees fleeing from that conflict.
Asshole Victim: Being feasted on by a Nameless is a horrific way to die for any Force user. However, the Mother holds the unique distinction of being one of the few Force users to have earned such a fate, as not only had she already killed several Force users through control of the Nameless, she also had a huge role in keeping the Eiram-E'ronoh war going as a way to gain more followers.
Bad Boss: Despite her nurturing facade, she's perfectly willing to discard even her most loyal followers the moment they become inconvenient to her. During the Night of Sorrow, she lets the newly-hatched Nameless off the leash, and they not only attack Jedi, but an unknown number of Force-sensitive Path members too, whether they were aware of it or not.
Big Bad: After she comes out on top at the end of Path of Deceit, she is cemented as the main villain of Phase II of The High Republic.
Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She is very charismatic and has a very motherly image, but she's also the leader of a vitriolic religious cult. And for every one of her followers she tries to convince of their value to her, she only sees them as tools and won't hesitate to have them killed the moment they stop being useful to her.
Blaming the Victim: After the Leveler kills Kevmo and Marda watches him calcify to death, the Mother convinces Marda that Kevmo died as a result of using the Force, apparently having not seen that it was the Leveler who attacked him. This is also her plan on how she intends to frame using the Nameless against other Force users.
Blatant Lies:
- She rose to power in the Path by claiming to have received visions from the Force that validate the Path's beliefs, and she claims not to be a Force user. None but the cult's sanest members seem to have questioned the validity of these claims, and any other Force user would be able to tell she's one herself.
- Following the Battle of Jedha, she suffers serious health problems, has seizures, and suddenly looks decades older. She and the Elders claim that this is how she's getting messages from the Force, but this is actually a sign that the Leveler is slowly killing her and she's trying to hide the fact that's she a Force-user herself.
Body Horror: Even without it directly harming her (at first), the Leveler's mere presence eventually takes its toll on the Mother's health. Aside from suffering Force seizures, she looks like she's aged up by decades and she has partially calcified skin underneath her wrappings.
Boomerang Bigot: She's the leader of a cult that preaches abstinence from the Force while secretly being a Force-user herself.
Broken Pedestal: During the Night of Sorrow, many of the more level-headed Path members learn how much of a hypocrite and fraud that she was and denounce her.
Cain and Abel: She's the sister of Jedi Knight Oliviah Zeveron. Before becoming the Mother, Elecia sought out Oliviah for years with apparent intent to kill her out of jealousy.
Charm Person: It's suggested that she can manipulate and influence other people, like Sunshine Dobbs, who immediately becomes enamored and completely loyal to her within minutes of entering her presence without understanding why. Not everyone in the Path is affected like this, like the Herald and Yana. Unsurprisingly, she's a Force user that's had a proficiency for mental manipulation since she was a child.
Creepy Souvenir: She kept Zallah Macri's lightsaber as a trophy after her death.
Cult of Personality: After she joined the Path, many of its members flocked to her and started treating her as an avatar of the Force itself, and stealing Force artifacts in her name under the pretense of liberating them.
Dirty Coward: As shown during the Battle of Jedha and Dalna, when things go wrong for her, she will flee and leave even some of her most loyal followers to die.
Driven by Envy: Her violent vendetta against Force users ultimately stems from petty jealousy over the Jedi Order picking Oliviah — who exhibited great telekinetic power while Elecia only had power over minds — for training over her.
Engineered Heroics: A subverted example with having the Path stop some Wargarans rampaging through Jedha City, as the Wargaran attack was actually an accident on the part of Nadi (one of the Path's littles) not realizing that the Wargarans are vicious wild animals. The Mother simply decided to capitalize on the accident. Played straight overall, however, with her secretly instigating the Battle of Jedha via a chain of proxies to make the Jedi look bad and have the Path come in to save lives. However, this ends up backfiring, as she and her followers end up getting caught in the crossfire too, the Jedi salvage their reputation by quelling the conflict with as little bloodshed as possible, and the Path takes a hit to its good publicity with the arrest of the Herald for inciting riots.
Evil Matriarch: She is a cult leader that goes by the title of "Mother" and wants to be a leading authority on the Force.
False Prophet: She presents herself as a messenger of the Force, but any other Force user outside the cult will tell you that she's just using the Force to prop herself up while discouraging others from doing so.
Faux Affably Evil: Almost everyone in the cult adores her for her calm and motherly personality and giving them a place to belong, and is very personable with every member she interacts with (convincing just about every one of them that they are her most valued follower). Behind the image, however, she just sees them as tools for her cause, and she isn't above setting up her most devout followers to die if they start to become a liability or even question her.
Foil: To Chancellor Kyong Greylark, who both serve as mother figures to Axel Greylark in some way. Kyong is Axel's biological mother, but has become distant from him as a result of putting her image as a Chancellor first. Meanwhile, Elecia is a cult leader that puts on a front of acting like a nurturing mother figure to those who feel they have been displaced, including Axel. However, they are also opposites when it comes to their true natures. When Kyong contacts Axel and the Mother with the notion of negotiating with the Path, she also announces that she's relinquishing her political power so she can focus on being a better mother to Axel. In contrast, Elecia lashes out and finally reveals that she saw Axel as nothing more than a political pawn that she can no longer use.
Freudian Excuse Denial: When Marda learns of Elecia's relationship to Oliviah, she initially presumes that the Mother is motivated by an inferiority complex over being viewed as second-best to her sister, much like she feels in her relationship with Yana. The Mother immediately shoots those notions down in her Motive Rant, claiming that not only does she not actually love Oliviah, the Jedi should have picked her for training over her and not the other way around.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Starting off as a low-level Force user that was rejected for Jedi training before turning to thieving, Elecia used her ability to prop herself up as a prophet, climb up the Path's leadership ladder, build an army of fanatics, gain control of major political figures, influence a Forever War older than her, and gain control of eldritch creatures that prey on Force users. Suffice to say, this otherwise unremarkable Force adept managed to become a serious threat to the Jedi Order.
Hidden Agenda Villain: She claims to want to set the Force free, but has her own ulterior motives against the Jedi.
It's All About Me: She claims to represent the will of the Force, but one slip of the tongue towards Marda (saying she — not the Force — doesn't need her on Jedha) makes it clear to readers that she is actually using the cult and hoarding Force artifacts for her own personal gain, but Marda personally brushes it off as just a slip of the tongue.
Karmic Death: She is not only killed by one of the very creatures she had used against the Jedi Order, it is also done at the beck and call of one of her most fervent former believers, whom she had personally conditioned to believe Force users were evil. Marda came to the conclusion that the Mother was the very evil she was taught to oppose.
Kick the Dog: After the Herald is scapegoated on Jedha, she willfully neglects Opari's medical needs, all while she despairs over losing both her daughter and husband. It was treating Opari's illness that bought the Plouth family's loyalty to her, but since both Kor and Werth are no longer part of the Path, Opari is just dead weight to Elecia.
Manipulative Bitch: By giving "Gifts freely given", she's able to make people feel indebted to her. This is how she has recruited many into her cult. She's also done this with planetary leaders, such as Queen Adrialla of Eiram, as well as people connected to major political figures, such Chancellor Kyong Greylark's son, Axel.
