Arihnda Pryce

"They fight so hard to gain so little."

- Governor Pryce's muse about the desperate rebellion

Arihnda Pryce was a human female who served as Governor of the Lothal sector fourteen years after the rise of the Galactic Empire. Prior to her rise to governorship, she was the owner of Pryce Mining.

During her rise to Governorship, she was, at times, absent from Lothal, and Minister Maketh Tua would directly govern in her absence. In 2 BBY, Governor Pryce solicited Grand Admiral Thrawn and his Seventh Fleet's services in ferreting out the Phoenix Squadron in the Lothal sector. She joined Thrawn and the Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus in combating the rebel presence in the Lothal sector. Unknown to Pryce, Kallus was an undercover informant working for the rebellion known as Fulcrum.

Early Life
Arihnda Pryce was a human female from the Outer Rim planet Lothal. Arihnda was the daughter of Elainye Pryce and Talimoor Pryce. The family owned a mine on Lothal that was located on land shared by the former Governor Ryder Azadi. She grew up a quiet life, which she enjoyed as a child, watching the sunset and the laughter of children from all species and backgrounds playing.

But as Arihnda grew older, she begun to resent the quietness and dullness of the open spaces for lacking culture and excitement. Regarding Lothal as boring, Arihnda sought to escape to more cosmopolitan worlds, where excitement and bright lights existed alongside what she regarded as "sophisticated people." Her father Talimoor eventually discovered a source of doonium, one of the hardest metals known for making starship hulls and something valued by the expanding Imperial Navy. When Arihnda came of age, she inherited her father's mining company. Seeking access to the companies' doonium mines, Arik Uvis sought to buy a 21 percent stake in the company but Arihnda rejected the offer.

Governor of Lothal
Pryce was appointed governor of the Lothal sector after the previous governor, Ryder Azadi, was charged with treason by the Galactic Empire and imprisoned. Under Pryce's rule, Lothal became the main hub for the Imperial presence in the Lothal sector. She was based in Lothal's Capital City where the Empire had a large military presence on Lothal, built numerous factories, and exploited the people of Lothal in order to benefit the Empire. At one point, Pryce visited Coruscant to discuss Lothal's industrial and mining sectors, and was received by Grand Vizier Mas Amedda. She was extended an invitation to meet with officials on Eriadu within the upcoming weeks. Pryce's rule also saw the rise of a rebellion, particularly in Capital City.

In 3272 LY, Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan lent Pryce two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, to help negotiate an Imperial arms deal. While on loan to Minister Maketh Tua the droids were captured by the rebels of the Ghost, who fought against the Empire. C-3PO attempted to contact Governor Pryce for help, but the call was intercepted by Imperial Security Bureau agent Kallus.

During the Empire Day festivities marking the fifteenth anniversary of the rise of the Empire, Pryce was invited to Coruscant to celebrate alongside Galactic Emperor Sheev Palpatine. She remained absent at times, and the government was overseen by Minister Tua. In Pryce's absence, the rebels continued to attack Imperial targets, drawing the attention of Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and, soon thereafter, Darth Vader.

Fighting the rebels
During her tenure as governor, the impact of the growing rebellion continued to destabilize parts of the Empire, Lothal being no exception. In the second year before the Battle of Yavin Pryce met with Grand Moff Tarkin to discuss the growing threat posed by the rebel insurgency. During the meeting, Pryce informed Tarkin that things were quiet on Lothal but that there had been a prison breakout on nearby Naraka. Dissatisfied with the performance of Admiral Kassius Konstantine whom she regarded as more of a politician than a soldier, she believed that the only way to effectively wipe out the rebellion was to enlist the help of someone who could "see the bigger picture." Tarkin understood her concerns and granted her request of the Seventh Fleet.

Later, Pryce and Tarkin met with Admiral Konstantine and the ISB Agent Kallus on the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer. Konstantine disagreed with Pryce's assessment that the Phoenix Squadron posed a serious threat and dismissed them as a localized insurgency. At that point, they were joined by the decorated Imperial officer, Grand Admiral Thrawn, who had recently been promoted for his role in suppressing the rebel presence in the Batonn sector. When Kallus expressed concerns about the high civilian casualties, Pryce justified Thrawn's actions on the grounds that the rebel presence there had been eradicated, showing her disregard for innocent lives.

