Ghirra Starros was a female Galactic Republic senator during the High Republic Era. She was the mother of the scientist and aspiring inventor Avon Sunvale. During the conflict with the Nihil pirates, Starros began feeding sensitive information to the Nihil leader Marchion Ro in an attempt to play both sides, and her actions directly contributed to the destruction of the Jedi Starlight Beacon. When the Nihil established the Stormwall and claimed the region of the galaxy known as the Occlusion Zone, Starros took over operations in Zone as Ro's Minister of Information and tried to get the Republic to recognize the Nihil as a sovereign state.
Biography[]
Ghirra Starros as a Senator of the Galactic Republic.
In 232 BBY,[7] Ghirra Staros sent Avon Sunvale to the remote outpost Port Haileap as she considered her to be trouble and wanted her daughter to learn to appreciate her life on Coruscant.[3]
Starros was a San Tekka ally, however Xylan Graf claimed that she was in debt to the Graf family as they helped greatly in the construction of Starlight Beacon and the signing of the Dalnan treaty. She was also accused of pushing through bills that helped her kin make money off the disaster at the Republic Fair. When Xylan wanted to secure a lease on the Berenge sector, Starros launched an investigation after Thaddeus Wolk put forth a theory that there was a secret Nihil hyperspace weapon hidden in the sector.[8]
Sometime after the Great Hyperspace Disaster,[4] in an attempt to put herself on both sides of the conflict between the Nihil and Republic, she entered a relationship with the Eye of the Nihil Marchion Ro and became his best asset with the Galactic Senate. She provided the Nihil with schematics for Starlight Beacon, which they used to infiltrate and destroy the station.[6]
After the fall of Starlight Beacon, Starros broke with the Republic and formally associated with the Nihil, who had established an independent enclave in the Outer Rim called the Occlusion Zone, a section of space separated from the Republic by an impenetrable barrier called the Stormwall. With a new base located on the planet Hetzal, the Nihil continued to raid beyond the Occlusion Zone, safe from the Republic Defense Coalition and the Jedi once they retreated behind the Stormwall. But, with ten sectors under their yoke and the Nihil's original structure of Tempests decimated by Marchion Ro's machinations, Starros tried to bring some order to the Nihil by restructuring them in order to lend them a veneer of legitimacy and, hopefully, to start a transition to a more structured form of government. Ro did not openly endorse her changes but neither did he oppose them, so Starros was able to implement her reforms. She created three ministries to replace the Tempests, appointing herself as the minister of the Ministry of Information. The two other ministries, one for Protection and the other for Advancement, were taken by the Mirialan mercenary General Abediah Viess and the Ithorian scientist Baron Boolan, respectively.[5]
Personality and traits[]
Starros liked it when people envied her. She even had fantasies about ordinary people admiring her position as Senator and how she skillfully played both sides in the conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Nihil.[6] She possessed a strong allegiance to her homeworld and when confronted over her actions, Starros declared that the right thing she needed to do was to keep her family and the populations of the entire Hosnian system safe, explaining that she intended to accumulate enough power to ensure that none could ever endanger her people or her daughter, Avon.[9]
Appearances[]
- The High Republic: A Test of Courage (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
- The High Republic: Out of the Shadows (and audiobook) (First appearance)
- The High Republic: Trail of Shadows 2
- The High Republic: Trail of Shadows 3 (Indirect mention only)
- The High Republic: Mission to Disaster (and audiobook)
"Starlight: Shadows Remain" — Star Wars Insider 207–208- The High Republic: The Fallen Star (and audiobook)
- The High Republic – Shadows of Starlight 4
- The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness (and audiobook)
- The High Republic: Defy the Storm (and audiobook)
"Chronicles of Corellia: Heir Apparent" — Star Wars Insider 227 (Indirect mention only)
"Tales from the Occlusion Zone: Family Ties" — Star Wars Insider 226 (Mentioned only)- The High Republic: Temptation of the Force (and audiobook)
- The High Republic: Tears of the Nameless (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
- The High Republic: Tempest Breaker (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
- The High Republic: Tempest Breaker script (Mentioned only) (In flashback(s))
- The High Republic: Into the Light (and audiobook)
- The High Republic: Trials of the Jedi (and audiobook)
- The High Republic: A Valiant Vow (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
- The Acolyte: Wayseeker (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
Sources[]
Comic-Con@Home: The Lightsaber Collection Revealed and More from the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on StarWars.com (backup link) (First mentioned)
A New Journey Begins in A Test of Courage - Exclusive Excerpt and Interview on StarWars.com (backup link) (First identified as Ghirra Starros)
Star Wars: The High Republic Show: High Republic Jedi Council Deep Dive, a Lesson on Wayseekers, and More! on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
9 Heroes of Star Wars: The High Republic Who Aren't Jedi on StarWars.com (backup link) (Indirect mention only)
The Jedi and the Republic Join Forces in Marvel's Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail of Shadows #2 – Exclusive Preview on StarWars.com (backup link) (First pictured)- Star Wars: The High Republic: Chronicles of the Jedi (Indirect mention only)
SWCE 2023: 10 Reveals from the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel on StarWars.com (backup link)
This Week! in Star Wars Dispatch: "Where Are They Now?" but make it High Republic on the official Star Wars YouTube channel (backup link) (Posted on StarWars.com)
Inside Star Wars: The High Republic: Reunite with the Jedi and the Nihil in Phase III on StarWars.com (backup link)- Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia
The High Republic Authors on Authors: George Mann and Cavan Scott on StarWars.com (backup link)
Inside Star Wars: The High Republic: New Faces of the Nihil on StarWars.com (backup link) (Indirect mention only)
The High Republic Authors on Authors: Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland on StarWars.com (backup link)
"Who's the Boss?" — Star Wars Insider 224
"Imperial March" Begins with a Galaxy of New Toys, Apparel, and More on StarWars.com (backup link)
Who Is Vernestra Rwoh? on StarWars.com (backup link) (Indirect mention only)- Star Wars Encyclopedia: The Comprehensive Guide to the Star Wars Galaxy
"Star Wars: The High Republic Companion: Phase III: Trials of the Jedi" — Star Wars Insider 234
Avon Starros in the Databank (backup link)
Ghirra Starros in the Databank (backup link)
Notes and references[]
- ↑ The High Republic: Mission to Disaster
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The High Republic: Trail of Shadows 2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 The High Republic: A Test of Courage
- ↑ 4.0 4.1
Ghirra Starros in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 The High Republic: The Fallen Star
- ↑ Star Wars: Timelines dates the events of The High Republic: A Test of Courage to 232 BBY.
- ↑ The High Republic: Out of the Shadows
- ↑ The High Republic: Temptation of the Force