Eeth Koth/Legends

"Eeth's talents were great&mdash;as was his heart. He was a great Jedi and a good friend. I loved him then, and love him still."

- Sharad Hett, to Ki-Adi-Mundi

Eeth Koth was a Zabrak Jedi Master, and member of the Jedi High Council present when Qui-Gon Jinn presented Anakin Skywalker to the Council. Iridonian Zabrak such as Eeth Koth were renowned for their mental discipline, which allowed them to tolerate great physical suffering. This ability was born of surviving their harsh environment. Koth was born in the violent slums of Nar Shaddaa, and was deemed too old to begin Jedi training at age four. However, he had the advantage of Zabrak thought control.

His natural abilities were his ticket into the Jedi Order, and Koth would go on to become a leading member of the Jedi Council. Koth participated in the Battle of Geonosis, the opening battle of the Clone Wars, as part of the Geonosis strike team consisting of 212 Jedi. Koth narrowly survived a LAAT gunship crash which took the life of Tarados Gon, and was initially believed to be dead following the battle. After returning to his duties, Koth would go on to lead his men in the Battle of Korriban. A chance encounter with the General of the Separatist Droid Army, Grievous, led to his capture in the Outer Rim. However, using sign language hidden in a holotransmission sent to the Jedi Council by Grievous, Koth led the Republic Navy to his location over Saleucami, where Anakin Skywalker and Adi Gallia freed Koth from his imprisonment.

Early life
Eeth Koth was born in the slums of Nar Shaddaa and orphaned at a young age. The Jedi were his saviors, and, as a result, he dedicated himself totally to the Order. Although Koth was four years old at the time, the Jedi felt he was too strong to leave behind. Koth was well respected by his peers, and even participated in the Concordance of Fealty with fellow Master Mace Windu. Koth trained Sharad Hett as his Padawan until 47 BBY, when the young apprentice went missing. In 44 BBY, he fought in the Fifth Battle of Qotile.

Yinchorri Uprising
Koth was one of ten Jedi that volunteered to travel to Yinchorr with Mace Windu, to bring the Yinchorri to peace. He was teamed up with Adi Gallia, Tsui Choi, and Theen Fida. Their group was dispatched to the planet Yitheeth. Their plan was to act as traders peddling plans for the new T-21 Hyper Particle Exchange Chamber. Koth noted that he had never heard of such an item. Adi had just made it up. Unfortunately for them, the plan went wrong and they were surrounded by a squad of Yinchorri warriors, led by Olmar Grahrk. The Jedi managed to defeat them, and they took Grahrk prisoner. Koth's group picked up the other two task forces with the only remaining Consular-class space cruiser, and proceeded to Yinchorr to rescue Master Windu's group. There was a fierce battle which cost the lives of three of the Jedi, including a Council member.

In 27 BBY, during the Ashaar Khorda crisis, Koth personally safeguarded Alderaan.

Jin'ha
Koth was sent with fellow Jedi Master Plo Koon to the planet of the Jin'ha to investigate the new warriors. When their ship crashed in the swamps they were both captured, however, Qui-Gon Jinn managed to free them.

After hearing reports that Qui-Gon's slayer Darth Maul might have been an Iridonian Zabrak, Koth conducted an investigation, but after some time he failed to discover the identity of the deceased Sith Lord.

Battle of Geonosis
Koth was part of the Jedi task force sent to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala. He participated in the Battle of Geonosis, during which he fought and survived the initial ambush in the arena. A LAAT/i gunship that rescued Koth, Sora Bulq, and Tarados Gon was brought down by Separatist fire. Koth and Bulq both survived the attack, while Gon did not.

Battle of Korriban
In 22 BBY, Koth led a squad clone troopers in the Battle of Korriban to defend the besieged people of Korriban. The squad suffered numerous casualties.

Run-in with Grievous
"Eeth Koth, isn't it? I've been looking forward to meeting you!''" "Your reputation precedes you, General. A reputation of a coward, and a murderer..." "''Murderer? Is it murder to rid the galaxy of you Jedi filth?!"

- Master Koth and General Grievous, just before their duel

As the Clone Wars raged on, the Confederacy of Independent Systems continued to make advances in the Outer Rim. The chagrinned Republic found itself unable to predict where General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the CIS's droid armies, would strike, until a Republic fleet under Koth's command ran afoul of Grievous during a chance encounter in the Outer Rim. As Grievous docked his flagship with Koth's Venator-class Star Destroyer, Koth, stationed on the bridge, ordered his troopers to flee in escape pods while he remained onboard and dealt with the General. Grievous cut his way through a sealed door and onto the bridge, where Koth stood aloof with his lightsaber ready. However, the notorious coward stood back as a group of BX-series droid commandos entered the room. The droids killed all of the troopers save one, and injured the Jedi general, shooting him in the hand. Koth's surviving ally was then killed as four IG-100 MagnaGuards entered the bridge in their fallen comrades' wake; the advanced battle droids then surrounded Koth, brandishing their electrostaffs. Believing his enemy to be subdued, Grievous at last entered the bridge and taunted Koth before attacking him with two lightsabers of his own. Koth held the General at bay, but, hindered by his weakened hand, opted to Force-shove his opponent across the bridge. Repeated shocks from an electrostaff prevented him from capitalizing on the move, though, and effectively put him out of the fight.

