- "As my mentor used to tell me—relish the victory…but savor the hunt."
- ―Commander Zahra
Ellian Zahra was a human female who held the rank of Commander in the Galactic Empire during the Galactic Civil War against the Rebel Alliance. Both cunning and vengeful, Zahra served at the helm of the Star Destroyer Tarkin's Will. Zahra rose through the Empire as the protégé of Governor Wilhuff Tarkin. After she failed Tarkin during a mission, Zahra's mentor dismissed her, though Zahra attempted to regain his favor. However, Tarkin perished aboard the Death Star battle station when it was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance during the Battle of Yavin. Zahra held a personal grudge against Princess Leia Organa of the Rebellion for Tarkin's death.
Following the Battle of Hoth, Zahra was assigned to lead attacks on the divisions of the scattered Alliance Fleet. She failed to prevent the rebel Fourth Division from escaping due to the intervention of the rebels aboard the freighter Millennium Falcon, including Organa. Zahra continued to hunt down other divisions, but desired to destroy the Fourth Division and Organa along with it. During a battle against the Fourth and Seventh Divisions at Elessia, Zahra confronted Organa personally, wounding the rebel leader with her blade—an act Zahra believed would demoralize Organa.
Biography[]
Service to the Empire[]
- "The day the terrorists killed my parents, I understood that life has no interest in playing fair. Since that day, I have seen with my eyes, not my hopes."
- ―Ellian Zahra
Zahra earned her place by defeating the veermok.
Ellian Zahra was born to parents who were eventually killed, along with the rest of her family, in a rebel terrorist attack when she was still young. Forced to survive on her own for some time, Zahra entered into the Imperial Academy during the reign of the Galactic Empire.[5] Due to her lack of familial or other ties, Zahra was one of several students selected by the Governor of the Outer Rim Territories, Wilhuff Tarkin, who provided instruction and influence. Rising through the Academy, Zahra scored at the highest level in the Empire's selection exams, entering into Imperial service.[3]
Eventually, Tarkin brought Zahra, along with two other similar officers, Beldin and Hannevik, to his homeworld of Eriadu. In order to test them and determine the one who would be his protégé, Tarkin sent them to hunt down an albino veermok on the Carrion Plateau. Managing to catch the veermok in the forest, Zahra successfully killed the creature. She additionally determined that Tarkin intended for the candidates to hunt each other, and as such defeated her fellow colleagues. She returned to Tarkin with the veermok's head, having passed the test set by her mentor. Zahra continued to rise through the Empire under Tarkin's mentorship, accompanying him on Imperial business and combating efforts of rebellion. After several years of working alongside Tarkin, Zahra had attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Imperial Navy.[3]
Tarkin's final mission[]
- "A Tarkin looks their enemy in the eye and puts their blade in their throat. You did neither, and so you failed. I thought I knew who you were, Commander. I was mistaken. All I know is what you are not."
- ―Wilhuff Tarkin
Around 0 BBY,[6] Tarkin sent Zahra from the Death Star battle station on a mission to eliminate the warlord Burnium Ro on the Mid Rim planet Ikkrukk, citing Ro's use of imagery associated with the obsolete Nihil criminal organization. Zahra took a strike force that included Tarkin's flagship, the Carrion Spike, tracking Ro down using a network of probe droids. On the cloaked Carrion Spike, Zahra followed Ro to his stronghold, destroying the stronghold and Ro's forces.[3]
The Carrion Spike fires on who Zahra believes to be Burnium Ro.
However, upon Zahra's return to the Death Star, Tarkin informed her that she had instead killed one of Ro's decoys, and the real warlord had used her failure to elevate himself. Tarkin was disappointed by Zahra's failure, believing he had been wrong in choosing her as a protégé. Zahra was ordered to report to the personnel office for reassignment, but instead continued to search for Ro. Having tracked Ro down, Zahra returned to Tarkin a week later, amidst an attack on the Death Star caused by the Rebel Alliance, the Battle of Yavin. However, Zahra's efforts to meet with Tarkin were denied.[3]
Zahra resolved to hunt Ro herself, demanding the use of a shuttle from a Death Star hangar. The stormtrooper guarding the shuttle refused, having been assigned to hold the shuttle for the potential evacuation of high-ranking Imperial officers. Believing that the rebel attack was futile, Zahra knocked the trooper unconscious and commandeered the shuttle, setting a message to be transmitted to Tarkin, informing her mentor of her mission. However, as Zahra departed the Death Star, the space station was destroyed by the rebels, killing those aboard, including Governor Tarkin. Holding Princess Leia Organa responsible for her mentor's death, Zahra vowed to kill her to avenge Tarkin as she considered it as compensation as to redeeming herself in his eyes.[3] As per orders from Tarkin before his death, Zahra was indefinitely assigned non-essential duties. She was eventually placed in command of Mining Facility 81-B on[5] the spice mining world[7] Kessel.[5]
Hunting the rebel armada[]
A chance for redemption[]
- "I am placing you in charge of the effort to hunt down the remnants of the rebel fleet. You will be given all necessary resources."
