Lio Partagaz

Lio Partagaz was a human male who served the Imperial Security Bureau as a major.^[5] He led the ISB Board in the Imperial Security Bureau Central Office on the Imperial capital planet of Coruscant and concerned himself with identifying unrest long before it escalated into a threat to Imperial safety.^[6] Supervising the ISB Board, which comprised the highest echelon of field operatives in ISB, Partagaz managed eighteen ISB sectorial supervisors and their attendants, as well as members of the Imperial Navy and Army whenever required.^[3] Partagaz organized the supervisors, settled personal or work-related disputes, and managed meetings. He became well-respected within the board and the Empire for his intelligence and competence, becoming friends with Director Orson Krennic.^[7]

Partagaz served as the ISB board supervisor during a turbulent time in the Empire, with random acts of rebellion appearing throughout the galaxy. After a heist on Aldhani, Partagaz was involved with the ISB response during an emergency meeting and the passing of the Public Order Resentencing Directive.^[8] Partagaz was also involved in Dedra Meero's search for the "Axis" of the rebels, who, unbeknownst to the Bureau, was Luthen Rael.^[9] He was also heavily involved with the Imperial activity at Ghorman, supervising the majority of the field operation, and being one of the few people fully aware of the purpose of the operation.^[10] After failing to prevent the Rebel extraction of Kleya Marki, a rebel who had been passed on classified intelligence relating to Project Stardust, Partagaz took his own life to prevent being arrested for his failure.^[7]

Biography

Chairing a meeting of supervisors

The human male^[3] Lio Partagaz^[5] was a major^[11] within the Galactic Empire's Imperial Security Bureau who presided over a meeting of eighteen ISB^[3] Investigations personnel^[5] as the ISB board,^[6] which discussed their reports in the ISB Central Office on the Imperial capital planet of Coruscant^[3] in 5 BBY.^[12] Partagaz and ISB Supervisor Grandi discussed where the budget for the Ryloth sector the latter requested would go, and the supervisor stated that the resources would be use for anti-Imperial activity surveillance, prompting Partagaz to request specifics by the end of the day. The major then questioned Lagret on the development of an conflict on Arvala-6, receiving an explanation that claimed the supervisor had not yet completed his memorandum of solutions to storage issues with those displaced by the conflict as his staff was waiting an assessment from Arvala's ministerial director.^[3]

Shortly after, the major asked those present what was the purpose of the Imperial Security Bureau, receiving an answer from Lieutenant Dedra Meero he deemed incorrect. After defining the Bureau as the organization that treated the "sickness" of disorder within the Empire, the major requested more information on the ambush on Ferrix Lieutenant Supervisor Blevin provided information on. Partagaz then asked Lonni Jung to elaborate on requests for additional protection for traffic to the Abrion sector, and the officer explained that the requests were a proactive measure due to an increased quantity of construction shipments going to^[3] the planet^[13] Scarif. After lieutenant supervisor Blevin and Dedra Meero fought for information on the Ferrix incident, Partagaz mediated their conflict, advising Meero to submit her sectors' quarterly report and expressing that he was impressed of her detention numbers from Sev Tok.^[3]

Later efforts

Shortly thereafter, due to a robbery on the planet Aldhani carried out by a rebel team, Partagaz summoned all supervisors and their assistants within the ISB for an emergency announcement, they would not go home, notify their staff and families, and submit their Star Sector and Planetary Emergency Retaliation plans by midnight.^[8] Days after the announcement, the major attended a meeting which was led by ISB Colonel Wullf Yularen, who announced what Emperor Sheev Palpatine had decided to do after the Aldhani heist. Palpatine's measures indicated that every ISB supervisor attending the meeting would have access to Imperial Army and Imperial Navy resources.^[14]

Shortly after, Partagaz led another ISB meeting, during which he discussed another one of Jung's reports—which included three theories that attempted to explain why the sectors surrounding Jung's were unable to be at peace. Upon the supervisor's request, Partagaz ordered Jung to prepare a survey of all hyperspace lanes leading to Ord Mantell that he would leave on the major's desk the following day. Noting that Supervisor Blevin was "eager," the major asked him if he had good news; however, they were not, with the supervisor instead levying a charge on Meero, who was expanding her control outside of her sectors. The ISB major allowed Meero to explain herself, and she revealed that with a collection of material that suggested that the theft of Imperial military equipment across the galaxy were part of a coordinated project carried out by several rebel groups. Accepting the explanation, Partagaz assigned the Morlana sector to Meero, as he deemed it a distraction to Blevin. After the meeting, at the major's request, Dedra walked with him briefly, being advised to watch her back.^[14]

