Ryder Azadi

"I was the governor of Lothal. I supported your parents and the messages they beamed out against the Empire. It was part of the reason I was accused of treason and sent to prison with them."

- Ryder Azadi, to Ezra Bridger

Ryder Azadi was a human male who served as the Governor of Lothal during the early years of the Galactic Empire's reign over the Outer Rim planet. He supported the revolutionary broadcasts of Ephraim and Mira Bridger, leading to his arrest and imprisonment alongside the Bridgers. While in prison, he was labeled as "Prisoner X10." He escaped four years before the Battle of Yavin, after the Bridgers organized a prison break. The Bridgers were killed during their escape, so Azadi returned to Lothal to find their son, Ezra Bridger. Ezra, however, found him first after seeing him and his parents in a vision, so Azadi broke the news that his parents had been killed.

Azadi continued helping Bridger's Spectres rebel cell and Phoenix Cell, which later joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic. In the years leading up to the Battle of Yavin, Azadi became the leader of a Lothal resistance group that aided the Alliance against Imperial forces on Lothal.

Early life
"That's what everyone wants to know. Especially the Imperials. Old Azadi is running out of time."

- Cikatro Vizago to the Graf kids

Ryder Azadi hailed from the Outer Rim planet of Lothal, where he served as its governor during the early days of the Galactic Empire's rule there.

Around 18 BBY, shortly after the Imperials arrived on Lothal, governor Azadi was instructed to stop the Bridger transmissions within a month.

Attempted takeover of Pryce Mining
During his tenure as governor of Lothal, Azadi discovered that a vein of doonium had been uncovered in the Pryce Mine. Hoping to gain control of the doonium vein before Senator Domus Renking and the Empire could get their hands on it, Azadi sent his representative Arik Uvis to buy a controlling interest from owner Arihnda Pryce. Pryce, disinterested in letting someone outside of the Pryce family control the mine, turned down Azadi's offer, throwing Uvis out of the mine when he refused to relent.

In retribution for Pryce's refusal of his offer, Azadi and Uvis falsified embezzlement charges that led to the arrest of Elainye Pryce. When Pryce went to Renking's office to appeal for her mother's release, he confirmed that Elainye would be held by Azadi until proven innocent and he could not be convinced otherwise. Azadi's attempted takeover failed when Pryce turned the mine over to the Empire and Renking in exchange for her mother's release and a job on Coruscant.

Prisoner of the Empire
"As it happens, that particular governorship may soon be vacant.''" "Governor Azadi is retiring?" "''Yes. Rather against his will, it would seem."

- Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Arihnda Pryce

Despite being a member of the Imperial government, Azadi supported underground revolutionary broadcasts that were made by Ephraim and Mira Bridger. As a result of his actions, Azadi was charged with treason and incarcerated in an Imperial prison, along with the Bridgers. Azadi was given the label "Prisoner X10" while he was imprisoned. Governor Azadi's "forced retirement" and imprisonment coincided with Arihnda Pryce winning Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's favor by disclosing the Higher Skies Advocacy Group's illegal espionage activities against the Empire and Moff Ghadi's attempt to use this intelligence to gain advantage over Tarkin. As a reward, Pryce was made the new Governor of Lothal. She oversaw the expansion of Imperial industry, mining, and military bases on Lothal, which under her rule became a major center of Imperial power in that region of the galaxy. Azadi's office was looted by his former associates. One of his former ministers Maketh Tua continued serving Governor Pryce as Lothal's Minister in charge of industrial production.

Escape
"They're dead, aren't they?''" "''I'm sorry, son. They are."

- Ryder Azadi tells Ezra Bridger what happened to his parents

Approximately four years before the Battle of Yavin, the Bridgers' son, Ezra, had become part of a rebel cell that fought the Empire on Lothal. He sent out a message of rebellion to the people of Lothal, one that also reached the ears of prisoners like Azadi and the Bridgers. This inspired the Bridgers to rally Azadi and fellow inmates to escape. Azadi was able to escape from the prison, but the Bridgers lost their lives during the attempt. Azadi returned to Lothal in the hopes of finding Ezra, so he could tell the boy what happened to his parents, and Ezra likewise traveled to Lothal from Garel after seeing his parents and Azadi in a vision. Ezra found the former governor in a stone circle on Lothal, though Azadi did not know who it was at first and fired a blaster rifle at Ezra and his Jedi master, Kanan Jarrus.