Mysterious Past: What she did before joining the Path and where she came from is unknown, with several members of the organization who distrust her planning on digging into it. Zallah and Kevmo are also suspicious of her avoiding meeting them, wondering if she fears the Jedi would recognize her, but when they do finally see her, they don't. However, It turns she's the sister of Oliviah Zeveron, and she was passed over for Oliviah when the Seeker came to them as children.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: She hires Tilson Graf to instigate the Battle of Jedha, discredit the Jedi (as they unwittingly brought the Eiram-E'ronoh War to Jedha) and prop up the Path of the Open Hand. Unfortunately for her, the chaos it causes ends up endangering her and her followers, gets her severely injured, nearly loses her the Leveler, causes some of her followers to question her, exposes some of them for inciting the violence in the streets, hurts the Path's allegedly benevolent image, and any attempts to undermine the Jedi's reputation are rather minimal and overall make them look better in the end due to them prioritizing saving lives (and minimizing casualties while stopping the conflict).
Non-Action Big Bad: To maintain her positive image, the Mother rarely gets her own hands dirty. Instead, she uses her mental manipulation abilities and charisma to have her followers do her dirty work without even asking. When she gets into a fair fight with her sister Oliviah, she loses with little effort the moment that Oliviah's no longer hindered by the Rod of Power and she trips over the Herald's corpse. Before that, the only people she killed directly as the Mother were Tilson Graf (a non-combatant) and the Herald (who came close to killing her until she caught him off-guard with Zallah's lightsaber).
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Among Force users, Elecia is rather unremarkable, as her ability to influence minds is one of the most basic Force powers around. However, when she used that power to worm her way into becoming leader of an anti-Force user cult, she was worshipped as a messianic figure.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: She claims that she wants to liberate the Force by stealing artifacts from other Force-based faiths and publicly tries to claim that the Path is on a mission of peace, but it becomes apparent by the end of Path of Deceit that she's only using the cult and stealing artifacts to build power for herself, and she's using her own Force powers to prop herself up as a prophet. Path of Vengeance reveals that she also rose up the ranks of the Path and declared borderline-genocidal intentions against Force users to get revenge on the Jedi for not accepting her into the Order.
One Bad Mother: Her official designation is "the Mother" and acts like one towards most of her followers or would-be followers, but she's the head of a zealous anti-Force user cult and is outright nasty when she doesn't get her way.
Pragmatic Villainy: When Yana Ro comes back from the Thelj heist alive, she chooses not to have her killed right away when she and the Path witness the Leveler following her around with the Rod of Seasons in hand. While the Mother rightfully suspects that Yana has it out for her after trying to get her and the Children killed, she had also just propped the Leveler up as an agent of the Force right after it hatched moments before. Killing one of the Leveler's supposed champions after doing so would bring her claims into question.
Psychopathic Womanchild: The root cause of her grudge against Force users is the Jedi picking her sister Oliviah for membership in the Order over her, and she never really grew up beyond this incident. When her origins are revealed to Marda, her Motive Rant comes off as more of a temper tantrum about someone telling her "no" for the first time in her life (when she was used to getting what she wants due to her Charm Person abilities).
Resignations Not Accepted: As far as she's concerned, once you're in the Path, you're in it for life. When Yana Ro thought of leaving the Path with Kor Plouth and Treze was planning on retiring to be a father, she conspired to have the Children killed on a suicide mission.
Sanity Slippage: Following the Battle of Jedha, her motherly facade starts to crack and she starts to be hostile towards even her most loyal followers. It's unknown how much of this is a result of seeing her plans fall apart or the Leveler's constant presence taking its toll on her]
Secretly Dying: After the Battle of Jedha, she covers up more of her own body to hide her partially calcified skin as a result of prolonged exposure to the Leveler, a sign that she's a Force-user herself.
Sinister Minister: She is the leader of a Force cult that preaches about freeing the Force, which she twists into having her followers attack those who use it (the Jedi in particular) while accumulating wealth and power for herself.
Smug Snake: She thinks of herself as a master manipulator, but that's actually a result of her using Force powers to influence people's minds. The moment her plans start to fall apart, she loses her cool. During her Motive Rant, she insists that the Jedi should have chosen her and not her sister Oliviah, even though it's apparent that she's a one-trick pony when it comes to Force abilities. In a fight with a more disciplined Force user (like Oliviah) who isn't being crippled by the Nameless or their control rods, she is defeated fairly easily.
The Sociopath: She's a self-centered liar and manipulator. Whatever charitable work she does is ultimately done to serve her needs. When those she helps are no longer of use to her, she casts them aside.
Straw Hypocrite: She and her cult preach the importance of only giving to the Force and not taking from it, using this as a pretense to have the Children steal Force artifacts from the Jedi and other people. According to Elder Aris Ade, she does more taking than giving. Meanwhile, she preaches distance from the Force, but she not only uses her own Force visions to prop herself up as a prophet, she actively uses the Force to influence people's minds. She's also willing to enlist other Force-users as proxies (such as the Dank Graks) or keep silent about repressed Force-sensitives in the Path as long as she can use them. In short, she is the very type of evil she preaches against.
Taken for Granite: Much like the Jedi and other Force users she had fed to it, all that's left of Elecia Zeveron after Marda unleashes the Leveler on her is a petrified husk with a look of terror on her face.
Trailers Always Spoil: Her surname was first mentioned in her character video, while most stories themselves didn't mention it until the end of Path of Vengeance. What the trailer didn't reveal was how she was related to Oliviah.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: The Mother's indoctrination of Marda — an otherwise naive and innocent girl that desperately wanted to fit in — into a fervent believer in the Path's teachings (despite seeing Marda as a little more than gullible rube) would eventually lead to the creation of the Nihil, a pirate group that would become infamous for causing a devastating hyperspace disaster and bringing the Jedi and the Republic to a much lower point than the Path was able to.
Uriah Gambit: She sends the Children to Thelj to steal some Force artifacts with Sunshine Dobbs as their chauffer. However, as Yana showed interest in leaving the Path with Kor Plouth beforehand and intended Thelj to be her final job, Yana learns too late that the Mother was actually sending her and the rest of the Children to die, with Sunshine tipping off the Graf security force and leaving them to die. Yana ends up being the only one of the Children to survive the mission.
Villainous Breakdown:
- Following the Battle of Jedha, where she gets severely injured and the Path's supposedly benevolent image starts to fall apart at the seams, so does her kind, motherly image. When her followers try to help her, she starts becoming outwardly dismissive of them.
- Her kind, motherly image and any pretense of caring for Axel Greylark breaks when Kyong announces that she's coming to Dalna to negotiate with the Path, but after having relinquished her position as Chancellor, meaning that she won't be able to use Axel as her political puppet.
Villainous RRoD: During the second half of Phase II, she becomes increasingly frail, to the point of looking like she's aging faster and having seizures. This is because the Leveler has been passively feeding on the living Force within her.
We Can Rule Together: After she's defeated by Oliviah and taken prisoner during the Night of Sorrows, Marda comes into the tent where she's recovering with the Rod of Seasons in hand and the Leveler at her side. When Oliviah is brought to her knees by the Leveler's presence, Elecia tries to cater to Marda's previous religious conditioning by convincing her to rebuild the Path with her and feed Oliviah to the Leveler. Unfortunately for her, Marda's come to see Elecia as the very type of Force abuser that she's preached against.
Would Hurt a Child:
- In her crusade against Force users, she uses the Leveler against Kevmo, a Padawan who is implicitly a teenager at the youngest, which results in him dying an agonizing death.
- After the Path returns from Jedha, she has a number of Ferdan residents poisoned through a Path soup kitchen. One of the casualties is a child.
- During the Night of Sorrows, she had the Littles plant thermal detonators around the Path compound as part of a trap against the Jedi, potentially putting them in danger and an unknowingly Force-sensitive one in the crosshairs of an off-the-leash Nameless. Marda doesn't take it well when she learns of this.
Younger Than They Look: By the later half Phase II novels, she's described in a way that would make you think she's an old woman (in contrast to her official artwork). Not only is she within Oliviah's age range, almost non-stop exposure to the Leveler has been causing her to age faster.

