Almec

"Master Kenobi, Mandalore's violent past is behind us."

- Almec to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Almec was a male human from the planet Mandalore, and a one-time believer in the pacifist ways of Duchess Satine Kryze. During the Clone Wars, Almec served as the Prime Minister of Mandalore and did as he thought best to watch over and represent the interests of Mandalore. His dedication became his undoing, however; when Mandalore declared neutrality in the Clone Wars and became cut off from Galactic Republic aid, Almec established a black market trade network to bring much-needed goods to the Mandalorian people. These smugglers poisoned the people of Sundari with toxic tea, putting numerous children in hospital. Almec was exposed as the leader of the black market network and summarily imprisoned for his crimes.

When Darth Maul took over Mandalore, he broke Almec out of prison and reinstated him as Prime Minister, with Almec declaring loyalty to Maul and his Death Watch government. Following Maul's capture and imprisonment by Darth Sidious, Almec saw to it that Maul was rescued and brought back to the Death Watch.

Mandalore's neutrality
"Mandalore would never turn against the Republic. The Duchess Satine values peace more than her own life."

- Almec to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Almec was a native of the planet Mandalore and, for many years, an ally of Duchess Satine Kryze and her pacifist government. By the time of the Clone Wars, Almec had become the Prime Minister of Mandalore and served as the head of the Ruling Council of ministers that comprised the Mandalorian government. During the war, Almec met with Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had been sent by the Jedi Council to investigate rumors that Kryze was building an army and preparing to ally with the Confederacy of Independent Systems; Kenobi was also an old friend of the Duchess'. Almec assured Kenobi that the rumors were false, believing that Mandalore would never turn against the Galactic Republic and that Mandalore's violent warrior history was confined to the past. Kenobi mentioned his encounter with supposed Mandalorian mercenary Jango Fett, but Almec dismissed Fett as nothing but a mere bounty hunter who had acquired Mandalorian armor through unknown means.

During Kenobi's audience with the Duchess, Almec spoke out when the Jedi Master presented a recording of a Mandalorian saboteur responsible for an attack on a Republic cruiser, declaring that no Mandalorian would perpetrate such an attack. Although the Prime Minister expressed interest in the whereabouts of the Mandalorian in question, he appeared quite shocked when Kenobi revealed that the man had chosen suicide rather than submit to questioning. It was later revealed that the saboteur was a member of the resurgent group known as the Death Watch&mdash;a Mandalorian splinter-faction intent on returning the Mandalorians their warrior past&mdash;and that the once-trusted ally Pre Vizsla, the Governor of Mandalore's moon Concordia, was leading the group. Following the revelations, Almec was part of the cadre of retainers and guards that escorted Kryze to her personal starship, the Coronet, for her trip to Coruscant. There, she hoped to convince the Galactic Senate that the Death Watch did not represent the views of the entire Mandalorian community.

While the Duchess spoke on behalf of her people in the Senate chamber, Almec remained on Mandalore. It was there that he received a troubling report from a Mandalorian scout: the Death Watch was amassing an army at their base on Concordia. Almec agreed with the scout's assessment that the Death Watch would be unable to take over Mandalore without the popular backing of its residents, although he also surmised that, were the Republic to deploy a military force as they planned to do, it would drive the people to support the Death Watch as liberators standing against foreign oppressors. Left with no other recourse, Almec could only place his trust in Duchess Satine's efforts, trust that was rewarded when the Duchess convinced the Senate against sending an occupying force of clone troops to Mandalore.

Creating the black market
The Duchess' efforts successfully allowed Mandalore to remain free of entanglement in the Clone Wars, but it's neutrality came at the cost of losing vital Republic aid in the form of supply shipments. In response, Almec took it upon himself to establish a network of black market trade in order to ensure the continuing importation of much needed supplies for the New Mandalorian people. At a later point in time, Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo came to Sundari, the capital of Mandalore, to assure the government that aide would come from sympathetic parties within the Senate. During her stay, Amidala and Kryze discovered the illegal smuggling ring circumventing the previous loss of Republic trade, when it was revealed to endanger the lives of Mandalorian children. The Moogan smugglers moving the goods had diluted imported tea with the chemical slabin, which in the high doses used by the smugglers proved toxic to its consumers. Almec was informed of this development by Amidala and Kryze, though he reflectively implicated the Death Watch as the party behind the illicit activities. When the Duchess and senator shut down the smuggling ring and brought the issue of the corruption growing in the Mandalorian government to Almec's attention, the Prime Minister offered to form a committee to further investigate the issue.