Ezra managed to calm Azadi down by telling him that he was the son of Ephraim and Mira Bridger. Satisfied, Azadi led Ezra, Kanan, and the astromech droid Chopper into the stone circle which served as his adobe. There, the former Governor told Ezra about his connection to his parents. He also informed Ezra that his broadcast had inspired his parents to stage an escape but that they had perished during the attempt. Azadi then stayed inside the stone circle while Ezra went out into the open to grief his parents' deaths. While Ezra was devastated by the loss of his parents, he was able to come to terms with his grief after he encountered them during a Force vision.

Helping the rebellion
Ryder stayed behind with Chopper while Ezra and Kanan traveled to the town of Jalath to greet Princess Leia Organa, the daughter of the Alderaanian Senator Bail Organa, who was delivering three Sphyrna-class corvette to the rebellion. Kanan and Ezra had invited him to come along with them but Ryder did not want to expose himself to the Empire. While Ezra and Kanan were away, Ryder and Chopper were captured by a group of stormtroopers, who had orders to execute Ryder. Before the Imperials could take their prisoners into the custody, they were ambushed by Ezra, Kanan, Leia, and the other crew of the Ghost. Following a brief skirmish, Ryder and his rescuers fled aboard the Ghost; with Ezra and Kanan disguised as a kidnapped Imperial cadet and stormtrooper respectively. To hide Leia's dealings with the rebels, Ryder pretended to "kidnap" the Alderaanian princess.

Once aboard, Ryder was present when the rebels discussed their plans to "steal" Leia's corvettes from the Imperials. To hide Alderaan's support for the rebellion, Bail Organa had arranged for the cruisers to be sent to Imperial worlds where they would be "stolen" by the rebellion's agents. In response to these "thefts", the Imperials had installed gravity locks on them. Since Ryder had worked on building gravity locks during his captivity, he was able to advise the rebels that explosives would not be able to disable them. He then offered the rebels his help in escaping offworld with the corvettes.

With the help of Ryder, the rebels concocted a plan which involved using the Phantom, the Ghost auxiliary ship, to enter Supply Master Yogar Lyste's base. Still wearing their Imperial disguises, Kanan and Ezra escorted Leia back to the base and claimed to have rescued the Alderaanian princess from the rebels. While the Imperials were distracted, Ryder worked with Chopper and another rebel named Sabine Wren to disable the gravity locks on one of the cruisers. While Sabine departed on the first corvette, Ryder and Chopper moved to the next ship and proceeded to disable its locks. However, they were discovered by Lyste and several of his stormtroopers. Before any harm could befall Ryder and Chopper, Kanan and Ezra knocked the Imperials out with the Force.

During the ensuing battle, Ryder watched Kanan using his lightsaber and quickly realized that the man was a Jedi. Kanan's intervention allowed Ryder and Chopper to disable the second gravity lock; allowing Kanan to pilot the ship. Realizing that the crew of the Ghost needed help, he boarded the third ship while Chopper proceeded to disable its gravity lock. Two stormtroopers pursued Ryder but Ezra used the Force to snatch their blasters while Leia stunned them with her blaster. At the helm of the third Hammerhead corvette, Ryder forced the ship to fly despite the gravity lock by engaging the thrusters, toppling an AT-AT walker in the process. Ryder then escaped with the other rebels into hyperspace with the three stolen corvettes. After realizing that Ezra's parents had inspired a rebel movement, he agreed to join the rebellion and free Lothal to honor them and their son Ezra.

Sabotaging the Imperial war effort
By 2 BBY, Ryder Azadi had become the leader of a rebel cell on Lothal that specialized in sabotaging vehicles being produced at the Imperial Armory Complex. His fellow operatives included the former farmer Morad Sumar and his wife Marida Sumar, and the Ithorian bartender Jho. When the Phoenix Cell received intelligence that the Empire was developing a new weapon, Ezra, Kanan, and Chopper arranged to rendezvous with Ryder in Capital City. The Phoenix Squadron wanted to take out the factory but needed the help of a local rebel cell.