The Herald

Werth Plouth, "The Herald"

Species: Nautolan

Voiced by: John Pirkis

Appearances: Path of Deceit | The Battle of Jedha | The High Republic (2022) | Path of Vengeance

The previous leader of the Path of the Open Hand, Werth was forced to share power with the Mother after her arrival, with the two engaging in an ongoing power struggle within the cult.

The Atoner: Subverted: he is said to have had a violent past before joining the Path in a bid to change is life, hence where the cropped head tendrils come from. However, Werth's idea of "atonement" involves being a religious fanatic who seeks personal power to accomplish genocidal goals.
Ax-Crazy: When he's given control of the Leveler during the Battle of Jedha, he revels in the chance of getting it to feed on Force users.
The Dragon: Originally the leader of the Path, he is now the second-in-command of the Mother.
Enemy Mine:
- Even though he and Yana are at odds with one another in regards to the Path's teachings, they are willing to work together to get revenge on the Mother after she got Kor — whom both were connected to — killed.
- During the Night of Sorrows, he eventually finds himself teaming up with the Jedi in spite of his strong beliefs after not only learning of her hypocrisy and manipulations, but her making the littles plant bombs. He uses his last moments to attack the Mother while she's trying to subdue the Jedi with the Rod of Power, which gives Marda the time to get it away from the Jedi.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite being the Mother's second-in-command, he's also a family man, and is willing to hide the fact that his daughter is Force-sensitive. Part of the reason he is loyal to the Mother is that the latter helped cure his wife Opari. When Kor dies on Thelj, his loyalty waivers.
Even Evil Has Standards: Despite his overall zealotry and dropping his vendetta against the Mother just for a chance at power again, he is appalled to learn that not only was she having the Littles plant bombs around the compound, that she is one of the very same Force abusers she preached against, and she had been manipulating the Path for her own personal gain, he turns on her once more.
Evil Versus Evil: Despite his daughter's death giving him a reason to overthrow the Mother, he's still a true believer in the Path's teachings, and plans to retake control of the cult.
Fantasy-Forbidding Father: On top of refusing to let Kor grow up in a village outside the Path compound because she's Force-sensitive, he's also got some reservations about her leaving Dalna with Yana.
The Fundamentalist: He is unshakeable in his belief that the Force should not be touched, and that once you are part of the Path, you are part of it for life. He does not take kindly when Yana thinks about leaving with his daughter, Kor Plouth. However, word of his daughter's death on Thelj is enough to shake his loyalty to the Mother, and he only continues to feign loyalty to her to bide his time before overthrowing her.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: One of the most notable aspects of his appearance is that all of his head tentacles have been cropped, and he's a leader of an incredibly shady cult.
Hazy-Feel Turn: While he seeks to overthrow the Mother after Kor's death, he still remains a fervent believer in the Path's teachings. When he and Yana make it back to Dalna, and the Path of the Open Hand is rebranded the Path of the Closed Fist, he immediately turns on Yana and joins up with the Mother again. It's not until he learns how much of a fraud and monster the Mother is that he turns on her for good.
Heel–Face Revolving Door: After the Mother makes him a scapegoat for the Path's atrocities on Jedha, he more actively works alongside Yana to take the Mother down. The moment they make it back into the Path compound and confront the Mother with Marda by her side, the Herald turns on Yana and sides with the Mother again for another chance at power. After being taken prisoner by the Jedi during the Night of Sorrow, he turns on the Mother one last time when he learns that not only was she willing to command children to plant bombs, she herself had been using the Force to manipulate the cult to her own ends.
Hypocrite: For all his fanatical followings of the Path's tenets and condemnation of those who do not follow them, the Herald refused to send his daughter Kor away to live in Ferdan after it was discovered she was Force-sensitive.
Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Mother runs him through with Zallah Macri's lightsaber when he tries to strangle her after learning what she truly is.
Manipulative Bastard: When teaming up Yana, he tries to get her to do so on the grounds of her relationship with his daughter. Yana lampshades this, noting that he's not so different from the Mother in that regard.
Outliving One's Offspring: His daughter dies as a result of the Mother's machinations, leading him to swear revenge against the latter.
Papa Wolf: After Yana reports that the Mother sent Kor and the other Children to die on Thelj, Werth plots revenge against the Mother.
Pay Evil unto Evil: He murders Archivist Feric Ornalli after the latter helped him get out of the Guardians' custody and gave him the Rod of Daybreak. Given that Ornalli willingly sold out information on Jedha's artifacts for the Children to steal (which led to his predecessor Zumeg getting killed), Werth notes how he's gotten his well-deserved reward.
The Scapegoat: When the Path's attempts to undermine the Jedi's image on Jedha backfire on them, the Mother pins the Path's exposed crimes on the Herald after he is arrested, publicly declaring him an apostate to save face.
Smug Snake: He treats almost everyone with biting contempt that is usually accompanied by a mocking smile. This is most evident during his meeting with the Convocation on Jedha, where he is smiling throughout his demands that they disband and outlaw all use of the Force, knowing full well that they will not disband and have no power to make such a law.
The Starscream: After he learns from Yana that the Mother sent the Children (including his daughter Kor) to die on the mission to Thelj, he plots alongside her to expose the Mother as a fraud and overthrow her. However, he plans to continue to play his role as The Dragon while he bides his time, as he's always plotted to overthrow the Mother after she supplanted him as the Path's leader. Unfortunately for him, the Mother is well aware of this by the time they get to Jedha, and she uses this as an opportunity to set him up as a scapegoat for the Path's more extreme actions on Jedha when they are caught in the act.

Elders of the Path

Barbatash

Elder Barbatash

See his entry on the Religious Organizations page under "Elders of the Path".

Children of the Open Hand

Yana Ro

Species: Evereni

Appearances: Path of Deceit | Path of Vengeance | The High Republic (2022)

"The Force will be free, and so will I."

Marda Ro's older but more cynical cousin and the leader of the Children, a group within the Path of the Open Hand tasked with "liberating" Force artifacts and bringing them back to Dalna. Yana hopes to depart from the Path alongside her girlfriend Kor, but events conspire to keep her tied to the group as she and Marda become drawn further into the Mother's schemes.

