Concept art by Cory Allemeier, box design by LucasArts design team. “Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith.” February, 1998.
LucasArts Lead Designer, Ryan Kaufman, had these memories to share about the making of Mysteries of the Sith on the StarWars.com blog in 2005 (edited for brevity):
In 1997, I was part of a small team working on a mission pack for the PC game Outlaws. During that time, the marketing department looked at the sales for Outlaws and came to a disappointing conclusion. "We haven't done enough sales to make a mission pack profitable," they told us, "but how would you like to work on the mission pack to Jedi Knight?"
Jedi Knight (aka JK) hadn't even been released yet at that point. The designers were still putting the final polish on what we all knew was going to be a GREAT game. It was a quantum leap forward for LucasArts and for Kyle Katarn himself-- our first foray into 3D FPS, and Kyle's "first step into a much larger world." Featuring Force powers, giant sprawling missions, branching storylines, full-motion cutscenes... this was the Star Wars experience we'd all been craving for years.
My friend and co-level designer Kevin Schmitt and I, along with artist Clint Young, were huge fans of the Thrawn trilogy, and especially of Mara Jade. I forget who suggested her first, but once we began talking about Mara, we knew we had to work her into the story.
We decided to make Kyle into a mentor and teacher, because it seemed like the next evolution of his character. Plus it would give him and Mara an instantly-understandable relationship.
Why would Kyle take Mara as his apprentice? He's a loner, and a renegade. But in JK he took on the mantle of Jedi Knight. It was a tough choice for him, and I think that he saw something of himself in Mara. She too had to evolve from a violent loner into a Force-user and valuable member of the New Republic.
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As previously mentioned, sometimes writing this Mara memoir is very frustrating because there are absolutely conversations that could have happened and potentially resolved a few things for our OTP sooner.
And not all of those conversations involve Luke and Mara actually talking to each other either.
It is canon that Kyle Katarn completes his training at some point, seemingly before Luke and Mara get married, and he has a story to tell...
Kyle Katarn could sense a change coming over Master Skywalker and he fell into a disquieted silence as he watched his teacher stand up and ask Master Solusar to take over the interview. Without a further word, Luke Skywalker left the practice room fast enough that his Jedi robe billowed behind him.
“What just happened?”
Kam Solusar turned back to meet Kyle’s concerned gaze.
“I’m not entirely certain,” he offered, “but I don’t think it is anything for you to worry about.”
“Some sort of emergency?”
“Maybe. I expect he will clarify later. Please continue.”
Kyle finished his account of Mara Jade’s poise and unexpected calm as he’d held his lightsaber menacingly at her throat, until the magnitude of what he was considering had overwhelmed him. It had been one thing he explained to think about darkness. It was another entirely to commit so much to any given set of ideas that he would be willing to kill his friends and family for it.
When he finished his account of his experience with the dark side, Master Solusar seemed pleased.
“It sounds to me like your encounter was one we may all touch at some point. While you struggled in its clutches for a while, with the help of a friend, you found your way back. It is a reminder that we all find ourselves in need of friends and fellow Jedi to help us along the way. Please remember this as you consider your trials.”
Kyle nodded in acknowledgement, but couldn’t help but wonder if Master Skywalker had a different opinion of him.
The Jedi Master caught up with him outside the sparring field just after breakfast the next morning.
“I want to apologize for my quick departure yesterday.” he opened with an expression that matched his words, “It was unnecessary and probably made your story harder to tell than it otherwise would have been. I do not find your experience with the dark side too horrifying to handle. Just something about it hit me in a way I needed to sort out with myself and that was not your fault at all.”
“I appreciate the explanation but you don’t have to apologize, Master Skywalker.” He paused but then found he couldn’t resist exploring the hunch, “it was because of Mara, wasn’t it?
“Pardon?” All of a sudden, Luke Skywalker’s eyes seemed wider than usual, his expression more vulnerable.
“You handled all of it - my story of the voices and the disembodied feelings and power fantasies and the lies I told and the creatures I killed and my anger at Jan, all of it. You sat calmly and patiently filled with sympathy and understanding.” Kyle smiled, “but then I told you that I’d threatened Mara. I told you I declared she would join me or die and that I’d held my lightsaber to her throat and she hadn’t flinched or backed down, and you turned to stone.” Kyle’s smile ventured into grin territory, “a very angry stone, I might add.”
“I -” The Jedi Master was beyond flustered.
“It’s okay, Master Skywalker. I care about Mara too. She’s one of my best friends and she and Jan have a great time together. In fact, you should see what they get up to when they visit with Mirax and Iella.” He watched the Jedi Master’s jaw drop slightly, “or maybe you shouldn’t.”
Master Skywalker pulled himself together but still seemed remarkably nonplussed.
“Yes, well, clearly the two of you have worked it out, and that is what matters. It’s none of my business and my reaction was not appropriate as your teacher. I am sorry.”
“Possibly not.” Kyle agreed, “but since you had a reaction, you might want to talk to her about it.”
“If she wanted me to know about it, she would have told me.”
Kyle looked at Luke suspiciously, “you sure about that?”
“Did you wish for me to hear the end of your account, or was it sufficient to share your story with Master Solusar and we can move on to preparing for your trials?”
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Quite cool to find that someone had uploaded the Star Wars (now Legends) audio dramas of the Dark Forces trilogy (they were based on the Dark Forces and Dark Forces II video games) and I often mess with DFII as an editor and it was cool. The novellas were brought into the Expanded Universe with Luke and Leia’s appearances which add to it (Kyle does cross paths with Luke in Jedi Outcast and that game retcons this) Kyle Katarn is a very popular EU and does diverge from the game but retains all the key plots. Damn good listen if you ask me 🤘
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