Finis Valorum

"&hellip;the Chancellor has little real power. He is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. The bureaucrats are in charge now."

- Palpatine, to Padmé Amidala

Finis Valorum was a Human male politician who served as the penultimate Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. During his administration, Valorum sent Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas to resolve a dispute with the Pyke Syndicate, a mission that led to the Jedi Master's death.

Towards the end of Valorum's administration, which was hampered by corruption and bureaucracy in the Galactic Senate, Valorum attempted to resolve the Trade Federation's Invasion of Naboo to little effect. As a result of government inaction, Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo called for a vote of no confidence in Valorum's leadership. The Senate scheduled an election for a new Chancellor, and Valorum was replaced by Naboo's Senator Sheev Palpatine&mdash;secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who orchestrated the crisis to become Supreme Chancellor and, ultimately, transform the Republic into the Galactic Empire.

During the Clone Wars, over ten years after his political downfall, Valorum assisted the Jedi Order as they investigated the circumstances surrounding Sifo-Dyas' death. They eventually learned he had been killed by the Pyke Syndicate at the behest of the Sith&mdash;who wanted to control the clone army Sifo-Dyas had secretly commissioned for the Republic&mdash;during the mission that Valorum had sent him on.

Early career and chancellery
"We were facing a full-scale war underneath the surface of Coruscant. Knowing of his expertise on the underworld, I contacted Master Sifo-Dyas to stabilize the problem."

- Chancellor Valorum, recounting the dealings with the Pykes to Master Yoda

Finis Valorum was born into the influential House Valorum and became a civil servant within the Galactic Republic. At some point during his political career, he served as an administrator to Supreme Chancellor Kalpana. Along with the chancellor, Senator Sheev Palpatine, and other dignitaries, Valorum attended the commencement and commissioning ceremonies at the Sullust Sector Spacefarers Academy, a piloting academy on Sullust. Later, Valorum himself was elected to the chancellery by the Galactic Senate. During his administration, his political power became hampered by the massive bureaucracies of the government, and he became mired in accusations of corrupt conduct. Valorum was a friend of Yoda, the Grand Master of the Jedi Order; and became aware of Twazzi, a Frenk bounty hunter whose acrobatic skills impressed the Chancellor.

At some point during Valorum's chancellorship, there was a crisis in the Pyke Syndicate that could have resulted in a full-scale criminal war beneath the surface of Coruscant, the capital of the Republic. In order to stabilize the Pykes, who held almost complete control over raw spice used to create a drug, Chancellor Valorum contacted Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, a Jedi who had experience with the criminal underworld. Valorum did not, however, inform the Jedi Council that he was sending Sifo-Dyas or the Chancellor's personal aide, Silman, to the Pyke planet of Oba Diah; the Senate feared that holding open discussions with the Pykes could legitimize their criminal activities and offer opposition leaders in the bureaucracy an opportunity to take down Valorum's administration.

After arriving on Oba Diah, Sifo-Dyas was diverted to Felucia by the Jedi Council, who ordered him to deal with a conflict between Felucian tribes. As the Jedi Master and Silman were leaving the Pyke world, the Pykes&mdash;who were hired by the Sith Lord Count Dooku&mdash;shot Sifo-Dyas' ship down, killing the Jedi Master and taking Silman as a prisoner. Valorum and the Jedi were left believing that Sifo-Dyas and Silman had been killed on Felucia.

Towards the end of his chancellery, and against political expectations, Valorum was elected to a second term. According to Palpatine, who presented himself as an ally but&mdash;as Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith&mdash;secretly plotted Valorum's downfall, Valorum was allowed to win by special interest groups who exploited legal loopholes, such as in Republic free trade laws, and needed a Chancellor who would become entangled in the governmental bureaucracies. Despite his reelection, citizens on Coruscant began placing bets on whether Valorum would be able to serve a full term. It was at that time that Palpatine's name was whispered as a potential successor. Valorum's chancellery was furthered hampered when he attempted to investigate the events of a disastrous trade summit on Eriadu, but was stonewalled by Eriadu's governor, Wilhuff Tarkin, at the request of Senator Palpatine. Tarkin himself had been elected governor on Eriadu despite opposition from House Valorum, further weakening the Chancellor's position.

Political downfall
"If this body is not capable of action, I suggest new leadership is needed. I call for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum's leadership."

- Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo

Thirty-two years before the Battle of Yavin, the Republic became involved in a disagreement over the taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems. The Trade Federation, which controlled the majority of the shipping that passed through Rim territories, blockaded the planet Naboo in an attempt to force the Senate into a resolution favorable to the Federation. The Naboo Crisis was secretly engineered by Senator Palpatine in order to end Valorum's chancellery, and was partly hastened by the events of the trade summit on Eriadu. With the blockade cutting off needed supplies to Naboo, this plunged the Republic's government into a political crisis that the Senate was unable to resolve.