Rather than kill the Jedi immediately, Grievous intended to slowly torture him to death. The General had a recording made of a weakened Koth being shocked by electrostaffs, and sent the hologram to the Jedi. Despite his weakened state, Koth conveyed the coordinates of where Grievous had taken him with his fingers, alerting his allies to his presence in the Saleucami system. Hoping to rescue Koth and capture Grievous, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Adi Gallia took a task force to Saleucami.

Grievous left his flagship to hunt Kenobi, while Skywalker and Gallia boarded to rescue Koth. When they entered the room where Koth was being held prisoner, a captive Koth could only look on as they were surrounded by a group of droid commandos. A T-series tactical droid that was overseeing his captivity taunted the new arrivals, twice electrocuting Koth with the push of a button. Undaunted, Skywalker and Gallia destroyed every droid in the room, and freed Koth from his bonds. Thankful for the rescue, Koth was nevertheless concerned with Grievous's location, and was hopeful that the General could be captured. As Koth's two saviors helped the physically exhausted Zabrak through the ship's corridors, Skywalker received a comlink call from Kenobi warning him that Grievous was returning to his flagship. Insisting that he could continue on his own, Koth bid Skywalker and Gallia go fight Grievous, but Skywalker calmly disagreed and remained with Koth while Gallia rushed off to confront the General. Grievous ultimately escaped; Skywalker brought Koth to the shuttle that he and Gallia had arrived at Grievous's flagship in and took off, but quickly returned to rescue Gallia, Kenobi, and several clones before returning to the Republic fleet. Koth indicated that he would have given his life if it had meant capturing Grievous, and was then taken to a medical frigate by Gallia.



Powers and abilities
Eeth Koth was trained as a Jedi Guardian and was a talented swordsman being one of the few Jedi to make it into the survivors circle in the arena on Geonosis. He later held his ground against General Grievous who used his magnaguards to help him subdue the Jedi Master. Master Koth wielded a green lightsaber.

Koth was known for having the rare Force power Crucitorn, enhancing his natural Zabrak ability to withstand torture.

Behind the scenes
In the initial development of the character, Eeth Koth was slated to be the leader of the Jedi High Council.

Eeth Koth was originally slated to return for Attack of the Clones, but when the original actor, Hassani Shapi, was unavailable for filming, Tux Akindoyeni was brought in to play the part. However, Tux's facial characteristics, skin tone, makeup, and hairstyle were all noticeably different from the Hassani version (in particular, Hassani's Koth had noticeable lined facial tattoos which Tux's lacked), and so Tux's Eeth Koth was thus deemed an entirely new character: Agen Kolar. Not only did the Kolar character therefore effectively take the place of Koth, Kolar went on to literally replace Koth on the Jedi Council by assuming his particular seat prior to Revenge of the Sith.

A Zabrak Jedi High Council member that appeared in two episodes of Star Wars: Clone Wars Vol. 2 was animated with Koth's unmistakable likeness, despite being credited as Kolar. A 2009 update to Koth's Databank entry would later state that his character design appeared in Clone Wars. Further confusion between the two characters occurred in the illustrated screenplay of Episode III, where Kolar was mistakenly identified as Koth when Anakin Skywalker attended his first High Council meeting. All subsequent appearances were correctly identified as Kolar. The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith also mistakenly identified Koth as Kolar in several photo captions.

Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, published in 2003, stated that Koth died during the Battle of Geonosis when his gunship was brought down by enemy fire. However, Koth was mentioned as fighting in the Clone Wars in the 2008 novel Wild Space. When "Grievous Intrigue," a 2010 episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was being written, series supervising director Dave Filoni wanted to use Koth, but was told by both Leland Chee, keeper of the Holocron continuity database, and Pablo Hidalgo, Internet Content Manager for Lucas Online, that the character was dead, as stated in the script of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Filoni then received permission from George Lucas to resurrect the character. Koth had been slated to die at the beginning of "Grievous Intrigue," until Filoni decided that he was an interesting enough character to use in future episodes of the series. In the episode, Koth was voiced by actor Chris Edgerly.

Appearances

 * Yaddle's Tale: The One Below
 * Jedi Council: Acts of War
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Episode I Adventures 1: Search for the Lost Jedi
 * Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic
 * Star Wars Episode I: I Am a Jedi
 * Star Wars: Obi-Wan
 * Star Wars Republic: Outlander
 * Star Wars Republic: Emissaries to Malastare
 * Star Wars Republic: The Hunt for Aurra Sing
 * Star Wars Republic 39: The Stark Hyperspace War, Part 4
 * Star Wars Republic 41: The Devaronian Version, Part 2
 * Star Wars Republic: Rite of Passage
 * Star Wars: Zam Wesell
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones comic
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space
 * The Clone Wars: Wild Space