Jedi Commander was a rank in the military hierarchy of the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. Members of the Jedi Order serving in this position held the rank of Padawan or, apprentice.
Formed in 22 BBY, the Grand Army consisted of clone troopers who were bred to serve the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order. Under the overall command of Supreme Chancellor, the Grand Army's Order of Battle saw members of the Jedi Order placed in leadership positions. The ORBAT saw 80 generals placed in command of corps (along with a Clone Marshal Commander) and 320 in command of legions (along with a Senior Clone Commander). There were also ten High Jedi Generals in command of systems armies, and twenty Senior Jedi Generals in command of sector armies. Padawans were given the rank of Jedi Commander and put in command of each of the army's 1,280 regiments.
As a Padawan in the Jedi Order was only an apprentice, many were stationed at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant during the war if a General could not accompany them onto the battlefield. Senior Padawans remained on alert at the Temple, ready to be dispatched; younger Padawans, especially those who had lost their masters in the war, remained at the Temple doing research on strategy and running through advanced lightsaber combat training.
Some Padawans invoked the Right of Denial, a right granted by the Jedi High Council to refuse to take on a military rank. The High Council did not look fondly on those who shirked their duties to the Republic, requiring them to turn over their lightsabers to the Coruscant Temple.
When Supreme Chancellor Palpatine betrayed the Order at the end of the war by issuing Contingency Order 66, most Jedi were caught off guard as their own troopers turned their blasters on them. Nearly every active Jedi, whether serving as a Commander or a General, was cut down by their own troopers in a single day. Those who survived were stripped of their rank and went into hiding, many being hunted down by the newly risen Galactic Empire's Inquisitorius.
Notable Jedi CommandersEdit
During the Clone Wars, several Commanders achieved notoriety for their bravery and courage. Others, however, fell victim to the persuasion of the dark side of the Force and left the Order or were otherwise stripped of their rank and cast out off the Jedi Path.
When the war erupted, Padawan Etain Tur-Mukan was deep undercover on the planet Qiilura when the war broke out on Geonosis and was therefore unaware of her new rank. When Omega Squad arrived on planet to rescue her from overwhelming odds, Tur-Mukan was coached by her loyal clones on how to lead and went on to liberate the planet. Joined by Padawan/Commander Bardan Jusik, the two apprentices would successfully pass their Trials of Knighthood on the planet, organizing a local militia to work as a barrier against future occupation by the Confederacy.
During the early stages of war, many Padawans lost their masters to the savage conflict. These Commanders, though still fledgling Jedi, were forced to lead their armies on their own through a battle until reinforcements arrived. During the bloody battle on Jabiim, the so-called Padawan Pack was formed from Commanders who had lost their masters and were forced to survive through the battle on their own. While they fought valiantly, all members of the Pack met their demise on the battlefield except for Anakin Skywalker.
When Ahsoka Tano became Anakin Skywalker's Padawan, she became a commander. As the war raged on, many Padawans felt the strain that such wide-spread conflict placed on Jedi principals. During the fight or Thustra, Padawans Cal and Pix were forced to lead their troopers after both their masters were killed in a suicide attack by the native Sephi. Disappointed when the diminutive Grand Master Yoda arrived to negotiate peace with King Alaric, Cal had hoped a more aggressive stance would have been taken to avenge his master. Accompanying Master Yoda to the capital, Cal grew restless with Master Yoda's patience when the two Jedi were placed under house-arrest by the king. Staging an escape, Padawan Cal was overwhelmed by attacking Sephi soldiers and died in Yoda's arms, cursing his name.
Padawans Codi Ty and Flynn Kybo joined Master B'dard Tone in an unsanctioned assassination mission to kill General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the Confederation military. While Tone and Kybo both died, Padawan Ty was stripped of his rank both as Commander and apprentice and exiled from the Order.
During the final days of the war, Commanders Ekria, Zonder, and Drake Lo'gaan gathered on Felucia with Masters Aayla Secura and Barriss Offee to end the ongoing battle there. While separate from their masters, the three Jedi intercepted a message from Coruscant just as the clones in the field received it. Directly from the Office of the Supreme Chancellor, Contingency Order 66 had been issued: execute all Jedi. Fleeing the wrath of their clones, the Padawans made it offworld before being killed.
- The New Essential Chronology
- "Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic"—Star Wars Insider 84
- Air Strike
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
Notes and referencesEdit
- ↑ Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic
- ↑ Yoda: Dark Rendezvous
- ↑ Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- ↑ Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
- ↑ Republic Commando: Hard Contact
- ↑ Star Wars: Republic: The Battle of Jabiim
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide
- ↑ Jedi: Yoda
- ↑ Star Wars: General Grievous
- ↑ Evasive Action