An Arm and a Leg: After Marda comes back from Planet X with a batch of Nameless eggs and becomes drunk with power with the Rod of Power, she cuts off Yana's right hand using Kevmo's lightsaber.
Big Sister Instinct: Well, older cousin in this case. As the cynical and more combat-trained of the two, she tries to watch Marda's back, especially since Evereni are persecuted by the galaxy at large because of their ancestors' actions. Even as they grow more distant due to Marda's increased fanaticism, she still looks out for her, even after Marda cuts her hand off.
Can't Kill You, Still Need You: The only reason she doesn't kill Sunshine after she learns of his role in sending her and the Children to their deaths is that she doesn't know how to fly a ship, and thus would be stranded on Thelj. She simply forces him to fly her back to Dalna under duress.
The Cracker: In addition to her martial skills, Yana's primary role in the Children is as their slicer, hacking her way through security systems and erasing as much trace of their presence as she can.
The Cynic: As the older Ro cousin, she's more aware of the Evereni's history and why they are despised than Marda. As a result, she doesn't plan to stay in the Path of the Open Hand and at worst, is prepared to stab her allies in the back just to stay alive.
Didn't Think This Through: During the Night of Sorrow, she knocks Sunshine out as payback for setting her and the Children up to die on Thelj. Unfortunately, when she tries to escape from Dalna, she remembers that she doesn't know how to fly a ship and there aren't any other pilots around, forcing her to stay longer. This is especially ironic considering that this is exactly why she didn't kill Sunshine back on Thelj.
Enemy Mine: Even though she and Werth are at odds with another in regards to the Path's teachings, they are willing to work together to get revenge on the Mother after she got Kor — whom both were connected to — killed.
Even Evil Has Standards:
- As ruthless as she is, Yana is disgusted by Treze's sadism and desire to kill outside of when it is necessary on the Children's missions.
- During the Battle of Jedha, she is genuinely disturbed by how much the Herald's enjoying using the Leveler to kill Force users.
- In Path of Vengeance, she is utterly appalled that the Mother starts neglecting Opari the moment her family members are no longer around to manipulate. She is also disgusted by the Mother having children plant bombs around the compound.
Handicapped Badass: Despite losing a hand, she still has a steady aim with a blaster during the Battle of Dalna.
Interspecies Romance: She (Evereni) is in a romantic relationship with the Herald's daughter, Kor Plouth (Nautolan).
I See Dead People: In Path of Vengeance, she sees a hallucination of Kor Plouth acting as her subconscious.
It's All My Fault: While she seeks revenge against the Mother, she feels guilt for leading Kor to her death, and has hallucinations of her.
The Kid with the Remote Control: After the Leveler is born and kills the Jedi investigating the Path, Yana becomes its first champion while holding the Rod of Seasons and it follows her around like a lost cat. She plans to weaponize the Leveler against the Mother at some point. After the Battle of Jedha and initially failing to get the Rod of Daybreak, she is forced to relinquish the Rod to the Mother.
No-Sell: Unlike most members of the Path, the Mother's subtle Force influence does not affect her. It's suggested that Yana's cynicism helps shield her from most of its effects, as while she does feel a pull to believe and follow the Mother, her desire to be free and leave the Path is so strong it overcomes the influence.
Not in This for Your Revolution: She doesn't actually care much for the Path's philosophy and is only part of the cult because her family brought her and Marda there as children. She only remains as part of the cult to look out for Marda and because of her relationship with Kor, and plans to leave as soon as she's sufficiently rewarded.
Only Sane Woman:
- As one of the people tasked with stealing Force artifacts and proselytizing offworlders, Yana is one of the only people in the cult who isn't motivated by ideology and suspects that the Mother's pretense for "liberating" these artifacts are a load of Bantha fodder. As such, she has no interest in staying with the Path forever and plans to leave as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Unfortunately, her being so wary prompts the Mother to send her and the Children of the Path on a mission to get them killed, which ends up vindicating Yana when she's the only survivor.
- She also seems to be one of the only members of the Ro family to have their head on straight. Her cousin Marda, while otherwise well-meaning, is very naive and easily-swayed into religious zealotry and would start the family tradition of being caretakers for an Animalistic Abomination after several Crises of Faith. Among the later-generation Ros, Shalla is an Evereni supremacist that would turn Marda's band of raiders into the Nihil, Asgar is the same on top of abusing his own son and murdering his own mother, and Marchion is a bloodthirsty sociopath. While Yana herself is prepared to give in to her species' stereotype for Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, it's only out of self-preservation, because she's aware that her species is widely-persecuted due to their ancestors' crimes.
Pet the Dog: While she seems more interested in survival during the Night of Sorrow, she not only wakes Marda up to the truth and aids the Jedi, she also rescues Opari despite her husband throwing Yana under the bus for a chance at power again.
Revenge: She swears revenge on the Mother after she sends her and the Children on a suicide mission to Thelj, which also results in the death of her girlfriend, Kor.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: Downplayed. She suspects the Mother of actually being a grifter running a Scam Religion to have people steal Force artifacts so she can sell them on the black market for a profit. While the Mother is indeed a fraud that's been selling some of the artifacts on the black market, her long-term plans go way beyond simple grifting.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When the Jedi begin investigating the Path, Yana is sure that it will be the end for the cult once they discover the stolen artifacts and resolves to finally leave with Kor. She agrees to One Last Job with the Children, only for it to turn out to be a trap set by the Mother to kill her and the others, and Yana is forced to stay with the Path to get revenge on her and protect Marda.
Sole Survivor: She is the only one of the Children to survive the Thelj "heist", which turned out to be Uriah Gambit set up by the Mother.
Took a Level in Idealism: She starts out looking out only for number one and Marda's well-being, whereas Marda is approachable but very naïve. By the end of Phase II, their positions have been reversed. Yana starts to look out for others while Marda further sinks into the depths of religious fanaticism and becomes a caretaker for a perpetually hungry Great Leveler.
What You Are in the Dark: For most of her life, Yana's main goal was to simply survive. While she is tempted to run away from the Battle of Dana when things get bad, her warmer nature comes to show when she learns that the Mother had been making children plant bombs, convinces Marda to turn against the Mother, and even helps the Jedi in tunnels fight off the Nameless.
Wouldn't Hurt a Child: When she catches one of the Littles, Boolan, with a bag of thermal detonators, she works only to disarm him. When Marda is prepared to kill Yana thinking the opposite at first, Yana has Boolan tell her the truth.

Kor Plouth

Species: Nautolan

Appearances: Path of Deceit | Path of Vengeance^note

"The Force must be free, and I want to be free, too. We'll go where we like, and still be part of the Path. Cross the galaxy with the Force."

One of the Children, daughter of the Herald, Werth Plouth, and Yana Ro's girlfriend. Like Yana she hopes to depart from the Path's compound on Dalna in hopes of finding freedom amongst the stars while spreading word of the Path.

Because You Were Nice to Me: Part of the reason that she and Yana fell in love was that Kor was the first person to approach Yana with open arms despite Yana's aloof demeanor and the negative reputation Evereni have.
Everyone Has Standards: Despite being part of the Path's secret group of agents who steal Force artifacts from across the galaxy, Kor takes great issue with a lot of their actions. However, her loyalty to the Path is too strong to turn on it over those issues.
- She hates Treze and his bloodthirstiness, condemning him as a murderer who goes against the Path's teachings.
- Learning that one of the artifacts they are being sent to steal is a dagger said to be able to cut one off from the Force with a single cut horrifies Kor due to her belief that the Force is part of everything and everyone and that cutting one away from it is wrong.
Interspecies Romance: She is in a relationship with the Evereni, Yana Ro.
Like Father, Unlike Son: In contrast to her father's ruthless zealotry, she's a lot more empathetic. The Herald lampshades this when Yana calls him out on his relishing of getting to kill Force users with the Leveler.
Herald: You wish to show mercy? That is admirable. I can see why my daughter loved you. But I am not my daughter.
Morality Pet: She serves as one to both Yana and the Herald. After Kor dies as a result of being sent on a suicide mission, both of them conspire against the Mother.
My Significance Sense Is Tingling: She is mildly Force-sensitive, which allows her to easily sense where the Force artifacts the team hunts are located. However, it causese her to be deeply unnerved items such as the dagger they recover for the Mother from Port Haileap. Later on, she senses that there is something odd about the purple jewel that Sunshine Dobbs gave the Mother. What she sensed was that it's actually a Nameless egg.
No Body Left Behind: After she is killed while trying to raid the Graf compound on Thelj, her body falls into the water beneath the ice and is taken away by some creatures to presumably be eaten.
Religious Bruiser: She is the most devout of the Children, as her family have been involved in the Path for a long time, while the others are more pragmatic and not necessarily true believers in the Path.
Token Good Teammate: To the Children she works alongside - Kor is a sincerely devout member of the Path who hates killing, while Treze is a remorseless psycho, Cincey is an amoral mercenary, and Yana is pragmatic and often simply does not care.

Treze

Species: Mikkian

Appearances: Path of Deceit

One of the Children, Treze comes from a family who joined the Path in a bid to evade the debts they owed.

Ax-Crazy: Treze is shown to be a little too sadistic for his own good, going out of his way to make unnecessary kills on the Children's missions.
Cruel and Unusual Death: When the heist on Thelj turns out to be a Suicide Mission, Treze is the first to die, as one of the Grafs' guards stab him through the throat.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He might be a lunatic, but he reveals that he's also planning on retiring because he's about to become a father.
Fantastic Racism: He mistrusts Evereni and tries to sabotage Yana and Kor's relationship by whispering doubts about Yana's trustworthiness to Kor and spreading the worst rumors about her species.
Interspecies Romance: He is seeing a human woman on Dalna and recently impregnated her.
Not So Above It All: He is a sociopathic murderer who doesn't actually follow the Path of the Hand's beliefs, but Yana notes that even Treze is drawn to and in awe of the Mother.
Psycho Knife Nut: His preferred weapons of choice are a pair of knives and he's one of the more bloodthirsty members of the Path.
Psycho Pink: He's a pink-skinned Mikkian who happens to be one of the Path's more murder-happy cultists.
Retirony: Before he is sent along with the rest of the Children to Thelj, it is mentioned that he's planning on retiring from stealing artifacts to be a Father. Unfortunately for him, the Mother sent them to Thelj so they could be killed.
Villainous Crush: Has one on Kor, which is part of why he keeps trying to sabotage Yana's relationship with her. Kor sees through his manipulations easily while Yana is strongly tempted to kill him for it.

Cincey

Species: Human

Homeworld: Coruscant

Appearances: Path of Deceit

A Path member who managed the cult's communications and collected intel for the Path's missions, and served as a mission operator for the Children.

