Bail Antilles

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"Who else has been nominated?"
"Bail Antilles of Alderaan and Ainlee Teem of Malastare."

―Queen Padmé Amidala and Captain Quarsh Panaka^[1]

Bail Antilles was a male human politician who served in the Galactic Senate as the senator for Alderaan during the tumultuous final decades of the Galactic Republic. Antilles was nominated to succeed Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum after the Galactic Senate chose to remove Valorum from the chancellery.

Biography[]

A male human, Senator Bail Antilles represented the planet Alderaan in the Galactic Senate in the last decades of the Galactic Republic^[2] and was related to fellow senator Bail Organa's wife, Breha Organa.^[3] As a representative, Antilles distinguished himself in the fight against corruption and the interests of large corporations, which earned him as many enemies as advocates.^[4]

At the time of the Invasion of Naboo, he was assisted by Liana Merian^[5] and Agrippa Aldrete.^[2] When Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo failed to convince the Senate to stop the Trade Federation occupation of her homeworld, she called for a Vote of No Confidence in Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum, whose chancellery had been hampered by the bureaucracies of the Senate. Along with Ainlee Teem of Malastare and Sheev Palpatine of Naboo, Antilles was nominated to succeed Valorum as Supreme Chancellor. Palpatine ultimately won the election^[1]—an outcome that led to the Clone Wars^[6] and the rise of the Galactic Empire.^[7] At some point following the political defeat to Palpatine, Antilles was succeeded by Bail Organa.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

"Alderaan seconds the motion for a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Valorum."

―Adrian Dunbar as "Bail Organa," in a deleted scene from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[8]

The name Bail Antilles dates back to the original drafts of the 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. The May 1974 rough draft of the film depicted Bail Antilles as a rugged-looking galactic trader and confederate of Aquillian Ranger Clieg Whitsun.^[9] The second draft in 1975 changed the character to an Aquillian Ranger himself and co-pilot of Luke Starkiller, the character who would ultimately become Luke Skywalker.^[10] In the revised fourth draft, Bail Antilles is the father of Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.^[11] After Ogana Major was renamed Alderaan, the slightly-tweaked name of Organa was given to Leia and her royal family.^[12] The rough draft version of Bail Antilles appears in the 2013 comic book series The Star Wars, an adaptation of George Lucas' draft.^[13] Meanwhile, the concept of an Antilles who would pilot alongside Luke was repurposed into Wedge Antilles.

Alderaan Delegation — Adrian Dunbar as "Bail Organa" (right) in a deleted scene from *The Phantom Menace*

Canonically, Bail Antilles was first mentioned in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.^[1] Actor Adrian Dunbar filmed scenes for the role, which at that point was referred to as Bail Organa. In the deleted scene, "Organa" seconded Queen Amidala's call for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum.^[14] During production, the character's name was changed to Bail Antilles,^[15] and Jimmy Smits was ultimately cast for the part of Bail Organa in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.^[6] Dunbar was disappointed after hearing from director George Lucas that the scene had been cut, as the actor took the part because Lucas originally intended to include him in the rest of the Star Wars prequel trilogy.^[16]

Despite only being mentioned in the film, Antilles made a few appearances in books and other material in the Expanded Universe, which has since been rebranded as the non-canon Star Wars Legends line. He appeared in two James Luceno novels, 2001's Cloak of Deception^[17] and 2012's Darth Plagueis.^[18] He was also referred in Luceno's 2005 novel Labyrinth of Evil.^[19] Several reference books also made mention of the character to provide information about him, such as The New Essential Chronology.^[20]