Partagaz later attended another of Yularen's meetings, during which he approved of Dedra's request of material to capture and locate Andor to the colonel, as he considered that knowing so little about Andor's employer, "Axis," was troubling.^[9] On Ferrix, Meero interrogated Bix Caleen, a local, and communicated her findings—which did not identify "Axis"—to Partagaz. The major believed Andor's mother, Maarva Andor, could be communicating with her son, but Meero clarified that it was unlikely, as her forces were watching Maarva. Shortly after, the ISB captured a rebel pilot part of Neo-Separatist Coalition and believed Anto Kreegyr did not know of the pilot's disappearance. Supervisor Dedro suggested that they could have the pilot and their ship drift carefully into traffic, which Partagaz approved. The major then asked for a meeting with military intelligence about Spellhaus.^[15] Shortly afterward, Partagaz watched as the pilot drew the other rebels to a trap. Jung advised him to take an interest in the pilot's appearance in space, as Kreegyr may have been watching and he would suspect that if ISB did not become interested in the rebel ship and its pilot, that they had done something to them, which Partagaz confirmed.^[16] Partagaz later ordered Meero to find Axis during a meeting with Jung, Lagret, and other ISB members.^[17]

The matter of Ghorman

In 4 BBY, Partagaz was summoned to an Imperial facility at the Maltheen Divide for a secret conference with a small team. Meero was also among the group. There, Director Orson Krennic briefed the group on the matter of Imperial interest in the natural exploits on the planet Ghorman, specifically the mineral kalkite, which was valuable to the Imperial Energy Initiative, a front for the development of the Death Star superweapon. Upon hearing that the planned extraction would likely cause the total collapse of the entire planet, Partagaz forewarned that Ghorman neither lacked for obscurity or political power and that it would be unlikely the inhabitants would take well to a forcible resettlement. Later, while they were taking refreshments, Partagaz spoke with an engineer officer on the weak Imperial presence on Ghorman and was surprised to learn that Krennic had already planned to build an armory in the capital city of Palmo.^[10]

Follow the conference, Partagaz and Meero returned to Imperial City on Coruscant. Before entering the COMPNOR arcology, Meero told Partagaz that she did not want to take the job in the Ghorman project. In response, Partagaz told Meero to focus on Ghorman instead of continue to pursue Axis, the rebel leader Meero was still eager to capture. Reminding her of her failures at Ferrix, Partagaz instructed the supervisor to accept the "gift" that was Ghorman.^[18]

As the Empire's plans on Ghorman continued, in 3 BBY, Partagaz oversaw a plot by Meero and the Imperial Syril Karn to infiltrate the local rebel group known as the Ghorman Front. As Karn worked to make connections with the Front's leadership, he eventually returned to Coruscant to meet with Partagaz and Meero. The major was pleased by Karn's updates and inquired as to how he could help continue to draw the rebels out. Karn stated that the transport schedules needed to remain consistent to ensure a potential rebel attack on one of them could go through. Although Partagaz and Meero both knew the end goal of taking over Ghorman, they kept Karn in the dark as to the true nature of their plot.^[19]

Shortly after the meeting with Karn, Partagaz spoke with supervisor Jung and fellow supervisor Heert, tasking them with keeping watch on the Imperial Intelligence, who had convinced the Galactic Emperor to allow the valuable ISB interrogation program ran by doctor Gorst to be expanded. In a later meeting with Meero, Partagaz was informed that a rebel attack on Ghorman was imminent. He stressed to Meero that Karn must not learn of the goals of the Ghorman project. At night, as the rebel attack proceeded, Partagaz listened to live updates on the events from the ISB control center. When Karn reported an incident between two rebels, Partagaz ordered him to summon Imperial reinforcements to force the rebels to flee.^[20]