Evil Cripple: They make use of a hoverchair, implying they are handicapped. They are also complicit in the Path's shadier operations, such as tampering with communications and collecting information on Force artifacts to steal.
Evil Genius: In addition to information gathering, they are also proficient in piloting and technology.
Hidden Depths: When Yana queries if they had ever looked in the Mother's past, Cincey quietly states that they have not due to being worried they would not like what they discovered, showing that they too know that the Mother is not the saint she portrays herself as.
Mission Control: They serve as the brains and pilot for the Children's missions. When Radicaz "Sunshine" Dobbs is the pilot for the mission to Thelj and not Cincey, this makes Yana especially wary, and it doesn't take long for Yana to be proven right.
Only in It for the Money: Joined the Path after being recruited by the Mother as it would pay better than being a petty thief in Coruscant's underworld.
Twofer Token Minority: They are a handicapped non-binary person.
What Happened to the Mouse?: They do not participate in the mission to Thelj, as Radicaz "Sunshine" Dobbs takes their role as pilot instead. After the other Children sans Yana are killed during that mission, Cincey is unaccounted for. In the prologue of Path of Vengeance, Yana recalls how all four of members of her team were sold out, implying that Cincey may have been Killed Offscreen, an implication also fueled by one of the new Children, Shea Ganandra, having some of the same skillsets as Cincey. They are mentioned at the end of the novel, with Yana noting that they can't hear her anymore before giving their hoverchair to Opari Plouth.

Abda and Serrena

Species: Kage

Homeworld: Quarzite

Appearances: Convergence

Two Kage sisters who were exiled from their homeworld before being recruited into the Path. They are dispatched to the Eiram system to survey the Forever War, posing as servants for the system's royals.

Agent Provocateur: They are tasked with keeping the Forever War between Eiram and E'ronoh going, especially reminding some of the worlds' leaders of their debts to the Mother.
Cruel and Unusual Death: Axel has Abda poisoned with Eirami scorpion venom to silence her, which causes her breathing problems as she dies out. When Axel ends up on the receiving end of the same poison but survives, this serves as a wake-up call for him to walk away from the Path.
Driven to Suicide: When her attempts to have Princess Xiri killed failed and it seems the Forever War is about to see a real resolution, Serrena takes her own life via ingesting a poison.
Klingon Scientists Get No Respect: The main reason they were exiled from Quarzite were that they couldn't stomach being warriors as was standard for Kage.
Undying Loyalty: Both of them adore the Mother and are fanatically loyal to her as a result of the Path giving them a place to belong after their exile. Unfortunately for Abda, the Mother decides to have Axel Greylark silence her after she is captured.

Shea Ganandra

Species: Human

Appearances: The High Republic (2022) | Path of Vengeance

One of the new Children who was recruited by the Battle of Jedha.

Dramatic Irony: After escaping from Planet X, she swears revenge for Geth's apparent death during the escape. As shown in The Nameless Terror, Geth and the Bonecrusher escaped from Planet X, only to be forced to crashland on a planet other than Dalna. And Geth ends up being the Sole Survivor of the crew when the Jedi save him from the very creatures he was transporting.
Even Evil Has Standards: Her witnessing how the Nameless kill their prey is enough to disturb her and prompt her to leave the Path on the Night of Sorrow.
Evil Genius: She has the role of managing the Path compound's security systems and doing ship maintenance.
Only Sane Woman: After Yana is left behind on Jedha, she becomes the most level-headed member of the Path between the Mother becoming more blatantly unhinged, the Elders' continued sycophancy towards her in spite of it, and Marda Ro's Black-and-White Insanity. After the Path is disbanded on the Night of Sorrows, she and Yana wander the galaxy together with the newly-widowed Opari Plouth by their side.
Pregnant Badass: It's revealed at the end of Path of Vengeance that she was pregnant with Geth's child during the Night of Sorrow. She plans to name this child "Mari" if it's a daughter, implying that this is Mari San Tekka.
Super-Intelligence: During the expedition to Planet X, she starts to passively exhibit enhanced acuity while repairing the Silverstreak. This is due to Planet X bringing out her unrealized Force potential.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After witnessing the Nameless indiscriminately attacking anyone who was Force-sensitive - whether they be Jedi or even repressed Path members - and being disturbed by how they kill their victims, she decides to pack her bags and leave the Path. Given that she learned that she was Force-sensitive while on Planet X, she had every reason to bail.

Other Members

Marda Ro

Marda Ro, Guide of the Path

Species: Evereni

Voiced by: Shannon Tyo

Appearances: Path of Deceit | Path of Vengeance | The Battle of Jedha | Quest for Planet X | A Closed Fist Has No Claws

"Clarity. And freedom, and harmony with the Force. That is the Path of the Open Hand. The Force is everywhere, in everything, blazing through the particles of our universe, and it is not our place to touch it. We are not above other creatures or things. We are not above the Force. We are it, if we are lucky."

A member of the Path of the Open Hand who was tasked with watching over the cult's children until she was elevated by the Mother to being the cults Guide along the Path. Marda helped to lead the Path into a confrontation with the Jedi Order that forever changed her and led to her becoming the great-grandmother to the Eye of the Nihil, Marchion Ro.