When Tarkin asked Thrawn about his thoughts on Pryce's theory that the rebels were linked to a wider rebellion, Thrawn discussed the recent rescue of the Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka from Naraka prison. Since Phoenix Squadron had destroyed Mining Guild vessels a mere hour after Ohnaka's rescue and Ohnaka's cellmate Terba had been a laborer at the nearby Imperial junkyard Reklam Station, Thrawn believed that the rebels planned to raid the junkyard and steal several decommissioned Y-wing starfighters for their fleet. Thrawn vowed to destroy the rebels before they could pose a threat to the Emperor's plans and the Galactic Empire.

Following Thrawn's instructions, Governor Pryce, Admiral Konstantine, and Agent Kallus traveled on their Star Destroyer to the planet Yarma, which hosted Reklam Station. Upon receiving news from Commander Brom Titus that the Spectres had attacked Reklam Station, Pryce ordered him to wait for reinforcements. However, the rebels managed to steal the Y-wings, free the Ugnaught laborers, and destroy the station. Pryce's Star Destroyer arrived in time to intercept the rebel Y-wings, which lacked hyperdrives. Before the Imperials could wipe out the stolen fighters, other rebel ships including the Ghost and a Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier arrived and managed to ferry the Y-wings to safety. After consulting Thrawn, Pryce ordered her forces to allow the rebels to escape since Thrawn believed that sparing the rebel cell would allow them to hunt down and destroy the wider movement.

Hunting rebellious cadets
Following that incident, Pryce and Agent Kallus then traveled to Skystrike Academy. There they met with Instructor Goran and told him that several of his cadets were planning to defect to the rebellion. When Goran protested that his cadets were thoroughly well-trained and loyal, Pryce warned him to cooperate with their investigation and told Kallus that she had something to teach him.

Under Pryce's direction, Agent Kallus proceeded to ground the cadets and question them. His investigation yielded no results but Pryce was still unsatisfied and decided that it was time to take a more direct approach. When Goran reiterated his unhappiness with the investigation, Pryce then suggested that they could reach a mutual agreement by getting the cadets into space though a mock simulated exercise. Pryce planned to use this exercise to lure the dissident cadets out of hiding. As expected, the undercover rebel agent Sabine Wren and the cadets Wedge Antilles, Hobbie and Rake Gahree made an attempt to escape.

Sabine contacted her fellow rebels aboard a CR90 corvette and attempted to rendezvous with them. Pryce ordered Sabine and her wingmates to return but Sabine taunted her. In response, Pryce activated a button which disabled the TIE fighters' solar collectors; leaving them floating in space. Under her orders, Captain Vult Skerris destroyed Rake's fighter as a warning to the "traitors." Skerris and his TIE interceptors inflicted damage on the rebel cruiser and drove them away.

After capturing the rebellious cadets, Governor Pryce confronted the three youths. She was about to torture Wedge with an electronic torture device when Sabine identified herself as the rebel agent. While Agent Kallus took the other prisoners to a holding cell, Pryce proceeded to question Sabine. When Sabine refused to talk, Pryce brought up a glyph of her file and "welcomed" the former cadet back to the Imperial Academy. Before she could place Sabine in the torture device, the rebel agent broke free of her stormtrooper captors and fought with Pryce, who demonstrated surprisingly astute combat abilities. Pryce smirked, remarking that the Empire had taught her well, Sabine retorted that her clan had taught her better and sent the governor reeling with a powerful right hook. Stumbling backwards, Pryce accidentally triggered the torture device and was zapped with a powerful surge that knocked her out cold. Sabine, Wedge, and Hobbie then took the opportunity to escape with the help of Kallus, who had grown sympathetic to the Spectres following his encounter with Garazeb Orrelios.

Continuing the hunt
While traveling aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer, Governor Pryce was praised by Agent Kallus for her plan to lure the Spectres into a trap at a fuel depot. However, Pryce responded that her plan was only a success if they could catch the rebels. Admiral Konstantine then reported that they had received an encrypted distress signal from the planet Agamar. While thinking that it was strange for the rebels to encounter trouble, Pryce nonetheless ordered the nearest Imperial outpost to send troops to Agamar immediately; resulting in a skirmish in which the Spectres and the Separatist garrison under the super tactical droid Kalani joined forces to escape the Imperials.

