Trios

"Queen Trios, this world is yours to rule&hellip; But do not forget whom you serve."

- Darth Vader, to Queen Trios

Trios, a human female, was a princess who became the Queen of Shu-Torun during the reign of the Galactic Empire. A scion of the royal family, she was the youngest child of the King of Shu-Torun. In the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin, Trios and her elder siblings, Prince Monthan and Princess Hollian, participated in their father's plan to assassinate the Sith Lord Darth Vader during his tour of the royal palace. Vader responded by killing the rebellious king, as well as Monthan and Hollian. Trios' life, however, was spared and, with the deaths of her father and siblings, the crown passed to her. She would rule the planet and its people, but only as a vassal of the Empire.

Queen Trios' accession to the throne of Shu-Torun was soon followed by the outbreak of a civil war between the new queen's supporters and rebellious members of the nobility. Darth Vader was sent to Shu-Torun once more, this time to enforce Trios' authority and to ensure that the volcanic, resource-rich planet remained under Imperial control. Although Trios was initially disturbed by the Sith's tactics, particularly his decision to destroy one of the delving citadels, she requested that Baron Rubix's citadel become their next target in response to his attack on the royal family's ancestral retreat.

Trios and Vader were separated while en route to Rubix's citadel. Nevertheless, she oversaw the assault on the fortress and refused to withdraw as the possibility of defeat grew more apparent. After executing her chamberlain, Jooli, for trying to countermand her orders, the queen rallied her loyalist troops and managed to hold out until Vader arrived to turn the tide in their favor. The combined forces of the Shu-Torun/Imperial delving fleet ultimately secured the decisive victory, bringing an end to the war and the insurrection of the ore-dukes. Following the execution of Rubix, Trios assured Vader that she would eliminate the other rebel dukes and barons for attempting to overthrow her. The Sith Lord departed from Shu-Torun, but not before assigning a stormtrooper captain to serve as the queen's military advisor.

Princess of Shu-Torun
"Trios, my third child&hellip; your blood will serve in other ways."

- The king of Shu-torun addresses his daughter, planning to have her lead Darth Vader into a trap

Princess Trios was born as the third and youngest child of the king of the planet Shu-Torun, a mining world in the Mid Rim. She had two elder siblings, her brother Prince Monthan, who as the eldest child stood to inherit their father's crown upon his death, and her sister Princess Hollian, who would inherit the role of celebrant warlord of the planet's War-Faith. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, the planet supplied the Imperials with ore for their many building projects, but when the ore-dukes of Shu-Torun became resistant to the Empire's tithes, the king chose to turn against the Empire.

When the royal family learned that the Sith Lord Darth Vader was visiting Shu-Torun in order to ensure that the planet's ore quotas were going to be met, the king devised a plan to kill the Imperial representative. Believing he had a surfeit of children, he decided Trios would be the one to greet Vader and lead him into a trap set in the royal palace, with a backup plan where she would lead him to die with her in the tunnels within the castle. Trios obeyed her father's commands, and was waiting for Vader with two guards when he landed on one of the palace's landing platforms in his TIE Advanced x1 starfighter. The Sith was displeased that the king himself was not present, but Trios blamed her father's absence on his age and began leading Vader toward the palace's abyssal rooms below the planet's surface, where a ball was being held to showcase Shu-Torun's culture. En route, she offered to have servants take a small package that her guest was carrying, but he refused, stating that he must personally deliver the gift to the ruler of Shu-Torun.

Vader's guide
"No, you can't! The King! My father!"

- Trios protests as Vader cuts open the doors to her father's throne room

Upon entering the subterranean hall where the ball was being held, Trios gave the command for those present to begin with the stately Shu-Torun counter-bore waltz. When Vader complained that the dancing was unnecessary, she explained that such practices were an important part of Shu-Torun's culture and were needed to keep the ore-dukes in line. As she and Vader moved across the room, they were stopped by Duke Rubix, who demanded that the Sith Lord dance with his daughter Bixene. Trios advised the duke against pushing the matter, but when he persisted in his demands, Vader used the Force to lift Rubix into the air and whirl him around before dropping him. As Vader questioned if anyone else wished for such a "dance", the king's plan moved into action as a tunneling vessel broke through the hall's ceiling, causing the guests to scatter.

Pretending to act as rebels opposing both the Empire and the royal family, a number of assassins working for the king exited the craft and attacked Vader. The Sith however, was able to dodge their attacks and then reflect them back at the troops using his lightsaber, killing all of his opponents. With the first part of the plan to kill Vader having failed, Trios dutifully began enacting the second phase, and claiming that the traitors would be watching the lifts, led Vader into the palace's tunnels. As the pair supposedly moved toward the king, Vader complimented Trios, and was still impressed with her when the doors of the tunnel they were in sealed and molten lava began pouring in from the ceiling. He then drew his lightsaber and began cutting a hole through the tunnel's wall, knocking Trios unconscious with the Force when she tried to convince him that there was no escape for either of them.