Affably Evil: She's one of the more personable members of the Path, but unlike the Mother, she genuinely believes in the Path's teachings of not touching the Force and demonizes those who would supposedly "abuse" it. Even after leaving the Path behind, becoming more cynical and continuing to feed Force users to the Leveler, she still cares for her crew.
Authority in Name Only: After being appointed the "guide" of the Path by the Mother, Marda held little more power within the group than she had before, with most of her suggestions having already been planned by the Mother or dismissed and manipulated. This changes as Marda grows both more confidant and bloodthirsty, with her eventually being the one who inspires the transformation into the Path of the Closed Fist.
Black-and-White Insanity: As someone who was raised in the Path at a very young and impressionable age, she is a fervent believer in the Path's teachings, thinks anyone who uses the Force must be wicked, and that the Mother is nothing but good. When Kevmo Zink — the one Jedi she developed any liking towards — is killed by the Leveler, her belief that the Jedi are evil is only reinforced with further manipulation by the Mother by convincing Marda that Kevmo died as a consequence of using the Force to save everyone from the flood, and not the fact that she unleashed the Leveler on him. When she witnesses the Nameless killing other Path members during the Night of Sorrow, she briefly rationalizes this as the victims secretly being "Force abusers", and thus deserving their fate. She slightly eases out of this mindset by the end of Path of Vengeance, after she witnesses a Nameless attack Utalir despite her not having once used the Force, realizing that a connection to the Force is not something that can be controlled. While she still seeks to punish those who misuse the Force, she's a little more selective about what qualifies as an "abuser" after seeing the Mother's true colors.
Break the Cutie: She suffers a lot of personal grief throughout Path of Deceit. First she falls in love with a Jedi despite their faiths being at odds with each other, which then makes it impossible for them to stay together. Then, she learns that Yana plans to leave the Path and desperately tries to barter to make her stay. Then her faith is shaken again when Yana claims that the Mother tried to have her and the Children killed on a mission for seemingly straying from the faith's MO, and finally, she watches Kevmo die an agonizing death in her arms. After further manipulation by her mother figure, she ends with the impression that the Jedi were ultimately responsible for Kevmo's death.
Commonality Connection: Kevmo points out that the both lost their parents as very young children and subsequently found meaning in their respective orders. Marda recognizes him stating this as trying to build trust and a bond between them, but still agrees and finds it relatable and comforting.
Crisis of Faith: She is initially at odds with Kevmo for how he uses the Force, but when he uses the Force to save her and some of her people from a flood on Dalna, she starts to have some second thoughts. By the end of Path of Deceit, her original belief that the Force should not be touched is only reinforced with some manipulation by the Mother after Kevmo is killed by the Leveler. When she joins Sunshine's expedition to Planet X, several Path members have the Force awakened in them and use their newfound abilities like they've always had them, including Bokana, who she had fallen in love with. This causes her to initially condemn them, but once Bokana sacrifices himself to fend off the Protector, she becomes increasingly confused. Once she witnesses one of the Nameless attack Utalir for no apparent reason during the Night of Sorrow, Yana immediately spells it out to her that not only are the Nameless indiscriminate in who they attack, being connected to the Force is not something one can simply control, no matter how much one holds it back.
Cute and Psycho: Most of the time, she's a kind girl. However, she's been raised in a cult with a vitriolic hatred for Force users and becomes increasingly zealous as time goes on. Even after leaving the Path, she goes around baiting solitary Jedi so she can feed them to the Leveler.
The Dog Bites Back: After years of manipulation by the Mother, Marda turns on her after learning how she's used the Path for her own selfish ends.
Dramatically Missing the Point: After Kevmo is killed by having the Force sucked out of him by the Leveler, does she finally get that the Mother is actually a power-hungry fraud? No, and thanks to Yana getting roped back into the cult anyway (as a result of biding her time with the Herald) and more manipulation by the Mother, she's lead to believe that Kevmo died as a consequence of the Jedi's teachings, and seeks revenge on the Jedi as a result.
Dramatic Irony: After killing the Mother and leaving Dalna in the Gaze Electric, she vows to never let anyone tell her what to do again. From her perspective, this is her saying not to let anyone take advantage of her again. Her great-grandson Marchion also lives by these words, but twists them to mean he is superior to everyone else.
Even Evil Has Standards: Even after creating her own band of raiders, she draws the line at taking slaves. If her asking a Jedi she kidnapped (before feeding him to the Leveler) if he had a Padawan was any indication, she has a problem orphaning apprentices after what happened with Kevmo.
Friend to All Children: She gets along really well with the children of Dalna and even gives flowers to them. The Mother takes advantage of this by using her to bring more children into her cult. Meanwhile, she serves as a caretaker for the Path's "littles", with her frequently taking care of the Kessarines' nest. It's this aspect of her that ultimately gets her to see the Mother for who she truly is, as she is appalled to learn that not only was the Mother having the Littles set bombs around the Path compound, she witnesses one of the Nameless attack a child who hasn't even realized she's Force-sensitive.
Hazy-Feel Turn: She remains a believer in the Path's teachings of punishing those who would misuse the Force at the end of Path of Vengeance. After learning how far the Mother was willing to manipulate her followers (and using the Force to do so) and realizing what the Nameless do to Jedi is exactly what happened to Kevmo, her definition of what truly qualifies as a "Force abuser" shifts a bit and turns on the Mother, being willing to even help the Jedi afterward and sparing them when she kills the Mother. However, this doesn't mean her opinion on the Jedi has changed much, as she's become a caretaker for the Great Leveler and is still targeting Force users to keep it satiated, and she would eventually go on to found the Nihil.
Heel Realization: The moment she sees the Littles being put in harm's way during the Night of Sorrow is the moment she realizes that the Mother has been taking advantage of her.
Insane Troll Logic: While she's taking some of the Path's littles on tour through the streets of Jedha, they come across some caged Wargarans that are said to hunt by sensing their prey's ripples through the Force. When one of the littles asks if they are using the Force like the Jedi, Marda tries to rationalize it as them just doing what is natural for them while the Jedi just manipulate the Force...which any other Force user would argue is just as natural for themselves. This type of mental gymnastics is just one of several examples of how the Mother has twisted her perceptions of anyone outside of the Path using the Force.
I See Dead People: In Path of Vengeance, she frequently speaks to a hallucination of Kevmo that serves as her subconscience.
Mama Bear: The moment she learns the Littles are being put in harm's way during the Night of Sorrow - whether it be the Mother having them plant bombs around the Path compound and she witnesses one of them gettting attacked by the Nameless despite not showing any other signs of Force-sensitivity - any loyalty she had to the Mother evaporates and she kills the Nameless threatening Utalir.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Evereni have a notorious reputation for Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, and she and her cousin Yana are looked at with suspicion even among the ranks of the Path. While Yana is prepared to give in to this stereotype to protect herself and her cousin, Marda is a lot more innocent and accepting as a result of not knowing her people's history. While seeking out other Evereni following the Path's fragmentation, she starts developing some of their more toxic traits after meeting a few of them.
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Her idea of bringing the Path to Jedha ends up hurting the cult in the end. The Mother did not want the Path coming to Jedha in the first place because she already had other agents there working to instigate the conflict, with the Mother only going along with it after promoting her to the position of the Guide of the Path. Not only does this decision put the Path in the crossfire of the Mother's own machinations, but it also starts to expose the Path's true nature to the rest of the galaxy.
Parental Abandonment: Her father sacrificed himself to hold off a group of villagers attempting to slaughter the Ro family after blaming them for a failed crop. Both her and Yana's mother would then leave them with the Path in the hopes they would have a better and safer life.
Pay Evil unto Evil: She has the Leveler feast on the Mother, realizing that she herself was the type of Force abuser she preached against.
Protagonist Journey to Villain: She is the deuteragonist of Path of Deceit alongside Kevmo. The end of the novel sets her up to become a major threat to the Jedi Order by leading the Path to Jedha and putting in motion the events that set the foundation for the Nihil.
Shut Up, Hannibal!: After making a speech about punishing those who abuse the Force, making the Mother think she was preparing to feed Oliviah Zeveron to the Leveler, she makes it clear she was actually referring to the Mother before feeding her to the Leveler.
Marda Ro: I will free the Force. I will free it of your tyranny, of your abuse. I will make it strong again.
The Mother: Yes, Marda. Do it. Show the Jedi the true Path. Release her from the agony of her world.
Marda Ro: I wasn't talking to your sister, Elecia. [Looks to the Mother] I was talking to you.
Star-Crossed Lovers: She and Kevmo Zink develop strong feelings for each other despite their faiths being at odds with each other. This ends in tragedy, as not only does Kevmo get killed by the Great Leveler and dies in her arms, she ends up getting the impression that Jedi brought Kevmo's death upon him due to their teachings.
Token Good Teammate: As one of those who grew up in the cult, Marda seems to be one of the only people in the Path who actually believes in its teachings without slipping into the worst excesses of fundamentalist zealotry and is willing to give even Jedi a chance to open up to it. Unfortunately, her belief that the Jedi are evil only deepens after the Mother manipulates her into believing that it was the Jedi Order that was responsible for Kevmo's death due to their teachings and not the Mother, who unleashed the Leveler on him. While she does unravel the Mother's lies and turns on her at the end of Path of Vengeance, she remains committed to punishing those who would actually abuse the Force.
Tragic Keepsake: After Kevmo's death, she keeps his lightsaber as a reminder of the sorrow she felt and her anger towards the Jedi. While she is shaken for some time after killing a rioter in defense on Jedha, the saber gets damaged to the point of being inoperable after using it to save Utalir from a hungry Nameless.
Tragic Villain: She was initially a kind-hearted young girl who was only opposed to the Jedi on the grounds of being indoctrinated by a cult so she could fit in with her peers in the face of anti-Evereni speciesism. After realizing the Mother was a fraud and manipulating her for her own ends, she only remains an enemy of the Jedi because that's all she's known her whole life and she's appointed herself as a caretaker for the Great Leveler, whom she's developed a sense of kinship with because she thinks herself a monster too after what she was complicit in, she's come too far to change, and owes the creature for taking it from its homeworld. Unfortunately, her descendants would lack her more tragic traits and exhibit only the toxic ones she developed after meeting other Evereni outside her family, and the raiders she created would become little more than self-indulgent brigands.
Tyke Bomb: As a result of being brought into the Path at a really young age, the Mother managed to mold her into a very fervent believer in the Path's teachings.
Villain Protagonist: She is billed as one of the deuteragonists of Path of Vengeance, having since solidified herself as one of the Path's more devout believers.
"Well Done, Daughter!" Girl: She tries her hardest to please the Mother, even when she starts being dismissive of her.
What You Are in the Dark: When the Mother and Herald fight each other, Marda gets control of one of the Nameless control rods. While she sees what may an opportunity to finally deliver judgement upon all those who would abuse the Force, she sees the Jedi suffering the same way she saw Kevmo. Instead, she decides to leave with the Rod in hand, let the Jedi deal with Elecia, and even saves Matthea from the Nameless in the compound catacombs.
White Sheep: In contrast with most of her descendants that formed the Nihil, Marda is a genuinely good-natured person all around, albeit one that is incredibly naïve and can be easily roped into nefarious causes, as being one of the Path's most devout followers can attest to. After she's free of the Path of the Open Hand, she decides to never let anyone tell her what to do again. However, her quest to find other Evereni causes her to develop some of their more toxic cultural traits, which would eventually become the basis for the Nihil. In contrast, her cousin Yana would take a level in idealism.