Hunting down saboteurs
The former Governor Ryder Azadi's rebel cell undertook a campaign of sabotaging military vehicles produced by the Imperial Armory Complex. This led to a high rate of accidents among Imperial Military personnel. In response Imperial High Command dispatched Grand Admiral Thrawn to investigate the Lothal Imperial factory. Governor Pryce along with Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Yogar Lyste were present when Thrawn gave a speech berating the workers for their poor craftsmanship. Pryce smirked after a test demonstration with a sabotaged 614-AvA speeder bike claimed the life of factory worker and undercover rebel operative Morad Sumar.

She and her subordinates then complied with Thrawn's orders to lock down the factory and detain the factory workers for questioning. Despite their best efforts, the undercover rebels Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, and their astromech droid Chopper escaped the lockdown and infiltrated the factory's Section A2, which held Thrawn's top secret new weapon. Later, Pryce discussed her fears about the rebels infiltrating Section A2 and stealing its secrets. Thrawn responded that he had ordered for anyone entering the area without his personal code to be terminated on sight. When the Admiral chided Pryce for hiring locals, she responded that she had to fulfill certain Imperial quotas.

When Kallus requested more information on Thrawn's new weapon, Pryce responded that Thrawn had a new starfighter initiative. After Kallus questioned the effectiveness of a single fighter in improving Imperial fortunes, Thrawn responded that victory and defeat were determined by he smallest details. Pryce was present when Thrawn ordered another factory worker to demonstrate an AT-DP walker. When the walker broke down, Thrawn ordered the stormtroopers present to arrest the man.

Despite Thrawn's security precautions, Ezra's team managed to steal the starfighter plans and escaped with the help of Kallus, who had secretly alerted the Phoenix Squadron to the project. Pryce and Kallus later visited Thrawn's Office to discuss the recent rebel incursion. When Thrawn voiced his suspicions that the Empire had a traitor among their ranks, an alarmed Pryce advocated interrogating all Imperial personnel on Lothal. However, Thrawn counseled Pryce that emotion would not work and announced that he would uncover the traitor and co-opt them.

Spy games
After Grand Admiral Thrawn solicited the help of the ISB Colonel Wullf Yularen in hunting for the rebel spy known as Fulcrum, Governor Pryce and other sector command staff attended meetings and interviews with Thrawn and Colonel Yularen aboard Thrawn's flagship Chimaera. While aboard the ship, Pryce met up with Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Lyste and thanked the latter for capturing a Lothalian bounty hunter, who had stolen a Star Commuter 2000 shuttle. Unknown to Pryce, Kallus was Fulcrum and the "bounty hunter" was the rebel operative Ezra Bridger.

In order to obstruct the investigation, Kallus misled Lieutenant Lyste into believing that the ISB was investigating Pryce on suspicion that she was the rebel informant Fulcrum. While Kallus secretly switched their code cylinders, he instructed Lyste to spy on Pryce. Later, Pryce met privately with Thrawn and Yularen in Thrawn's Office. When she inquired about progress, Thrawn opined that the spy had been present during their interviews and added that he planned to use the spy to sift out the rebels. At that point, Yularen briefed them that a coded transmission had been beamed off the Chimaera after Lyste and Kallus had boarded the ship with the bounty hunter.

Pryce then accompanied Thrawn and Lyste to visit the Chimaera detention block. Upon arriving, Pryce and her comrades discovered that the prisoner had escaped. After checking the register, Yularen reported that Lyste had been the last to enter the brig based on his code cylinder. Under Thrawn's instructions, Governor Pryce and a pair of stormtroopers encountered the two undercover rebels Kanan Jarrus and Rex, who were disguised as stormtroopers. These "stormtroopers" had arrived aboard Shuttle TY992 to pick up Kallus and the rebel operatives Ezra, Chopper, and the RA-7 protocol droid AP-5.

