Polvin Kut

"Polvin wasn't impervious to the dark side."

- Even Piell

Polvin Kut was a Jedi Master who lived nearly two centuries before the onset of the Clone Wars. Along with his Padawan Yaddle, Kut was called upon to deliver the colonies of the planet Koba from the clutches of an Advozse warmonger named Tulak. Kut's mission was betrayed by spies prior to his arrival, and he fell victim to ambush as soon as he and Yaddle made it to Koba. In the midst of the battle, Kut gave in to his hatred for Tulak&mdash;the man who had murdered his family decades earlier&mdash;and surrendered himself to the dark side of the Force. His judgment impaired, Kut was swiftly overwhelmed by the warlord's forces and killed.

Mission to Koba
"Over two hundred years ago, the Jedi Knight, Polvin Kut was summoned to liberate the colonies from the Advozse warlock, Tulak."

- Even Piell

Polvin Kut was a Human male Master of the Jedi Order who lived more than two hundred years before the onset of the Clone Wars. Kut was the Master of Yaddle, a female member of a rare and long-lived species. Kut instilled in his Padawan lessons that would stick with her for many years.

Polvin Kut's family was murdered by an Advozse warlord named Tulak. The Jedi spent decades chasing him, allowing the dark side of the Force to slowly fuel his desire for revenge. Kut eventually tracked Tulak to the planet Koba, where he had enslaved the native people. The warlord's oppression forced the dissident colonists to send a request to Kut for assistance. However, several of the Jedi's contacts were actually spies for Tulak, and passed knowledge of Kut's proposed intervention to their leader, who planned to lure him into a trap.

Kut brought Yaddle with him to Koba where, upon their arrival, they were ambushed by Advozsec forces led by Tulak himself. Sight of the warlord immediately stimulated Kut's hatred for his family's killer, and the Jedi Master embraced the dark side, which in turn corrupted his judgment with a desperate need for vengeance. Though he and Yaddle fought courageously, Polvin Kut was swiftly cut down on a bridge over the Koban Gorge by Tulak's warriors. Yaddle was immediately taken into custody by Tulak, who imprisoned her in a pit after intense torture and interrogation.

Legacy
"Even the monument bridge where Polvin Kut lost his life was reconstructed and named for Yaddle's Jedi Master."

- Even Piell

Polvin Kut's death left Yaddle without a Master, and her Jedi training thus incomplete. In her years of solitude as Tulak's captive, she relived the teachings of her late Master, through which she manage to train herself into Knighthood. Tulak eventually abandoned Koba and, after more than a century of immuration, Yaddle was freed. She stayed on Koba to help the natives rebuild the planet that Polvin Kut had originally come to save. With Yaddle's help, Kodan society was nursed back into prosperity. The Kodans also restored the bridge where Master Kut had fallen and christened it a monument in his honor, one complete with support columns fashioned in the Jedi Master's likeness. However, it was destroyed yet again when Kalut, the son of Polvin's nemesis, arrived to terrorize the Koba natives in his father's name. Yaddle subsequently defeated Kalut in combat, and his death effectively eliminated generations of Advozse-imposed tyranny, thus completing her Master's work.

Personality and traits
"Revenge clouded his judgment&mdash;his reactions&mdash;and he paid the price that day in the Koban Gorge."

- Even Piell

Polvin Kut was a fair-skinned man with brown eyes and brown hair that he wore braided and bound in a topknot with the braids hanging past his shoulders. He clad himself in traditional Jedi robes and wielded an orange-bladed lightsaber in combat. Kut was a brave Jedi Master who readily raised his weapon in battle for those who suffered under the heel of Tulak on Koba. However, the murder of his family at Tulak's behest began a slow descent to the dark side of the Force for Kut. He was eventually consumed by his hatred for the warlord, and ultimately died as a result. Prior to his death, Kut taught his Padawan Yaddle lessons that remained with her for years and formed the foundation by which she was able to successfully train herself in the Jedi arts. The citizens of Koba recognized Kut for his valor posthumously and immortalized him with the reconstruction of the bridge on which he had fallen.

Behind the scenes
Polvin Kut first appeared in author Dean Motter's Yaddle's Tale: The One Below, which was featured in the fifth issue of Star Wars Tales. It was later compiled into a trade paperback version, Star Wars Tales Volume 2. Plausible stories in Star Wars Tales 1–20 were initially considered S-canon until referenced in a non-Tales source, at which point the subject matter was elevated to C-canon.

Appearances

 * Yaddle's Tale: The One Below