Faro Argyus

Faro Argyus was a captain in the Senate Commandos, an elite branch of the Senate Guard, around 22 BBY. Coming from a Tepasi family noted for its honor and loyalty, Argyus was a fifth-generation guard normally stationed on Coruscant. However, after Senator Padmé Amidala managed to capture Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray on Rodia, Argyus was assigned to the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tranquility and tasked with escorting the captured viceroy to Coruscant alongside Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Padawan Ahsoka Tano.

Unbeknownst to the Republic, Argyus had been bribed by Separatist leader Count Dooku to rescue Gunray from his imprisonment and return him to the Confederacy. Argyus was successful in this task, and he escaped with Gunray in a Republic Consular-class frigate. While aboard, the former Senate Commando boasted to Dooku's assassin Asajj Ventress that his mission had been successful&mdash;thereby taking all credit away from Ventress&mdash;and that he would report on it to Dooku. Ventress then drove one of her lightsabers into the back of the pilot's seat and through Argyus's heart, killing him.

Republic service
"Captain Argyus will keep a watchful eye on your prisoner&hellip;"

- Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, to Senator Padmé Amidala

Faro Argyus, a Human male, was a member of the Senate Commando branch of the Senate Guard. Members of his family&mdash;a Tepasi bloodline noted for its prestige and honor&mdash;had served the Senate as guards for five generations. Several years before the Invasion of Naboo, while Argyus was a young recruit just beginning his service as a Senate Guard, he encountered Jedi Count Dooku. He was assigned to guard a diplomatic envoy that included Dooku among its members. After negotiations had failed, the consular ship came under an attack, and during the fighting Argyus was gravely wounded. Only timely action by Dooku saved him, after which Argyus and Dooku became friends and associates. By 32 BBY, Argyus became a captain in the Senate Guard. When Dooku left the Jedi Order, he contacted Argyus and persuaded his friend to work for him in secret. Captain Argyus continued to serve the Republic, though he knew that one day he would be forced to reveal his true allegiance. As one of the best and bravest of the Senate Guards, Argyus was chosen to become a Senate Commando.

Normally stationed on Coruscant, he was present alongside Supreme Chancellor Palpatine when the Chancellor met with Senator Padmé Amidala to discuss the InterGalactic Banking Clan's potential peace treaty with the Republic in the first year of the Clone Wars. Just prior to a diplomatic mission Amidala undertook to the planet Rodia, Argyus led a team of Senate Commandos in pursuit of the con men Dannl Faytonni and Achk Med-Beq through the Senate District of Galactic City, on Coruscant. The two escaped the Senate Commandos and managed to steal Amidala's J-type star skiff from the Gungan Representative Jar Jar Binks and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2. Faytonni and Med-Beq planned to flee the planet in the Nubian ship, but the skiff's autopilot was set to return the craft to the Senate docking platform.

During their mission to Rodia, Amidala and Binks captured the Neimoidian Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, a member of the Separatist Council and an enemy of the Republic. The Supreme Chancellor dispatched Argyus and two other Senate Commandos to oversee the transfer of Gunray into Republic custody on Rodia, and then, along with additional commandos, guard the captive viceroy while he was aboard the Star Destroyer Tranquility en route to Coruscant.

Traitor
Argyus had been contacted by Count Dooku and bribed into releasing the viceroy and returning him safely to Separatist space, having been offered enough money to buy a planet or a large moon. Not wanting to be forever bound to Republic guardsmen duty, Argyus secretly changed allegiances. During the Tranquility journey, the warship came under attack by vulture droids and three Droch-class boarding ships, which pierced the hull of the Tranquility, releasing a Separatist boarding party. Eventually, clone troopers under the leadership of Commander Gree destroyed the invading battle droids, but they had only been a distraction to allow Separatist assassin Asajj Ventress to infiltrate and cripple the Republic warship.