In an attempt to end the blockade, Valorum sent Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Naboo to negotiate with Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation. The negotiations did not take place, however, as the Federation attempted to kill the two Jedi. Shortly thereafter, the Federation launched the Invasion of Naboo. Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo was able to escape the planet with the help of the Jedi, and she traveled to Coruscant in order to seek the help of Chancellor Valorum and the Senate. Valorum was present when she arrived and called for a special session of the Senate so Amidala could plead her case.

The Senate session, which Valorum presided over, proved unproductive for Amidala's cause. Senator Palpatine and Queen Amidala proclaimed that the Federation had invaded Naboo, a claim that Lott Dod, the Senator from the Trade Federation, disputed on the basis that no proof had been provided. Dod recommended to the Chancellor that the Senate appoint a commission to study the allegations, a recommendation that was seconded by the representatives of the planet Malastare. Valorum consulted with his advisers, including Vice Chair Mas Amedda, and ultimately asked Amidala whether she would accept a commission. Amidala refused and, at Palpatine's urging, called for a vote of no confidence in Valorum's leadership.

Amidala's motion led to Valorum's removal from office. A new election was called to replace him, and led to the nominations of Senator Palpatine, Bail Antilles of Alderaan, and Ainlee Teem of Malastare. As Palpatine had predicted, the Invasion of Naboo created a sympathy vote in the Senate, and he was elected Supreme Chancellor in Valorum's place. Due to Valorum and the Senate's inability to act, Queen Amidala also returned to her planet and, with the help of the Jedi Valorum had first sent to Naboo, ended the invasion.

Post-chancellorship and legacy
"It's been a long time, my friend."

- Valorum, to Yoda, during the Clone Wars

After leaving office, Valorum maintained an estate on Coruscant. During the Clone Wars, the Jedi found a lightsaber that had once belonged to Sifo-Dyas, who the Jedi had previously learned was the one who secretly commissioned the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic. The Jedi began investing Sifo-Dyas' disappearance, which led to the uncovering of a file sealed by Valorum's administration regarding the events on Oba Diah. Yoda met with Valorum at the former Chancellor's estate on Coruscant, where Valorum recounted the events that led to the mission on Oba Diah. Valorum's information led Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to Oba Diah, where they discovered that Silman was still alive&mdash;though he was soon killed by Count Dooku&mdash;and that the Sith had helped orchestrate the creation of the clone army.

At the end of the war, and thirteen years after Palpatine conspired to remove Valorum from office, Palpatine declared himself Emperor, transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire, and destroyed the Jedi Order. The fall of the Republic made Valorum the penultimate Supreme Chancellor, whose administration was unable to control the corruption and business interests that formed the Confederacy of Independent Systems, helped create the Clone Wars, and lead to the rise of the Empire.

Personality and traits
Valorum was a Human male who stood at 1.83 meters. He had white hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Politically, while his administration was hampered by corruption and the complex bureaucracies of the Republic, as Chancellor he was nonetheless a well-meaning man. The final days of his term saw him attempt to resolve the conflict between the Trade Federation and Naboo, but his efforts led to his removal from office.

Behind the scenes
"I said, 'What's he like, the president of the universe?' And George Lucas said, 'He's a good man but he's beleaguered&mdash;a bit like [Bill] Clinton.' That was before Clinton was as beleaguered as he is now, of course."

- Terence Stamp, in a 1998 interview with Star Wars Insider

Supreme Chancellor Valorum first appeared in Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, where he was played by Terence Stamp. To understand what Valorum was like, Star Wars creator and The Phantom Menace director George Lucas told Stamp that Valorum was similar to then-United States President Bill Clinton, describing Valorum as "a good man but he's beleaguered," though Stamp noted that this was prior to Clinton's impeachment trial. The character returned for a second canon appearance in "The Lost One," the tenth episode of The Lost Missions, the sixth and final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. For the animated appearance, the character was designed by The Clone Wars artist Kilian Plunkett and voiced by Ian Ruskin.

The name "Valorum" has been part of Star Wars since the earliest drafts of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In The Star Wars: Rough Draft, Valorum was a Sith knight who was demoted to the level of stormtrooper after failing to capture Rebel fighters, before defecting from the Galactic Empire and joining the Rebels. For The Star Wars: First Draft, the character was renamed Dodana. The name Valorum was again used in a later draft, titled Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars. Although he did not physically appear in the story, Prince Espaa Valorum was the Master of the Sith and the ruler of the Galactic Empire on Alderaan. Darth Vader served as his second in command.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace
 * Tarkin
 * Tarkin
 * Tarkin