Governor Pryce, who knew they were rebels, ordered them to remove their helmets and submit to arrest. When Kanan protested, she ordered her stormtrooper escort to stun him. Pryce then engaged in hand to hand combat with Rex. She managed to gain the upper hand over the former Clone Captain but was stunned by Lyste, who mistakenly believed that she was Fulcrum. Kallus then tackled Lyste and helped his rebel friends to escape. He then stayed behind to continue his work as an informant. Kallus then framed Lyste as Fulcrum.

Governor Pryce accepted Kallus' account that Lyste was a spy. Colonel Yularen publicly corroborated Lyste's account by linking Lyste's code cylinder to the rebel infiltration. After Pryce and Kallus left, Thrawn privately told Yularen that Lyste was innocent and that Kallus was the true Fulcrum. Despite realizing that Kallus had framed Lyste to conceal his identity as Fulcrum, the two decided not to arrest Kallus so that they could use him to lead them to the rebels.

Hunt for Mon Mothma
Later, Arihnda Pryce and Admiral Konstantine attended a meeting with Grand Admiral Thrawn to discuss plans to capture the former Imperial Senator Mon Mothma, who was being ferried by members of the Spectres rebel cell through the Archeon Nebula. Both Pryce and Konstantine expressed disbelief that Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla would risk traveling through the dangerous Archeon pass. Seeking to silence Mon Mothma, Pryce volunteered for the mission. Thrawn then dispatched her and Admiral Konstantine to position two Star Destroyers outside the Archeon Nebula. Thrawn then dispatched the elite TIE fighter pilot Commander Vult Skerris in a prototype TIE Defender to flush the rebels out of the Nebula.

Hera's ship Ghost managed to exit the Archeon pass only to be intercepted by Pryce and Konstantine's two Star Destroyers. When Governor Pryce demanded Mothma's surrender, the rogue Senator issued a list of demands which she promptly rejected. Pryce then ordered Konstantine to use their Star Destroyer's tractor beam projector to draw the Ghost into its hangar bay. Shortly later, the rebel pilots Gold Leader Jon Vander and Ezra Bridger managed to exit the nebula with their two remaining Y-wing fighters after escaping Skerris' TIE Defender. Defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory for Governor Pryce when the rebel pilots at Hera's command fired their proton torpedoes into the Archeon Nebula. This created a firestorm which damaged both Star Destroyers. The Ghost and its Y-wing escorts then fled to Dantooine where Mothma delivered a stirring speech on HoloNet urging rebellion against the Empire.

Battle of Atollon
Governor Pryce and Admiral Konstantine attended an urgent meeting with Grand Admiral Thrawn and Grand Moff Tarkin to discuss new information that the Phoenix Squadron and General Jan Dodonna's Massassi group were planning to attack the TIE Defender factories on Lothal. During the meeting, Pryce opined that a coordinate rebel attack was unprecedented. This meeting was a ruse by Thrawn to lure the rebel spy Agent Kallus out of hiding and discover the location of the hidden Chopper Base. Governor Pryce later accompanied Thrawn and the captive Kallus aboard the Star Destroyer Chimaera during the Battle of Atollon.

Thrawn blockaded the Atollon system and managed to trap the two rebel forces. The Empire inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels, destroying numerous starships and starfighters. However, Admiral Konstantine's interdictor cruiser was destroyed when he disobeyed Thrawn's orders and tried to intercept Commander Jun Sato's command ship Phoenix Home. This allowed the rebels Ezra Bridger and Chopper to flee into hyperspace aboard the Nightbrother and seek help.

After the rebel ships retreated back to Chopper Base, Governor Pryce watched as the Imperial fleet bombarded the base. However, Chopper Base was protected by a deflector shield generator. While Thrawn led the ground assault, Governor Pryce commanded the Imperial fleet. When Ezra returned with Mandalorian reinforcements led by Sabine Wren and Fenn Rau, Pryce recognized Sabine's forces and ordered the TIE fighters and capital ships to intercept them. A Mandalorian strike team then attacked the second interdictor cruiser.

In response, Governor Pryce dispatched several Jumptroopers to protect the interdictor cruiser. However, the rebels managed to blow up the ship's gravity well projectors, destroying the interdictor. When the captive Kallus taunted her about displeasing Thrawn, Pryce ordered her stormtroopers to fling him out the airlock. However, Kallus managed to escape aboard an escape pod and flee into hyperspace with the retreating rebels. Pryce was visibly displeased with the rebels' escape.