"Lord Vader…I…I am honored. I will not fail you."
"See that you do not. This assignment does not come solely from me. The Emperor knows your name. This is either your greatest opportunity or the worst moment of your life. Time will tell." - ―Darth Vader and Ellian Zahra
Zahra is contacted by Darth Vader.
Zahra, holding the rank of Commander, was still stationed on Kessel[5] by the time of the Battle of Hoth[1] in 3 ABY,[8] in which the Rebel Alliance's fleet was forced to scatter into numerous divisions.[1] With orders from Governor Tarkin's mentor Emperor Palpatine to have the remnants of the fleet hunted down and destroyed, his apprentice Sith Lord Darth Vader, having known about Zahra's record when Tarkin introduced her to his old friend, assigned her to the task. Vader allowed Zahra to be given any resources that were necessary, but warned her not to fail both him and the Emperor.[5]
Given the opportunity to choose any vessel in the Imperial Navy as her flagship from Lord Vader, Zahra took command of the Fortitude, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer that had been damaged in the Battle of Yavin, and rechristened it as the Tarkin's Will. As a memorial to the loss of the Death Star, Zahra chose other Imperials who had lost close individuals in the station's destruction as her crew. Lieutenant Gorr was assigned to the Tarkin's Will as Zahra's second in command.[4]
Escape of the Fourth Division[]
- "We attacked both cells. One was completely destroyed. The other…escaped, although they suffered significant losses. I would consider that part of the operation a partial success."
"Partial success does not exist, Commander Zahra. You succeed, or you do not." - ―Commander Zahra and Darth Vader
Using a signal analysis protocol she had developed some time prior, Zahra tracked down two divisions that attempted to communicate—the Fourth and Eighth Divisions. As she planned to Zahra split her battle group, sending her secondary strike force to attack the Eighth Division near Malastare while she led an attack on the Fourth Division, which was attempting to regroup at Rendezvous Point Delta-Three. Zahra utilized a tactic she had previously devised, blockading the rebel fleet with a turbolaser cordon and trapping them against a star. Unable to escape, the Fourth Division suffered heavy losses.[1]
Commander Zahra watches the attack on the Fourth Division.
When one rebel X-wing starfighter escaped the blockade, Zahra requested that she take manual control of a turbolaser. An Imperial technician was hesitant to do so, but gave control to Zahra upon the insistence of Lieutenant Gorr. Manually controlling the turbolaser, Zahra managed to hit and destroy the starfighter. The arrival of the freighter Millennium Falcon, carrying several prominent members of the Rebel Alliance including Organa, interfered with Zahra's plans. The Falcon managed to destroy one of the Imperial light cruisers, allowing the survivors of the Fourth Division to escape to hyperspace.[1]
Having failed to eliminate the Fourth Division, Zahra contacted Lord Vader to give him a status report, who reprimanded her, both for her lack of success and attempting to destroy the Millennium Falcon, which, unknown to Zahra, carried Governor Tarkin's killer and the Rebel pilot who destroyed the Death Star, Jedi Commander Luke Skywalker, the son of Vader, who the Sith Lord wanted alive to be an ally of the Empire and the Sith. Ordering Zahra to destroy what remained of the rebel fleet, Vader dismissed her with a warning against further failure.[1]
Locating additional cells[]
- "That's the last of them. All rebel vessels in this system have been destroyed. That said, Commander Zahra, for the moment we have no additional leads on locations for cells of the remaining rebel fleet."
"That's all right, Lieutenant Gorr. We'll find them. I have many plans in motion." - ―Lieutenant Gorr and Commander Zahra
Zahra and Lieutenant Gorr following the destruction of the Sixth Division.