Bringing the hammer down

In 2 BBY, the Empire prepared its final maneuver to take over Ghorman. Partagaz communicated to Meero, who was on Ghorman, that an Imperial fleet would be ready in forty-eight hours to land on the planet with full force. In the meantime, the major sent Captain Kaido, who he described as a "crisis specialist," and a special regiment to Ghorman. Promising Meero that success on Ghorman would result in good things for her, Partagaz instructed her to follow Kaido's tactical plans.^[21]

As Kaido manipulated the Imperial forces into drawing the Ghormans out in a large public demonstration, Meero spoke with Partagaz about her concerns with the plan. However, the senior officer dismissed them, saying that the Empire had been patient long enough and that the public narrative of Ghorman aggression and resistance would allow them to spin any negative reports of the situation. As hundreds of Ghor filled Palmo Plaza outside the now-barricaded Imperial office complex, Kaido's regiment were sent out to secure the Monument to the Fallen. When an Imperial sniper stationed by Kaido shot one of the Imperial troopers, the rest of the unit, not knowing it was an Imperial blaster that was responsible, aimed their weapons on the citizens and opened fire. As the Ghors fled and several of them drew their own weapons in retaliation, a large force of Imperial stormtroopers began advancing and mowing down the citizens. When the smoke cleared, hundreds of Ghormans lay dead. The incident would be known as the Ghorman Massacre. Shortly after the massacre, Imperial forces choked the planet and began strip-mining processes to harvest the valuable kalkite.^[22]

Project Stardust and death

Authority is brittle

In 1 BBY, Partagaz was hosting a Supervisors' meeting which he called off prematurely upon learned that Meero had called a raid on Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest, having identified Luthen Rael as Axis, only for the rebel leader to attempt suicide. As Heert arrived to the meeting room late, Partagaz informed him of what had happened and assumed he was upset that Meero crossed the line once again. Heert interrupted him, explaining the reason for his tardiness was because he had learned that Lonni Jung was killed, leaving Partagaz shocked. He then sent Heert with an ISB Marshal to Lina Soh Hospital to arrest Meero.^[23]

Later, Krennic interrogated Meero for having memos concerning Project Stardust she never reported and, thus, was accused of being a rebel spy, and demanded to know who else knew of the Death Star's existence; she named Partagaz as one of them. He then revealed that Jung, whose status as a rebel double agent was exposed, used her code cert to access her files and likely passed information on the Death Star to Rael. Shortly afterwards, the ISB learned that Rael's assistant, Kleya Marki, infiltrated the hospital and assassinated him.^[24]

Constant effort

After Heert determined that Marki operated alone and brought the news to Partagaz and Krennic, Partagaz sat silently as Krennic ordered Heert to find Marki at all costs, threatening to place him in "the ever-lengthening ISB death march" should he fail. As Heert asked if they would be charging Marki for sedition or murder, Partagaz stated their cover story would be that she escaped the hospital with an infectious disease. After Krennic sent Heert off, he forewarned Partagaz that he couldn't protect him from the Emperor's wrath for the security leak. Partagaz protested that it had been a miracle that the ISB kept word of the weapon from getting out as long as they had, given the recurring delays to the project's completion, and scornfully told Krennic to save his excuses about the delays for the Emperor, though he did wish Krennic luck trying to stem further leaks of the Death Star on his end before the latter departed for Scarif.^[24]

Later, Heert commed Partagaz that he managed to get a fix on Marki's safehouse on Coruscant and that he was leading an ISB Tactical squad to her location. Partagaz maintained a comm channel with TAC 171 in the control room. However, a rebel team, led by Cassian Andor, had arrived at the safehouse first. Partagaz then heard a KX-series security droid had been spotted, shortly before the control room lost contact with the Tactical shuttle, as the culprit was the reprogrammed rebel droid, K-2SO, who had killed or knocked out Team-Two; Partagaz initially assumed it to be a technical failure.^[24]

Growing anxious at the uncertainty of the situation, Partagaz ordered any nearby Tactical units to intercept; ironically, all available units were spread out running down the infectious disease warrant he fabricated. By the time reinforcements arrived at Tomkip Towers, Heert and his squad were all killed and the rebels escaped with Marki.^[7]