Ventress briefly rescued Gunray in the detention level, despite Argyus's conveyed attempt to prevent it. Ventress Force-pushed Argyus out of her way, intent on departing with the viceroy. The arrival of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli thwarted Gunray's escape, however, and forced Ventress to flee. Unduli pursued Ventress into the engine room of the Tranquility, leaving Ahsoka Tano, the Padawan of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, to guard the captive viceroy alongside Argyus, his commandos, and Gree. Tano was faced with the decision of obeying orders to stay in the detention level or going with Unduli to fight Ventress. Argyus told the Padawan that following one's heart made them distinct from droids. At his urging, Tano went off to find Ventress, leaving Gunray under the watch of Argyus, his men, and Gree. In the course of her engagement with the Jedi, Ventress sent an all-clear signal to Argyus.

His true loyalties revealed to the Republic, Argyus killed his fellow commandos, released Gunray, and took the Neimoidian viceroy as a living shield. Only Gree stood in his way, and, after a short standoff, Gree shot the blaster Argyus was holding out of his hand, before Argyus likewise kicked the blaster out of the clone's hands. During the lull in the action that followed, Argyus revealed to the clone commander the reasons behind his treachery&mdash;he had no desire to live the rest of his life as an unappreciated guardsmen condemned to life-long servitude to the Republic. Although he did not expect a clone like Gree to understand his disillusionment with the Republic, Argyus continued to defend his betrayal with his belief that a good soldier always did what he believed to be right. He dove for Gree's blaster on the ground, but the clone prevented Argyus from retrieving it. Gree delivered a blow to Argyus's head, knocking him down, but before Gree could kill the traitor, Gunray hit the clone over the head with the butt of Argyus's blaster, knocking him unconscious.

Escape and death


When Argyus rose, he signaled Ventress to inform her of his success. Ventress then fled the engine room after detonating leftover explosives. Argyus and Gunray made it to a docked Consular-class frigate, which they used to make their escape. Ventress, meanwhile, had eluded the two Jedi and entered an escape pod, arriving aboard the escaping cruiser before reaching Separatist space. Argyus arrogantly gloated to Ventress about his mission's success, and that he had been responsible for Gunray's rescue. Ventress silenced his gloating permanently, impaling him through the chest with her lightsaber.

Argyus's betrayal shocked the Republic, and proved that even the best and bravest could be corrupted. The fact that he had come from a family noted for its loyalty and service in the Senate Guard did not help this belief. To some, Argyus's defection served as further proof that the Republic was falling apart.

Personality and traits


Captain Argyus was, like all other Senate Commandos, an elite member of the Senate Guard, chosen from the best and bravest of the guards. However, Dooku easily bribed him into becoming a traitor, for Argyus didn't want to live in a state of permanent servitude to the Republic. He was arrogant and boastful in his skills, evident when he took all the credit for Nute Gunray's rescue from the Tranquility. His boasting led to his death at the hands of Asajj Ventress.

As a captain, he bore the symbol of the Galactic Senate on the left shoulder pad of his Senate Commando armor, which was a modified version of clone trooper armor with over-sized, blaster-proof shoulder pads. Argyus wore the traditional helmet of the Senate Guard, which boasted a ceremonial crest.

Behind the scenes
Argyus first appeared in the online comic The Clone Wars: Agenda, a preview to The Clone Wars episode "Destroy Malevolence." He would go on to appear in the comics Departure (the preview for "Bombad Jedi") and Transfer (the preview for "Cloak of Darkness"). Argyus was given the first name "Faro" in 2009's Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Visual Guide Ultimate Battles.

In his first and only television appearance thus far, "Cloak of Darkness," Argyus was voiced by James Marsters, who gave the character a "stuffy accent" because he wanted to portray the character as arrogant. Argyus, along with the rest of the Senate Commandos, was not made a clone because the Senate Commandos were elite Republic guards, essentially predecessors to the Emperor's Royal Guard. Additionally, according to the documentary, there were not supposed to be any clone traitors.

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Agenda
 * The Clone Wars: Departure
 * The Clone Wars: Transfer
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Ambush
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Ambush