- "Get aboard and prime the engines… assuming it has engines."
- ―Anakin Skywalker, to Ahsoka Tano
The Twilight was a Corellian G9 Rigger-class light freighter[1] owned and operated by the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars. Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, used the ship to escape from a battle on Teth.[6] When Obi-Wan Kenobi traveled to the planet Mandalore during the Mandalorian civil war, the ship was destroyed by the former Sith Lord Maul and his Shadow Collective.[8]
Description[]
- "Besides, the transponder's malfunctioning, so you can leave Coruscant without anybody noticing."
"Malfunctioning or deactivated on purpose?"
"Hey, you know the Twilight. She's seen some heavy battles these last few weeks. It takes a toll." - ―Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi
The Twilight[6] was a G9 Rigger-class light freighter,[2] a model of freighter manufactured by the Corellian Engineering Corporation.[1] As such, it was 34.1 meters long.[3] Equipped with a Class 3 hyperdrive,[1] its maximum speed was otherwise 700 kph.[5] It could be manned by a minimum of two crew members: a pilot and co-pilot. The Twilight was armed with two laser cannons: a front-facing one mounted on the foldable fin that extended below the ship in flight, and a rotating one mounted on the fin that stuck out of the right side of the ship.[6] They could be controlled by a pull-down reticle from inside the cockpit.[10]
The Twilight had a roomy cockpit with chairs for the pilots[6] and a navigator,[11] as well as an astromech droid socket.[9] The ship also had a small medical bay equipped with a holographic medical program that took the form of a 2-1B-series medical droid.[6] The cargo bay was located in the back and contained a launchable cable to pull objects inside.[9]
History[]
Ownership under Skywalker[]
- "Looks like we'll have to take this bucket of bolts all the way to Tatooine."
- ―Anakin Skywalker
The Twilight was originally owned by the Hutt crime lord Ziro Desilijic Tiure, who used it as a spice freighter.[3] In 22 BBY,[7] early in the Clone Wars, Ziro allied himself with the Confederacy of Independent Systems in a plot to take over his nephew Jabba Desilijic Tiure's criminal empire, as well as sabotaging relations between the Galactic Republic and the Hutt Clan. As a result, the Twilight was present on the Wild Space planet Teth, at a landing platform near a B'omarr Order Monastery where the Separatists were holding Jabba's abducted son, Rotta. During the subsequent battle at the monastery as Republic forces attempted to locate the child, the spy droid 4-A7 and several battle droids were loading cargo aboard the ship when they were discovered by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and Skywalker's astromech R2-D2, who had rescued Rotta and were escaping Separatist commander Asajj Ventress. Realizing that 4-A7 was not the "caretaker droid" he had claimed to be, Tano destroyed him and the battle droids before she and her master claimed the Twilight.[6]
At first, the Twilight refused to start up, but Skywalker and R2 were able to fire up the engines and attempted to land on the nearest Jedi Cruiser. Unfortunately, the Vulture droids prevented them from landing in one of the cruiser's hangars. Thus, Skywalker and his crew were forced to take the Twilight to Tatooine. Aboard the ship, Tano activated the medical droid hologram, TB-2 to save Rotta from near death. Upon the Twilight's arrival at Tatooine, the ship came under attack by a pair of IG-100 MagnaGuards using Rogue-class Porax-38 starfighters. Skywalker, Tano, and R2 were able to destroy the starfighters, but were forced to crash land in the Dune Sea.[6]
Following the mission, Skywalker had the Twilight salvaged. Skywalker would tinker with Twilight's machinery using it to teach Tano mechanical skills, something he considered an important skill one should know. Skywalker would also use it as an asset in secret missions.[17]
The Malevolence[]
Following the destruction of Master Plo Koon's fleet in the Abregado system at the hands of General Grievous and the mysterious Malevolence, Skywalker, Tano, and R2 took the Twilight to the system to search for survivors. Their search was initially fruitless, but when Tano sensed Koon in the debris field, she took the controls and piloted the ship to the lone escape pod, where they rescued Koon, Clone Commander Wolffe, Clone Sergeant Sinker, and Boost. As they prepared to leave, the Malevolence arrived, and the Twilight powered down to avoid detection in the debris field. Unfortunately, TB-2, the 2-1B-series medical droid, was left on to care for the injured clones, and Grievous spotted them and fired the ion cannon. Skywalker then piloted the Twilight through the debris field and barely jumped to hyperspace before being engulfed by the blast.[9]
Mandalore[]
- "At least take my ship, Master."
"The Twilight? That bucket of bolts? I thought you liked me."
"Corellian freighters come and go from Mandalore by the dozens. She's your best chance at landing unchallenged." - ―Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi
Towards the end of the war, the Twilight was left in even worse disrepair[8] after taking part in several heavy battles. At Skywalker's encouragement, Obi-Wan Kenobi used the Twilight to travel to Mandalore despite the ship being in extremely rough shape. Soon after his arrival, the Twilight was destroyed by Death Watch warriors.[16]
Behind the scenes[]
- "No, my father didn't fight in the wars. He was a navigator on a spice freighter."
- ―Luke Skywalker
The Twilight first appeared in the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film.[6] However, the concept of a spice freighter upon which Anakin Skywalker served as a navigator dates back to the inaugural 1977 film Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, wherein Luke Skywalker recounts his uncle Owen Lars telling him that his father had been a navigator on a spice freighter during the Clone Wars, rather than fighting.[18][19]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars film (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rising Malevolence"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Shadow of Malevolence" (In flashback(s))
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Destroy Malevolence"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Downfall of a Droid"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Duel of the Droids"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Dooku Captured"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Gungan General"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Cargo of Doom"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Children of the Force"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Lawless"
- "Kenobi's Shadow" — The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark (and audiobook)
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Star Wars Encyclopedia of Starfighters and Other Vehicles
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ultimate Star Wars
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Twilight in the Encyclopedia (content now obsolete; backup link)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Star Wars: Build the Millennium Falcon 66 (Starship Fact File: G9 Rigger-class — Twilight)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know
- ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 6.20 Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Star Wars: Galactic Atlas
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Lawless"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Rising Malevolence"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Destroy Malevolence"
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Downfall of a Droid"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Duel of the Droids"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Dooku Captured"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Mystery of a Thousand Moons"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Children of the Force"
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 "Kenobi's Shadow" — The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark
- ↑ Twilight in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
- ↑ Homing Beacon #240 - The Secret Origins of the Twilight on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)