Great Jedi Purge

"The young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine before he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Great Jedi Purge, also known as the Jedi Purge or Jedi Holocaust, referred to the efforts initiated by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious upon his creation of the Galactic Empire to eradicate the Jedi Order. It resulted in a near-decimation of the Jedi, as had been after the Jedi Civil War.

It was generally considered to have lasted from the birth of the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY to the emergence of Luke Skywalker and the Alliance to Restore the Republic in the years before the Battle of Yavin.

The Great Jedi Purge was sometimes considered the beginning of the Galactic Civil War.

The "Jedi Rebellion"
After Anakin Skywalker discovered that Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was Darth Sidious, the elusive Sith Lord for whom the Jedi had been searching for more than a decade, Jedi Master Mace Windu led a small group of Jedi Masters to apprehend Sidious, comprised of himself, Agen Kolar, Kit Fisto, and Saesee Tiin. Sidious killed Agen Kolar immediately, followed by Saesee Tiin, and, with some greater effort, Kit Fisto. In the ensuing fight Darth Sidious dragged the battle out in order to give Anakin time to come.



Either in attempt to look defenseless or as a result of Windu's dueling superiority, Palpatine was defeated seconds before Anakin entered the room. He then shot Force lightning at Windu, who deflected the lightning back, twisting Palpatine's face, making it appear yellowed and ravaged by the dark side. Anakin Skywalker appeared, and after some apparent inward hesitation, was driven to incapacitate Windu in order to save Palpatine, whom Anakin believed was the only one with sufficient knowledge of the dark side of the Force to save his wife, Padmé Amidala, from death.

As Sidious had foreseen, Anakin then drew his lightsaber to parry Windu's swipe at the Chancellor and through his action, cut off the Jedi Master's saber hand. Then Sidious, who had pleaded with Anakin and Windu not to kill him for his weakness, immediately regained enough strength to blast Master Windu with Force lightning and send him out the window to his death.

Anakin was immediately horrified by what he had done, but despite his guilt, he could not overcome the temptation of the dark side, nor could he simply allow Padmé to die when Sidious (allegedly) had the ability to save her. Anakin swore fealty to Sidious, becoming his new apprentice, and was given the Sith name Darth Vader.

Order 66


Palpatine wasted no time in spinning the fiction that the Jedi's attempt to take him into custody constituted a betrayal of the Republic by the Order, and used it to justify his ultimate goals. Palpatine ordered the Grand Army of the Republic to execute Order 66 &mdash; the total annihilation of all Jedi throughout the entire Galaxy as a sign that the age of the Jedi had ended and the New Order was now in place. Simultaneously, Palpatine dispatched Vader and the 501st Legion to cleanse the Jedi Temple. The newly titled Emperor justified his purge with an elaborate conspiracy tale of the Jedi's attempt to overthrow the Galactic Republic by assassinating the head of government, usurping the Clone Army's control, and even killing all members in the Galactic Senate.



The Empire estimated that less than one hundred Jedi escaped the betrayal of Vader and the clone troopers that they were leading. Among the few survivors were Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Many Jedi that did survive, like Kai Hudorra and Roan Shryne, cast aside their lightsabers, realizing that their roles as keepers of the peace were over. Other Jedi, such as Olee Starstone and Dass Jennir kept fighting the Empire, and tried to contact the other Jedi. Kenobi escaped to Tatooine, while Yoda escaped to the planet Dagobah under secrecy. However, before hiding, the two Jedi altered a return call being sent from the Temple into a warning to stay away; as a result, several other Jedi managed to survive the immediate purge, though most fell to Vader or other Jedi hunter, such as the Emperor's Hands, Dark Jedi, bounty hunters, and even Jabba the Hutt, in the years that followed.

Conclave on Kessel


About five months after Order 66 issued, a group of surviving Jedi, including Bultar Swan and Tsui Choi, called a Conclave on Kessel to discuss what could be done. Bultar Swan and Tsui Choi were contacted so they could carry out the conclave. Betrayal by one of their own, however, led Vader there. Overhearing that his old Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, would be among the Jedi was enough to act on the leak. Even though Obi-Wan wasn't there, Vader demanded his location from them or threatened that he would kill the few Jedi. They did not cooperate with his request (even though none knew where Kenobi was) and, although they put up a valiant fight, not one Jedi survived. Rumors spread that the conclave consisted of 50 Jedi, and each were easily killed by the Dark Lord. Although, in truth, Darth Vader fought only eight of them with a good amount of difficulty. To cement Vader's image and invoke fear in the remaining Jedi, the Emperor declared the rumors true.

Subjugation of Kashyyyk
Following the issuing of Order 66, Jedi Padawan and survivor Olee Starstone began looking for any surviving Jedi. One destination she investigated was Kashyyyk, where Masters Yoda, Luminara Unduli and Quinlan Vos had been stationed when the Order was transmitted. She arrived on the planet along with several other Jedi survivors &mdash; Siadem Forte, Deran Nalual, Klossi Anno, Iwo Kulka, Jambe Lu, and Nam Poorf, as well as the slicer Filli Bitters. After meeting with Tarfful and Chewbacca, the Jedi learnt of Yoda's survival. The Wookiees offered the band of Jedi safe harbor on Kashyyyk, but an CR25 troop carrier arrived at Kachirho, thereby interrupting their meeting.

Not long after the arrival of the Jedi, the Sith Lord Darth Vader had arrived in the Kashyyyk system, along with the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Exactor, where it joined Wilhuff Tarkin and Executrix. The two plotted their attack on Kashyyyk&mdash;Vader interested in destroying the fugitive Jedi, Tarkin interested in enslaving the Wookiees for use in the construction of the Death Star. Although the fleet commanders were eager to bombard the planet, Vader overruled them, ordering a direct assault on several cities including Kachirho, Rwookrrorro, Kepitenochan, Okikuti, and Chenachochan.

At Kachirho, the landed Imperial troops ordered the Wookiees to hand over the fugitive Jedi. The enraged Wookiees attacked the troops, and Starstone and her Jedi soon joined the battle. As more Imperial forces landed, the Wookiee warriors and the Jedi covered the evacuation of Kachirho, as countless Wookiees fled the Imperial troopers, fleeing from enslavement. Imperial landers and gunships were engaged by Oevvaor jet catamarans, retrofitted with rocket launchers and other high-end military hardware, salvaged by the Wookiees from the remains of the earlier Battle of Kashyyyk.

Meanwhile, Lord Vader piloted a Theta-class shuttle down to Kachirho, in an attempt to lure out the Jedi. Accompanied by Commander Appo and a squad of troops, but met heavy anti-air fire on his way down. Around the planet, the Imperial incursions were being repulsed by fierce Wookiee warriors, and an alarming number of Imperial troops were being lost in the assaults. Following Appo's advice, Vader acceded the fleet commanders the permission to begin orbital bombardment, warning them to save Kachirho for last. Eventually making a landing at Kachirho, Vader was confronted by Starstone and her Jedi cadre. Vader killed Forte and Kulka, and injured Lu, Poorf and Anno, leaving only himself and Starstone in the fight.

The two briefly faced off, but Jedi Knight Roan Shryne and the smuggler Archyr Beil arrived and intervened. Shryne slew Appo whilst Archyr dealt with the rest of the stormtroopers, and Shryne moved in to engage Vader in a vicious battle, buying Starstone and Archyr more time to escape with the injured Jedi.

As Shryne and Vader duelled, the main battle began to drift east of the city, moving closer to the lake, as Imperial gunships and artillery drove the Wookiees down out of the city and towards the ground. Heading to the main Kachirho landing platform, Archyr and Starstone loaded their drop ship and transport with escaping Wookiees, including Chewbacca, who would become Han Solo's friend.

Abruptly, the Imperial gunships began to break off from Kachirho, as the orbiting Star Destroyers began their orbital bombardment. Shryne and Vader’s duel was interrupted by the strike, and the two moved inside one of the great wroshyr trees, where Vader called upon the Force to batter Shryne with planks of wood and other debris, critically injuring the Jedi and sending him tumbling down from a high bridge. Assured that Shryne was going to die anyway, Vader chose not to finish off the Jedi, instead revealing his true identity to the man &mdash; Anakin Skywalker, who later redeemed by Luke Skywalker during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY.

As Shryne passed away, Victory-class Star Destroyers began to descend into the atmosphere, completing the conquest of Kashyyyk. Approximately two hundred thousand Wookiees, including Tarfful, were captured and moved to containment camps on the Wawaatt Archipelago.

Meanwhile, escaping Kashyyyk, Starstone and the surviving Jedi rendezvoused with Jula Shryne's Drunk Dancer in orbit, where they learned that a Detainer CC-2200 Interdictor Cruiser was insystem, trapping any ships from escaping into hyperspace. Undaunted, Starstone and Bitters devised a plan. With the help of Chewbacca, Archyr, Cudgel, and the rescued Wookiees, the pair managed to reactivate a damaged Recusant-class light destroyer, a Separatist ship left over from the earlier battle weeks ago. They tasked the light destroyer to ram the Interdictor, destroying the ship and giving the transports trapped in orbit about Kashyyyk a chance to escape into hyperspace. Enraged at this, Lord Vader ordered a full orbital bombardment of the planet. Tarkin would later relate to the Emperor that the planet suffered a lot more damage than one would have expected, especially given the resources under Vader’s command. Nonetheless, Kashyyyk had fallen to the Empire, and Tarkin had gained a valuable new source of slave labor for the Death Star project.

Siege of Naboo
The monarch of Naboo, Queen Apailana, decided that the situation called for military &mdash; not diplomatic &mdash; action. She started sheltering fugitive Jedi on the run from the Empire. To crush the uprising on Palpatine's homeworld, the 501st Legion invaded Theed and rushed into the plaza supported by TX-130T fighter tanks after disabling an auto-turret grid. The Jedi were killed by the rushing stormtroopers, and Apailana died of a fatal head injury caused by a sniper. With Naboo in line, the 501st gained the nickname "Vader's Fist".

Aftermath


By 1 BBY, the systematic Purge itself had concluded, but a few of the survivors would die in the years that followed &mdash; including An'ya Kuro who was tracked down and executed by Darth Vader on Cophrigin 5, Echuu Shen-Jon, killed by Vader on Krant, and, most notably, Obi-Wan Kenobi, who sacrificed himself on the Death Star I to ensure the escape of his protege Luke Skywalker. As the Galactic Civil War turned in favor of the Rebels, surviving Jedi began to come out of hiding, sacrificing their lives for the return of the Republic and democracy. Yoda died at the old age of 900 years four years after Kenobi's death, and Anakin Skywalker, formerly Darth Vader, sacrificed himself to save his son from being killed by former master, Palpatine, on the Death Star II during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. In addition, six years after the Battle of Endor, Empatojayos Brand sacrificed himself to destroy the spirit of Palpatine on Onderon.

The Purge was not only intended to symbolically and literally exterminate the Jedi Order, but to also consolidate the Jedi's history, knowledge, and technology into Palpatine's possession. Many Holocrons, ancient techniques, training materials, and Jedi-related antiques were lost. This was primarily enacted by Darth Vader and the Inquisitorius, Dark Jedi whose specific purpose was to seek out and destroy the vestiges of the Jedi Order, as well as the Imperial Security Bureau, which was responsible for erasing the Order's memories. During his efforts to reestablish the order, Luke Skywalker and his relic hunters participated in intensive research to locate even the smallest scraps of information pertaining to the old order, most notably on Onderon where the Jedi artifacts were located during the reign of the reborn Palpatine in 10 ABY.

