Bolla Ropal/Legends

"The Republic military brings more than conflict, I assure you. I am far more interested in using this might to fortify the future than wage war in the present."

- Jedi Master Bolla Ropal

Bolla Ropal was a male Rodian Jedi Master who lived in the waning years of the Galactic Republic. During the Clone Wars, Ropal acted as the keeper of the Kyber memory crystal, a device that contained the names of all known Force-sensitive children in the galaxy. Around the beginning of the war, the Rodian accompanied several other Jedi Masters and members of the Jedi High Council to a meeting with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine regarding the kidnapping of the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's son by agents of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Later in the war, Ropal and his Padawan, Tyzen Xebec, oversaw the construction of a Republic base on Devaron.

During a meeting between Ropal and several Devaronian dignitaries, Devaron was invaded by Confederate forces under the command of the bounty hunter Cad Bane. Under the directive of his client, Darth Sidious, Bane hunted down Ropal in order to retrieve the Kyber crystal and unlock the information it held. Ropal was defeated during the battle and taken to Bane's Munificent-class frigate, where he was imprisoned and tortured. Learning of Bane's plot to steal the crystal, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker led a Republic fleet to Devaron to engage the bounty hunter and rescue Ropal before the Confederate forces fled the system. Short on time, Bane increased Ropal's torture while repeatedly trying to force the Jedi Master to unlock the secrets of the crystal. Ropal continually refused, and the torture eventually resulted in his death. The Jedi Master's body was discovered shortly thereafter by Republic forces and moved to the Venator-class Star Destroyer Resolute.

Clone Wars
"Who is Bolla Ropal?''" "''He is the keeper of the Kyber crystal."

- Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu

Bolla Ropal was a male Rodian who served as a Jedi in the waning years of the Galactic Republic. Hailing from the Outer Rim world of Rodia, he eventually rose to the level of Jedi Master and took the Zabrak Tyzen Xebec as his apprentice. As a Master, Ropal was given the duty to protect and preserve the information within the Kyber memory crystal, a device that held the identities of all known Force-sensitive younglings in the galaxy. This information would then be used by the Jedi Order to find new children to initiate into their ranks. Ropal visited at least one of these younglings, Wee Dunn, in Rodia's Kay-Tap square. After witnessing the child's strong connection to the Force, Ropal confirmed that he would eventually be taken by the Jedi Order but reassured the infant's mother, Mahtee Dunn, that this would not happen for quite some time. Ropal also had a keen interest in holocrons &mdash;repositories of Force information and history. Over his lifetime, the Jedi Master studied many of these devices.

With the outbreak of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY, Ropal joined his fellow Jedi in becoming a general in the Grand Army of the Republic. Shortly after the beginning of the conflict, he accompanied Jedi Masters Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and Luminara Unduli to a meeting with Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in the Chancellor's office in the Republic Executive Building of Coruscant's Senate District. The Chancellor had been contacted by the Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure following the kidnapping of his son, Rotta, and had agreed to send Jedi to aid in the investigation, despite reservations voiced by Windu and Unduli. Rotta was eventually found and returned to Jabba by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.

Later in the war, Ropal and Xebec led a contingent of the Grand Army to Devaron, a world in the Colonies region that had recently consented to allow the Republic to build a base on their planet. Not wanting his men to sit idle within the base, Ropal put them to work on several non-combat tasks. Under his guidance, clone troopers serving with Clone Commander Ganch undertook good-will projects for the native Devaronians, including the construction of a dam and the ecological restoration of a once-verdant valley. Ropal took a special interest in the valley, believing it to be symbolic of Devaron's future.

Death over Devaron
"Simply open this little box of yours so I can get the information from this crystal and your suffering will come to an end.''" "You will&hellip;never&hellip;get me to&hellip;unlock the&hellip;holocron." "''Unfortunately I don't have time to discuss this with you. Hit him again, full power."

- Cad Bane and Bolla Ropal

Meanwhile, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious had hired Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane to retrieve the information stored within Ropal's Kyber crystal. After stealing a holocron from the Jedi Temple, Bane was loaned a fleet of Trade Federation warships to take to Devaron. Although the Jedi High Council had learned of Bane's plans, they were unable to contact Ropal and warn him, as he had become out-of-contact in the Devaron system. During a meeting between Ropal and two Devaronian ministers, one male and one female, concerning the progress of the Republic projects, Bane's armada invaded the planet. The bounty hunter's forces flooded into the valley where the Republic army was stationed and quickly overpowered Ropal's troops, despite the efforts of Commander Ganch and his soldiers. Taken by surprise, Ropal understood that the battle was lost and ordered Xebec to stay out of the valley.

Bane dispatched fellow bounty hunter Aurra Sing to lead a squad of battle droids to locate Ropal and report his location to the Duros so he could move in and capture the Jedi. Sing's team sighted Ropal near the eastern wall of the valley and shot down a Republic gunship to distract him and his forces from Bane's arrival on the battlefield. Upon landing on the surface of the planet, Bane engaged the Jedi Master in combat, firing at him with cortosis bullets that shorted out Ropal's lightsaber. Bane then bound Ropal's legs with a fibercord whip and pulled him to the ground. After Bane revealed the stolen holocron and demanded that Ropal aid him in opening it, the Rodian refused and threw aside his lightsaber. Ropal was then rendered unconscious by an electrical shock from a super battle droid and taken prisoner by Bane.

Stripped of the Kyber crystal, the unconscious Ropal was taken by a pair of super battle droids to a Sheathipede-class shuttle before being ferried up to Bane's Munificent-class frigate. Ropal was dragged to the ship's cell blocks and placed within a magnetic containment field. After Ropal was jabbed in the chest by a MagnaGuard's electrostaff, the battle droid overseeing Ropal's interrogation instructed the barely conscious Rodian that he was to remain awake until Bane had arrived. While waiting, Ropal's droid captors attached mind limiters and pain pulsers to his body and injected him with a full dose of the drug X-C33.

As Bane's armada prepared to depart Devaron, Anakin Skywalker led a fleet of Republic warships into the system in order to prevent Bane's escape. Skywalker's flagship, the Venator-class Star Destroyer Resolute, fired upon the hyperdrive engines of Bane's frigate, preventing it from fleeing to hyperspace. Recognizing that he had little time before Skywalker and his forces boarded the frigate, Bane demanded that Ropal assist him in opening the holocron he had stolen from the Jedi Temple. With the holocron open, Bane would be able to insert the Kyber crystal and access the information it stored. However, Ropal refused Bane's demands, as he sensed that the bounty hunter was working on behalf of a greater evil, and so was electrocuted several times more. After one final refusal from Ropal, Bane ordered the battle droid overseeing the torture to electrocute the Jedi at full power. Ropal died, and his limp body was dropped to the floor. The body was later discovered by Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano, and moved from the Confederate frigate to the Resolute.

Legacy
"I am sorry for your loss, Padawan Tyzen. Look to the Force for strength and know that Bolla Ropal died in service to the Order."

- Mace Windu, to Tyzen Xebec

Because of Ropal's refusal to comply with his orders, Bane was forced to seek another Jedi to aid him in accessing the Kyber crystal's information. He was eventually able to trap Tano on the shielded spaceward side of an airlock aboard the Confederate frigate. Under the threat of having his apprentice jettisoned into the vacuum of space, Skywalker opened the holocron for Bane&mdash;doing exactly what Ropal had sacrificed his life to avoid. Bane escaped with the holocron and, under the orders of Darth Sidious, began collecting children from the list on the Kyber crystal. Bane eventually traveled to Rodia to capture Wee Dunn. Although Bane was masquerading as a Jedi, Mahtee Dunn was hesitant to relinquish her son, citing her earlier visit from Ropal and his assurances that the young Rodian would not be inducted into the Jedi Order for quite some time. Despite this, Bane escaped with Wee Dunn and took him to the planet Mustafar. The children whom Bane stole were later rescued by Skywalker and Tano, and the holocron was recovered by Masters Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

On Devaron, Xebec was left without a Master. The dam that Ropal had been working to construct was destroyed during Bane's assault on Devaron, flooding the valley that he had invested so much time on. Reflecting on his Master, Xebec surmised that Ropal was too focused on the future, and his unfinished work on the valley was representative of that flaw. The young Zabrak returned to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he was informed of his Master's death at Bane's hands by Windu. Xebec later ran into Tano, inquiring after her role in finding and rescuing Ropal. The distraught Xebec confided in Tano his anger with his Master's constant pacifism and what Xebec perceived to be an attitude of intellectual superiority. Xebec was later given a new Master, Keelyvine Reus, who had difficulties training her new Padawan.

