- "What, no death troopers? I'd have thought the least you could do after the Emperor so graciously assigned them to you would be to keep them around."
"Sometimes it's best to leave them behind." - ―Grand Admirals Balanhai Savit and Thrawn
A death trooper squad was assigned by Emperor Palpatine as the personal guard of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was in command of the Imperial Seventh Fleet. They notably participated in the Battle of Atollon in which they attempted to capture the rebel leadership. Some time after the battle, the Spectres undertook a mission to Lothal to gain intelligence on the new TIE/D Defender Elite and infiltrated the Lothal Imperial airfield.
When Thrawn arrived to watch a flight demonstration of the Defender Elite, the Spectres were exposed when trying to steal its flight data recorder. Thrawn ordered his death troopers to secure the fighter, but it was too late as it was already in the air. They were also present during the liberation of Lothal where Thrawn, the Chimaera, and Ezra Bridger all went missing into hyperspace.
After traveling through hyperspace, the guard and all other personnel on board the Chimaera arrived in a distant galaxy and settled on the extragalactic world of Peridea where the guard remained active well into the New Republic Era in 9 ABY, however they were reduced to only two members with both being resurrected by the Great Mothers at some point years prior.
History
Battle of Atollon
During the Galactic Civil War, the Seventh Fleet's commander, Grand Admiral Thrawn,[1] was assigned by Emperor Palpatine[3] a squad of death troopers that acted as his personal guard. Following Thrawn's meeting with Governor Wilhuff Tarkin, the Grand Admiral and his guards captured ISB Agent Alexsandr Kallus—a rebel spy codenamed Fulcrum—in the LothalNet comm tower E-272. Thrawn's guards took Kallus aboard the Chimaera during the battle of Atollon, where they watched over him.[1]
Thrawn and his guard on Atollon
Thrawn's guard joined him and his ground forces when he began his ground assault on Chopper Base. The guards followed them wherever he went, ensuring his utmost security. As they ventured into the caves, they fought Captains Rex and Garazeb Orrelios, as well as Jedi Kanan Jarrus and other rebel troopers. The death troopers surrounded the surviving rebels as Thrawn offered Captain Hera Syndulla and General Jan Dodonna a chance to surrender.[1]
However, Thrawn's guard and Imperial forces came under attack by the Bendu's storm, and so was the remaining rebel fleet, showing his neutrality. Thrawn's guards worked in tandem with the remaining AT-AT in bringing down the Bendu. However, the rebels and their leaders were able to make their escape. Thrawn's guard accompanied him to Bendu, where Bendu spoke to the Imperial Grand Admiral, predicting the fate of the Grand Admiral. There, they watched as Thrawn attempted to shoot Bendu, but he disappeared into thin air.[1]
Lothal deployment
Thrawn and Pryce with two of Thrawn's guard
In 1 BBY,[7] Thrawn's guard accompanied him and Governor Arihnda Pryce to Lothal's Imperial airfield to watch Commander Vult Skerris's test flight of the new TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter Elite starfighter. However, when they found Ezra Bridger at the airfield, Thrawn ordered his guards to secure the Elite. Sabine Wren was able to commandeer it and rescue Bridger before the death troopers surrounded him.[5]
Two of Thrawn's guards were with him when he ordered the Chimaera to bombard Lothal's Capital City. However, they were defeated by Commander Bridger who ambushed them. After this, Ezra and Thrawn both went missing into hyperspace when, under orders from Bridger, the young rebel Mart Mattin transmitted on Frequency Zero. This resulted in a group of purrgil emerging from hyperspace. The Imperial fleet was taken out and the purrgil attached to the Chimaera, resulting in the ship, the purrgil, Thrawn, Bridger, and the entire crew disappearing.[6]
Thrawn's forces
Two reanimated death troopers attack Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren
Thrawn and his forces were trapped in exile on the extragalactic world of Peridea.[2] By 9 ABY,[8] a stormtrooper named Enoch had become the captain of Thrawn's guard.[2] At least two death troopers remained amongst his ranks but died at one point. However, Thrawn's allies the Great Mothers were able to reanimate their corpses via the Chant of Resurrection. The death troopers wore standard death trooper armor that featured cracks filled with gold and grey accents and red strips of fabric similar to that of Thrawn's Night Trooper legion. The two zombies attacked Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger during Thrawn and company's escape from Peridea.[4]
Appearances
Star Wars Rebels — "Zero Hour" (First appearance)- Thrawn: Alliances (and audiobook) (Indirect mention only)
- Star Wars Rebels — "Flight of the Defender"
- Thrawn: Treason (and audiobook)
- Star Wars Rebels — "Family Reunion – and Farewell"
- Star Wars: Ahsoka — "Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord"
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14
Star Wars Rebels — "Zero Hour"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2
Star Wars: Ahsoka — "Part Six: Far, Far Away"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Thrawn: Treason
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Star Wars: Ahsoka — "Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Star Wars Rebels — "Flight of the Defender"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars Rebels — "Family Reunion – and Farewell"
- ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of "Flight of the Defender" to 1 BBY.
- ↑ "A Certain Point of View" — Star Wars Insider 228 dates the events of "Part Seven: Dreams and Madness" to nine years after Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, which corresponds to 9 ABY per Star Wars: Timelines. Preceding episodes, also take place in that year, since they take place after Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett, which is dated to 9 ABY according to Timelines. As "Part Eight: The Jedi, the Witch, and the Warlord" takes place shortly after Part Seven, the events of Ahsoka as a whole must all take place within the same year.
