Tiaan Jerjerrod/Legends

"Lord Vader, this is an unexpected pleasure. We are honored by your presence.''" "''You may dispense with the pleasantries, Commander. I'm here to put you back on schedule."

- Jerjerrod and Darth Vader onboard the second Death Star

Tiaan Jerjerrod was a Human male Imperial officer who hailed from a wealthy family from the Core World of Tinnel IV. Considered unambitious yet efficient by his peers, Jerjerrod worked as a desk general in Logistics and Supply before becoming Moff of the Quanta sector by 1 ABY. His sector operations were based in a family estate in Val Denn, the capital city of Tinnel IV. By 3 ABY, Jerjerrod had been assigned to oversee the construction of the second Death Star above the forest moon of Endor, appointed to that position by Emperor Palpatine himself. To hide the existence of the new Death Star, records claimed Jerjerrod had been made Director of Imperial Energy Systems and assigned to oversee the construction of large-scale power generators. Jerjerrod frequently had to brief the Emperor's enforcer, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, on the station's construction; on one occasion, the Moff traveled to the Star Dreadnought Executor during the Galactic Empire's occupation of Bespin to report to Vader.

Whereas the first Death Star had taken around nineteen years to complete, the construction of the much-larger second Death Star had moved into its final stage of assembly by 4 ABY, after approximately two to four years. However, the construction crews had fallen behind schedule; Vader ventured to the battlestation to inform Jerjerrod that the issue needed to be rectified. Vader announced that the Emperor would be arriving to personally oversee the last stage of the Death Star's construction. Jerjerrod informed Vader that his men would double their efforts, as he was afraid of reporting his failure directly to the Emperor. Jerjerrod was among those assembled to greet Palpatine when he arrived.

The Rebel Alliance had learned of the second Death Star's construction and the Emperor's presence aboard it via the Bothan Spynet, and they launched an attack based on false information released by the Emperor himself. When the Alliance Fleet arrived, they discovered that the planetary shield protecting the Death Star was still activated and that the Imperial Navy was situated to prevent the Rebels from escaping. Palpatine had ordered Admiral Firmus Piett not to directly engage the Rebel capital ships, a move that confused personnel on both sides. The reason behind this became clear when the Emperor ordered Jerjerrod to fire the Death Star's operational superlaser at the Alliance Fleet; many Rebel capital ships were obliterated. When the Alliance gained the upper hand in the conflict, Palpatine commanded the Moff to fire on the forest moon. Before he could complete his final order, Jerjerrod perished when the Death Star was destroyed.

Moff of the Quanta sector
"You're just a Moff, Jerjerrod&mdash;you couldn't possibly have been given any duty of significance."

- Bregius Golthan

Tiaan Jerjerrod was a Human male who hailed from a wealthy family native to the Core World of Tinnel IV. His grandfather had served as an admiral in the navy of the Galactic Republic; Admiral Jerjerrod's connections with then-Supreme Chancellor Palpatine greatly benefited his family. Tiaan Jerjerrod started his Imperial career in Logistics and Supply as a desk officer, and he eventually rose to the rank of general. Because he was not ambitious and took great pride in destroying his enemies, he became a Moff by 1 ABY, commanding his home sector, the Quanta sector, from a family estate in Val Denn on his homeworld of Tinnel IV. His estate included a vault of artwork, several pieces of which were stolen by the master thief "Tombat." The thefts were investigated by an Imperial investigator named Cammel Atarul.

Around 1 ABY, Jerjerrod dispatched an encoded transmission stating that a Rebel operative had intercepted encrypted documents related to the research initiative known as Project Dead Eye. The Moff authorized the recipients of the message to eliminate any Rebels involved in the theft, adding that security was being increased for the project and its leader, Doctor Vacca. Jerjerrod concluded his transmission with a personal note, stressing the importance of Project Dead Eye and the need for absolute secrecy&mdash;and that should anything go wrong, the Sith Lord Darth Vader would have the Moff's head. At one point, Jerjerrod was featured in an advertisement for Kuat Drive Yards's All Terrain Scout Transport, giving the corporation a thumb's-up.

The second Death Star
"For the next several months our schedule is exceedingly tight, with no tolerance for delay. We must redouble our efforts."

- Jerjerrod

As early as 0 ABY, the Empire had been in the process of constructing a second Death Star battlestation to replace the one lost in the Battle of Yavin. In selecting a lone commander for the new battlestation, Emperor Palpatine looked for someone weak and unambitious, not wanting the new Death Star to be commanded by a triumvirate of ambitious men like Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Admiral Conan Antonio Motti, and High General Cassio Tagge aboard the first. Palpatine chose Jerjerrod for the position. Within the throne room of the Imperial Palace on the Imperial capital of Coruscant, the Emperor informed Jerjerrod that he would be transferred from Logistics and Supply to his new assignment. The Moff was somewhat upset with the news, and though he did not voice his opinion, the Emperor read his mind and informed him that his talents would not go to waste with his new assignment.

To hide the existence of the new battlestation and create a plausible reason for the Moff's reassignment, Imperial records were doctored to indicate that Jerjerrod had been promoted to Director of Imperial Energy Systems, a branch of the Imperial Ministry of Energy. IES was a manufacturer of large-scale power generators that, officially, were used to provide a source of power for refugees; unofficially, the generators were built for use aboard the second Death Star. As Jerjerrod departed the Emperor's throne room after being given his assignment, he was confronted by Imperial advisors Bregius Golthan, Alec Pradeux, and Kren Blista-Vanee, all of whom believed that Jerjerrod was a Moff of little importance, too insignificant to earn the attention of the Emperor. The Moff responded by giving the fabricated story for his reassignment, informing the advisors of his new position as head of Imperial Energy Systems. As the trio taunted the Moff about his apparent demotion, Jerjerrod silently told himself that he had essentially been entrusted with overseeing the destruction of the Rebel Alliance.

As overseer of the new Death Star, Jerjerrod&mdash;now simply addressed as "Commander"&mdash;was stationed at the battlestation's construction site in the Endor system of the Outer Rim's Moddell sector. As one of his tasks, Jerjerrod worked with Colonel Dyer to plan the defense of the shield generator bunker on the Forest Moon of Endor, which maintained operation of the planetary shield protecting the Death Star. The Moff would also charge the V-series supervisor droid AV-6R7 with overseeing the various worker droids that aided in the construction of the battlestation. In 3 ABY, Jerjerrod traveled to the Star Dreadnought Executor &mdash;at the time present in the Bespin system during the Empire's occupation of the planet Bespin &mdash;to report to Darth Vader on the ongoing construction of the second Death Star. After Vader dueled with his son, the Rebel commander and aspiring Jedi Luke Skywalker, on Bespin, Jerjerrod greeted the Dark Lord of the Sith when his shuttle landed in the Star Dreadnought's hangar bay.

Construction setbacks
"The Emperor is coming here?''" "That is correct, Commander, and he is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress." "We shall double our efforts!" "''I hope so, Commander, for your sake. The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."

- Jerjerrod and Vader discuss the Emperor's impending visit to the second Death Star

By 4 ABY, the crews responsible for the construction of the second Death Star had become lax in their work. Because his crews were behind schedule, Jerjerrod had no time to inspect a new computer core that had arrived for installation aboard the Death Star, instead cursing Supervisor Gurdun for not accompanying the unit to the battlestation as planned. Unbeknownst to the Moff, the rogue assassin droid and bounty hunter IG-88A had uploaded his consciousness into a duplicate computer core as part of his plot to use the second Death Star as a makeshift "body" from which to initiate his Droid Revolution. In truth, Gurdun had accompanied the computer core until IG-88A killed him and replaced his stormtrooper escorts with droid replicas, but Jerjerrod preferred not having the supervisor there to complicate the already delicate matter of bringing the Death Star's construction back on schedule. As the stormtrooper droids unloaded the core, the Moff noted that they moved with near-mechanical precision and silently wished that all his men would be like them. However, when one of the stormtrooper droids was damaged by a falling cargo crane and activated its self-destruct, the resulting explosion took out an entire construction crew, much to Jerjerrod's chagrin.

The Emperor had become displeased with the slow progression of the Death Star project, and he sent his apprentice, Darth Vader, to order Jerjerrod to speed up the construction. Upon the Sith Lord's arrival aboard the incomplete Death Star, Jerjerrod made his way to the hangar where Vader's shuttle had landed, waiting patiently at the bottom of the shuttle's ramp for Vader to disembark. Vader was quick to inform Jerjerrod of the Emperor's displeasure with the lack of progress in the battlestation's construction, brushing aside the Moff's concerns that the project was an impossible, under-crewed effort. When the Sith Lord revealed that the Emperor was en route to personally oversee the final stage of construction, Jerjerrod announced that his men would increase their work twofold. Although Jerjerrod found conversations with Vader to have a certain quality of motivation, he had no intention of finding out if Vader was speaking the truth when the Sith Lord announced that he was more forgiving than the Emperor.

When the Emperor's shuttle landed aboard the Death Star, Vader and Jerjerrod were among the scores of Imperials present to greet Palpatine in a brief ceremony limited to the docking bay. When the Emperor and his cadre of advisors and Royal Guards disembarked, Vader informed his master that the Death Star would be completed upon schedule. As they processed away from the shuttle, Jerjerrod was one of the men to fall in line behind the two Sith Lords. The Moff was later present in the Emperor's throne room alongside the two Sith Lords and Imperial Ruling Council members Janus Greejatus and Sim Aloo, whereupon Jerjerrod received confirmation that the Emperor's seat of power was acceptable. At one point, the Moff and two of Palpatine's Royal Guards attempted to bar Vader from entering the Emperor's throne room; Vader responded by Force choking Jerjerrod before sparing the man's life.

Battle of Endor and death
"Commander Jerjerrod, should the Rebels manage to blow up the shield generator, you will turn this battle station onto the Endor Moon and destroy it.''" "Yes, Your Highness, but we have several battalions stationed on&mdash;" "You will destroy it!" "''Yes, Your Highness."

- Palpatine and Jerjerrod during the Battle of Endor

The Emperor's arrival aboard the battlestation had been the final step of a carefully-planned trap intended to destroy the Rebel Alliance. Palpatine had deliberately allowed Bothan spies to deliver the Death Star plans to the Alliance, knowing that the Rebel leadership would act upon the intelligence. With knowledge of the second Death Star's existence and the Emperor's presence aboard the station in hand, the Rebels took the bait and launched a two-phased attack on the construction site&mdash;as a strike team traveled to the Endor moon to neutralize the shield generator bunker, the Alliance Fleet would emerge from hyperspace and send its starfighters to destroy the Death Star's hypermatter reactor. Anticipating such a strategy, Palpatine had stationed his finest legion of stormtroopers on Endor and gathered the bulk of the Imperial Navy on the far side of the moon, ready to spring the trap. When the Rebel fleet did arrive in the Endor system, it was caught between an Imperial armada and a shielded Death Star. As the battle progressed, the Emperor opened a channel to Jerjerrod in the station's control room and ordered the Moff to fire the Death Star's superlaser at will.

Though the assassin droid IG-88A had assumed nominal command of the superlaser upon the installation of his computer core, the Imperials still maintained control over the station's prime weapon. Jerjerrod relayed the Emperor's orders to a nearby gunner, and in short time, the prime weapon destroyed the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Liberty. The realization that the Death Star was fully operational despite the ongoing construction stunned the Rebel fleet, as the Alliance vessels were unprepared to deal with the bigger threat posed by the station's superlaser. Nevertheless, the Alliance continued the fight, engaging the Star Destroyers on the outskirts of the battlefield in an attempt to buy more time for the strike team on Endor to accomplish its objective, even as many more Rebel ships were destroyed by the battlestation's superlaser.

As the battle progressed, the Emperor gave Jerjerrod one final order&mdash;should the shield generator be neutralized, the Moff was to turn the Death Star on Endor and obliterate the moon. Though Palpatine did not share the Moff's concern for the Imperial troops present on the moon, Jerjerrod acknowledged the command. Ultimately, the Alliance strike team on Endor succeeded in destroying the generating station, bringing down the deflector shield that protected the Death Star from a direct assault. Lieutenant Endicott brought word of the development to Jerjerrod, adding that contact with the bunker on Endor had been lost. Recalling the Emperor's edict, the Moff reluctantly gave the order for the Death Star to fire on the moon as the station began rotating to acquire its new target.

With the shield down, General Lando Calrissian, flying the light freighter Millennium Falcon, led several Rebel starfighters into the Death Star's superstructure while Rebel capital ships began firing on the station's hull. The bombardment thinned Jerjerrod's crew in the overbridge, with half of the personnel being killed, wounded, or simply frightened away. The remaining men were disorganized as chaos ensued in the control room, but the Moff made no effort to restore order. As an aide informed him that the Rebel fighters were eluding their defenses within the superstructure, a stunned Jerjerrod issued orders that made little sense, as his concentration had become focused solely on obliterating Endor. With the moon still out of range, he ordered the Death Star's rotation to be accelerated before being handed the superlaser's trigger by the fleeing aide. At sixty seconds left until firing, the Rebels had already taken out the main reactor; even as the station crumbled around him, Jerjerrod sat calmly and gazed out of the viewscreen. When the countdown reached thirty seconds, the Death Star exploded, killing the Moff before he could execute the Emperor's last command.

Personality and traits
"Great men never hurried; great men caused others to hurry."

