- "Perhaps the siege at Onderon has taken a turn for the worse."
- ―Obi-Wan Kenobi speculates that Saw Gerrera requires aid
The siege at Onderon was a late battle of the Clone Wars fought between the Confederacy of Independent Systems and Galactic Republic as part of the Outer Rim Sieges campaign. The battle was waged in 19 BBY for the Inner Rim planet Onderon, which had previously been occupied by the Confederacy until its liberation during the Onderonian Civil War in 20 BBY by the Republic-supported Onderon rebels.
As part of the sieges, the Confederacy attacked Onderon and besieged the planet, returning Onderon to a state of conflict. The battle saw the Onderon rebels—whose ranks included Saw Gerrera, a rebel leader from the still-recent Civil War—once more fight for the Republic. Unfortunately for the rebels, the Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire at the end of the Clone Wars created a new era of conflict on Onderon.
Prelude
- "My world tried to avoid taking sides in the war, but the Separatists staged a coup in the guise of legitimate political action. To buy our freedom, we threw in with the Republic. It was a good pact, and the Republic gave us the support we needed. Not what we wanted—they wouldn't get their hands dirty—but they trained us, armed us, and we overthrew the Separatists' puppet government and kept fighting after."
- ―Saw Gerrera reflects on his Clone Wars service
When the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) began[6] in 22 BBY,[1] King Ramsis Dendup of[7] the historically neutral[8] Inner Rim planet Onderon[7] decided to remain unaffiliated in the conflict on the belief that both sides were corrupt.[9] He further believed that such a choice would spare Onderon from the horrors of war.[10] While the planet had been a member of the Republic,[11] the Onderonian people were proud of their neutrality and independence.[5] However, the CIS responded with an invasion[7] after staging[5] and covertly supporting a pro-Separatist coup, which brought Separatist puppet King Sanjay Rash to power. With the puppet king "inviting" the Confederacy military to Onderon[4] and cementing his power governmentally,[5] the Separatists secured a firm foothold over Onderon[10] through an occupation[12] and a reformed government.[5]
When the Confederacy of Independent Systems occupied Onderon under a puppet king, a civilian insurgency emerged to retake the planet.
Although Onderon's representative in the Separatist Senate, Mina Bonteri,[13] firmly believed in the Separatist cause,[14] the Confederacy's violation of Onderonian sovereignty inspired a resistance movement[7] of citizens under siblings Steela and Saw Gerrera.[6] The ensuing Onderonian Civil War lasted from 22 BBY to 20 BBY.[15] In the latter year,[16] the Onderon rebels formally approached the Jedi High Council for help in overthrowing Rash. Unable to directly interfere with the affairs of a planet[12] with a history of neutrality[8] and that had chosen to align with the CIS, as the Republic recognized Rash's rule, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker proposed a covert operation to train and support the local insurgency.[12] The rebels agreed to fight for the Republic[4] but only in the name of ensuring their own freedom and that of their rightful king.[5]
Although Steela gave her life in the final battle, the Separatists were ultimately ousted from Onderon, with Rash being executed for[11] his[10] failure by General Kalani on the order of[11] Confederate Head of State[7] Count Dooku.[11] As Mina's son, Lux Bonteri, who had lost faith in the Separatist cause after Dooku had his mother killed,[17] promised during Steela's funeral,[11] Onderon then returned to the Republic. Lux served as its senator[18] while Dendup returned to the throne.[11] The people of Onderon remained loyal to the Republic for the rest of the war.[4] While it had overthrown Rash's regime, the Onderon resistance remained in operation[5] as recognized Republic fighters[19] who continued fighting for that government, striking at a seemingly never-ending series of Separatist targets with Republic-supplied equipment. Nonetheless, Saw established himself as an Onderonian hero instead of a mere Republic-backed insurgent.[5]
The siege
- "Sir, we've received a transmission from someone using your subspace frequency Fulcrum."
"Saw Gerrera?" - ―Wullf Yularen and Anakin Skywalker, during the Battle of Yerbana
The tireless freedom fighter Saw Gerrera (center) fought in the siege at Onderon.
