Erskin Semaj

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"Captain Syndulla I presume, I am Erskin Semaj, senatorial attaché."

―Erskin Semaj, to Hera Syndulla^[3]

Erskin Semaj was a human male commander who served as an aide to Senator Mon Mothma in the Imperial Galactic Senate and in her rebellious affairs, secretly as an agent of Luthen Rael's Axis network. He was instrumental in Mothma's escape from Coruscant alongside Captain Cassian Andor immediately following her public denouncement of Emperor Palpatine. He and members of Gold Squadron worked alongside Hera Syndulla's Spectres' rebel cell, Phoenix Squadron, during the mission to escort Mon Mothma to Dantooine to rally a united rebel fleet. Erskin continued to serve loyally under Mothma in the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

Biography[]

Senatorial aide[]

Erskin Semaj was a human male born on the planet Naboo to a Chandrilan father and a Ghorman mother. Semaj's mother was a woman whom his father was having an affair with. Eventually, when his mother died, Semaj was taken in by Imperial Senator Mon Mothma, becoming her aide.^[2]

Semaj served as Senator Mon Mothma's senatorial attaché in 4 BBY. That year, he attended the Wedding of Stekan Sculdun and Leida Mothma on Mothma's homeworld of Chandrila where he helped her welcome the guests and reported on a parking issue with the governor's new speeder.^[6] Two days later, during the post-wedding party, he spoke with the secret rebel leader Luthen Rael about his family life. Rael, a collaborator with Mothma in the burgeoning rebellion,^[1] recruited Semaj to work secretly for him while he continued to serve Mothma. Continuing to dutifully serve the Senator, Semaj protected Mothma in ways she was not aware of.^[4]

Erskin and mon — Erskin Semaj accompanies Mon Mothma during a vote run

During the Senate Investiture Week in 3 BBY, Semaj accompanied Mothma during her attempt to collect votes from her fellow Senators in an attempt to repeal the Public Order Resentencing Directive. Semaj walked with Mothma as she unsuccessfully attempted to persuade a Tarsunt senator, while himself speaking to an Ottegan.^[7] The next day, during the recitation of the Imperial Oath in the Senate, Semaj accompanied Mothma as she stormed out of the Convocation Chambers.^[8]

Axis allies[]

In 2 BBY, the Empire began slaughtering the Ghorman people, claiming to be putting down an insurrection.^[9] That night, while Senator Mon Mothma prepared a speech to condemn the killings, Semaj located a listening device hidden in her office. He urged the senator to practice the speech in the adjacent Senate Plaza so that he could continue searching the office for additional microphones. Mothma returned at sunrise, having learned from Rael that Semaj had been assisting the Axis network behind her back. Semaj admitted to helping Rael for the previous two years, claiming to have tried to protect Mothma. Angry and hurt at Semaj's betrayal, the senator told him that he had failed and immediately dismissed him from his position. Semaj stated that it had been an honor working for her and departed.^[4]

Axis operative Kleya Marki contacted Semaj as he walked to the Senate Building, and Semaj, struggling to control his emotions from the falling out, was unable to confirm whether or not Mothma was going ahead with her speech. Inside the Senate Building, Semaj encountered Cassian Andor, who was preparing to extract Mothma after she spoke so that she could flee Coruscant for the rebel base on Yavin 4. He recognized Andor, and the two rushed together to a media lobby to wait for the senator's speech to begin. Aware that a previously planned extraction team under Senator Bail Organa had been compromised by the Imperial Security Bureau, Semaj watched a pair of unknown individuals with suspicion as they waited nearby. Mon Mothma denounced the Galactic Empire's actions on Ghorman, mourning the death of truth and objective reality in the Imperial Senate and blaming Emperor Sheev Palpatine himself.^[4]

After the speech, Andor brought Mothma into the lobby, where she was swarmed by journalists. Semaj helped to clear the crowd away, but the ISB agent stopped the group, and, revealing her true identity, attempted to take Mothma into custody. Semaj shouted that the woman was a rebel spy, distracting her long enough for Andor to shoot her and prevent the arrest. Armed with the agent's blaster, Semaj urged Andor to escape with Mothma while he remained behind to handle the crowd. Stormtroopers rushed in to capture Mothma soon after, but in the chaos, Semaj walked past them and escaped before the building could be fully locked down. The group reunited that evening at Rael's Coruscant safehouse. When Semaj asked the senator if she was all right, she nodded and offered a smile of reborn trust. Semaj and Marki explained to Andor that the rebels intended to rewrite the story of Mothma’s escape, and that a Yavin escort would be utilized to relocate the senator to the rebel base after she gave another speech.^[4]

Birth of the Alliance[]

"Look, that probe, it was probably looking for us, specifically. We are carrying cargo highly valuable to the Rebellion, and desperately wanted by the Empire."

