Rhad Tarn

"We Jedi should be fighting with the Confederacy&mdash;not the Republic!"

- Rhad Tarn

Rhad Tarn was a male Human Jedi Knight during the Clone Wars.

Biography
When the Clone Wars broke out and the Jedi Knights were called to be generals in the newly created Grand Army of the Republic, many Jedi of the Order refused to take up such positions. These dissident Jedi did not agree with the new roles the Jedi were forced to adopt. They believed that Jedi were servants of the Force, not to any government, despite the Order's relationship to the Galactic Republic. Rhad Tarn was one of these dissident Jedi and soon came to be a spokesperson for them, as well as one of their leaders.

Three months after the Battle of Geonosis, Tarn, along with Sian Jeisel, Mira, and K'Kruhk, were contacted by Master Sora Bulq, who wished to unite the objectors. He invited Tarn and the other leaders to his family's old estate on a moon circling the Weequay homeworld of Sriluur, known as Ruul. He also informed the Jedi Council of the meeting, but allowed only one Master to attend to speak on behalf of the Order.

Masters Mace Windu, Yoda, and Tholme feared that once united, these dissident Jedi would be a large enough body to create a schism within the Jedi Order. Agreeing that negotiation seemed like the best course of action, it was decided that Master Windu would be the one to represent the Council. Most of the dissident Jedi's objections still remained at the moral level, and Master Windu hoped their minds were not closed to open discussion.

Worrying his friends and Master Windu, Rhad claimed that they should join with the C.I.S and leave the Republic.

At the meeting, Tarn made no hesitations about making his feelings known. As a Padawan, he had spent much time in the Outer Rim Territories, beyond the Republic's reach. There he had witnessed many travesties to which the Galactic Republic, and even the Jedi Order, turned a blind eye towards, like slavery and spice mine laborers. These experiences were the foundation upon which his views of the Clone Wars developed. While most Jedi simply questioned the role of the Jedi in the war, and the sudden switch from protectors to generals, Tarn advocated outright rebellion against the Republic. He felt that the Jedi should have sided with the Separatists in an attempt to bring down the Republic. While most of the other dissident leaders did not share his radical views, they agreed that his points on the corruption and ineffectiveness of the Republic were valid.

As the meeting progressed, Tarn became more and more distrustful of Master Windu. He felt that something was amiss about the Jedi Master's presence at the meeting. Tarn was correct in his suspicion that the meeting was not all it appeared to be, but failed to recognize the source of the discordance. In reality, Sora Bulq had fallen to the dark side and sided with Count Dooku, becoming one of his minions. The meeting was essentially a trap to lure Mace Windu within the reach of Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress' blades. Ventress, arriving on Ruul with only Bulq knowing, attacked the Jedi, killing Mira and appearing as if she was in league with Master Windu. While K'Kruhk attempted to avoid jumping to conclusions about the events and Ventress' relationship to Master Windu, Tarn's distrust boiled over and he became filled with rage.



Racing off to find the assassin, Tarn was treading dangerously close to the dark side. During the ensuing lightsaber battle with Ventress, the Dark Jedi taunted and toyed with the young Jedi, only making him angrier. Ventress took advantage of this and encouraged Rhad to call on his rage, managing to turn the Jedi to the Dark Side of the Force. When asked to join Ventress, Rhad extinguished his lightsaber and accepted. By the time K'Kruhk and Jeisel showed up to take on Ventress, the two Jedi found themselves facing a Dark Jedi as well as an enraged Tarn. Disarmed and pinned to a rock, Jeisel pleaded with Tarn not to give in to the dark side. But Tarn was already too consumed with rage to hear her. As he made his killing swipe, Jeisel acquired her lightsaber and quickly cut Tarn across the torso, killing him.

Rhad Tarn represented the Jedi's worst fears about what the war had the potential to do to the Jedi Order. If he had fallen so easily, how many more would?

Behind the scenes
In Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, a Jedi Knight named Eremin Tarn is mentioned. Similarly to Rhad, he is disillusioned with the Order and is said to be a follower of the dissident Jedi Jeisel. At this point, it is unclear if the two characters have any connection; they could be relatives, or even meant to be the same person.

Appearances

 * Jedi: Mace Windu
 * Yoda: Dark Rendezvous