Sifo-Dyas

"Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is still a leading member of the Jedi Council, is he not?"

- Lama Su, to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Sifo-Dyas was a human male Jedi Master who commissioned the Kaminoans' creation of the Grand Army of the Republic over a decade before the Clone Wars. A Jedi from the Cassandran Worlds, Sifo-Dyas was gifted with the power of foresight, and he earned a seat on the Jedi High Council prior to the Invasion of Naboo. When he foresaw a coming war that would ravage the galaxy, he believed that the Galactic Republic would require an army if it were to prevail. Yet, his peers on the Jedi Council rejected his notions, leading to his removal from the Council. Nevertheless, he pursued his ideas in secret and contacted the Kaminoan cloners, purporting to have the authorization of the Council and the Galactic Senate to raise an army for the Republic. In doing so, he unknowingly entered the crosshairs of the Sith, who set out to assume control of his cloning project.

Around the time of the Invasion of Naboo, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum requested Sifo-Dyas conduct clandestine negotiations with the Pyke Syndicate, and he headed for Oba Diah with Valorum's personal aide, Silman. However, the Sith Lord Darth Tyranus hired the Pykes to target Sifo-Dyas's T-6 shuttle, and they shot down his ship over the Oba Diah moon. Sifo-Dyas died in the resulting crash, but Silman survived and was taken prisoner by the Pykes. Consequently, Tyranus and his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, funded Sifo-Dyas's army of clone troopers, instructed the Kaminoan cloners to add Order 66 to the clones' inhibitor chips (which Sifo-Dyas originally intended to be a safeguard against any treacherous orders given to clones), and manipulated the Jedi Order into taking command of the army when the Clone Wars erupted. It was not until years later that the Jedi began to unravel the Sith's conspiracy and unearthed the details of Sifo-Dyas's demise.

Biography
"Prior to the blockade of Naboo, Sifo-Dyas sat on this Council until we judged his ideas to be too extreme."

- Mace Windu

Hailing from the Cassandran Worlds, Master Sifo-Dyas was a leading member of the Jedi High Council, the governing body of the Jedi Order, in the last decades of the Galactic Republic. However, some time prior to the Invasion of Naboo, tensions arose between Sifo-Dyas and his fellow councilors. Foreseeing an upcoming full-scale conflict, he started advocating for the creation of an army for the Republic. The rest of the High Council deemed his ideas too extreme, and Sifo-Dyas was removed from his position. Even though the other Jedi had rejected his project, he found a way to carry it out without their consent. Sifo-Dyas contacted the Kaminoans, who were reputed for their clone hatcheries, and secretly commissioned them to grow a clone army for the Republic, which he pretended was a request of the Galactic Senate.

Some time later, Master Sifo-Dyas was assigned on a secret mission by Finis Valorum, the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic himself, who asked him to deal with the Pyke Syndicate. Valorum also asked his personal aide, Silman, to accompany the Jedi on his way to the planet Oba Diah, where the Pykes were headquartered. However, Sifo-Dyas was never able to complete the Chancellor's mission, as the High Council called him to deal with another conflict: on Felucia, a skirmish had broken out between the local tribes, and Sifo-Dyas was assigned to quell the conflict. As a consequence, both Sifo-Dyas and Silman were diverted to Felucia aboard T-6 shuttle 77519.

Death over the Oba Diah moon
"Tyranus wanted Sifo-Dyas dead. The Pykes were well paid to shoot down his ship. However, any man that is willing to pay to have a Jedi killed is dangerous and unpredictable."

- Lom Pyke

However, neither man would ever reach their destination. In the shadows, the Sith wished to take over the clone army in the future, and they plotted against Sifo-Dyas' life. Count Dooku of Serenno, a defrocked Jedi now known as the Sith Lord named Darth Tyranus, hired the Pykes to kill Sifo-Dyas. Since those criminals wished to gain an advantage over rival crime families, they accepted Tyranus' offer and shot down Sifo-Dyas' shuttle over Oba Diah's Moon. After inspecting the wreckage, they turned over the Jedi Master's corpse to Tyranus as proof of their deal fulfilled. While Sifo-Dyas had died in the crash, Silman was still alive when the Pykes inspected the wreckage. They decided to keep the Chancellor's aide locked up in their prison as an insurance, recognizing that dealing with a Sith Lord like Tyranus would require it.

Legacy
"They said Master Sifo-Dyas placed an order for a clone army at the request of the Senate almost ten years ago. I was under the impression that he was killed before that."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ten years after the Jedi Master's death, the army he had commissioned was discovered by Obi-Wan Kenobi, a Jedi Knight who was investigating on Kamino following the murder of the bounty hunter Zam Wesell by a mysterious colleague of hers, Jango Fett. To his greatest surprise, Kenobi was greeted by Taun We, a Kaminoan, as if they had been expecting his visit for some time. Prime Minister Lama Su then informed the Jedi of the progress of the clone army ordered by Sifo-Dyas some ten years ago. Although he did not know what the cloners were talking about, Kenobi played along so he could learn more. He bluffed his way into the heart of the hatcheries, and was introduced to the original source of the clones, which was none other than Jango Fett. As soon as he took leave of the Kaminoans, Kenobi contacted the High Council and told them of the clone army and how Sifo-Dyas was supposed to have commissioned it. The Council members, however, had been completely unaware of it for ten years. Ultimately, Sifo-Dyas' clone army ended up being used at the behest of the Republic, and the conflict between the Separatists and the Republic was named "the Clone Wars" after it.

Toward the end of the Clone Wars, a Jedi mission led by Plo Koon and Commander Wolffe found a lightsaber belonging to the long-dead Sifo-Dyas on Oba Diah's moon. This unexpected discovery prompted Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker to investigate his decade-old disappearance. Meanwhile, Tyranus' master, the mysterious Darth Sidious, was furious to discover that the Jedi were investigating into the loose end that was Sifo-Dyas. He ordered Tyranus to clean up his affairs before it was too late.

As part of the Sith illusions created by Darth Sidious and Darth Tyranus' ritual, Sifo-Dyas appeared to Yoda on Moraband. His phantom was being tortured, bound by electricity. The specter begged Yoda to release him, offering in exchange the identity of the Sith Lord. However, Yoda saw through him with his Sith eyes and refused the offer, causing him to merge into Sidious.

Behind the scenes
In early drafts of Attack of the Clones, the name of the Jedi who contacted the Kaminoans was Sido-Dyas, and was originally a false identity for Darth Sidious—Obi-Wan Kenobi claimed to have never heard of him, and Mace Windu confirmed no Jedi of that name existed. The spelling "Sifo-Dyas" appears in one draft as a typing error that Lucas preferred to the original name; thus the scenario of the Jedi's identity was rewritten. Additionally, the Jedi Master's name was changed in the Portuguese translation to Zaifo-Vias, since his original name sounded much like "se fodias," a vulgar expression in Brazil.

His backstory was promised by George Lucas to be revealed in Revenge of the Sith. It wasn't until "The Lost One," a sixth season episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, that the character was given a canon background. He was voiced by Paul Nakauchi for his appearance as a hallucination in the episode "Sacrifice."

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones