Finis Valorum

"If I may say so, Your Majesty, the Chancellor has little real power. He is mired by baseless accusations of corruption. The bureaucrats are in charge now."

- Palpatine, to Padmé Amidala

Valorum was a  politician who served as the penultimate  of the. During his administration, Valorum sent  and the Chancellor's personal aide,, on a mission to , where they were to solve a dispute with the. Neither man returned from the secret assignment, however, and much of the information surrounding the circumstances of their s was made confidential by Valorum's administration.

By the final days of Valorum's chancellorship, the Chancellor proved unable to reign in the government's bureaucracy or stem the rampant corruption that had become prevalent within the. When the blockaded  as a result of a government dispute over the taxation of outlying trade routes, Valorum secretly sent Jedi Master  and his, , to negotiate with the Federation leaders. Their mission failed, however, and the Federation Naboo. of Naboo pleaded for help from the Senate, but the bureaucracies prevented her from achieving her goals. of Naboo, secretly the Darth Sidious and the orchestrator of the Naboo crisis, convinced the queen to call for a vote of no confidence in Valorum's leadership. The Senate ousted Valorum from office and elected Palpatine in his place. Thirteen s later, Palpatine declared himself and transformed the Republic into the.

Early Chancellorship
"We were facing a full-scale war underneath the surface of Coruscant. Knowing of his expertise on the underworld, I contacted Master Sifo-Dyas to stabilize the problem."

- Chancellor Valorum, recounting the dealings with the Pykes to Master Yoda

Valorum, a, was a civil servant within the  who was elected  by the. During his administration, his political power became hampered by the massive bureaucracies of the government, and he became mired in accusations of corrupt conduct&mdash;conduct that his political ally,  of, deemed to be baseless. Valorum was a friend of, the of the ; and became aware of , a   whose acrobatic skills impressed the Chancellor.

At some point during Valorum's chancellorship, there was a crisis in the that could have resulted in a full-scale criminal war beneath the surface of, the capital of the Republic. In order to stabilize the Pykes, who held almost complete control over raw used to create a drug, Chancellor Valorum contacted , a  who had experience with the criminal underworld. Valorum did not, however, inform the that he was sending Sifo-Dyas or the Chancellor's personal aide,, to the Pyke  of ; the Senate feared that holding open discussions with the Pykes could legitimize their criminal activities and offer opposition leaders in the bureaucracy an opportunity to take down Valorum's administration.

After arriving on Oba Diah, Sifo-Dyas was diverted to by the Jedi Council, who ordered him to deal with a conflict between Felucian tribes. As the Jedi Master and Silman were leaving the Pyke world, the Pykes&mdash;who were hired by the Sith Lord &mdash;shot Sifo-Dyas' ship down, killing the Jedi Master and taking Silman as a prisoner. Valorum and the Jedi were left believing that Valorum and Silman had been killed on Felucia.

Behind the scenes
"I said, 'What's he like, the president of the universe?' And George Lucas said, 'He's a good man but he's beleaguered&mdash;a bit like [Bill] Clinton.' That was before Clinton was as beleaguered as he is now, of course."

- Terence Stamp, in a 1998 interview with Star Wars Insider

Supreme Chancellor Valorum first appeared in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, where he was played by Terence Stamp. To understand what Valorum was like, Star Wars creator and The Phantom Menace director George Lucas told Stamp that Valorum was similar to then-United States President Bill Clinton, describing Valorum as "a good man but he's beleaguered," though Stamp noted that this was prior to Clinton's impeachment trial. The character returned for a second canon appearance in "The Lost One," the tenth episode of The Lost Missions, the sixth and final season of the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. For the animated appearance, the character was designed by The Clone Wars artist Kilian Plunkett and voiced by Ian Ruskin.

The name "Valorum" has been part of Star Wars since the earliest drafts of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. In The Star Wars: Rough Draft, Valorum was a Sith knight who was demoted to the level of stormtrooper after failing to capture Rebel fighters, before defecting from the Galactic Empire and joining the Rebels. For The Star Wars: First Draft, the character was renamed Dodana. The name Valorum was again used in a later draft, titled Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars. Although he did not physically appear in the story, Prince Espaa Valorum was the Master of the Sith and the ruler of the Galactic Empire on Alderaan. Darth Vader served as his second in command.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace