Tiaan Jerjerrod/Legends

"Great men never hurry; great men cause others to hurry."

- Moff Jerjerrod

Moff Jerjerrod was the Imperial Moff of the Quanta Sector and later the overseer of the second Death Star's construction.

Characteristics
Jerjerrod was an unambitious technocrat. He did not hungrily seek power as many of his contemporaries did, but he did not refuse a responsibility offered to him either. But Jerjerrod was also a soldier. He loved the constant state of war the Empire provided and reveled in the total annihilation of an enemy. It was these characteristics that made Jerjerrod an ideal candidate to command Palpatine's new Death Star. Palpatine had seen the trouble caused by an ambitious, overly proud man like Tarkin, and sought to avoid a repeat of Yavin. Palpatine chose him to command the Death Star II because he knew that due to Jerjerrod's gross incompetence, he would leak the secrets of the Death Star II to the Rebel Alliance.

Biography
Jerjerrod's history prior to his appointment as Moff of the Quanta Sector is unknown, although he may have been related to an Admiral Jerjerrod who served in the Republic Navy in the latter days of the Galactic Republic. By 1 ABY, Jerjerrod was already a Moff, ruling his home sector from a family estate in Val Denn on Tinnel IV. His estate included a vault of artwork, several of which were stolen by the notorious Tombat.

At some point, Jerjerrod was assigned to Executor, as he was the officer tasked with greeting Darth Vader upon his arrival from Bespin. It is possible that Jerjerrod was merely aboard the command ship to discuss the status of the Death Star project.

When Jerjerrod was tasked with managing the construction of the new Death Star, Imperial records were doctored to indicate that he had been promoted to Director of Imperial Energy Systems in order to prevent Rebel spies from finding out about the second Death Star too early. While serving aboard the Death Star, Jerjerrod was addressed as Commander—an appropriate title due to his command position aboard the station, and also his status as High Commander of Moddell Sector's military forces.

Shortly before the Battle of Endor, Jerjerrod received a second visit from Vader to inform him of Palpatine's impending arrival. Vader suggested Jerjerrod find better methods of motivating his workers to ensure the completion of the battlestation's vital systems. To his credit, the superlaser and essential combat systems were fully functional in the time frame established by Palpatine.

During the battle, Jerjerrod commanded the Death Star's gunnery crews, destroying several Rebel warships. When the Death Star's shields fell, Jerjerrod, acting on orders given to him by Emperor Palpatine, ordered the Death Star to turn and fire on the sanctuary moon of Endor.

Jerjerrod was killed when the Death Star's reactor was destroyed before the station could complete its final task.

Behind the scenes

 * Moff Jerjerrod was portrayed by Michael Pennington.
 * A deleted scene from Return of the Jedi has Jerjerrod and two Imperial Royal Guards attempting to prevent Darth Vader from seeing the Emperor, whereupon Vader strangles Jerjerrod using the Force (but does not kill him).
 * The use of archival footage from Return of the Jedi for the Special Edition release of The Empire Strikes Back means Jerjerrod now appears in both movies; he now greets Darth Vader as he lands on the Executor following his duel on Bespin, and again a year later onboard the second Death Star.
 * Jerjerrod is one of the few Imperial characters from the original trilogy who still does not have a first name. Tarkin, Tagge, Ozzel, Piett, Veers and Needa all have had first names given to them by the Expanded Universe in the decades following their appearances (as seen in their respective articles), but not the unfortunate Jerjerrod.
 * According to Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays, Jerjerrod was originally a "Grand Moff" in earlier drafts of Return of the Jedi.
 * Jerjerrod was meant to be much more than what we saw on screen. The novelization of Return of the Jedi implies that he was a sadist who derived an inflated sense of his own power from brutalizing the Rebel Alliance. In earlier drafts, Jerjerrod was a headstrong Grand Moff, and by far more powerful than he was in the finished movie. He was portrayed as an annoyingly smug and obnoxious bureaucrat whom Darth Vader loathed. The screenplay had Jerjerrod arriving on the Executor as the Emperor's personal emissary. Vader greated him as "my lord" and Admiral Piett and the Star Captains even kneeled before him. Vader and Jerjerrod, however, quickly got into a heated argument. Jerjerrod ridiculed Vader's failure to turn Luke Skywalker to the dark side, and proceeded to openly insult the Dark Lord. Later in the script, we learn that the Emperor and Jerjerrod had conspired to turn Luke without Vader's knowledge. Upon finding out about this plot, Vader kills Jerjerrod.
 * Moff Jerjerrod was intended to have worn the updated Moff rank badge. Due to a costume problem, however, all the Imperial characters in Return of the Jedi were shown wearing Navy Commander badges.

Appearances

 * Rebellion
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (DVD)
 * Tales of the Bounty Hunters
 * Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi