Double Agents, turning from the Light Side to the Dark Side, and vice verca

Are there any plots in the EU concerning double agents?

I've been thinking about this recently, and since there are obviously no overt references to double agents in the films, figured I would place this thread in the EU discussion part of this forum. And also that if there are any instances at all they would most likely take place in the EU, at the very least the discussion of the topic is most likely an EU discussion.

Since the Dark Side seems so keen on recruiting Jedi to turn, what is stop a Jedi, after getting approval from the Council, to accept such an offer? All the while maintaining his loyalty to the Jedi, but working for the Empire in a bid to ultimately bring them down, even with the understanding of the possibility of that Jedi losing his life as a result.

Aside from Jedi, could the Empire potentially recruit non-Jedi members of the Rebellion (Light Side?) to their cause? Any cases of this in the EU?

The other side of the coin.

What if a Sith were to decide he wanted to turn to the Light Side of the Force? Obviously the immediate concern would be the reverse of the scenario I postulated above, that a "former" Sith could retain his loyalty to the Dark Side by faking his turn to the light side and joining them in an attempt to bring them down. Have there been attempts at Sith double agents? And what about a genuine turn from the Dark Side to the Light Side? How might this be received by the Jedi? Any known instances of this already?

And are there any instances of non-Force characters going from the Empire to join the Rebellion?

Even the rogue characters seem to have a side. Han Solo good. Boba Fett bad. Could there be a scenario where one turns to the other?

 

I'd say you're right this is an EU topic. There have been several that have been on both sides of the fence both Force-Sensitives and Imperials/Rebels.

 

Seems like a good outline for a Jason Bourne type Star Wars character and plot. And would be much less of a side vs side story.

 

Can't say I get the ref. Never read or saw the Bournes. However, I never thought the 'sides' were well anchored in SW to begin with. Just a lot of empty talk with very little difference in practice.

 

Just a guy sent undercover, who's agency then turns on him, so he flees, and to take it a step further in the SW universe could result in the eventual turning to the other side. Might be interesting how something like that would play out as a Star Wars storyline.

 

I kinda feel that's what happened to Revan but I don't know his whole story.

 

Ulic Qel-Droma and Luke come to mind for me. They kind of were double agents for a time. Neither got approval from the council, of course in Luke's case there was no council. Their intentions were good but Ulic's situation didn't end well and Luke's nearly didn't either. Jedi skirting too close to the dark side rarely ends well.

As far as non Force characters leaving the Empire to join the Rebellion there was a bunch. Tycho Celchu, Crix Madine, Hobbie Klivian, Biggs Darklighter, Vil Dance, it goes on and on. They weren't double agents though. If that's what you meant for the non -force characters then these don't really apply.

 

Another good example was in TOR: Annihilation - referencing a Jedi being sent to the Sith as a secret agent - and becoming Darth Malgus's apprentice. She ended up going over for real and becoming "Darth Karrid".

There's also, from what I can tell in the TOR Encyclopaedia book, a few cases of the reverse.

 

Thank you for the replies. All good examples I will have to look up.

CrazyOldHermit, I was indeed looking for both types of examples. Double agent types as well as people who simply turn for the sake of turning.

 

It's quite common in OT-era works for the Empire to plant double agents in the Rebellion. Sometimes they stay loyal to the Empire, sometimes they don't.

"Rebel secret agents within the Empire hierarchy" seem to be rarer but not unheard of.

 

I'm shocked that nobody mentioned perhaps the most well known under covered Jedi: Quinlan Vos.

This guy really went deep into enemy territory and almost did't come out.

 

There is also Boba Fett's deception of the Yuuzhan Vong where he had the Mandalorians allied with them though secretly passing along intelligence to the New Republic.

 

The Vong War is full of double agents.

Nom Anor was always changing teams. He's helped the Empire, the Vong, and the Galactic Alliance as the Prophet, than returns to helping the Vong.

There was senator Viqi Shesh. She was secretly a Vong Collaberator who worked to undermine the New Republic government from within.

There was Elan the priestess, who pretended to defect to the Jedi so that she could try and poison them.

Vegere was a pretty big double agent too. She joined the Vong 50 years before the invasion to learn more about them and to delay their invasion. Throughout the series, her true allegiance and motives are rather murky (I don't care what Mr. Troy Denning says, she isn't a Sith). "Everything she tells you is a lie". She finally proves herself to be on the good guy's side when she mentors and saves Jacen Solo.

Probably the biggest one in the series though is her disciple, Jacen Solo. He pretended to join the Vong so he can have access to the World Brain, a move that proves instrumental to ending the war. NJO Traitor is all about Traitors.

 

Even LOTF paints her as someone who promptly betrayed Palpatine, (after joining him for a very short time, and learning his true nature) and was forced to flee.

I could see her joining him purely with the goal of undermining the Sith.

 

With Sith and Jedi becoming double agents is difficult because you would be literally switching between opposing mindsets between light and dark sides.

Non-force sensitives is easy; just like us we can pretend one thing, but with Jedi and Sith, who could detect each other's emotions, hiding isn't an option.

 

If you have the capacity to detect somebody else's emotions than I would think you could have the capacity to mask your own. But perhaps in a moment of weakness and letting one's guard down a Jedi or Sith's true intentions may be revealed by the other party being able to read those thoughts.

 

Palpatine certainly could be right in the middle of a room full of Jedi and nobody was the wiser, but it does seem to be rare. The pull of the dark side would be too much for most Jedi.

 

TOR: Annihilation was also a pretty good suspenseful, spy-sort of book. Really liked the plot with the main "villain" being a ship, not a real person.

A good example of this would be (spoilers for those who haven't read the Darth Bane-trilogy)

Spoiler

When Zannah infiltrates the Jedi Temple masquerading as a Jedi to look through the archives for the location of planets in the Inner Core. She's constantly having to keep her guard up and not get startled by anything.

It's portrayed very well, in my opinion.


Edit: I apologize for the double post.

 

The Quinlan Vos storyline in Republic was full of double agents: Vos himself, Khaleen, Tookarti.

 

So I just started watching Season 2 Episode 1 of Star Wars Rebels called Siege of Lothal, and right at the beginning there is an Imperial employee making a plea to the Rebels that she wants to defect.

 

That's the problem with Sith/Jedi double agents. You can't mislead the Force...if you want to pass for a Fallen Jedi, you have to really fall, at least partially (and the Sith count of that, they happily welcome double agents, expecting them to completely fall to the Dark Side and truly join the Sith)..

I guess it's the same for Sith: I have read somewhere about a Sith Lord who, seeing how the Sith Order tended to self-destruct, tried to adopt a phylosophical change, making the Sith less about anger and hate and include more positive elements... and he was corrupted to the Light Side, went mad, destroyed his collection of Dark Side lore and was put down by his own disciple.

 

Brakiss being one of those Imperial secret agents among Luke's students. Lumiya before she became Emperor's Hand and a Sith.

 

Lumiya was passing for a non-force sensitive, just like Darth Plageis, Darth Sidious and Mara Jade. They can do that if they train enough.

Brakiss was a Dark Side user trying to pass for a Light Side user, and he failed. Luke Skywalker easily sensed the truth, but he kept him, trying to convert him to the Light Side (kind of the same Dooku did with Quinlan Voss).