Not long after, Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano was invited to Mandalore in order to lecture at the Royal Academy on the perils of corruption. She was met at the landing platform in Sundari by Almec, Kryze, and a gathering of Mandalorian academy cadets. These cadets&mdash;Amis, Lagos, Soniee, and Duchess Kryze's own nephew, Korkie&mdash;along with Tano, uncovered Almec's involvement in the black market trade network, and thus his complicity with the poisonings of Sundari's school children. Using the Mandalorian secret service, over which the Prime Minister's office held authority, Almec had the cadets and Tano arrested, in addition to Duchess Kryze herself upon learning that she had been informed of his involvement as well. He attempted to have the Duchess sign a confession of conspiracy, but upon being denied, Almec used a shock collar as a means of persuading her. When Kryze refused to yield, he turned his attention to her nephew, Korkie; Tano and the cadets fought back, managing to overpower Almec and his guards until he could be fitted with a shock collar himself, forcing the Prime Minister to surrender. Almec and his conspirators were placed under arrest, and subsequently imprisoned.

Death Watch allegiance
Some time later, after Death Watch allied with crime syndicates and the Sith brothers, Darth Maul and Savage Opress, Kryze was overthrown in a political coup led by Pre Vizsla and was imprisoned in a cell next to Almec. The former Prime Minister refused to apologize for his past actions and mocked Kryze for her beliefs. He was later recruited by the Sith brothers, who had been betrayed by Death Watch, to stand as their puppet ruler once they had overthrown Vizsla. Maul then challenged Vizsla to an honorable death match for the allegiance of Death Watch, which he inevitably won. Almec was reinstalled as Prime Minister and told the general populace that Satine murdered Vizsla. He then began setting up a new administration, and Maul warned the Prime Minister that would be held fully responsible for their failures. Almec was later present in the throne room when Obi-Wan Kenobi was brought before Maul and bore witness to Satine's murder by Maul.

Darth Maul's takeover of Mandalore also led to a conflict between those still loyal to Pre Vizsla, and those who had sworn their allegiance to Maul. During the hostilities, Maul was captured by his former master, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and taken to Stygeon Prime where he was imprisoned so the Sith could use Maul for their own purposes. Almec ordered Death Watch forces to pursue the Sith and rescue Maul before rendezvousing on Zanbar. When the rescue was completed, Almec spoke to Maul, who was on Zanbar, via hologram and told the Sith that the prison break was repayment for releasing Almec from prison on Mandalore. Maul would return to Mandalore shortly before the world was sieged by Republic forces led by Tano and Clone commander Rex.

Personality and traits
Almec was a large man, standing at a height of 1.89 meters, and possessed both blond hair and fair skin, in addition to violet-colored eyes. Almec was a firm believer in the peaceful ways of the New Mandalorians, displaying this by dismissing the supposed Mandalorian Jango Fett as nothing but a common bounty hunter, when questioned by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. While he held a high-ranking office in the Mandalorian government, he considered himself a servant of the people. That did not change the fact that he was a shrewd politician, able to correctly deduce the Death Watch's plans to rally favor for their cause by instigating a Republic invasion in order to appear as liberators to the Mandalorian populace. Almec was a friend of the New Mandalorians' leader, Duchess Satine Kryze, and placed a great deal of faith in her leadership abilities, until he was arrested for black market activities.

When the Mandalorian people were threatened with starvation after the Republic shut down trade routes to Mandalore in the face of the planet's declared neutrality, Almec took it upon himself to find a solution to the problem plaguing his people. To that end, he established an illegal black market trade network to smuggle the needed goods from the galaxy into Sundari, but, in doing so, opened himself up to the risk of greed and corruption. In trying to help his people, Almec instead made it possible for Moogan smugglers to poison innocent children throughout Sundari with toxin-laced tea. He attempted to cover it up, going so far as to turn on the Duchess. He betrayed his pacifistic beliefs by torturing Kryze and threatening to do the same to her young nephew, Korkie.

Behind the scenes
Almec first appeared in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season Two episode "The Mandalore Plot," the first in a trilogy of episodes featuring the Mandalorians. He would appear again in the flashback reel at the start of the subsequent episode, "Voyage of Temptation," before making his second true appearance in the final episode of the trilogy, "Duchess of Mandalore." Almec is portrayed by voice actor Julian Holloway.

Appearances

 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part One
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part Three
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part One
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part Three
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part One
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part Three
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part One
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part Three
 * Darth Maul—Son of Dathomir, Part Three