Arligan Zey

"I was raised to believe I was a soldier for the light, defender of the oppressed, a righter of wrongs."

- Arligan Zey

Arligan Zey was a Human male Jedi Master who served the Jedi Order prior to and during the Clone Wars.

Early years
Little is known about him in his early years in the Jedi Order, but Arligan Zey took Bardan Jusik on as his Padawan and trained him to be a Jedi Knight.

Clone Wars
"Intelligent Humans don't need programming. That's why they'll always defeat droids."

- Arligan Zey

During the Clone Wars, Zey served as General of the Special Operations Brigade. He was tasked with overseeing the Republic Commando mission to Qiilura, among others. When the mission was completed, Zey remained behind on Qiilura to train the Human colonists there in how to battle the Separatist forces that remained behind. He later returned to Coruscant to oversee the Special Operations Brigade there.

Zey's liaison with the clones under his command was the Advanced Recon Commando Captain Maze.

Zey would later be tasked by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to capture Ko Sai. Thus, Arligan assigned Delta Squad and General Jusik to locate her and arrest her. Bardan, covering for Kal Skirata, threw Delta off the trail as much as he could, until Skirata captured Sai for himself. Jusik would lead the excavation of Sai's destroyed lab, though Skirata would bring the head of the deceased Kaminoan for Delta to give to Zey. During this time, Zey offered Maze a way out of the Grand Army if he ever wanted out.

After being confronted with increasing amounts of evidence pointing to clone executions by the Republic, which Zey found completely disturbing, Bardan declared to his former Master that he would follow his heart; that of a Jedi's, and protect innocents. By doing this he resigned from the Order to become a Mandalorian, stating he couldn't betray his men to death. Zey was sorry to see him go, but allowed him to keep his lightsaber.

After Etain Tur-Mukan returned with Delta and Omega Squad after a stalemate on Haurgab, Zey asked Walon Vau to keep an eye on Skirata, since he was suspected of treason.

Order 66 and afterward
When Order 66 was executed, Zey was at the Jedi Temple when Darth Vader led the 501st Legion for the kill. He was attacked and badly injured, but he made it back to his office where he ran into Null ARC Captain Ordo. When he asked Ordo why the troopers were killing the Jedi, Ordo told him about Order 66. Captain Maze arrived at this point and told Zey that he was only following orders. He told Maze and Ordo about Palpatine being the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious.

Maze then asked what the Sith were, to which Ordo told him they were like Jedi but only the exact opposite. Captain Maze asked Zey to let him arrest him, but Zey refused and asked Maze to kill him. The Jedi Master knew that Maze had no malice in his action and was only following orders. Captain Maze, however, decided not to follow orders, shooting the wall a meter from Zey's head; he then succeeded in hiding Zey until he could smuggle him offworld to Mandalore; upon his arrival, Kal was furious that Maze kept him alive, and hurt that Jusik didn't comm him before making the decision to help him.

When he felt Kad's presence and the fact that he was Etain and Darman's son, he burst into tears, finally understanding why Kal was hesitant to take him or other Jedi in. After living with Kal and his family for a time, he was transported along with Kina Ha to live with Jedi Master Djinn Altis and the Altisian Jedi.

Personality and traits
"Zey's a pragmatist. He thinks in terms of living beings with faces and names, not spiritual concepts. That's why Maze gets on with him."

- Bardan Jusik to Ordo Skirata

Zey had to constantly deal with the unorthodox behavior of Kal Skirata and his associates, such as allowing Skirata to use military funds as he needed them, or often turning a blind eye to Generals Bardan Jusik and Etain Tur-Mukan's doings.

Arligan was described as a large muscular man, uncomfortable with a desk job and the power he wielded, but extremely loyal to the Jedi Order. He was shocked to learn of the execution of clones during the war, and was known to express exasperation over such issues to Mace Windu. He also offered Captain Maze a way out of the army if he ever wanted it.

Appearances

 * Republic Commando: Hard Contact
 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero
 * Republic Commando: True Colors
 * Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
 * Imperial Commando: 501st
 * Imperial Commando: 501st