- A fond saying of Jerjerrod's

Tall and thin &mdash;he stood at a height of 1.7 meters &mdash;Jerjerrod had brown hair and green eyes. He was a competent administrator, having been a desk general, but he possessed very little military experience. He was arrogant and a self-described ambitious man, though others, particularly his superiors, considered him to be quite the opposite, believing him to lack creativity, motivation, and the audacity or vision to act on his ambition. Indeed, the Emperor saw him as only slightly ambitious, like any other Imperial officer. It was for these reasons that Palpatine assigned the Moff as the overseer of the Death Star's construction. The Emperor had no qualms about his selection; Jerjerrod could get the Death Star finished in short time, but he would not mimic his predecessor Tarkin and attempt to use the superweapon for his own personal gain.

Jerjerrod believed that great men such as himself never had any reason to hurry; rather, it was his job to cause other beings to hurry. But upon learning that the slow in the second Death Star's assembly had displeased the Emperor, and that he would be arriving to oversee the final stage of construction, the Moff reasoned that, on certain occasions, even great men hurried. Jerjerrod did not know how he and his men could possibly complete the Death Star's construction on schedule, but he did not make excuses for their lack of progress&mdash;he had no intention of learning how Vader or the Emperor would respond to any such explanations.

When ordered to destroy the Rebel fleet during the Battle of Endor, Jerjerrod became melancholic, for he had no wish to see the war end&mdash;ongoing war was one of his favorite things. However, he also loved the total annihilation of his enemy, and this gave him all the motivation he needed to order the gunners to fire the Death Star's superlaser. When the battle began turning in the Alliance's favor, Jerjerrod had time to reflect on the sudden turn of events. While his disorganized crew began to flee, the Moff simply sat and dwelt on his current situation, wondering how the Empire could possibly be on the brink of defeat. He could not believe that his patience, cleverness, and loyalty had not paid off, and his pride at commanding the second Death Star was no consolation. Jerjerrod's hatred for the Rebellion had grown as the battle progressed; though he had once viewed the Alliance as something he could easily bully without fear of reprisal, it had matured and learned to fight back. The Moff realized that the only act that could possibly satisfy him in such a despairing time was to fulfill the Emperor's final order and destroy Endor, though he died before he could accomplish the feat.

Behind the scenes
Portrayed by Michael Pennington, Moff Jerjerrod was created for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, released on May 25, 1983. However, the character first appeared in the Return of the Jedi novelization, published prior to the film's release. Though his role in the film is relatively minor, the novelization includes several additional in which Jerjerrod is present, many of which were shot but not included in the final version of the movie. As a result of a props "blooper" during production, Jerjerrod and all other Imperial officers wear the wrong rank badge in the film.

Addressed simply as "Commander" in the film, Jerjerrod's name is never heard during Return of the Jedi, though his name is listed in the credits. In the movie's 1996 radio adaptation, Jerjerrod was voiced by Peter Dennis. The radio adaptation was noteworthy for providing the pronunciation of "Jerjerrod." Archival footage of Jerjerrod greeting Vader upon his arrival on the Death Star from Return of the Jedi was used for the Special Edition release of The Empire Strikes Back, though the scene itself is from a different angle. As a result, Jerjerrod is seen greeting Vader as he lands on the Executor following the duel on Bespin. In 2009, the Moff was given the first name "Tiaan" in The Essential Atlas.

The Imperial Sourcebook, released in 1989, introduced an Admiral Jerjerrod that had served the Republic; this character was later established as being Moff Jerjerrod's grandfather in The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 9. Coruscant and the Core Worlds, released in 2003, mentioned the existence of a Jerjerrod family estate in Sirpar Hills on Anaxes, but this has not been specifically tied to Moff Jerjerrod.

A slight inconsistency regarding Jerjerrod's height exists. While the StarWars.com Databank indicated that Jerjerrod was 1.7 meters in height, The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 9 supplies the slightly taller figure of 1.8 meters. This article assumes that the former is correct.

Script changes
Over the course of Return of the Jedi development, Jerjerrod's role expanded and contracted greatly. In earlier drafts, Jerjerrod&mdash;a Grand Moff described as a tall, confident technocrat&mdash;played a more prominent role as the Emperor's "secret agent," operating behind Vader's back while overseeing the transformation of the Green Moon of Had Abbadon into a paradise for the citizens of the overpopulated Imperial capital. While aboard Jerjerrod's shuttle, Vader informed him that he had sensed a Rebel presence on the moon, but the Grand Moff saw it as an insult to his work and refused to believe it&mdash;even as a stolen Imperial transport piloted by Princess Leia and two other Rebels nearly collided with the shuttle. Upon arriving on Had Abbadon, Vader and Jerjerrod descended to the Emperor's throne room, which overlooked a lake of lava. Once Vader departed, having been reprimanded for not capturing Luke Skywalker, the Emperor tasked Jerjerrod with keeping an eye on Vader. Palpatine then explained that Skywalker would be replacing Vader, and that the Rebels were launching an attack on the Death Star. Jerjerrod later butted heads with General Veers, who refused to take a captive Skywalker to the Emperor on Had Abbadon and instead delivered the prisoner to Vader on the Executor. Furious, the Grand Moff stormed in on the Sith Lord and demanded to know why Skywalker was not delivered to the Emperor. In response, Vader grabbed Jerjerrod by the throat and killed him.

In the revised rough draft, Jerjerrod's shuttle nearly intercepted Leia's captured transport when it moved to help a panicked Wedge Antilles&mdash;who was flying a captured TIE Fighter during the strike team's infiltration&mdash;without giving a clearance code. However, the situation was averted when Leia's craft was given clearance. Following the incident, Vader complained to Jerjerrod that the Emperor had not been in contact with him. Though Jerjerrod attempted to avoid an argument, he was forced to reveal that the Emperor, displeased with Vader's failure in capturing Luke Skywalker, had reassigned the Sith Lord to oversee the construction of the two new Death Stars. The Grand Moff explained that the Emperor doubted Vader would be able to turn young Skywalker to the dark side, a task only the Emperor could accomplish. Jerjerrod also revealed that the Emperor was aware of the impending Rebel attack, and that Luke, who was on the planet Tatooine at the time, would soon be in the hands of the Empire. Later, in the Executor private communications chamber, Jerjerrod conversed with the Emperor's holographic form, which instructed him to deliver Skywalker to him behind Vader's back. The Grand Moff noted that the Rebel attack would be ample to distract the Dark Lord from finding his son, allowing the Emperor to turn young Skywalker to the dark side. Because Jerjerrod had used a coded transmission and had disabled all surveillance equipment, Vader had no knowledge of the conspiracy until after Skywalker was delivered to the Emperor. Upon learning of the secret dealings, Vader killed Jerjerrod.

Deleted scenes
Even after the final version of the script was established, several of Jerjerrod's scenes were removed. In one of these, most likely intended as a bit of on-set humor, Jerjerrod is shocked by a Royal Guard with a force pike. However, many of these deleted scenes were eventually released. In the first of these, filmed on February 18, 1982, according to Star Wars Insider 24 production timeline, Jerjerrod and two Royal Guards attempt to prevent Vader from seeing the Emperor; in response, Vader strangles Jerjerrod using the Force but stops short of killing him. This scene was later referenced in the Star Wars Character Encyclopedia and included in the Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray set.

The Blu-ray set also included scenes from a subplot that involves the Moff's final orders. While largely present in the novelization, these scenes were ultimately cut from the film. In these clips, the Emperor tasks Jerjerrod with destroying Endor if the Rebels knock out the shield generator. Though he acknowledges the command, the Moff briefly expresses his concern for the Imperial troops still on the moon before Palpatine silences him. Later, as the battle begins to favor the Rebels, Lieutenant Endicott informs the Moff that the shield generator has been disabled, prompting Jerjerrod to reluctantly prepare the station to fire on the Forest Moon. In the last of these clips, Jerjerrod issues several orders intended to impede the Rebel starfighters that have penetrated the Death Star's superstructure. Once the battlestation is in position to fire on Endor, Jerjerrod hesitates momentarily before giving the order to destroy the moon.

Non-canon biography
The video game Star Wars: Demolition mentions that Jerjerrod and Jabba the Hutt worked out a deal to move the latter's Demolition games to the second Death Star. In The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition, Jerjerrod appears as part of the Emperor's procession in the Death Star's docking bay, a scene inspired by the event as portrayed in Return of the Jedi. In addition to the Emperor, Vader, the advisors Janus Greejatus and Sim Aloo, and an Imperial officer, two Cylons from Battlestar Galactica and Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna, disguised as Royal Guards, are part of the procession. Jerjerrod also appears, as a LEGO minifigure, in the video games LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Rebellion
 * Therefore I Am: The Tale of IG-88
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi radio drama
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi junior novelization
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi PhotoComic
 * Return of the Jedi Storybook
 * Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi book
 * Classic Star Wars: Return of the Jedi book-and-record
 * Return of the Jedi: A Storybook
 * Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 1: In the Hands of Jabba the Hutt
 * Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 2: The Emperor Commands
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance
 * Star Wars: Return of the Jedi 2: The Emperor Commands
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars: X-wing Alliance

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Demolition
 * The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition
 * LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga