Amilyn Holdo

"Then there's this girl from Gatalenta named Amilyn Holdo who is&hellip;let's say, a little odd.''" "''I trust your judgement, Leia, but don't be too quick to write people off. Sometimes they can surprise you."

- Leia and Bail Organa

Amilyn Holdo was a human female from Gatalenta. In her youth, Holdo served in the Apprentice Legislature of the Imperial Senate, where she became acquainted with Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. During her time in the Apprentice Legislature, Holdo became friends with Organa, who confided with her about involvement with the rebellion against the Galactic Empire.

By the year 34 ABY, Holdo became a Vice Admiral in Organa's Resistance during its war with the First Order, and was given command of the cruiser Ninka. Taking overall command of the Resistance after the deaths of most of the commanders and Leia's incapacitation, Holdo devised a plan to save the remaining personnel by evacuating them on transports while she stayed behind on the command ship to draw attention away from them.

When the transports came under fire, Holdo piloted the heavy cruiser Raddus into position and jumped to lightspeed through Supreme Leader Snoke's flagship, the Mega-class Star Destroyer Supremacy, destroying both ships. Her heroic sacrifice allowed the remaining transports to reach the planet Crait, where they subsequently escaped to fight another day, keeping the dream and the hope alive.

Biography
"Godspeed, Rebels."

- Amilyn Holdo wishing good luck to the Resistance

A human female, Amilyn Holdo was born on the planet Gatalenta during the early Imperial Era. In the year 3 BBY, Holdo joined the Apprentice Legislature, an Imperial organization on Coruscant for youth in politics. While in the Apprentice Legislature, Holdo met Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, daughter of Senator Bail Organa. Holdo and Princess Organa spent much time together during senatorial sessions and routine pathfinding training on various worlds such as Alderaan, Eriadu, and Felucia. While pathfinding on the planet Pamarthe, Holdo discovered Organa's involvement with the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Soon after, Holdo helped Organa find passage to the Paucris system in order to warn the fleet of an impending Imperial attack.

In 2 BBY, the rebellion became the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and in the subsequent Galactic Civil War, the Empire was toppled and replaced with a New Republic. However, an Imperial remnant reorganized into the First Order, so in 28 ABY, Organa created the Resistance to oppose them. By 34 ABY, during the conflict between the two groups, Holdo joined the Resistance military and served as a Vice Admiral and commanding officer of the cruiser Ninka.

After the attack on Starkiller Base, she was posted on the Resistance ship Ninka. On D'qar just before the First Order's arrival, she briefed the Resistance pilots from Cobalt and Crimson Squadron about the events of the annihilation of the Hosnian system as well as the subsequent destruction of Starkiller Base. She offered ammunition from her ship to help arm their squadrons. Having heard of Rose Tico's previous accomplishments with Cobalt Squadron, Holdo asked her to take a position on the Ninka as part of the maintenance team.

During an attack on the Raddus, the ship's commander Leia Organa was ejected from the bridge and left unconscious and Vice Admiral Holdo took temporary command of the ship.

Poe Dameron and Holdo were not on good terms. When Holdo ordered the crew of the Raddus to evacuate to the planet Crait via rescue transports, Dameron and some crew members held Holdo hostage and took control of the ship. Holdo escaped the mutiny. Later, Leia woke up and eventually learned about Poe's mutiny. Leia stunned Poe, and sent him to Crait with the rest of the crew. Holdo told Leia that someone had to stay on the Raddus for the transports to take off and said she would be honoured to do it. Holdo was horrified when the First Order detected and fired on the fleeing transports, destroying many of them. After personally witnessing the demise of a transport whilst conferring with its frantic pilot, Holdo resolved to prevent any more deaths and fired up the hyperdrive on the Raddus. By the time General Hux realized what she was going to do, it was too late. Activating the hyperdrive, Holdo jumped through Supreme Leader Snoke's ship Supremacy at lightspeed, killing herself and taking a huge portion of the cruiser and the First Order forces with her. Though Holdo was killed, her death allowed the escape of the remaining Resistance personnel.

Personality and traits
"I like comparing different planets' traditional astrological charts to see if they agree on the influences exercised by various stars. The parallels are uncanny!"

- Amilyn Holdo, introducing herself to the Apprentice Legislature

Holdo had blue eyes and light-colored skin, and she was tall. In her youth, Holdo became disinterested with the peaceful culture of her homeworld, so she expressed herself by dyeing her hair vibrant colors, wearing vibrantly-colored clothing, and going on daring escapades. Holdo also enjoyed studying astrology, and she was knowledgeable of the galaxy. Organa found Holdo to be insightful and charming, but also irritating at times.

Holdo had a quirky personality, often getting distracted, speaking in metaphors with a monotone voice, and being eccentric. On the battlefield however, Holdo was a determined and patriotic person, able to react to changing circumstances and ready to sacrifice herself for the cause. As a commander she had a cool head for the greater strategy, and expected her orders to be executed precisely. Holdo was known to carry a Defender-5 sporting blaster, which was favored by most the nobility Gatalenta.

Behind the scenes
"She's somebody who's a bit off-kilter, who sees the world through a prism most others don't understand. At first Leia thinks she's pleasant but weird, but as time goes on, it becomes apparent that there's much more to Holdo than you might guess when you first met her. We don't really have a lot of true oddballs in Star Wars, so it was fun to introduce one!"

- Claudia Gray, on Amilyn Holdo

Amilyn Holdo is a character developed for the 2017 film Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, in which she is portrayed by actress Laura Dern. The casting announcement was revealed on February 15, 2016, and Holdo's name was first revealed on May 24, 2017 in a Vanity Fair article. During the Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi marketing campaign, Holdo appeared as a supporting character in the young adult novel Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray, and was briefly shown in the picture book A Leader Named Leia. Holdo's appearance in Leia, Princess of Alderaan was received positively, with some readers comparing her to the character Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter.

Appearances

 * Leia, Princess of Alderaan
 * A Leader Named Leia
 * The Last Jedi: Cobalt Squadron
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi