Faro Argyus

"Sometimes being a good soldier means doing what you think is right."

- Argyus

Argyus was the captain of the Senate Commandos, an elite branch of the Senate Guard, around 22 BBY. He was normally stationed on Coruscant. However, after Senator Padmé Amidala managed to capture Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray on Rodia, Argyus was assigned to the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tranquility and tasked with escorting the captured viceroy to Coruscant alongside Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and Padawan Ahsoka Tano.

Unbeknownst to the Republic, Argyus had been bribed by Separatist leader Count Dooku to rescue Gunray from his imprisonment and return him to the Confederacy. Argyus was successful in this task, and he escaped with Gunray in a Republic Consular-class frigate. While aboard, the former Senate Commando boasted to Dooku's assassin Asajj Ventress that his mission had been successful&mdash;thereby taking all credit away from Ventress&mdash;and that he would report on it to Dooku. Ventress then drove one of her lightsabers into the back of the pilot's seat and through Argyus's chest, killing him.

Republic service
"Captain Argyus will keep a watchful eye on your prisoner&hellip;"

- Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, to Senator Padmé Amidala

Argyus, a Human male, was the captain of the Senate Commandos branch of the Senate Guard in 22 BBY. Normally stationed on Coruscant, he was present alongside Supreme Chancellor Palpatine when the Chancellor met with Senator Padmé Amidala to discuss the InterGalactic Banking Clan's potential peace treaty with the Republic in the first year of the Clone Wars. Just prior to a diplomatic mission Amidala undertook to the planet Rodia, Argyus led a team of Senate Commandos in pursuit of the con men Dannl Faytonni and Achk Med-Beq through the Senate District of Galactic City, on Coruscant. The two escaped the Senate Commandos and managed to steal Senator Amidala's J-type star skiff from the Gungan Representative Jar Jar Binks and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2. They planned to flee the planet in the Nubian ship, but the skiff's autopilot was set to return the craft to the Senate docking platform.

During their mission to Rodia, Amidala and Binks captured the Neimoidian Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, a member of the Separatist Council and an enemy of the Republic. The Supreme Chancellor dispatched Argyus and two other Senate Commandos to oversee the transfer of Gunray into Republic custody on Rodia and then guard the captive viceroy while he was aboard the Star Destroyer Tranquility en route to Coruscant.

Traitor
"Count Dooku has paid me a fortune to deliver your slimy carcass, so please try to stay alive."

- Argyus, to Nute Gunray

Sometime around Gunray's capture, Arygus had been contacted by Count Dooku and bribed into releasing the viceroy and returning him safely to Separatist space. Argyus, not wanting to be forever bonded to Republic guardsmen duty, secretly changed allegiances. During the Tranquility ' s journey, the warship came under attack by vulture droids and three Separatist boarding craft. The boarding craft pierced the hull of the Tranquility, releasing super battle droids into the hangar where the clone trooper Green Company attempted to repel the invasion force. Eventually, additional clone troopers under the leadership of Commander Gree managed to destroy the invading battle droids, but they had only been a distraction to allow Separatist assassin Asajj Ventress to infiltrate and cripple the Republic warship.



Ventress briefly rescued Gunray in the detention level, despite Argyus's conveyed attempt to prevent it. Ventress Force-pushed Argyus out of her way, intent on departing with the viceroy. The arrival of Jedi Master Luminara Unduli thwarted Gunray's escape and forced Ventress to flee. Unduli pursued Ventress into the engine room of the Tranquility, leaving Ahsoka Tano, the Padawan of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, to guard the captive viceroy alongside Argyus, his commandos, and Gree. Tano was faced with the decision of obeying orders to stay in the detention level or going with Unduli to fight Ventress. Argyus told the Padawan that following one's heart made them distinct from droids. At his urging, Tano went off to find Ventress, leaving Gunray under the watch of the three Senate Commandos and Gree. Ahsoka caught up with Unduli, saving her from Ventress and engaging the Sith assassin in a duel. In the course of their engagement, Ventress sent an all-clear signal to Argyus.

His true loyalties revealed to the Republic, Argyus killed his fellow commandos, released Gunray, and took the Neimoidian viceroy as a living shield. Only Gree stood in his way, and, after a short standoff, Gree shot the blaster out of Argyus's hand. Argyus pushed Gunray at Gree and kicked the blaster out of the clone's hands in a brief fight. During the lull in the action that followed, Argyus revealed to the clone commander the reasons behind his treachery&mdash;he had no desire to live the rest of his life as an unappreciated guardsmen condemned to life-long servitude to the Republic. Although he did not expect a clone like Gree to understand his disillusionment with the Republic, Argyus continued to defend his betrayal with his belief that a good soldier always did what he believed to be right. He dove for Gree's blaster on the ground, but the clone prevented Argyus from retrieving it. A blow to the head knocked Argyus down, but before Gree could kill the traitor, Gunray hit the clone over the head with the butt of Argyus's blaster, knocking him unconscious.

Escape and death
"We did it, Ventress! Our plan went off without a hitch! Don't worry, I'll be sure to credit you in my report to Count Dooku once I see him." "Our plan? [stabs Argyus with her lightsaber] How about I tell him when I see him myself?"

- Argyus and Asajj Ventress

When Argyus rose, he signaled Ventress to inform her of his success. Ventress then fled the engine room after detonating leftover explosives. Argyus and Gunray made it to a docked Consular-class frigate, which they used to make their escape. Ventress, meanwhile, had eluded the two Jedi and entered an escape pod, arriving aboard the cruiser before reaching Separatist space. Argyus arrogantly gloated to Ventress about his mission's success, and that he had been responsible for Gunray's rescue. Ventress silenced his gloating permanently, impaling him through the chest with her lightsaber.

Personality and traits
"As successful a rescue as one could hope for, Viceroy. I'll be a legend for this."

- Argyus, to Nute Gunray

Captain Argyus was, like all other Senate Commandos, an elite member of the Senate Guard. However, Dooku easily bribed him into becoming a traitor, for Argyus didn't want to live in a state of permanent servitude to the Republic. He was arrogant and boastful in his skills, evident when he took all the credit for Nute Gunray's rescue from the Tranquility. His boasting led to his death at the hands of Asajj Ventress.

As a captain, he bore the symbol of the Galactic Senate on the left shoulder pad of his Senate Commando armor, which was a modified version of clone trooper armor with over-sized shoulder pads combined with the traditional helmet of the Senate Guard.

Behind the scenes
Argyus first appeared in the online comic The Clone Wars: Agenda, a preview to The Clone Wars episode "Destroy Malevolence." He would go on to appear in the comics Departure (the preview for "Bombad Jedi") and Transfer (the preview for "Cloak of Darkness").

In his first and only television appearance thus far, "Cloak of Darkness," Argyus was voiced by James Marsters, who gave the character a "stuffy accent" because he wanted him to be arrogant. Argyus, along with the rest of the Senate Commandos, was not made a clone because the Senate Commandos were elite Republic guards, essentially predecessors to the Emperor's Royal Guard. Additionally, there were not supposed to be any clone traitors.

Appearances

 * The Clone Wars: Agenda
 * The Clone Wars: Departure
 * The Clone Wars: Transfer