Ganner Rhysode

"This threshold is mine. I claim it for my own. Bring on your thousands, one at a time or all in a rush. I don't give a damn. None shall pass!"

- Ganner Rhysode

Ganner Rhysode was a Jedi Knight from Teyr who studied under Luke Skywalker at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. He would later play a significant role in the Yuuzhan Vong War where he died heroically defending the World Brain from the Yuuzhan Vong.

Biography
Not much is known of Rhysode before the Yuuzhan Vong War, save for his training on Yavin 4 alongside fellow students Wurth Skidder and Octa Ramis. He was brash, headstrong and opinionated, and agreed with Kyp Durron's views on the role of the new Jedi. When Tionne and Kam Solusar went to Coruscant for the marriage of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade in 19 ABY, they left Rhysode and Skidder in charge of the Jedi Praxeum.

At the onset of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Rhysode was assigned to work with Corran Horn, which proved a difficult pairing, as a result of their clashing personalities. After a few mishaps, they started to gain a tenuous respect for each other, and together they tried to rescue the slaves on Bimmiel. After trying to evacuate all the slaves he could, Rhysode felt Corran's life force dim due to an amphistaff bite, and rushed to rescue him, saving him from certain death.

After Corran recovered, they were accompanied by Jacen Solo on a mission to Garqi. There they discovered that pollen from the bafforr tree native to the planet Ithor had the ability destroy the vonduun crab armor worn by the Yuuzhan Vong. Confronted by the enemy warrior Krag Val, Rhysode received a long scar that ran the length of his face. This event marked a change in his personality. Humbled, he chose to keep the scar to remind him he was not all-powerful. Due to the color of his lightsaber, at this time the Yuuzhan Vong began calling him Yellowblade.

Ganner next journeyed to Ithor, which had become a target of the Yuuzhan Vong, as it contained a large population of the bafforr tree. In order to reach the surface of the planet, which the native Ithorians considered sacred, he had to undergo a ritual of self-purification. During the ceremony he renounced his pride, another sign of his changing personality. Ganner and Corran fought in the Battle of Ithor, which was won by the New Republic. It was a hollow victory though, as in the end, the Yuuzhan Vong turned the once lush planet into a barren wasteland.

Ganner then accompanied Kyp Durron on a raid on Crèche, a yammosk-carrying ship. After they had boarded the ship they found their fellow Jedi, Wurth Skidder, dying from wounds he had suffered at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong. Ganner and Kyp avenged his death, slaughtering the yammosk war coordinator and rescuing the other captives on board.

In the months after the Battle of Fondor, Ganner helped Kyp Durron evacuate the Kubaz homeworld of Kubindi and served as a forward observer for the ever-advancing enemy fleets.

Rhysode was one of the Jedi selected to the Myrkr strike team to destroy the voxyn queen and voxyn cloning center. As the oldest member of the team, his role was to act as decoy leader for the real leader, Anakin Solo. Although the mission was a success, the casualty rate was high with nearly half the team killed or missing. Ganner was one of the few Jedi to make it out alive.

After returning from the disastrous Myrkr mission, Ganner traveled to Hapes with the survivors and was present for Anakin Solo's funeral. Ganner then traveled to Borleias with Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, along with several other surviving Jedi from the Myrkr mission. There, he participated in the Second Battle of Borleias.

After escaping Borleias, Rhysode heard rumors that Jacen Solo, presumed dead during the Myrkr mission, was alive. He took it upon himself to hunt down the source of the rumors, and his hunt eventually led him aboard a refugee vessel, which contained a captured Jacen Solo in disguise. Rhysode was captured and was planned to be sacrificed by Jacen, who was seemingly working alongside the Yuuzhan Vong. However, the pair turned on their captors, and while Jacen Solo headed towards the dhuryam, Ganner defended the entrance by himself against a multitude of Yuuzhan Vong warriors led by Nom Anor and Ch'Gang Hool in order to buy Jacen time to complete his mission. During the fight, and using the fallen Anakin Solo's lightsaber, Ganner embraced his destiny and finally found himself in the Force. His battle cry, "None shall pass!" would mark his legacy on both the Galaxy and the Yuuzhan Vong. Thousands of Yuuzhan Vong were up against the Jedi.

As the fight wore on, Rhysode achieved a state of oneness with the Force. The Force became him, and he became the Force. Calling upon this enormous power, Ganner defeated one Yuuzhan Vong after another, killing hundreds, possibly thousands of warriors. The Yuuzhan Vong mentality aided him in this, as at first the enemy concentrated on honorable single combat, and Ganner slew a large number before they even began to attack in pairs. As the numbers increased, Ganner drew more and more on the Force, animating the statues of the Core Founders and the heroes of the Rebellion, and battering his enemy with the two halves of the Great Door. Ganner killed the entire group of Yuuzhan Vong, and found himself without any enemies remaining. That was when the artillery arrived: a Fire Breather, supported by infantry. Knowing that the fight could not go on for much longer in these circumstances, Ganner performed the ultimate sacrifice. He took the beast's initial attack on one half of the Great Door, and then, using the power of the Force, he collapsed the ceiling on everyone in the chamber, including himself and Nom Anor, thus allowing Jacen and Vergere to escape. While Nom Anor, Jacen, and Vergere survived, Ganner passed on into the Force, having defeated more Yuuzhan Vong in single combat than any other combatant in the war. His heroic sacrifice would earn the respect of the Warrior caste, and his death helped stir what would become known as the Jeedai heresy among the Yuuzhan Vong Shamed Ones.

Legacy
During their journey back to New Republic space, Vergere confided in Jacen a Force vision she had seen in her dreams. According to this vision, the Yuuzhan Vong would eventually come to live amongst the population of the Galaxy, and their mythology would acquire a new character who was neither a god nor a demon, but an invincible Jedi giant, that would guard the entrance to the underworld. This Jedi would be known as "The Ganner", and a statue of him would be placed in the former entrance to the World Brain. Carved above this statue would be the words written in Galactic Basic Standard, "NONE SHALL PASS." It is unknown, however, if this ever transpired.

The Jedi Temple on Ossus had a meeting room called the Rhysode Room named in honor of Ganner.

During the Confederation-Galactic Alliance War, Wedge Antilles designated an impromptu squadron consisting of himself, Corran Horn, Luke Skywalker, and Mara Jade Skywalker "Ganner Squadron".

During the Massacre at Ossus, Kol Skywalker achieved a feat very much like Rhysode's, slaying a mountain of Sith and stormtroopers in defense of an escape shuttle. He was eventually overcome by Darth Nihl. Before this final onslaught, Kol's words mirrored&mdash;and were possibly inspired by&mdash;Ganner's: "None of you will pass."

Behind the scenes
Ganner Rhysode's last lines are very similar to the words were used by the Black Knight defending a bridge in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Appearances



 * Union 1
 * Dark Tide I: Onslaught
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Agents of Chaos I: Hero's Trial
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Star by Star
 * Dark Journey
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * Traitor
 * Destiny's Way
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * Force Heretic III: Reunion
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Exile
 * Inferno