Ryder drove his landspeeder into Capital City but was quickly pursued by two scout troopers on 614-AvA speeder bikes and an AT-DP walker. Ezra, Kanan, and Chopper managed to jump into Ryder's speeder and the rebels fled for the highway. On the way, they narrowly ran into an Imperial road block and Ryder was forced to do a U-turn. Ezra and Kanan managed to use their lightsabers to cut down the AT-DP walker's legs. Ryder then led the speeder bikes on a chase through the highway. After telling the Spectres about his cell's work as saboteurs, Ryder reassured his comrades that the speeder bikes could not go beyond 190 km/h. True to his word, the speeder bikes exploded and crashed.

Ryder then drove the rebels to his hideout at a stone circle in Lothal's wilderness. There, they were joined by the Sumars and Jho. Ryder discussed the details of the Phoenix Squadron's plan with Ezra and Kanan. Morad agreed to help Ezra and his team infiltrate the factory disguised as workers and an Imperial communication droid respectively. The mission was complicated by a surprise inspection by the Chiss Grand Admiral Thrawn, who had been sent by Imperial High Command to investigate the high rate of defective vehicles at the Lothal Imperial factory. Thrawn staged a dangerous test demonstration on a 614-AvA speeder bike that claimed Morad's life.

Kanan tried to contact Ryder but found that the Imperials were jamming all comlinks. Meanwhile, Ryder contacted Hera Syndulla and Commander Jun Sato via hologram to warn them that the Imperials had locked down the factory. Ryder described the new Imperial officer as pretty thorough and having red eyes. Hera quickly recognized the officer as Grand Admiral Thrawn, whom she had encountered on Ryloth. Ryder then told Hera that he and his team would attack the factory's east gate to facilitate Ezra and his team's escape.

With the help of the disillusioned Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus, Kanan managed to use a communication port to upload his comlink signals to Ryder. Ryder then told Kanan that he and his team were at the east gate and were ready to evacuate their team. Ryder remained in his landspeeder while Marida used a rocket launcher to damage an Imperial Troop Transport. The rebels then came under attack from two AT-AT walkers. Ryder and Marida watched as Ezra's team exited the factory in AT-DP Walker 216. When one of the AT-AT walkers proceeded to crush the rebel walker, Marida fired a rocket that hit the walker's foreleg.

Ryder expressed a humored surprise when he saw Ezra, Kanan, and Chopper exit the walker that Marida had shot down. When Ryder asked about Morad, Ezra informed him and Marida that the rebel had not survived the mission. Back at Ryder's base, Chopper uploaded the plans to the rebel base on the planet Atollon. After Sabine decrypted the plan, Ryder and the Spectres learnt that these contained the blue prints for Thrawn's new starfighter initiative. The rebels feared that the Empire would use these new deflector shield-equipped starfighters to destroy the rebellion.

Mon Mothma's speech
Later, Ryder Azadi along with his fellow rebel operatives Old Jho and Marida Sumar were frequenting Old Jho's Pit Stop when the rebel leader Mon Mothma delivered a speech on HoloNet urging the galaxy to rise up in rebellion against the Empire.

Battle of Atollon
Prior to the Phoenix Squadron and General Jan Dodonna's Massassi Group's planned assault on the TIE Defender factories on Lothal, Ryder corresponded with his rebel comrades via hologram and informed them that most of the Imperial fleet had left Lothal. As a result, Hera realized that Thrawn had discovered the location of Chopper Base and Atollon. Shortly later, Ryder's transmission was cut off as the Imperial fleet began jamming long-range transmissions. This preceded the Battle of Atollon, which saw the rebels sustain heavy casualties at the hands of Grand Admiral Thrawn's Seventh Fleet.

Continuing the Fight
Even though Lothal was now heavily occupied by Imperial forces and the planet was suffering due to heavy mining by the Mining Guild, Ryder and his rebels continued to fight against the Imperials. He requested assistance from Rebel high command upon hearing of a new fighter being built in Lothal. During this time, he sent his fellow rebel comrade Jai Kell to what was once Old Jho's Pit Stop, to see if help arrived. Ryder's cell was also targeted by an Imperial crackdown which claimed the life of Jho.

Rebel high command eventually received his transmission, and sent help in the form of the Spectres. Jai encountered Ezra and Sabine, and after reconnecting with the other Spectres, they made their way to the sewer system, following the starbirds that were painted there. Ryder narrowly saved the group from being surrounded and captured by the Empire, and was surprised that his message got through, and that only the Spectres were given to him. Ezra assured him that they will free Lothal, as rebellions always start small, while Ryder understands but states that the feeling will be gone when they see the new prototype fighter the Empire is designing.