Personality and traits
"This valley&hellip; he called it the future, for the Devaronians. He spent so much time working on it. And he never saw it, Ganch.''" "Sir?" "''He never saw the present. And now he's gone."

- Tyzen Xebec and Commander Ganch

Bolla Ropal was highly concerned with the future welfare of the Republic and the Jedi Order. In his position as the keeper of the Kyber crystal, Ropal was the protector of the information that ultimately represented the future generations of the Jedi Knights. As a general in the Grand Army of the Republic, Ropal used the troops under his command for goodwill projects that bolstered public opinion of the Republic. His belief that the Republic's military might could be good for something other than destruction and war manifested itself in his work in the valley on Devaron. Believing it to be representative of the future of the Devaronians, Ropal took its restoration as his personal pet project and spent much time working on it. Ropal's dedication to the future kept him from giving into Cad Bane, despite the torture he experienced at the hands of the bounty hunter.

The Jedi Master understood that a hired gun such as Cad Bane was unlikely to come across knowledge of the Kyber crystal, as the artifact was one of the Jedi Order's most closely guarded secrets. Indeed, there were even individuals within the Order itself who did not know of its existence until Ropal became a target of the Confederacy. Knowing the secrecy surrounding the crystal and its contents, Ropal correctly surmised that Bane was working on behalf of a far more dangerous enemy who could be a threat to the future of the Order. As such, the Jedi Master accepted torture and death in order to protect the secrets of the Jedi.

Ropal cared deeply for his Padawan, Tyzen Xebec. During the invasion of Devaron, Ropal understood that the Republic base and valley were going to be overrun, and thus ordered Xebec to stay away in the interest of his safety. Although Xebec wished to aid his Master, he obeyed his orders and remained with Commander Ganch during Ropal's abduction. In the aftermath of the battle, Xebec believed that his Master had been too focused on the future and was unable to see the present, a flaw that had cost him his life. The young Zabrak also lamented that his Master had not lived to see the completion of his work on Devaron.

Powers and abilities
"Not much of a fighter, are you Master Ropal?''" "The Force has many aspects and strengths, hunter." "Oh, I know all about your strengths, Ropal. You're a scholar. A seer''."

- Cad Bane and Bolla Ropal

Bolla Ropal was strong enough in the Force to reach the status of Jedi Master. Although the Rodian lacked combat ability and prowess with a lightsaber, he was talented in predicting the future through the Force as a seer. His confidence in that power was shown to be misplaced when he was unable to foresee the invasion of Devaron. Ropal also had a commendable knowledge of Jedi history.

When engaging Cad Bane, Ropal was quickly neutralized. Despite his perceived weakness, the Jedi Master was able to withstand extended periods of torture that included electrocutions and poisoning. On a dossier acquired by Bane regarding Ropal, his abilities were stated to be "in question," and his threat potential was listed as "minimal." During the Clone Wars, Ropal carried a green-bladed lightsaber.

Behind the scenes
"Well, Bolla Ropal meets a very sad ending in this episode, but I have to say, it is exactly what it should be."

- Dave Filoni discusses Ropal's death in "Cargo of Doom"

The character of Bolla Ropal was created for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series. Ropal's name was derived from an acronym of an assistant of Dave Filoni's, the supervising director for the series.

Ropal first appeared in Karen Traviss's novelization of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars film. In the novel, Ropal was present during Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's meeting with members of the Jedi High Council to discuss the kidnapping of Rotta the Hutt. Ropal did not appear in the film, as the only Jedi present in Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's office were Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and Luminara Unduli. Ropal finally appeared in The Clone Wars second season episode "Cargo of Doom," in which he was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. The events surrounding the Rodian's death were revealed in the online The Clone Wars webcomic Act on Instinct.

Ropal's death in "Cargo of Doom" was intentionally morbid, according to Filoni. The Jedi Master's death scene served to illustrate Cad Bane's ruthlessness, as the bounty hunter was to be the major villain of the initial Season Two story arc. In the episode's online commentary, Filoni also states that Ropal's defiance to Bane was needed in order to give more significance to the character's death, as the episode was the Rodian's first and so far only appearance in the television series.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars novelization
 * The Clone Wars: Act on Instinct
 * The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game
 * The Clone Wars: The Valsedian Operation
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures video game