Zia Zaldor Zanna

Zia Zaldor Zanna was a Jedi Master stationed on the planet Tenoo to teach Jedi Initiates during the High Republic Era.

Biography

Early life

During her training on Rex Strata,^[1] Zia Zaldor Zanna befriended a Houk technician Faraz, at some point wrecking one of his speeders, and became rivals with the thief Ace Kallisto. However, the rivalry would turn into more of a friendly squabble as Zanna grew older.^[4]

When she was younger, Zanna was stationed at the Tenoo Jedi Temple, an outpost temple in the Outer Rim. She met the Guardian of the Tenoo Jedi Temple, a large tazi sloth that lived in the canopy of the giant Tenoo tree that the temple was built around.^[9]

Stationed on Tenoo

Years later around 233 BBY,^[10] Zanna, now a Jedi Master along with other Jedi was in the training ground of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when Grand Master Yoda announced that Jedi Initiates would be sent to an Outer Rim outpost temple for further training. As most of the Jedi left, Zanna's droid Dee noted that some of the younglings were missing. Zanna laughed and easily guessed that Kai Brightstar, Lys Solay, Nubs were the last missing Initiates. Zanna soon told them to get to the last shuttle Crimson Firehawk via a holoprojector.^[5]

Master Zanna once supervised a class where Brightstar, Solay and Nubs undertook an obstacle course involving DD-1 hover droids. During the exercise, Brightstar tried to levitate both his training lightsaber and cushion Nub's fall. Though he was able to retrieve his lightsaber, he was unable to stop Nubs from falling. Zanna subsequently terminated the exercise. Though Nubs was unhurt, the younglings failed the objective: reaching the platform together. After the visiting Yoda counselled the younglings to work as a team, Zanna sent them on a mission with Yoda and their pilot friend Nash Durango to retrieve Sparkle-fire seeds.^[11]

Blast from the past

Old friends

Sometime later, Zanna was planning on going to meet Faraz on Rex Strata to trade for a cryo-spanner to repair the Jedi Temple's cooling unit. However, she noticed that Brightstar made fun of the pirate Taborr Val Dorn with a make-shift helmet. Zanna decided to invite Brightstar along for her mission to get the cryo-spanner. As they arrived on the planet, Zanna introduced Brightstar to her old friend Faraz. Faraz and Zanna traded for the cryo-spanner and reminisced on their past, but the discussion was cut short after Brightstar notified her that their shuttle was stolen.^[4]

Zanna and Brightstar quickly took Faraz's speeder bike to chase after their shuttle. They then made a daring jump from the speeder bike to the top of the shuttle, though the speeder exploded after they jumped off. Entering the shuttle and into the cockpit, it was Kallisto who hijacked their shuttle. Kallisto told the Jedi that their shuttle sold well. Brightstar drew his lightsaber to protect Zanna but accidentally damaged the ship with it. The damage caused the shuttle to crash into a cave nearby. As they got up from the crash, Zanna's ankle was injured in the process, and she was unable to move.^[4]

The crash

They noticed that the cave they crashed into was not an empty cave, but rather a home of a stalaat. With Zanna's ankle injured during the crash, she used it as an opportunity to teach Brightstar a lesson about the choice to do good and tasked him to work with Kallisto. Brightstar and Kallisto then went out of the shuttle to signal for help. Another stalaat quickly jumped in and startled Brightstar and Kallisto. Seeing an opportunity, Kallisto returned to the ship and used the armaments of the ship to scare the stalaats away with Zanna. Brightstar used the comlink and called for help.^[4]

Soon, backup arrived to assist Zanna and the others. As DUM-series pit droids repaired the shuttle, an AZ-series surgical assistant droid used bacta spray on Zanna's injured ankle. Zanna and Kallisto sat down and reminisced for a bit before leaving. Zanna later approached Brightstar and seeing that he had learnt his lesson, they went back to the Jedi Temple on Tenoo. Brightstar quickly removed the make-shift helmet from the training droid and continued training with Nubs and Solay.^[4]

Mentor and guardian

Zanna later helped the pilot Durango to organize a concert thanking the Jedi for helping Kublop Springs. She helped three younglings, who had tripped while hoisting a curtain in the theatre.^[12] Later, Zanna comforted Brightstar who was upset after he slept in and missed a field trip to the lava fields of Tiss'ell. She reassured the youngling that everyone experienced "bad day" and sent him on an errand with Durango to deliver a hyperdrive capacitator to the hyperspace prospector Mycho Zala.^[13]