Instead of leaving Trios to burn in her father's trap, Vader carried her prone form to the doors of her father's throne room, where he killed the guards. As she awoke, the princess realised that her father's plan had failed, and aimed to shoot Vader in the back with a blaster pistol. The Sith sensed the attack coming however, and was able to slice Trios' right hand off at the wrist before she could pull the trigger. He then turned and cut the doors to the throne room open as Trios protested, revealing that his assassin droids 0-0-0 and BT-1 had infiltrated the palace upon his arrival and killed everyone in the throne room while Trios was unconscious, including her father and siblings.

With her family dead, Trios was the hereditary queen of Shu-Torun, and so as she grieved at her father's side, Vader handed her the package he had been carrying with him the whole time. Inside there was only a chunk of rock, which held no meaning to the queen until Vader explained that the gift was a piece of the planet Alderaan, which had also stood against the Empire, leading to its destruction by the Death Star superweapon. As Vader used the Force to crown Trios, she complained that the ore-dukes would still resist the Empire's tithes, to which he explained she would put down their rebellions with aid from the Empire. He then left her alone in the throne room with only the warning that she should not forget that she and her people served the Empire.

Civil war on Shu-Torun
"So as queen and warlord, I say this: We must retreat. The ore-barons are too strong."

- Trios demands that the Imperials retreat in the face of the delving citadel

Despite her backing by the Empire, the ore barons quickly rebelled against Trios's rule, beginning a civil war on Shu-Torun. Under orders from Galactic Emperor Palpatine, Vader personally returned to lead Imperial forces in putting down the insurrection with the aid of Grand General Cassio Tagge and Doctor Cylo. As she now held her sister's role of war-minister of her people, Trios chose to position herself on the frontlines alongside Vader as otherwise her people would lose respect for her. After they witnessed the toppling of an Imperial All Terrain Armored Transport in a battle against one of the ore-barons' delving citadels, she declared that their foe was too strong and demanded a retreat. Vader refused, as the attack had merely been a distraction, which had allowed Tulon Voidgazer&mdash;one of Cylo's agents&mdash;to position explosive drones on the ceiling of the cavern above the citadel. The drones then detonated, collapsing part of the ceiling and allowing molten magma to pour down on the citadel and destroy it.

Upset that such a valuable and ancient asset as the citadel had been destroyed, Trios returned with the others to the royal palace. There Vader informed her that they would continue to destroy citadels until the barons surrendered. Trios objected, as without the citadels her planet would never meet Imperial quotas after the war, but Vader ignored her objection and reminded her in front of her subjects and Cylo that her role was to obey the will of the Empire. The Sith then made to leave, but Trios followed him into an empty room and asked that he treat her with respect in front of her subordinates, as otherwise she would have little power after the Imperials left. Vader stated that he would be respectful in front of her subjects as long as she never questioned him in public, which she agreed to and left.

Attack on the ancestral retreat
"This is blasphemy! That's one of Rubix's vessels. He's opened fire on a sacred site."

- Trios is shocked by the Lava Leviathan's attack on the ancestral retreat

Trios and Vader then sent a holographic message to the ore-barons showing them the fate of the delving citadel the Imperials had destroyed and demanding their surrender before moving the ancestral retreat of the Shu-Torun royalty to plan their next move. Morit Astarte, another agent of Cylo, questioned the choice to spent time such a militarily insignificant location, but Trios countered that she wanted to remind herself of what she was fighting for, as the retreat was considered a sacred site and one of the world's greatest wonders. Despite its status as a place of peace, the retreat was then attacked by the Lava Leviathan, a vessel owned by Rubix's family and sent to killed Trios.

Horrified at the blasphemous desecration of the retreat, Trios made to flee in a shuttle, but was surprised when Vader also boarded with Morit and his sister Aiolin Astarte. Instead of fleeing, the trio positioned the shuttle above the Leviathan and dropped down onto it, using their lightsabers to cut through the hull and enter the vessel. They then fought through Rubix's men onboard and cut holes in either end of the vessel, leaving it to sink into the magma from which it had emerged as Trios picked them up in the shuttle. Upon arriving back at the retreat, Trios was reprimanded by her chamberlain Jooli, who claimed she should not be putting herself in such danger. Vader then threatened the chamberlain, but Trios apologised for Jooli and explained to her subject that she had the Imperials protecting her and so need not worry. She then requested that Rubix's delving citadel be the next that Vader destroyed, as punishment for the attack on the retreat.

The final battle
"Forward! We can win!"

- Trios leads her forces in the battle for Rubix's citadel

Trios and Jooli traveled to Rubix's citadel in the palatial drill in the second wave of the Shu-Torun loyalist/Imperial delving fleet so that she could observe the final victory without the risk of being on the front lines. En route to the citadel, the combat drill carrying Vader and his men veered off course due to sabotage by Cylo and plunged into a seam of lithoporoite. Unaware of Cylo's betrayal and knowing that the ore would never support the weight of Vader's craft, Trios assumed the Sith was lost. The doctor then contacted her via hologram and recommended that the attack be called off until they received word from Vader, as he had secretly been working with the barons, and promised them the battle would be prevented. Trios declared that as queen it was her job to finish the war with or without Vader, even when Cylo informed her that she would no longer have control of the Imperial forces. Jooli then informed her that he retained the power to veto her commands due to her young age as ruler and stated he would not allow her to advance without the Imperials. She argued with the chamberlain, but when he would not change his mind she offered him one last chance at blaster point. Jooli then warned her that she should know her place, believing that she would never be able to shoot him. Agreeing that she would never shoot him herself, the queen lowered her weapon and gave the order for the soldiers present to execute Jooli, which several of them swiftly did.

