Palpatine’s devastating Clone Wars schemes would have failed had another, severely underrated Star Wars villain not paved the way for the Jedi’s and the Republic’s destruction centuries earlier. Over the decades, Star Wars has introduced many memorable villains; the franchise wouldn’t be what it is today without Darth Vader, Darth Sidious, Maul, Count Dooku, Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke, the Grand Inquisitor, General Grievous, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Moff Tarkin, Director Orson Krennic, and so many others.
Of course, none, not even Darth Vader himself, have ever quite reached Emperor Palpatine’s level of true cruelty and darkness. He orchestrated the genocide of the Jedi, the fall of the Republic, and the violent oppression of the entire galaxy. Whereas Vader was more of a powerful, unstoppable battering ram, Palpatine’s greatest strength was his cunning and patience. He lived a double life for years, chipping away at the Jedi’s and the Republic’s defenses. He even had an elaborate plan in the event of his death, all so that the Sith would succeed in terrorizing the galaxy and repressing the Jedi forevermore.
During the Skywalker saga, Palpatine had no true equal. Everyone was a puppet for him to manipulate and play with. Every step was carefully calculated, every move and relationship curated for maximum effect. He outwitted even the most powerful of Jedi and turned the Republic Senate into his own personal plaything. And yet, arguably, none of Palpatine’s horrific accomplishments — not the destruction of the Jedi nor the turn of the Republic’s entire political system — would have been possible had another terrifying masked villain not paved the way for Palpatine’s plans during Star Wars‘ High Republic era.
The High Republic’s Marchion Ro Is An Underrated Star Wars Villain
Though Star Wars’ High Republic era has been seen on screen twice — in Star Wars: The Acolyte and Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures — the bulk of its storytelling comes from the Star Wars: The High Republictransmedia publishing initiative. Across dozens of novels, comics, audio plays, and more, The High Republic chronicled the so-called Golden Age of the Jedi. Less centralized than during the Star Wars prequel era, the Jedi were scattered across the galaxy, with dozens of outposts on far-off worlds, their focus on universal exploration rather than political aspirations.
The Jedi of the High Republic had more freedom, too; throughout the books, several Jedi explored romantic connections or left the Order to follow their own path. Even Grand Master Yoda was more flexible during this era. That may be hard to believe, given his role in the Jedi Council during the prequel trilogy, but it’s true. Keep in mind, the High Republic era is set roughly 350–100 years before the events of the Skywalker saga. That may seem like a long time, but in the Jedi’s millennia-long history, it’s almost like the blink of an eye.
This era of peace and prosperity soon came crashing down, though, courtesy of a vicious band of marauders known as the Nihil and their frighteningly effective leader, Marchion Ro. Ro has a lot in common with some of Star Wars’ most iconic villains — he had a difficult, aggressive upbringing, he wears an elaborate mask, and he has a deep-seated hatred of the Jedi and the Republic. Still, he’s one of the few villains who, without access to the Force himself, very nearly succeeded in ripping the Jedi Order apart after forcing them to retreat to the safety of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
It’s a shame Marchion Ro isn’t talked about more. Until he’s seen on-screen — perhaps in a “Star Wars: Tales of the High Republic” anthology series? — this probably won’t change. Star Wars: The High Republic came to an end with the publication of Charles Soule’s Trials of the Jedi in 2025, and while the Star Wars books are still popular, they haven’t quite broken through to the franchise’s more casual fans.
Marchion Ro Proved The Jedi Could Be Beaten
Marchion Ro and the Nihil weren’t a simple obstacle for the Jedi to overcome. The conflict between them, following the devastation of the Republic Fair on Valo and the destruction of the Republic space station Starlight Beacon, escalated to an all-out war, with the Nihil eventually annexing an entire sector of the galaxy and terrifying the Jedi and the Republic into submission. The Jedi retreated to Coruscant and never really left. They became stuck, both physically and figuratively, and were therefore malleable.
In this case, “terrifying” isn’t even an exaggeration. As the Nihil attacked the more closely joined forces of the Republic and the Jedi from all sides, Ro unleashed a horrific ancient creature called the Nameless. The Nameless essentially feed on the Living Force. The more powerful a Jedi is, the more they’re affected by a Nameless’ presence, leaving them to experience inescapable, deadly feelings and visions of fear and pain. Once the Nameless has had its fill, its victims are left as desiccated husks.
At one point, Ro even went so far as to broadcast Jedi Grand Master Pra-Tre Veter’s horrific death at the hands of the Nameless across the galaxy to remind the Jedi and the Republic of his power. Marchion Ro may not have been as subtle as Palpatine was, but he certainly succeeded in making the Jedi cower in fear. By the end of the conflict, hundreds of Jedi and thousands of civilians had been lost to the violence of the Nihil and the power of the Nameless, and the Republic’s resources had been all but depleted.