Zanna later organized Visitor's Day in Kublop Springs for the benefit of offworld visitors to Tenoo. One of the exhibits on display was the Chadra-Fan junkyard dealer Marlaa Jinara's Visitor's Day sculpture. The unscrupulous Moldwarp art dealer Draiven Bosh distracted Zanna while his two droids K-2PL and R4-13 stole the sculpture and brought it aboard his starship. The younglings Brightstar, Solay and Nubs pursued the thieves aboard Bosh's ship but were trapped by the dealer. Solay managed to contact Zanna, who was able to track down their comm signal.^[14]

The younglings distracted Bosh until Zanna arrived and forced her aboard Bosh's starship. Zanna demanded that Bosh return the Visitor's Day sculpture and other stolen artifacts but he refused. Acting under Bosh's orders, K-2PL attempted to drive the Jedi out of Bosh's starship by tilting the ship outward. However, he ended up causing Bosh's stolen crates to fall out of the starship with the Jedi. The Jedi used their Force powers to cushion their wall and retrieve the Visitor's Day sculpture and other stolen artifacts. While Solay was upset that Bosh had escaped, Zanna was relieved that they had recovered the stolen artifacts and tasked the younglings with returning them to their owners.^[14]

While Zanna was away, Nubs accidentally brought back the seeds of an aggressive grumble vine, which almost took over the Tenoo temple. Working together, the Jedi younglings managed to subdue the threat. After returning, Nubs chatted with the alien botanist Varish, who apologized for accidentally giving Nubs the grumble vines seeds after mistaking them for another plant. She credited Nubs for using his lesson of observation to subdue the aggressive plant.^[15] When Master Loden Greatstorm and his Padawan Bell Zettifar visited the Tenoo temple, Zanna took Greatstorm on a tour of the temple with Solay and Nubs. Brightstar meanwhile befriended Zettifar and his pet charhound Ember and took them on a tour of the surrounding forest.^[16]

Later, Master Zia supervised a lightsaber sparring class. She paired Brightstar with another ambitious Jedi youngling named Djovi Resmia, who defeated him in a sparring exercise. Brightstar, who was used to winning, was upset about losing the match. Concerned about potential rivalry between the two younglings, Zanna tasked the dour with retrieving a damaged beacon stone from the rope path bridge on a nearby Tenoo tree. Despite their initial hostility and rivalry, the two younglings mended their differences and became friends after working together to retrieve the beacon stone from a chasm. Resmia was able to make peace with his jealousy of Brightstar's abilities while Brightstar thanked Resmia for saving his life. Following their mission, Zanna repaired the damaged beacon stone with her lightsaber, causing it to shine again. She used this lesson to teach the Jedi about the importance of finding the light in others. Satisfied that they had learned the importance of teamwork, Zanna tasked them with returning the beacon stone to its place.^[8]

Zanna later accompanied the Jedi younglings to the windy planet Kondoraan, which was home to giant broadleaf trees. She and the younglings visited a floating platform where a Nautolan instructor named Rix Tegano taught the younglings about sky skimming. Zanna explained that the people of Kondoraan used giant leaves known as sky skimming boards to travel around the windy planet. She added that it was important for Jedi to learn about other cultures. During the lesson, the younglings Brightstar, Nubs and Solay got lost after they were blown offcourse while trying to follow a flock of chiffons. After landing in the desert, the trio worked together to use their cloaks as improvised sails and rejoined the others. Zanna was relieved that the three younglings were safe and well. Brightstar said that the trio learned about the importance of following the wind.^[17]

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Personality and traits

Zanna was a Force-sensitive human with black hair, green eyes, and tan skin.^[1]

She was wise, kind, patient, and gentle with the younglings she instructed.^[5] She had a childhood rivalry with the pirate, Ace Kallisto, but as they both grew older she came to realize that Kallisto wasn't all bad.^[4] A realization that would lead her to a life–long^[1] belief that people who do bad things could later make the choice to do good.^[4]

Appearances

Sources

• Begin Your Younglings' Training with Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Books – First Look on StarWars.com (backup link) (First mentioned)
• SWCE 2023: 10 Reveals from the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on StarWars.com (backup link) (Picture only)
• This Week! in Star Wars Star Wars Day is Here, Visions Volume 2, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
• This Week! in Star Wars Rise of the Red Blade Reveal, The Mandalorian: The Manga First Look, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
• Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures Returns for Season 2 on StarWars.com (backup link)
• "Launchpad" — Star Wars Insider 227
• Star Wars: The High Republic: The Lightsaber Collection
• Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
• SDCC 2025: Highlights from the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)

Notes and references