Toward the end of the Clone Wars[20] in 19 BBY,[1] General Grievous launched a major Separatist offensive during the Outer Rim Sieges,[2] the final campaign of the Clone Wars.[21] As part of the sieges,[4] the Confederacy attacked[22] and besieged[1] the recently-liberated Onderon, battling with the Republic-supported Onderon rebels and turning the planet into a battlefront once more. Just as he had in the Civil War,[4] the tireless[22] Gerrera fought on behalf of the Republic during the siege.[4] Even so, he still saw his service as something done for the sake of Onderon instead of the Republic.[5]
The battle was dubbed the "siege at Onderon."[2] In the final days of the war,[22] Gerrera also began to use Skywalker's Fulcrum frequency to keep in contact with the Jedi. During the Battle of Yerbana, when former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Mandalorian Bo-Katan Kryze contacted the Republic using the Fulcrum frequency for help in the Mandalorian Civil War, Skywalker and fellow Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi initially thought Gerrera was trying to contact them, with the latter speculating that Gerrera's efforts had taken a negative turn. However, Admiral Wullf Yularen informed the Jedi it was not Gerrera contacting them, and the two soon learned that it was instead Tano and Kryze.[2]
Aftermath
- "I fought for the Republic because I wanted to free my king and my world. I succeeded at the first, but when Palpatine declared himself Emperor it was clear I'd failed at the second. Orders came telling us to surrender our weapons, the names of our allies, to the governor assigned to our system. […] I knew if I gave up fighting, everything we did—everyone we lost—would have been for nothing. One battle leads to the next. Strategies change. The Clone Wars may have ended, but another civil war is about to begin—which means we all have a decision to make: You can either adapt and survive, or die with the past."
- ―Saw Gerrera
The Clone Wars came to an end when Skywalker, as the newly-christened Sith apprentice Darth Vader, wiped out the Executive Separatist Council[1] on the planet Mustafar in the Outer Rim Territories.[6] Vader also sent out a shutdown signal to the Confederacy military,[1] leaving the Separatist Droid Army to cease its ongoing attacks and stop in its tracks.[23] However, the end of the war did not mark the end of Gerrera's troubles[19] but instead saw the reformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious,[1] betraying Gererra's ideals.[22] As Palpatine, Sidious also sent out Order 66 to the clone troopers who served alongside the Jedi, forcing the clones to wipe out their own commanding officers because of the behavioral modification biochips installed in their brains.[19]
Feeling that Palpatine was another tyrant who had taken power for himself, just like Rash had on Onderon,[5] Gerrera recognized that Palpatine had unlimited control over the clones and believed a new civil war was imminent.[19] Believing that, in the end, he had failed to free Onderon, Gerrera felt as though the sacrifices of his comrades during the Clone Wars[5]—including that of his sister[11]—would be for nothing if he gave up his fight.[5] Even though Gerrera had been promised that Onderon would be free after the war, the Empire moved to annex the world.[24] For the first few days of the Imperial Era, the Onderon resistance remained silent as the Empire tried to take control,[5] but Gerrera and his remaining fighters ultimately decided they would not fight for the new regime despite their work with the Republic[19] so as to maintain Onderon's independence.[5]
In the aftermath of the Clone Wars, Saw Gerrera encountered Clone Force 99 and urged them to rethink their loyalties.
As such, they were dubbed enemies of the state[19] and seen as a threat[22] in the opening days of the Imperial Era,[19] during which time Gerrera's resistance fighters fled into the dense Onderon forests.[22] Gerrera reformed the Onderon rebels into an anti-Imperial rebel cell named the Partisans[6] and protected a number of civilians. His fighters soon captured an elite team of clones—Clone Force 99, otherwise known as the "Bad Batch"—that had been dispatched by Imperial Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin on the claim that they would find Separatist insurgents. Gerrera urged the clones to resist the new Imperial government before letting them go.[19] Declaring their own war against the Empire,[24] Gerrera and his Partisans waged a brutal insurgency for the future of Onderon but ultimately abandoned the world.[6] A few weeks into the Imperial Era, Gerrera reflected on his service to the Republic in conversation with Separatist fighter Soujen Vak-Nhalis, including making reference to his continued Republic service after the Civil War.[5]
Behind the scenes
The siege at Onderon was introduced via mention in Star Wars The Clone Wars's seventh season.
The siege at Onderon was first mentioned in "Old Friends Not Forgotten," the ninth episode of the seventh and final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars,[2] released on April 17, 2020.[25] According to the Star Wars Encyclopedia issue "The Clone Wars,"[4] which was first released by De Agostini on September 7, 2021,[26] the siege at Onderon was launched against the Separatists by the Onderon rebels despite the world's recent liberation from CIS control.[4] However, the De Agostini encyclopedia "Saw Gerrera and Other Characters of the Galaxy"[22]—which was first published on August 26, 2022[27]—had framed the battle as a Separatist attack against Onderon.[22] Indeed, the 2023 reference book Star Wars: Timelines stated that the siege was launched against Onderon by the Confederacy.[1] As such, this article assumes "The Clone Wars" encyclopedia is incorrect.
Appearances
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Old Friends Not Forgotten" (First mentioned)- Reign of the Empire: The Mask of Fear (and audiobook) (Indirect mention only)
Sources
- "The Clone Wars" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
- "Saw Gerrera and Other Characters of the Galaxy" — Star Wars Encyclopedia
- Star Wars: Timelines
Notes and references