The Jedi’s Involvement In Republic Politics Led To Their Downfall
Custom Image by El Kuiper
Instead of Palpatine’s sneak-attack Order 66 plan, Marchion Ro and the Nihil very publicly and systematically broke the Jedi’s and the Republic’s willpower and belief. In the end, all they had was each other; neither the Jedi nor the Republic would have survived Ro’s onslaught had they not joined forces and shared ideas during the war. While that was the right move at the time, they never really separated again, clearing the way for Palpatine to manipulate them from within their own ranks.
A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know Star Wars? “The Force will be with you. Always.”
🗡️Jedi OrderLight-side guardians
⚡The SithRule of two
⚙️The RebellionA new hope
🪓Bounty HuntersThis is the way
👑The EmpireOrder 66
01
The original Star Wars film — later retitled Episode IV: A New Hope — opened in just 32 American theatres and proceeded to become the highest-grossing film of its era, redefining what summer blockbusters could be. In which year did it premiere?
✓ Correct! 1977 — specifically May 25. 20th Century Fox had so little faith in the project they only opened it in 32 theatres at first; queues quickly stretched around the block, and the film expanded to over 1,000 screens within months. It earned $307 million in its initial domestic run, won six Academy Awards (with another four nominations) and inverted Hollywood’s economics for the next 50 years.
✗ Wrong. The answer is 1977. 1975 is when the script was being shopped around. 1979 is when Star Trek: The Motion Picture released as a Star Wars-shaped countermove. 1980 is The Empire Strikes Back. The original Star Wars is May 25, 1977.
02
A New Hope’s writer-director was a then-32-year-old American Graffiti veteran who’d struggled to get the project greenlit and famously took back-end profit and merchandising rights in lieu of a higher salary — the deal that would build a billion-dollar company. He returned to direct the prequels but stepped away from the original-trilogy sequels. Name him.
✓ Correct! George Lucas. The merchandising rights he kept (because Fox didn’t value them) became the financial bedrock of Lucasfilm and the basis of the modern toys-and-licensing megabusiness. After A New Hope, Lucas produced but didn’t direct Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner) or Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand), then directed all three prequels (1999–2005). He sold Lucasfilm to Disney in 2012 and stepped away from creative control of the sequels.
✗ Wrong. The answer is George Lucas. Steven Spielberg was Lucas’s close friend (and the godfather of his post-A-New-Hope career) but never directed a Star Wars film. Coppola was Lucas’s mentor at USC and at American Zoetrope. Irvin Kershner directed Empire Strikes Back. The original is Lucas’s.
03
In 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader delivers cinema’s most-misquoted line at the climax of his Cloud City duel with Luke Skywalker. Vader severs Luke’s hand and reveals their relationship. The exact line is — for the record — “No, I am your father.” What relationship does it confirm?
✓ Correct! Vader is Anakin Skywalker, Luke’s father. The reveal was so jealously guarded that Mark Hamill was only told the real line on set the day they shot it (the script said “Obi-Wan killed your father”), and even James Earl Jones recorded the dub without knowing the full plot context. The line — commonly misquoted as “Luke, I am your father” — rewrote what trilogies could pull off and is broadly considered cinema’s most famous twist.
✗ Wrong. The answer is that Vader is Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker. The whole foundation of the Skywalker saga collapses to this single twist: Anakin (the Jedi prodigy of the prequels) becomes Vader after his fall. Luke and Leia are revealed in Return of the Jedi to be his twin children, separated at birth.
04
Yoda — the green, ear-twitching Jedi Master — was puppeted and voiced from his Empire Strikes Back debut through the prequels and the sequels by a single Muppet-show-veteran performer who also voices Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. Name him.
✓ Correct! Frank Oz — longtime Jim Henson collaborator and voice/puppet work on Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle and Grover. Oz puppeted Yoda directly through The Phantom Menace before CGI took over for Attack of the Clones onward, but he’s continued to voice the character through the sequels and animated series. Yoda’s syntax was developed jointly by Lucas and Oz to feel old, foreign and hard-won.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Frank Oz. Jim Henson was Oz’s mentor and collaborator (he created the Muppets) but didn’t voice Yoda. Steve Whitmire took over Kermit after Henson’s 1990 death. Brian Henson is Jim’s son and runs the Henson company today. Yoda is Frank Oz’s.
05
In a deal that reshaped Hollywood, Disney acquired Lucasfilm Ltd. for $4.05 billion in cash and stock — bringing Star Wars, Indiana Jones, ILM and Skywalker Sound under the Disney umbrella. The deal also kicked off the sequel trilogy production. In what year did Disney close the acquisition?