Personality and traits
Arihnda Pryce was an ambitious individual who looked down upon her Lothalian roots. While she was from Lothal, she had no interest in remaining there. She sold out her homeworld to the Emperor and allowed the Galactic Empire to make Lothal their local headquarters in the Lothal sector. She placed her own ambitions and career aspirations over the interests of the Lothalian people; this stood in contrast to her deputy ruler, Maketh Tua, who genuinely cared for the people. She rarely visited Lothal and only returned to her homeworld because the planet had become a haven for rebels about two years before the Battle of Yavin. Pryce saw the master tactician Grand Admiral Thrawn as a valuable asset in her fight against the rebel presence in the Lothal sector.

Pryce held little regard for others, deeming extremely high civilian casualties as "acceptable" due to there being no more rebels in the Batonn sector. She was also willing to torture the rebel spy Sabine Wren in order to obtain intelligence on the rebellion. Pryce smirked in a sadistic manner after witnessing the deliberate death of Morad Sumar in a speeder explosion. Despite her confident demeanor, Pryce reacted with alarm when Thrawn suspected that the Empire had a traitor among their ranks. When she suggested interrogating all Imperial personnel, Thrawn cautioned that this would only alert the traitor and advocated luring the culprit into a trap.

Due to her trust for Agent Kallus, Pryce accepted his account that Lieutenant Yogar Lyste was the rebel spy known as Fulcrum. She believed that the fact that Lyste mistakenly stunned her along with the use of his code cylinder to free the rebel operative Ezra were evidence of his guilt. While Pryce believed that Lyste was guilty, Thrawn and Yularen realized that Kallus was the real Fulcrum and had framed Lyste. As a staunch Imperial loyalist, Pryce sought to boost her standing by capturing the rogue Senator Mon Mothma. She thought that it was too risky to travel through the Archeon Nebula. Mothma regarded Pryce as untrustworthy. Pryce wanted to capture Mon Mothma alive so that Thrawn could question her about the rebellion. Pryce's belief in superiority of arms and numbers proved folly when the rebels outmaneuvered her by igniting the Archeon Nebula.

During a meeting with Thrawn, Admiral Konstantine, and Tarkin, Governor Pryce regarded a coordinated rebel assault as an unprecedented development. Lacking Thrawn's tactical and naval skills, she failed to prevent Mandalorian rebels from destroying a second Imperial interdictor cruiser. She was also easily goaded when Kallus taunted her about her failure to safeguard Thrawn's fleet. Pryce ordered her men to throw him out the airlock but Kallus escaped and reunited with his rebel allies. Pryce was visibly displeased when the rebels escaped into hyperspace.

Skills and abilities
Unlike some other high ranking Imperial officials, Arihnda Pryce distinguished herself as a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, having received martial training and she was not afraid to get her hands dirty if necessary. On one occasion, she actively engaged Sabine Wren in a fistfight rather than summon reinforcements or flee as most other officers would have done. Though Pryce managed to get in a few blows, her prowess was under-matched against a Mandalorian. Wren claimed victory in the fight by knocking Pryce into an interrogation table and electrocuting her.

Governor Pryce later managed to hold herself against the former Clone Captain Rex in unarmed combat. However, defeat was snatched from the jaws of victory when Lieutenant Lyste mistakenly stunned her.

Behind the scenes
Arihnda Pryce was first mentioned in HoloNet News Special Report: Lothal Jobless Rates Hit All-time Low, the third in a series of in-universe HoloNet News report videos posted at holonetnews.com tying in to the Star Wars Rebels television series prior to its first season in 2014. Pryce made her first appearance in the junior novel Servants of the Empire: Edge of the Galaxy, the first entry in a series written by Jason Fry which featured Zare Leonis, a character from Rebels. Throughout Rebels's first season and the remaining Servants of the Empire books, Pryce was mentioned several times, however she had yet to be visualized in any form. It was not until the second day of 2016's Celebration Europe, during which the first trailer for Rebels's third season was shown, that Pryce was revealed to be making her physical debut in the series. Voiced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Pryce appeared in the first episode of Rebels's third season, Star Wars Rebels: Steps Into Shadow.