Radicaz Dobbs

Radicaz "Sunshine" Dobbs

Species: Human

Homeworld: Eriadu

Appearances: Path of Deceit | The High Republic (2022) | Path of Vengeance

A hyperspace prospector, smuggler and treasure hunter who trafficed Force artifacts during the High Republic Era, 150 years before the Great Disaster. After an anonymous contract message brings him to Dalna, he winds up indoctrinated into the Path of the Open Hand.

Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: There is supposedly a code of honor among hyperspace prospectors when it comes to sharing the spoils of discovering planets. Sunshine, however, will kill or maroon those he works with after his discovery so he can take the spoils for himself.
Collector of the Strange: He's a treasure hunter that dabbles in Force artifacts, and one of that is doing so illegally.
Dirty Coward: When serving as the Children's pilot during the mission to Thelj, he alerts the Graf authorities to their presence and leaves them to die by flying away from the landing site. When Yana survives and catches up to him, it doesn't take much for her to make him cave and fly her back to Dalna for revenge on the Mother. The only reason Yana doesn't kill Sunshine right away is that she can't fly a ship.
Even Evil Has Standards: He does not take it well when he learns that the Mother has been using the Force to influence his mind.
Fantastic Racism: Thanks to the Evereni's storied reputation, he is very distrustful and uncomfortable around Yana Ro.
Fat Bastard: He's a hefty, but cutthroat prospector who will kill anyone potentially competing with him over the same planet just so he alone can gain the credit for discovering it. And this is without him being part of a cult with plans against the Jedi.
Faux Affably Evil: He can be quite chummy with anyone he works with, but he's incredibly cutthroat and will dispose of even his own allies if it means earning the credit for himself.
Hated by All: In the world of Hyperspace prospecting, Sunshine is seen as little more than a slimeball who will do absolutely anything for a big payday, including backstabbing his fellow prospectors. Most of the Path members don't hold him in high regard either, especially not the Herald and Yana.
He Knows Too Much: After he discovers Planet X, either he kills anyone else who might also know about the planet (that is if they don't have anything to pay him to not kill them) or maroon them on a hostile planet in the case of the Leffbruk family.
Hypocrite: He is disdainful of the Graf family and the Evereni's reputation for Chronic Backstabbing Disorder. Sunshine isn't any better than either in that regard, as he kills people immediately after making deals and getting what he wanted from them.
Laser-Guided Karma:
- He came to the Path of the Open Hand with the intent of scamming them with his artifacts he knows very little about. He ends up working for the cult full-time when the Mother uses the Force to influence his mind and sees some use for his alleged snake oil.
- After he realizes that the Mother's been using the Force to influence him, he tries to convince Yana to flee with him when she catches him trying to steal back some of the stolen Force artifacts. Yana pays him back for setting her and the Children up to die on Thelj by knocking him out and trapping him in a room.
Not Himself: A case where Sunshine is the one noticing that he is not acting right. Several times he finds himself thinking about how the Force will be free or other tenants of the Path and then suddenly wonders why he cares so much. However, his doubts and confusion fade each time he talks with the Mother and she uses the Force to bend him to her will again.
Pet the Dog: When his ship crashes on his second visit to Planet X as part of the Path's expedition, Marda takes note of how he seems genuinely saddened by his Robot Buddy getting destroyed in the crash.
Turn to Religion: At first, Sunshine is just brokering information and collecting artifacts for the Path for credits, and had a strained relationship with his family on Eriadu. After a few more jobs, he finds himself hooked by the Mother and her cult. However, this turn isn't genuine, as the Mother had been using the Force to influence his mind.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: One of the first artifacts he gives to the Path of the Open Hand is a mysterious large purple jewel which later turns out to be a Nameless egg, more specifically the one the Great Leveler hatches from. In trying to further ingratiate himself with the Path, he also gave them the location of Planet X — the Nameless's homeworld. In short, Sunshine's actions gave the Nihil — the Path's successor group — information about a weapon that would allow them to deal a devastating blow to both the Republic and Jedi Order 150 years later.
What Happened to the Mouse?: He's last seen being incapacitated by Yana and trapped in one of the Path compound's chambers. It's unknown if he got out before the compound was flooded during the Night of Sorrow, but Yana suspects he might be alive. If he is alive, it's unknown he was taken into custody or he escaped.

Binnot Ullo

Species: Mirialan

Appearances: Convergence | Cataclysm

A Mirialan cultist that served as a liaison between the Mother and some undercover Path agents while further fanning the flames of the Eiram-E'ronoh war. After the Battle of Jedha, he aspires to be the Mother's right-hand disciple.

Agent Provocateur: Alongside the Kage siblings, he too had the rule of keeping the Forever War between Eiram and E'ronoh going as a way to highlight the failings of the Jedi. After the Kage siblings are dead, and the war is reignited with the failure of the peace treaty on Jedha, he and Goi Ganok take up the task by trying to frame E'ronoh for being in possession of Klytobacter, a potentially planet-killing bio-weapon.
Ambition Is Evil: After the Herald is captured on Jedha, he aspires to be the Mother's right-hand man.
Ascended Extra: He simply served as a liaison between the Mother, the Kage siblings and Axel in Convergence. In Cataclysm, he becomes a major character.
Bad Boss: After the Path of the Closed Fist is created, he starts to kill Path members who get in his way or show any hesitance to fight.
Berserk Button: He is emotionally set off when Gella points that he's a repressed Force-sensitive and that he secretly enjoys touching the Force, even though he's been taught to despise Force users.
Boomerang Bigot: He's a Force-sensitive who happens to be a part of a vitriolic anti-Force user cult. Of course, given the cult's MO, he has to keep this part of himself suppressed.
Didn't See That Coming: His plans to frame E'ronoh for being in possession of Klytobacter hit a major stumbling block when his ship is attacked by pirates, many of who see the reignited war as an opportunity for plundering. This results in him and Goi being held prisoner on Eirie and interrogated by Char-Ryl-Roy and Enya Keen, who learn that they were working with the Path.
Facial Markings: Unlike most Mirialans, Binnot has very few of his people's cultural tattoos on his face as a result of being raised in the Path since he was ten years old. Instead, he has more of the Path's blue brikal paste marks on his face.
False Friend: It was through him that Axel was ingratiated into the Path as a teenager, taking advantage of his emotionally vulnerable state after his father's death. However, any notions of him being Axel's friend are false, as he's secretly envious of Axel when the Mother suggests that she still sees value in him. Once Kyong Greylark relinquishes her Chancellorship, he drops all pretenses of being Axel's friend, as he's now become useless as a political puppet for the Path.
Green-Eyed Monster: And literally too. When talking with the Mother about potentially liberating Axel Greylark from prison, he is shown to be very envious of Axel when it comes to gaining the Mother's favor, as Axel has spent most of his life living outside the Path.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Binnot meets his end when Axel makes him hit himself with his own poisoned glove.
Hypocrite: He's part of a cult that at worst, would like to kill Force users, despite being a repressed Force user himself, and it's implied given his defensive reactions to Gella probing him on it, that he enjoys using it when the rest of the Path isn't looking, as shown by the enjoyment he has from holding onto Gella's lightsabers]
If You're So Evil, Eat This Kitten!: After forming the Path of the Closed Fist, he tries to make Axel prove his allegiance by having him kill a young Path member who is reluctant fight after just losing his mother. This ends up being the final straw for Axel.
I Lied: After poisoning Orin Darhga and offering to give an antidote if Gella surrenders, the latter does so, only for Binnot to let Orin die anyway and mention there never was an antidote (and to add insult to injury, Gella rightly suspected he wouldn't keep his word given the Path's hatred of Jedi.
Knight Templar: While this trope is to be expected from the Path of the Open Hand, Binnot takes it to a whole new level when the Path of the Closed Fist is formed on the Night of Sorrow. He declares anyone who isn't part of the Path an enemy, not just Force users, and tries to have those unwilling to fight executed.
My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Mirialans — even those who aren't fully Force-sensitive — are typically in touch with the Force as part of their culture. Binnot meanwhile, claims he didn't like being made to feel it, and that's why he's part of an anti-Force user cult. However, it's implied he secretly enjoys using it. He just doesn't like being told what to do.
Poisoned Weapons: One of his weapons of choice is a glove with poisoned needles concealed in the fingertips.
Shame If Something Happened: While serving as a liaison to Abda and Serrena, he warns might happen to them if they were to get captured.