✓ Correct! 2012 — specifically October 30. The deal was announced with simultaneous reveal that a Star Wars Episode VII was being developed for a 2015 release. Lucas had been quietly preparing his exit from Lucasfilm for years; Kathleen Kennedy had been brought in as co-chair months earlier specifically to take over. The Force Awakens came out three years later, in December 2015, kicking off the modern era.
✗ Wrong. The answer is 2012. 2009 is when Disney acquired Marvel ($4 billion). 2010 is the year before Lucas began signalling exit plans. 2014 is when production proper began on The Force Awakens. Lucasfilm joined Disney on October 30, 2012.
06
The Mandalorian launched as Disney+’s flagship original on November 12, 2019 — the day the streaming service itself launched. Created by Jon Favreau and run by Dave Filoni, the show centres on a helmeted bounty hunter who reluctantly becomes a foster father to “The Child” (Grogu). What is the Mandalorian’s real name?
✓ Correct! Din Djarin — played by Pedro Pascal under the helmet (with body double Brendan Wayne handling much of the physical work). The Mandalorian is widely credited with reviving Star Wars on TV, popularising the StageCraft LED-volume virtual production technology now used across Hollywood, and turning baby Yoda — Grogu — into the meme-economy phenomenon of late 2019. Three seasons have aired with a feature film, The Mandalorian & Grogu, set for May 2026.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Din Djarin. Boba Fett is the famous bounty hunter from the original trilogy, with his own Disney+ spinoff (The Book of Boba Fett, 2021). Cobb Vanth is the Tatooine marshal played by Timothy Olyphant. Bo-Katan Kryze is the Mandalorian princess played by Katee Sackhoff. The Mandalorian himself is Din Djarin.
07
Order 66 — the secret directive that turns the Republic’s clone troopers against their Jedi commanders and effectively ends the Jedi Order — is dramatised in the climactic third act of which prequel film?
✓ Correct! Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005). Palpatine’s “Execute Order 66” comm to the clone armies leads to the methodical, planet-by-planet liquidation of the Jedi Order — one of the saga’s most operatic sequences, scored to John Williams’ “Anakin’s Betrayal” cue. The same film features Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side, the Mustafar duel with Obi-Wan, and his rebirth as Darth Vader in the suit. Widely re-evaluated as the best of the prequels.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Revenge of the Sith. Phantom Menace ends with Qui-Gon’s death and the unveiling of Darth Maul. Attack of the Clones ends with the Clone Wars beginning. Rogue One is set just before A New Hope, after Order 66 has long since happened. The Order 66 sequence is the climax of Episode III.
08
Andor (2022–25) is widely regarded as the most adult, politically literate Star Wars project ever made — a slow-burn prequel to Rogue One charting Cassian Andor’s radicalisation against the Empire. The series was created and showrun by a writer/director best known for the original Bourne trilogy and Michael Clayton. Name him.
✓ Correct! Tony Gilroy. He’d previously been brought in for extensive Rogue One reshoots in 2016, and Lucasfilm gave him near-total creative independence on Andor. Season 1 (12 episodes, 2022) is widely regarded as Star Wars’ finest dramatic writing ever; Season 2 (also 12 episodes, in four three-episode jumps across 2025) closes the gap to Rogue One’s opening scene. Gilroy’s prior credits: Bourne Identity / Supremacy / Ultimatum / Legacy, plus directing Michael Clayton (2007).
✗ Wrong. The answer is Tony Gilroy. Rian Johnson directed The Last Jedi (2017). Jon Favreau created The Mandalorian and is Lucasfilm’s Disney+-era animation/live-action lieutenant. Dave Filoni runs the Filoniverse (Clone Wars, Rebels, Ahsoka, the upcoming Heir to the Empire film). Andor is Tony Gilroy’s.
The Force Has Spoken · Final Tally Your Galactic Standing
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Jedi Master — or moisture farmer on Tatooine?
The Republic’s overreliance on the Jedi — and the Jedi’s submission to the Republic — opened the Jedi up to another wave of darkness and war. They stopped being true peacekeepers and became more like super-powered soldiers, losing sight of what it meant to protect the light side of the Force and the balance of all living things. Instead, they participated in the very conflict that caused the Force’s corruption, blinded to Palpatine’s power within the dark side and his manipulative nature until it was too late.
Palpatine may have been the one to destroy the Jedi Order in one fell swoop, but what if Marchion Ro and his Nihil had never invaded the galaxy? If the Jedi hadn’t let their fear of the Nameless consume them, or sequestered themselves on Coruscant? Palpatine certainly wouldn’t have been able to challenge them so easily. Perhaps the Jedi would still have been able to spread their light across the Star Wars galaxy for the years, decades, and centuries to come, rather than fighting for survival in a galaxy destined to forget they ever existed.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