―Erskin Semaj, to Hera Syndulla^[3]

Mothma officially resigned from the Imperial Senate, and Semaj and members of Gold Squadron accompanied her into hiding^[3] on her Taylander shuttle Chandrila Mistress^[10] and several Y-wing escorts. With Mon Mothma and her fellow rebels now fugitives, her friend Senator Bail Organa arranged for the group to rendezvous with Phoenix Leader Hera Syndulla and her Spectres in deep space in order to refuel their ships.^[3]

After Mothma's freighter docked with Hera's VCX-100 light freighter Ghost, Semaj and Gold Leader Captain Jon Vander boarded the rebel ship. The two met Hera and her crew Garazeb Orrelios, Ezra Bridger, and the astromech droid Chopper. When Ezra asked what cargo they were carrying, Erskin told them they were not allowed aboard due to security conditions. Hera responded by telling them they were welcome aboard her ship. The Ghost then began refueling Mothma's freighter's Y-wing escorts.^[3]

While they were refueling, an argument broke out between the pilot Gold Two and the Spectres over secrecy and tactics. When Hera defended her crew, Semaj took a conciliatory stance and remarked that the tactical infiltration pod that the Spectres had encountered earlier was probably looking for them. After an Arquitens-class command cruiser and a Gozanti-class cruiser exited hyperspace and damaged Mothma's ship, Semaj, Mothma, and the remaining crew fled aboard the Ghost. Together, with the Y-wing escorts, the rebels then fled to the Archeon Nebula.^[3]

Secret Cargo — Semaj sits aboard the *Ghost* while Mon Mothma delivers her speech.

Following their escape, Semaj advised the former Senator Mothma to abandon their mission and return to a safe hiding place on Chandrila. Mothma disagreed and said that she would not hide because her presence at the meeting on Dantooine was not optional. Mothma then briefed the rebels about her plan to convene a meeting of the different rebel factions on Dantooine in order to form a Rebel Alliance. After escaping an Imperial trap in the Archeon Nebula, Semaj and his fellow rebels managed to reach Dantooine, where Mon Mothma delivered a speech to the assembled rebel fleet.^[3]

Road to war[]

"Commander Bridger, Senator Mothma has requested your presence."

―Erskin Semaj, to Ezra Bridger^[5]

After the Spectres arrived on Yavin 4 aboard the Ghost, Erskin Semaj informed the Spectres that Mon Mothma had requested a meeting with them to discuss intelligence from the Lothal resistance group leader Ryder Azadi that the Empire was testing a new kind of TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighter. The Spectres accepted the mission and infiltrated Lothal with the help of the crime lord Cikatro Vizago.^[5] Hera Syndulla managed to steal the prototype starfighter's flight data recorder and returned to Yavin 4 aboard Ryder's U-wing. Erskin and Mothma greeted Syndulla and were both pleased to see the flight recorder.^[11]

Later, Erskin attended a high-level rebel briefing with Mon Mothma, Senator Organa, General Dodonna, and Syndulla to discuss the threat posed by the TIE/D Defender Elite to the Alliance's starfighters. After the Empire launched Protocol 13, Hera convinced Mon Mothma to authorize a strike mission to take out the Imperial factories on Lothal.^[12]

Personality and traits[]

"Senator, let's forget this mission and get you back to Chandrila to a proper hiding place."
"No hiding, my presence at the meeting is not optional. Erskin, I trust them to get me there."

―Erskin Semaj and Mon Mothma^[3]

Erskin Semaj was a human male with brown eyes. A senatorial attaché, he wore a blue and white uniform patterned similarly to Rebel SpecForce Pathfinders stationed on Yavin at the time.^[3] Semaj was a loyal and protective servant of the rebel leader Mon Mothma. While he sometimes regarded her as too daring, he was a reliable aid and shared her beliefs in fighting for the galaxy's freedom.^[2] Semaj could also be brusque towards strangers. His pragmatism clashed with Mothma's idealism.^[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Erskin Semaj first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels Season Three episode "Secret Cargo," which first premiered on Disney XD on March 4, 2017. He was voiced by Josh Brener.^[3] He was first portrayed in live-action in "One Year Later," the first episode of the Disney+ series Andor's second season, which was released on April 22, 2025. He was portrayed by Pierro Niel-Mee.^[6]