With no one left to hold her back, Trios then led her troops from the frontlines in battle against Rubix's forces at his citadel. Despite the fact that the baron had sent his elite guard to deal with Vader below, the battle still began to look grim for the loyalists. During the battle she was knocked to the ground by an explosion, but as one of her troops helped her up she witnessed the arrival of Vader's combat drill through the ceiling above. With the return of her Imperial allies, Trios knew that she had won the day and was proved correct when Vader forced Rubix to surrender immediately upon his arrival on board the citadel. The baron ordered his men to allow Trios and her troops on board and declared he would recognize her rule. When she reached the traitor, he began to give a speech about his failure, but tired of hearing the baron speak Trios ordered his immediate execution for the thousands of deaths he had caused. After the loyalist soldiers gunned Rubix down, Trios declared that Bixene would take over his holdings despite the fact that the line of inheritance would normally pass control to the eldest son.

With the war won, Vader and most of his troops left Shu-Torun, and Trios walked him to his shuttle to say goodbye. She promised Vader that none of the barons involved in the war would survive her wrath, but that their family lines would continue to keep things in order. To aid her in this, Vader assigned a stormtrooper captain to remain with her and offer advice. As Vader mounted the ramp to his ship, she asked one final question, wanting to know if Vader thought he had chosen well when he made her queen. The Sith simply replied that she had been the only choice before entering his vessel, but 0-0-0 remained and pointed out that there were multiple possible meanings to Vader's response. As he began to explain what he meant, the queen ordered that he leave, reminding the droid that while she could not destroy Vader, she did possess the power to destroy him. When 0-0-0 told her that she would go far, Trios corrected him, saying she had no intention of going anywhere.

Personality and traits
"You are an admirable youth. Your father must be proud.''" "You would be surprised Lord Vader." "Hmm. Your father should'' be proud."

- Vader compliments Trios as her family's treachery is revealed

Trios was a human female with fair skin, brown hair, and blue eyes. She was completely loyal to her father and took part in his plan despite the huge potential risk to herself, even sticking to it when she believed it would mean her death. Her father's willingness to sacrifice her in this way caused her to doubt that her father was proud of her. She also believed in the importance of Shu-Torun's courtly culture and its use in keeping the ore-dukes in line, defending the practice when Vader questioned the dancing in the abyssal rooms.

After her family's deaths, she remained in line with the Empire for the sake of her people, but demanded that Vader show her respect while they were in public, as otherwise she would never be taken seriously as queen. She understood that she needed to possess the illusion of power instead of real power for her rule to remain stable. She also traveled with Vader to the front lines of the civil war in order to keep her people's respect, feeling she must fulfill the role of Hollian as well as that of queen. Her place on the frontline scared some of her subjects, but she reassured them that her Imperial allies could keep her safe. Trios was horrified by Rubix's attack on the ancestral retreat of her family, which she considered blasphemy deserving of punishment by death.

Even after believing she had lost Vader, Trios remained determined to defeat the rebellious barons with or without Imperial forces, and was willing to have Jooli executed when he tried to stop her. She then led her troops from the front rather than simply observe as others had wished. Instead of applying the normal rules of succession to Rubix's children, she elected to give power to his daughter Bixene, as through her own experience with Vader she had learned that inexperienced youths who did not expect power were the easiest to manipulate once they had power. Before Vader left, she sought his approval on how she had handled the war, and after he left asked the stormtrooper that had been assigned to her if he danced, informing him that everyone on Shu-Torun had to dance due to the courtly culture.

Equipment
"We all do our duty."

- Trios aims her blaster at Vader

While with Vader, Trios wore a white gown with a golden trim and a blue cloak. She carried a concealed blaster pistol with her while escorting Vader, and later carried a blaster rifle during battle in the civil war. She kept her hair up with a piece of golden headwear. After losing her hand to Vader, she had a cybernetic replacement installed.

Behind the scenes
Trios first appeared in the comic book Darth Vader Annual 1, which was written by Kieron Gillen and illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu for publication in 2015. She then went on to star as one of the main characters of the third arc of the Star Wars: Darth Vader comic book series, which was also written by Gillen but with illustrations by Salvador Larroca.

Appearances

 * Darth Vader Annual 1
 * Darth Vader 16: The Shu-Torun War, Part I
 * Darth Vader 17: The Shu-Torun War, Part II
 * Darth Vader 18: The Shu-Torun War, Part III
 * Darth Vader 19: The Shu-Torun War, Part IV