Ryder later accompanied the Spectres to scout the Elite, and when the mission escalated into an encounter with Thrawn, Ryder became concerned with Ezra and Sabine's safety, but was reassured by Zeb that they would be fine. The two later made their way back to Ryder and the others, and they returned to his camp. The following day, the rebels obtained the hyperdrive from the stolen TIE Defender Elite and installed it into Ryder's U-wing. Shortly later, the camp was eventually found due to the Noghri assassin Rukh tracking them back to base. While Hera Syndulla and Chopper returned with the Defender's flight data recorder to Yavin 4, Ryder and his rebels managed to escape due to the help of several Loth-wolves, who brought the group from the northern to the southern hemisphere.

Ryder and his rebel cell later set up their new camp in the caves that the Loth-wolves brought them into. He later brings Ezra, Kanan and Zeb to a nearby Mining Guild ore crawler, which they boarded. The rebels encountered several indentured civilians including the crime lord Cikatro Vizago, who had smuggled the Spectres into Lothal. Besides subduing the Trandoshan overseers Proach and Seevor, the rebels also narrowly escaped an Imperial search party. After liberating the prisoners, the rebels managed to get a connection to Hera, who informs them that Rebel high command is sending an attack force to Lothal to destroy the factories and fuel depots, cheering the rebels up.

During the Attack on Lothal, Ryder, his cell and the Spectres sabotaged several towers housing turrets that were being used to defend the factory where the Elites were being manufactured so rebel fighters could bombard it. Out of range of the factory, they watched several fighters crash in and around the city, and realized that the strike force had been destroyed. Ryder became saddened by the turn of events, and when Sabine informed them that several gunships were coming, Ryder told the group that they needed to leave before they were found.

Liberation of Lothal
After the failed attack, Ryder remained at the rebel camp while the Spectres mounted a mission on the Imperial Complex to rescue Hera Syndulla. As a result the mission, the fuel station of the Imperial Factory was destroyed. Ryder wanted to act on this opportunity and recommended that they contact Rebel Command for support. However, Ezra told him that Mon Mothma deemed the mission over and would not sent any support. Ryder asked Hera on her opinion as what their next move should be, however Hera was still in shock after the recent death of Kanan Jarrus.

After the Spectres mission to the Lothal Jedi Temple, Ezra had contacted several allies to initiate an operation to liberate Lothal from the Empire. Ryder was heavily against this operation stating that they did not have the resources or troops to fight the empire. Despite his reluctance, Ryder ultimately played a key role in Ezra's plan to free the planet by revealing the location of the rebel camp to Governor Pryce in exchange for a pardon. This turned to be a ruse concocted by the rebels to lure Pryce into a trap as she was captured by the rebels with the help of the loth-wolves when she attacked the cliff-dwelling.

Personality and traits
Ryder Azadi was a human male with white hair, blue eyes, and copper skin. While serving as Imperial governor, Azadi coveted the Pryce family's Pryce Mining company. When Arihnda Pryce refused to let him buy a controlling stake in the family's company, Azadi framed her mother Elainye for embezzlement. While Pryce avoided Azadi's takeover by selling the company to the Empire, Azadi's actions earned her the enmity of Arihnda.

Though he served as an Imperial governor, he supported the revolutionary broadcasts made by Ephraim and Mira Bridger, a decision that led to him being charged with treason and incarcerated in an Imperial prison. Time spent in Imperial prison had wearied Azadi. Following his escape, he initially wanted no part in rebellious activities, fearing that any such involvement might land him back in prison, a fate he could not bear. He agreed reluctantly only to assist for one mission, feeling that he owed the rebels for his rescue. Participating in this rekindled his spark for resistance against the Empire's activities and he joined up to continue fighting.

Ryder later used his knowledge of Capital City and Lothal's natural landscape to help the Spectres undertake a mission to disrupt the Empire's TIE Defender manufacturing operations on Lothal. Ryder also owned a U-wing, which he lent to Hera in order for her to escape Lothal with the TIE/D Defender Elite's flight data recorder.

Behind the scenes
Ryder Azadi first appeared in "Legacy," an episode in the second season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels. He is voiced by actor Clancy Brown, the voice of Savage Opress from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Appearances

 * Adventures in Wild Space: The Steal
 * Thrawn
 * Thrawn, Part III