After locating the Alliance's Sixth Division, Zahra led the Tarkin's Will in an attack on the rebel vessels. Although her forces were able to eliminate all targets within the system, they had no leads as to the locations of the remaining cells, though Zahra was certain that the rebels would be found due to her numerous plans. When Lieutenant Gorr, unaware of the Star Destroyer's history, requested that repairs be made to the ship, Zahra chastised Lieutenant Gorr, informing him that the Tarkin's Will served as a memorial to those who died aboard the Death Star, and that the damage it sustained in the battle was a reminder of all who they had lost.[4]
Zahra later intercepted transmissions from a group of rebels who she believed were the Alliance Fleet's Seventh Division. Her forces continued to track the division's movements, waiting for it to contact, and subsequently reveal the location of, another cell. Zahra contacted Lord Vader, reporting her plan. Vader was pleased at her progress, but became distracted by the activation of a trap he had set at a Jedi outpost on the astronomical object Tempes. When Vader ordered his pilot to set a course for Tempes, Zahra offered to bring the Tarkin's Will to assist, but Lord Vader insisted that he would handle it himself.[9]
When the Fourth Division responded to the Seventh Division's transmission, Zahra intended to send her second strike force after the Seventh Division while attacking the Fourth Division herself in order to eliminate Organa and finally get her revenge. However, after Lieutenant Gorr noted that their fleet was closer to the Seventh Division, Zahra relented, allowing the other force to pursue the Fourth. While Zahra's attack on the Seventh Division[3] at Elessia[10] appeared to be overwhelming their targets, her secondary strike force arrived at the Fourth Division's coordinates to find the rebels had already left. Zahra was about to reprimand Gorr when the vessels of the Fourth Division emerged from hyperspace behind the Imperial fleet.[3]
Confronting Organa[]
- "Remember me, Princess. Remember my blade. You will see both of us again."
- ―Zahra's parting threat to Organa
Zahra intended to lead a boarding party against the rebel fleet, ordering Gorr to prepare her shuttle.[3] Gorr questioned if it was wise for Zahra to lead a boarding party amidst the battle, but Zahra insisted that it was necessary to complete the mission herself. Instructing Gorr to take command of the battle and follow her own methods, Zahra and her team of stormtroopers boarded the EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate that served as the Fourth Division's flagship, cutting down the rebel troopers that attempted to stop them. Zahra made her way to the vessel's engine room, disabling its safety systems. Contacting the frigate's commanders, Zahra informed them of the vessel's imminent destruction, vowing to reactivate the systems and save the ship if Organa came alone to the engine room and she was allowed to bring any weapons she wanted.[5]
Zahra confronts Leia Organa.
Organa did as she had been asked, and Zahra trapped her in the engine room once she entered. Zahra promised Organa that she would not use her blaster and that she would let Organa go if she reached the exit on the opposite side of the room alive. Hidden from Organa's view, Zahra told her about her life, including the death of her family and becoming Governor Tarkin's protégé. As she spoke, Zahra struck Organa two times with her blade. Before Zahra could take her revenge, she was contacted by the Tarkin's Will—which intended to flee under the fire of both rebel divisions—and was then confronted by Commander Skywalker.[5]
After warning Organa that she would return, Zahra distracted Skywalker by throwing her blade past his head, subsequently leaping over the Jedi and kicking him in the back. Zahra broke through a viewport to escape the rebel ship and flew aboard the Tarkin's Will with her jetpack, boarding the Star Destroyer before it departed. Despite failing to kill Organa, Zahra was satisfied with having injured her, believing that her threat would cause her nemesis to lose hope.[5]
Failure on Panisia[]
- "This should not end this way. I will kill this thing, and then we will settle our own account like the warriors we are."
- ―Ellian Zahra to Leia Organa, while the former is about to be attacked by an unidentified creature
Zahra's efforts against the rebels ended in failure during the Battle of Panisia, which saw the destruction of the Tarkin's Will.[12] On the surface, Zahra again confronted Organa, who explained to the Imperial commander the differences between how the Empire and rebellion fought. Zahra was left for dead in a cave.[11]
Personality and traits[]
- "And Commander, please allow me to say that if you also lost someone close to you on the Death Star, you have my utmost sympathies."
"I did. Not long from now, I will whisper the name in Leia Organa's ear. And then my blade will find her throat." - ―Lieutenant Gorr and Commander Zahra
Zahra, surveying a battle
After her parents were killed in a terrorist attack, Zahra had a jaded view on life, refusing to believe in hope and instead seeing things as they were.[3] Zahra signed up to the Imperial Academy in order to prevent others from suffering as she had.[5] In serving the Empire, Zahra believed that the regime stood for order and subsequently brought peace. She saw everything as a resource, considering ways of utilizing her resources in the best way possible.[3] A vengeful[4] and cunning[3] Commander, Ellian Zahra was devoted to serving the Empire, despite her previous failures.[1]
Zahra was initially unable to accept Tarkin's dismissal of her despite understanding it, attempting to make up for her failure to regain her mentor's faith.[3] Zahra felt that the Death Star superweapon was the Emperor's greatest effort to maintain peace, and saw its destruction as a tragic massacre of loyal Imperial subjects.[4] After losing Tarkin in the destruction of the Death Star,[3] Zahra was angered that he had died before she could redeem herself to him,[5] and blamed Leia Organa for the act, wishing to slit Organa's throat in revenge.[4] She assumed Tarkin had intended her to learn from her dismissal and subsequent assignment of non-essential duties and that she would have received an opportunity to reconcile with her mentor if Tarkin had lived. Zahra became cynical during her time stationed on Kessel, not expecting anyone to call for her and being surprised when she was contacted by Vader.[5]
After being chosen to lead the hunt for the rebel fleet, Zahra honored those lost on the Death Star by taking command of a Star Destroyer that was damaged in its destruction, recruiting a crew that consisted of others who had lost someone on the station.[4] She despised the Rebel Alliance, viewing the destruction of their fleet with enjoyment. When Zahra failed to prevent the survivors of the Fourth Division from escaping her attack, she grew angry at Lieutenant Gorr, who stated the self-evident details of the situation. A human[1] female,[2] Zahra had black hair, blue eyes, and light skin.[1]
Skills and abilities[]
- Zahra: "Technician. Transfer control of one gun in one of our batteries to this station. I don't want to weaken our part of the blockade, but we can spare one gun. One shot."
- Technician: "You…want manual control, Commander? But the automated targeting systems are much more effective than any—"
- Gorr: "Corporal, are you insane? Do as you are ordered and move aside. You're about to see something remarkable."
- ―Zahra, an Imperial technician, and Lieutenant Gorr, on manually controlling a turbolaser[1]
Under Tarkin's instruction,[3] Zahra was a skilled tactician and Commander, developing tactics that she could use in battle.[1] She devised a method of using probe droids as a surveillance network, utilizing the approach against Burnium Ro.[3] Zahra also created a tactic in which an enemy fleet was trapped against a celestial body by a cordon of turbolasers. While attacking the Fourth Division of the Alliance Fleet, Zahra took control of one of her fleet's lasers, manually targeting and destroying an escaped rebel starfighter.[1] Zahra was a skilled fighter with her blade, striking at Organa from the darkness without being seen in her confrontation aboard the rebel flagship.[5]
Equipment[]
- "This ship—then called the Fortitude, was hit by a piece of Death Star wreckage. It survived, but suffered immense damage. The ship was to be scuttled. Recycled for scrap. But when Lord Vader asked me to spearhead the hunt for the remnants of the rebel armada, he offered me any vessel in the fleet as my flagship. I chose this one, brought it back to life and gave it a new name."
- ―Commander Zahra, on the Tarkin's Will
Zahra commanded the Tarkin's Will, an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer formerly known as the Fortitude, which had been severely damaged in the destruction of the Death Star. She did not wish to repair the damage the Star Destroyer had sustained, keeping it as a reminder of the attack.[4] Zahra kept an office aboard the Tarkin's Will, where she displayed numerous trophies that included weapons and mounted creature heads.[5]
Zahra wore the uniform of the Imperial Military.[1] She owned a set of armor that she utilized in battle, which included a helmet with goggles, a jetpack, and a rebreather mask and pack. Zahra possessed a blade, intending to use the weapon when killing Organa. She wielded the blade alongside a blaster when boarding the rebel vessel to face Organa for the first time.[5]
Behind the scenes[]
Ellian Zahra was introduced in Star Wars (2020) 1, a comic written by Charles Soule, illustrated by Jesús Saiz, and published by Marvel Comics[1] on January 1, 2020.[13] Her forename was provided in the eighth issue of the series, also written by Soule[5] and published on November 4, 2020.[14]
Appearances[]
|
Sources[]
- Skywalker: A Family at War (Indirect mention only)
"Launchpad" — Star Wars Insider 208- SWCA 2022: 8 Things We Learned from the Marvel Star Wars Comics Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
- "Launchpad" — Star Wars Insider 212
- Star Wars: Timelines
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 Star Wars (2020) 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Star Wars (2020) 21
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Star Wars (2020) 7
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 Star Wars (2020) 3
- ↑ 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 5.13 5.14 5.15 5.16 Star Wars (2020) 8
- ↑ The flashbacks of Star Wars (2020) 7 that include Zahra's final mission for Wilhuff Tarkin take place a week prior to the Battle of Yavin, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 0 BBY.
- ↑
Kessel in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ Star Wars (2020) 6
- ↑ Star Wars (2020) 9
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Star Wars (2020) 24
- ↑ Star Wars (2020) 23
- ↑
Star Wars (2020) #1 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars (2020) #8 on Marvel Comics' official website (backup link)