The mask of fear

Returning to the meeting room alone, Partagaz listened to a portion of a manifesto being spread across the galaxy by the rebellion. The ISB had failed to effectively stop its spread, much as Partagaz realized it had failed to stop the rebellion's growth, all while the author and speaker of the manifesto remained anonymous;^[7] in truth, the individual in question, Karis Nemik, had died years before during the raid on Aldhani, but his writings had survived in Andor's^[8] and, then, the greater Rebel Alliance's possession. As Supervisor Lagret entered the room, Partagaz turned off the recording and casually asked if Lagret had heard the manifesto and asked if he had any theories about its speaker.^[7]

Instead of answering, Lagret informed him that a pair of stormtroopers had arrived to arrest him. Knowing he was due to face the Imperial hierarchy for his failure, Partagaz requested a moment alone to collect his thoughts. As soon as Lagret left the room, he then sat in his chair before taking his own life; Lagret stopped the stormtroopers from intervening upon hearing the muffled blaster shot.^[7] Only shortly thereafter,^[25] Krennic would be killed during the Battle of Scarif, which marked the beginning of open warfare between the Alliance and Empire and saw rebel agents—including Andor—transmit the Death Star plans to the orbiting warship Profundity,^[26] kicking off a series of events that culminated in the Death Star's destruction in the Battle of Yavin^[27] of 0 BBY.^[28] Such a major victory for the Alliance resulted in it securing a major influx of personnel and funding;^[27] just as Partagaz had foreseen,^[7] the rebellion continued to grow, culminating in its transformation into the New Republic and the fall of the Empire at the end of the Galactic Civil War.^[27]

Personality and traits

Partagaz had gray hair and fair skin. He was level headed, a trait that served him well as a mediator between the supervisors, and his wealth of experience was relied upon by his subordinates. Although strict in upholding the standards of quality within the ISB, he was tolerant of new ideas should they be adequately reinforced, and would compliment^[3] or even encourage productive behavior even if it broke tradition.^[14] Although the major was a ruthless and uncompromising leader,^[11] Partagaz rewarded those who produced results.^[14] However, when his patience for the pursuits of his subordinates wore out, he would insist that they move on to other matters.^[18]

Equipment

Partagaz wore a white Imperial officer's uniform adorned with silver-colored epaulets on his shoulders, a pair of code cylinders, and a rank insignia plaque of five blue squares.^[3] He kept a Power 5 blaster pistol in a drawer in the ISB conference room.^[7]

Behind the scenes

Partagaz, who was portrayed by Anton Lesser,^[3] was first pictured in the Andor television series' first teaser trailer released during Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2022 on May 26 of that year.^[29] The major later made his first appearance on 2022's September 28 in Andor's fourth episode, directed by Susanna White.^[3]

Appearances

Explore all of Wookieepedia's media for this article subject:
Audio · Images

• Star Wars: Andor — "Aldhani" (First appearance)
• Star Wars: Andor — "The Eye"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Announcement"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Narkina 5"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Nobody's Listening!"
• Star Wars: Andor — "One Way Out"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Rix Road"
• Star Wars: Andor — "One Year Later"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Sagrona Teema"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Ever Been to Ghorman?"
• Star Wars: Andor — "I Have Friends Everywhere"
• Star Wars: Andor — "What a Festive Evening"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Messenger"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Who Are You?"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Make It Stop"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Who Else Knows?"
• Star Wars: Andor — "Jedha, Kyber, Erso"

Sources

• Andor | Teaser Trailer | Disney+ on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com) (First pictured)
• Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+ (2:25) on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
• Andor | Official Trailer | Disney+ (1:30) on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
• "Announcement" Episode Guide | Andor on StarWars.com (backup link)
• "Star Wars: Andor Season One Companion" — Star Wars Insider 217
• Andor Season 2 — Celebration Europe exclusive trailer
• 2023 Topps Star Wars Card: Major Partagaz (backup link)
• Star Wars: Card Trader Set: Villains 2023, Card: Major Partagaz
• Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion: The Visual Guide (First identified as Lio)
• Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire
• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
• Andor Season 2 | Special Look | Streaming April 22 on Disney+ on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (article) (backup link)
• "Andor Season 2 Companion" — Star Wars Insider 233
• Dedra Meero in the Databank (backup link)
• Major Partagaz in the Databank (backup link)

Notes and references