REVAN'S ROLE IN THE WARS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC
Revan was deemed a genius in her younger years. That idea carried on for most of her life, up until her dissention. She started as a promising Jedi that was eager to defend her homeland when the Mandalorians attacked. When the Mandalorians advanced on the Republic, starting the Mandalorian Wars, she leaped at the opportunity to protect her homeland. Her passionate speeches and promises of valiant action coupled with the terrifying facts of the early destruction of Cathar pushed many young Jedi into action. Over time she gathered followers within the Jedi Order and later moved through the ranks to gain control over a third of the Republic's army. Her brilliant strategies brought her many victories, but her foresight made losses a necessity. When it came to battle, she was ruthless. The media mercilessly criticized her tactics, portraying her as a brute. This, however, didn't last long. When she continued to push back the Mandalorian armies and spearheaded the entirety of the Republic's forces, her renown with the public started to grow. No longer was Revan a young, inexperienced Jedi, but a heroic general – someone worth dying for. When she won the war for the Republic, she became the most popular public figure of her time.
The war had cost Revan a large chunk of herself. The horrifying sights that came with battle had scarred her for eternity. With the fear and terror that she still harbored from the recent war, she took her third of the Republic forces and left the known galaxy. Instead of returning to the Jedi Academy, she convinced all of her loyal followers from the Republic fleet to leave known space in search of what she called the True Sith. The popular belief that plagued peoples' minds consisted of thoughts and words like insanity and delusional. Only a few Jedi Knights that stayed behind knew the truth. But that's a whole different story.
Years later, Revan returned with a massive fleet at her beck and call. Her forces flew under a new banner and consisted of new, impressive ships. While her old crew remained, she had recruited others: the Sith. To the Republic's horror, Revan was no longer the charismatic Jedi General, but a cold and calculating Sith Lord. They were lacking answers, a third of their forces, and their strongest leader and fighter. Not only was the Republic missing all of those things, but they were now fighting against them.
The war stretched on and on. While the Republic - now led by the Jedi Knights and their Masters - put up a good fight, they were no match for Revan, who was well versed in the science of warfare. The Jedi Masters saw that they were going to lose the fight. So, they developed a risky plan.
In a last ditch effort, they lured Revan to the planet Taris where the Jedi Knight Bastila waited. Through a series of miraculous events, Bastila and several other Jedi Knights were able to board Revan's command ship and confront her. They fought bravely, but Revan quickly cut through their forces. She and Bastila squared off.
Bastila did her best, but in the end it was actually Revan's ignorance that was her downfall. Her subordinate, Malak, had been planning to kill his Sith Lord and take her place as leader. He took the opportunity set before him and attacked his master's command ship while she was defending herself against the Jedi.
Amazingly, Revan and Bastila managed to live. Revan lost her memories in the crash and the Jedi used that to their advantage. Secretly, the Jedi Council agreed to search Revan's mind for answers and replace her past with a new, false identity. The problem was the Jedi Masters couldn't break through Revan's mental defenses. Instead, they hid her away in the Republic soldier ranks and had Bastila keep an eye on her. The soldiers that fought beside Revan hadn't a clue who she was (she constantly wore a mask during her service in the army previously, even when she made public appearances as a General). Only the Jedi High Council and Bastila, Revan's new commanding officer, knew of her true identity.
Over time, Revan - who was at the time going under a different name, although she didn't know that - began to realize that some parts of her memory and past just didn't add up. She had scars she didn't remember getting, nightmares about familiar battles that she supposedly wasn't at, and a strange ability to effect the people around her. She gradually opened up her mind and unlocked her past memories along with her power over the Force.
When those closest to her - including Bastila - realized just how much she knew, they grew distrustful. Revan's memories weren't complete. She couldn't recall exactly who she was, but things were starting to build up in her mind.
Even though Revan had returned to the Republic, she wasn't a Jedi, she wasn't a general, and Malak had become the new Sith Lord in her stead. With these new problems on her plate, Revan gathered a group of people to come with her in search of the Star Forge. In her dreams/memories she saw a giant space station that could make freighters, assault ships, command ships, shields, droids, et cetera in just moments. It was a living machine that couldn't be comprehended by the normal mind. In her dreams she remembered places that she had stopped at while she was a Sith Lord, although she doesn't realize that she was, in fact, a Sith. These places had hints to the location of the Star Forge.
During her search, she, Bastila, and her crew were captured by Malak. He told Revan who she was, invoking her rage. She and her crew were able to escape, with the exception of Bastila. In the end, Bastila was converted to the dark side, in turn, completing the cycle of master and apprentice.
Numerous adventures later, Revan had discovered the location to the Star Forge. She told the Republic the location of the Star Forge, but refrained from sharing that she now knew who and what she was. She also didn't reveal her intent to exact revenge against Malak.
Without much preparation, both Revan and the Republic hurried to confront Malak and his fleet. While the Republic forces distracted the main Sith army, Revan infiltrated the Star Forge and defeated Bastila. Soon after, she showed Malak the error in his ways.
Malak, always hiding something up his sleeve, had stored energy away in his command deck. Even though the fight wasn't fair, Revan eventually bested Malak in one-on-one combat.
"This is the way of the Dark Side, Malak - all things end in death. The apprentice has learned his final lesson." Revan to Malak.
With Malak dead, Revan assumed control of the Sith forces, and made the Republic armies surrender all in one go. In a massive show of Force power, Revan wiped the location of the Star Forge from the minds of the navigators and computers. The Republic fleet was sent back and the Sith army re-gathered under Revan.
The enigma that was Revan disappeared once again. The Republic waited for an attack from the newly reinstated Sith Lord. The attack never came, however. The Sith serving her were never seen again. An entire fleet had disappeared yet again, with only whispers left behind.
Revan had aspired to remove the threat of the True Sith, a threat that only she seemed to really know about. It was something that seemed to only lurk on her mind, a menace only she actually understood. Only she could travel outside of known space and defeat this ancient race. Only she could take the power of the Sith to defeat an even worse evil.
And that was exactly what she left to do.