Thurlow Harris

"Harris, standing by."

- Thurlow Harris

Thurlow Harris was a Rebel captain's son and spent most of his life in his father's shadow.

Biography
"There's one on my tail. I can't shake him. I can't shake him!''" "''Stay on course, Harris! We'll lose them in the asteroid field."

- Thurlow Harris and Merrick Simms

A Human male born in 20 BBY, Thurlow Harris grew up in a galaxy controlled by the Galactic Empire. His father became a captain in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and Harris had seen many battles by the time he was twenty years old. Harris followed his father into the fledgling Rebellion early in the Galactic Civil War and undertook training as a starfighter pilot at the Alliance's Pilot Training Center on Kolaador, alongside Rookie One.

In 0 BBY, Rebel agents acquired the plans to the Empire's Death Star battlestation, a superweapon capable of destroying a planet. Pursued by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan entrusted the stolen plans to the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, who escaped her ship as it was boarded by Imperial forces, landing on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine. Realizing that the plans were no longer aboard the vessel, Vader ordered his forces to begin searching Tatooine. When the Imperial search uncovered the Alliance's Anchorhead Base, the Rebels called for assistance from Kolaador. In response to the distress call, Harris, Rookie One and Commander Ru Murleen were dispatched to Tatooine in T-65 X-wing starfighters.

The three Rebels arrived in the Tatoo system to find an Imperial-class Star Destroyer in orbit of Tatooine, coordinating the attack below. As the Star Destroyer launched TIE/ln starfighters against the incoming Rebels, Murleen led Harris and Rookie One in strafing runs to weaken its defenses. When the deflector shields protecting the bridge fell under the Rebel assault, Rookie One fired proton torpedoes at the unprotected command tower, crippling the vessel and allowing the Rebel flight group to proceed to the surface.

As the Rebels approached Anchorhead Base, it came under attack from three TIE fighters. Arriving too late to prevent Anchorhead Base's destruction, the Rebels pursued the TIE fighters into Beggar's Canyon to stop them reporting the arrival of the X-wings. After all three were eliminated, the Rebels were joined by the X-wing of Captain Merrick Simms and Murleen instructed Harris and Rookie One to accompany Simms while she attacked the Imperial supply lines. With Imperial ground forces moving into Mos Eisley, Simms led Harris and Rookie One to the spaceport town, where they engaged All Terrain Scout Transports and Imperial landing craft until the arrival of a TIE fighter group forced them to withdraw. With Harris struggling to outrun a TIE/In interceptor as the Rebels fled into space, Simms led the two rookies into a nearby asteroid field where they lost their pursuers before making the hyperspace jump to rendezvous with the Alliance Fleet.

Harris was later assigned to the Alliance's main base on Yavin 4, but soon found himself in battle once more. The stolen plans were eventually delivered to the Rebel base, but the Empire dispatched the Death Star to destroy it. Analysis of the plans revealed a weakness in the battlestation which General Jan Dodonna formulated a plan to exploit; a direct proton torpedo hit on a small thermal exhaust port would trigger a chain reaction in the Death Star's main reactor and destroy it. Harris was assigned to Blue Squadron, a group of four X-wings led by Simms and including Murleen and Rookie One, with the call sign Blue Four. Blue Squadron was charged with attacking the Death Star's superlaser directly, in an attempt to both damage it and divert attention away from Red and Gold Squadrons while they attacked the exhaust port.

As Blue Squadron approached the Death Star, a Star Destroyer in its support fleet launched TIE fighters to intercept them. The group battled their way through the incoming TIEs, with Harris getting at least one kill. During the fight, three of the Imperial fighters were able to get on Simms' tail. Harris tried to go to his wingmate's aid, but was unable to get a lock, leaving Rookie One to destroy the TIEs and save the flight leader. After making it past the perimeter, Blue Squadron commenced strafing runs on the Death Star's turbolaser batteries and cleared the way for the Alliance forces to enter the narrow trench leading to the exhaust port. Though the initial attempts failed, Red Squadron pilot Luke Skywalker finally made a direct hit on the exhaust port and destroyed the Death Star.

Personality and traits
With his father serving in the Rebel Alliance, Harris was exposed to the Galactic Civil War at an early age and saw many battles during his youth. Harris chose to follow his father's example by joining the Alliance, but struggled to escape his father's shadow. Although he became a skilled pilot, Harris lacked the confidence and mental control of more experienced pilots.

Behind the scenes
"I'm hit! I'm hit! I can't hold it&hellip;I can't hold it!"

- The death of Thurlow Harris

Thurlow Harris was created by Vincent Lee for the 1993 LucasArts video game Star Wars: Rebel Assault and his backstory was expanded in the game's manual. Harris is a non-player character in the game, who serves in the same squadron as the player's character, Rookie One.

Rebel Assault depicts Harris, as part of Blue Squadron, taking part in a trench run at the Battle of Yavin which contradicts the battle as depicted in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The trench run in the game is almost identical to that of the movie&mdash;only the persons involved are different. The game depicts Blue Squadron attempting a trench run with Simms entering first while Rookie One joins Murleen and Harris in providing cover. As they negotiate down the long trench the group is pursued by three TIE fighters, including a TIE Advanced x1 such as the one used by Darth Vader in the movie. The TIEs open fire, killing Harris and forcing Murleen to pull out, echoing the fates of Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles in the movie. Simms finally reaches firing range but his torpedoes impact on the surface, leaving Rookie One next to make an attempt, mirroring Garven Dreis's failed attempt. In the game, it is Rookie One's shot that is depicted as destroying the battlestation, as opposed to Skywalker's.

In December 2006, Leland Chee commented on the StarWars.com Message Boards that Rookie One's trench run was non-continuity. The Essential Guide to Warfare (2012) later confirmed that Blue Squadron were assigned to attack the Death Star's superlaser while Red and Gold Squadrons attacked the trench. Harris's entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (2008) mentions his participation in the Battle of Yavin, but does not state whether he was killed in the battle. Since the scene depicting Harris's death is non-canon, it is unclear whether he survived the battle.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Rebel Assault