Goi Ganok

Species: Roonan

Appearances: Cataclysm

A Roonan cultist who worked with Binnot Ullo to further fan the flames of the Eiram-E'ronoh after the Battle of Jedha.

Driven to Suicide: After Char-Ryl-Roy, Enya Keen, and the two planets' heirs learn that the Path of the Open Hand was trying to keep the Forever War going, Goi commits suicide by exposing himself to one of his acid-gas bombs rather than be taken prisoner.
Loose Lips: While Char-Ryl-Roy and Enya take him and Binnot on a walk around Eirie, Goi accidentally reminisces about one of his past-times on Dalna, which immediately contradicts his and Binnot's cover story of being smugglers from Skye.
Nervous Wreck: After things start to go wrong for him and Binnot while in the Eiram system (starting with getting shot down by pirates), he noticeably becomes a lot more defensive, and his true nature starts to show when he's confronted with Jedi.

Fel Ix

Species: Kessarine

Homeworld: Atalia

Appearances: Path of Deceit | Quest for Planet X

A Path member who, along with fellow Kessarine Ferize, made a nest on Dalna and became friends with Marda Ro. After the Battle of Jedha, the Mother sends him on an important mission.

Ascended Extra: He was a side character in Path of Deceit before becoming a major character in Quest for Planet X.
Broken Pedestal: Not himself, but his opinion on the Mother, whom he previously saw as an unquestionable scion of the Force, sours when he learns how much of a hate-peddling hypocrite she was following the Battle of Dalna.
Call to Agriculture: After the Path is routed on Dalna, Rok Buran helps him reunite with his family (who was living on the Gaze Electric). After that he decides to move with his family to his home planet of Atalia to work on the algae farms.
Easily Forgiven: Despite being complicit in sabotaging a communications buoy and trying to take a Jedi prisoner, Rooper and Silandra let him off easy for his role in saving the Brightbird's crew and repairing the buoys over Dalna. He's only held in custody until Rok Buran can reunite him with his family. After that, the family simply retires to Atalia.
Pet the Dog:
- Despite being a believer in the Path's teachings, he expresses remorse for Kevmo's death due to him saving his children from a flood on Dalna.
- When he realizes how young Rooper is, and being a father himself, he tries to recommend she leave the Jedi Order lest she eventually face the Leveler's judgment.
- When Dass is in danger of being eaten by a carnivorous fungus on Farj's moon, Fel Ix saves his life, even though he has no reason to keep him alive and held him at blaster point earlier.
Polyamory: He and Er Dal are Ferize's male partners.
Punch-Clock Villain: While he believes in the Path's teachings of abstaining from the Force, he doesn't exhibit any extreme dogma or bear any personal hostility towards Force users unlike many of the Path's other members. He's mainly in the Path because Ferize is in it. His work sabotaging communication buoys and attacking a Jedi is solely on the Mother's orders. After he is taken prisoner by the crew of the Brightbird, he works alongside even Jedi Padawan Rooper Natani to not only help keep the crew alive, but also repair the communication buoys orbiting Dalna, if only because he desires to reunite with his family. After the Path is defeated at the Battle of Dalna, the Jedi are lenient with him and help him to reunite with his family.
Token Good Teammate: Similar to his friend, Marda, he is one of the few Path members who doesn't despise the Jedi with a burning passion. Unlike Marda, however, he doesn't come to view the Jedi as enemies at all despite his beliefs of abstaining from Force usage, whereas Marda only reevaluates her dogma the moment she realizes just how much the Mother has been manipulating her.
Villainous Friendship: His friendship with Marda is so great that he considers her part of his family.

Jaydyn

Species: Quermian

Appearances: The High Republic (2022)

A cultist who preached the Path's teachings in front of their almshouse on Jedha.

Break the Haughty: After spending several issues of the comic trash-talking the Jedi and blaming them for every misfortune in the galaxy (even after being buried alive in the collapsed almshouse, which was a result of a conflict that the Mother secretly instigated), she starts to beg the Force to help her and the others trapped in the almshouse after spending enough time being buried alive.
The Fundamentalist: Like many of the Path's members, she is very vocal about her hatred of Jedi.
Lean and Mean: She's a Quermian, an alien species distinguished by their long limbs and necks, who also happens to be a caustic religious zealot.

Bokana Koss

Species: Ovissian

Appearances: Path of Vengeance

An Ovissian who joined the Path while it was on Jedha.

Good Scars, Evil Scars: One of his notable features is a broken chin tusk. The tusk regrows almost instantly when he's on Planet X.
Heroic Sacrifice: He gives his life tackling the Protector off the escaping Silverstreak.
Interspecies Romance: During Sunshine's egg-collecting expedition to Planet X, he finds himself in a romantic relationship with Marda (an Evereni). However, their relationship becomes strained when Marda learns he's been passively tapping into the Force as a result of Planet X bringing out his hidden Force potential, which flies in the face of her beliefs about using the Force.
Shell-Shocked Veteran: He reveals that before he joined the Path, he was a mercenary, even being hired by the E'roni during their Forever War with Eiram. This life eventually took its toll him.

Vol Garat

See his entry on the Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries page.

Littles

Tromak

See his entry on the Religious Organizations page under "Elders of the Path".

Boolan

See his entry on the Nihil page under "The Three Ministers".

Agents of the Path (unmarked spoilers in folders)

"Chaos"

Axel Greylark

See his entry on the Galactic Republic - High Republic Era page.

The Monarch

Queen Adrialla

See her entry on the Dalnan Sector page under Eiram.

The Profiteer

Tilson Graf

See his entry on the Spacers page under the Graf Family.

Assets of the Path

Great Leveler

The Great Leveler

See its entry on the Nihil page.

The Nameless

See their entry on the Other Force Users and Beings page.

Characters / Star Wars - Path of the Open Hand

Edit Locked

All spoilers regarding the Skywalker Saga and The Clone Wars are unmarked. Examples relating to Disney's EU and the new movies can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary. Spoilers from Phase I and II of the High Republic publishing initiative will also be unmarked.

Leadership

Elecia Zeveron, "The Mother"

Species: Human

Werth Plouth, "The Herald"

Species: Nautolan

Elders of the Path

Elder Barbatash

Children of the Open Hand

Yana Ro

Species: Evereni

Kor Plouth

Species: Nautolan

Treze

Species: Mikkian

Cincey

Species: Human

Homeworld: Coruscant

Abda and Serrena

Species: Kage

Homeworld: Quarzite

Shea Ganandra

Species: Human

Other Members

Marda Ro, Guide of the Path

Species: Evereni

Radicaz "Sunshine" Dobbs

Species: Human

Homeworld: Eriadu

Binnot Ullo

Species: Mirialan

Goi Ganok

Species: Roonan

Fel Ix

Species: Kessarine

Homeworld: Atalia

Jaydyn

Species: Quermian

Bokana Koss

Species: Ovissian

Vol Garat

Littles

Tromak

Boolan

Agents of the Path (unmarked spoilers in folders)

Axel Greylark

Queen Adrialla

Tilson Graf

Assets of the Path

The Great Leveler

The Nameless

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