Known Purge victims

 * Stass Allie&mdash;killed on Saleucami by clone troopers under her command.
 * Koffi Arana&mdash;killed by Vader on Kessel one month after Order 66.
 * Darrin Arkanian&mdash;killed by Tremayne on Coruscant in 10 BBY.
 * Ashka Boda&mdash;captured by the Imperial sentinels and brought to Coruscant.
 * Aidan Bok&mdash;killed by Darth Vader on Nespis VIII.
 * Niebur Boton&mdash;killed by Inquisitor Tremayne, location unknown.
 * Bene&mdash;killed by Darth Vader in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
 * Bol Chatak&mdash;killed by Darth Vader on Murkhana.
 * Tsui Choi&mdash;killed by stormtroopers on Kessel five months after Order 66.
 * Roblio Darté&mdash;killed by Vader on Kessel five months after Order 66.
 * Cin Drallig&mdash;killed by Darth Vader in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
 * Kit Fisto&mdash;killed by Palpatine in the Chancellor's office on Coruscant.
 * Zett Jukassa&mdash;killed by clone troopers at the Jedi Temple.
 * Jurokk&mdash;killed by Darth Vader in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
 * Serra Keto&mdash;killed by Darth Vader in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
 * Ki-Adi-Mundi&mdash;killed on Mygeeto by clone troopers under his command.
 * Agen Kolar&mdash;killed by Palpatine in the Chancellor's office on Coruscant.
 * Plo Koon&mdash;shot down over Cato Neimoidia by clone pilots under his command.
 * An'ya Kuro&mdash;murdered by Darth Vader on Cophrigin 5.
 * Whie Malreaux&mdash;killed by Darth Vader in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
 * Dama Montalvo&mdash;tortured to death by Darth Vader on Coruscant shortly after Order 66.
 * Jocasta Nu&mdash;killed by Darth Vader in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
 * Barriss Offee&mdash;killed on Felucia by fire from an AT-TE walker.
 * Aayla Secura&mdash; killed on Felucia by clone troopers under her command.
 * Roan Shryne&mdash;killed by Darth Vader on Kashyyyk.
 * Simms&mdash;killed on Toola when her clone troopers received Order 66
 * Ranik Solusar&mdash;survived Order 66, later killed by Vader.
 * Bultar Swan&mdash;killed by Koffi Arana on Kessel five months after Order 66.
 * Saesee Tiin&mdash;killed by Palpatine in the Chancellor's office on Coruscant.
 * Traavis&mdash;killed by Aiwha Squad on Garqi.
 * Luminara Unduli&mdash;killed on Kashyyyk by clone troopers.
 * Mace Windu&mdash;killed by Palpatine and Darth Vader in the Chancellor's office on Coruscant.

Survival unknown/MIA

 * Depa Billaba&mdash;In a coma for most of the Clone Wars; fate unknown.
 * Ekria&mdash;Survived Order 66, but ultimate fate unknown.
 * Kai Justiss&mdash;Still at large during the early years of the Empire.
 * Coleman Kcaj&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * Sha Koon&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * Drake Lo'gaan&mdash;Survived Order 66, but ultimate fate unknown.
 * Voolvif Monn&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * Ferus Olin&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * Even Piell&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * T'ra Saa&mdash;Survived Order 66, ultimate fate unknown.
 * Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * Saldith&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * Olee Starstone&mdash;Survived Order 66, ultimate fate unknown.
 * Tholme&mdash;Survived Order 66, ultimate fate unknown.
 * Shaak Ti&mdash;Ultimate fate unknown.
 * Etain Tur-Mukan&mdash;Etain's clone commandos might not have killed her when they received Order 66.
 * Quinlan Vos&mdash;Survived Order 66, ultimate fate unknown.
 * Zonder&mdash;Survived Order 66, but ultimate fate unknown.

Behind the scenes
The details of the Purge, are (like almost everything else) explained in the Expanded Universe. In contrast, the movies show only Yoda and Obi-Wan as survivors while others are either killed, or just not mentioned.

Some think that this is what Lucas actually intended, that according to G-canon, the actual survivors were only two, which is supported by Yoda's line to Luke "The last of the Jedi you will be". This statement seems to have no value if other Jedi were alive as late as after Return of the Jedi, although it could simply refer to Jedi who are still following the teachings of the Order.

It has also been speculated that more details of the purge will be revealed in the upcoming Star Wars live-action TV series, since it will be set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Purge
 * Darth Vader: Extinction
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope