Yesterday was Star Wars Day at Miller Park in Milwaukee. The Brewers certainly could have used a Jedi both in the field and in the batting order as they faced Arizona’s Diamondbacks. After the first couple of innings, nothing went the Brew Crew’s way. When the ninth inning’s last out was tallied, the Brewers fell to the Diamondbacks, 7-3. No, the Force did not pulse strongly through the stadium – well, at least not for the hometown team – even though Chewbacca, Darth Vader and stormtroopers and clone troopers galore paced the common areas.

Maybe that was it! Maybe there was too much Dark Side energy permeating every corner of the stadium! 😉

Yes, a Jedi would have come in quite handy. I can well imagine the likes of Adi Gallia – the Jedi Master who wields her lightsaber with precision and an unorthodox flair – would be just what the Brewers needed to help them shake this losing streak on which they find themselves. She certainly would have fit right into the Brewers’ lineup since quite a few of the ballplayers employ rather unorthodox stances of their own when they take to the plate. 😉 Adi Gallia is one of three characters from the Star Wars Saga we will examine in this installment of “The ABCs of Star Wars”. [This month, we are tackling G, H and I.] During 2015, I am using my last CWK blog of the month to examine some of the unsung characters of the Saga – those characters our eyes might pick out of the crowd but about whom we know little [if anything at all]. They add to the rich fabric of Star Wars, and deserve a bit of recognition [at least in my opinion 😉 ].

We have a lot of ground to cover this month, so let’s get started!

G … When it comes to the three letters featured in today’s blog, “G” offered the most selections from which to choose. Certainly, an obscure character would have been a good choice [I’ve done exactly that in the past, and I am sure I will in blogs coming down the pike]. However, I wanted to veer in a slightly different direction this time around. Keeping in line with my objective – not to highlight a character about whom we know a great deal – this time I opted to choose a relatively easy-to-identify character, but one who appears in a distant, supporting role. That would be Jedi Master Adi Gallia. She’s a colorful character, and with her incredibly strong connection to the Force, the Corellian native was the natural choice to represent the seventh letter of the Star Wars alphabet. Gallia was instrumental in discovering the Trade Federation’s plan to blockade Naboo. She discovered the Federation was amassing a fleet of droid-control starfighters, got the information to Chancellor Vallorum who, in turn, had the Jedi Council dispatch two of its members to Naboo as ambassadors to solve the escalating problem. [We all know how successful that mission was. 😉 ]

When it came to piloting a starfighter, Adi Gallia had few equals, but it was her keen intuition and information-gathering abilities that were her greatest Jedi attributes. The Jedi Council acknowledged what an asset she was, and promoted her to a seat on the Council shortly before the Battle of Naboo. As it became apparent that the Sith were behind the escalating war, Adi Gallia reconfigured her red-bladed lightsaber – removing the red crystal, and replacing it with one that would give her blade a blue hue [the color associated with Jedi Guardians].

Not one to back down from a fight, Jedi Master Adi Gallia employed Form V, or shien – an aggressive, physically demanding style of lightsaber dueling [thus my opinion she would have been an asset to the Brewers’ baseball team 😉 ]. It was a style of dueling that resulted in one victory after another. Sadly, however, that, coupled with her reversed, one-handed grip of her weapon, was not enough to defend her from her last foe.* I imagine her death came as a great blow to the Jedi Order and the Republic. While she wouldn’t back down from a fight, she was devoted to peace, and tirelessly worked toward that goal. She was a great role-model – especially to her padawan Siri Tachi – and a great person to call “friend”.

* It is prudent I mention Adi Gallia has the distinction of dying in two different ways, at two different moments in the realm of Star Wars. At one point on the Star Wars Timeline, about two years after the Battle of Geonosis, the Jedi Master is sent to Boz Pity. As chance would have it, General Grievous is discovered to be on the graveyard planet. After Grievous kills Adi Gallia’s companion, Jedi Soon Bayts, the man-turned-machine turns his sights on Gallia. He overpowers her, and slays her. / According to the second – and now considered canon – rendition of Gallia’s death, she and Obi-Wan Kenobi are in pursuit of Nightbrothers Darth Maul and Savage Opress. In “The Clone Wars” episode “Revival” [2012], the two Jedi Masters catch up with their quarry on Florrum, and it is there where Opress rams his horns into Gallia’s torso and drives his lightsaber through her body. [Adi Gallia’s death at the hands of Grievous now is considered part of the “Infinities” line of stories.]

H … Sergeant Reyé Hollis [that’s him on the far left in the photo] gains the honors to represent the letter “H”. The son of a member of the Naboo Royal Security Forces, Hollis was a Rebel Alliance trooper stationed at Echo Base during the Battle of Hoth. He was awarded the Kenobi Medallion for his bravery during that historic battle – for pulling two of his injured medical personnel out of the way of an oncoming AT-ST before being injured himself. I imagine Sergeant Hollis was one of those soldiers with whom one always wanted to serve. His acts of heroism were legendary; the man himself was a modest soldier. To his way of thinking, he did what any fellow soldier would do in similar circumstances. Maybe so, but wouldn’t you want him right there beside you?

I … The only Imperial [or Dark Sider, as I like to call them 😉 ] letter representative in today’s array is Commander Igar, who proved himself time and time again to be both a loyal member of the Empire’s officer corps and a keen, natural leader. Igar, a native of Kuat, served under General Veers as part of the Blizzard Unit engaged in the Battle of Hoth. Later, Darth Vader personally assigned Igar to lead and carry out the surface defense of the Forest Moon of Endor. That is Commander Igar just to Luke Skywalker’s right when the young Jedi is turned over to Darth Vader on Endor’s Forest Moon. He brings the handcuffed Luke to Vader, and states: “This is the Rebel that surrendered to us…He was armed only with this.” before handing over Luke’s lightsaber to the Dark Lord in “Return of the Jedi”. I never have minced words when it comes to my disdain for the Empire and everything it represents. However, were I a member of that regime, I would imagine I’d consider it a privilege to serve beside someone like Igar. He may have been fighting for the wrong side [in my opinion 😉 ] … however, he knew how to get the job done, rally his troops, and was an excellent strategist. I am sure he had no love for the Rebels, but I imagine he respected them and their abilities. That usually is a sure-fire way to succeed against an opponent – and explains why the imposing Dark Lord held Igar in such high regard.

Well, that’s a wrap for this month’s array of character examinations in my journey through the ABCs of Star Wars. I certainly learned a lot about characters who, quite honestly, were only faces on the movie screen. I hope you like the choices I made. 🙂 As always, I invite you to leave a comment in one of the boxes below. I love to hear what you have to say. 🙂

[The 2008, three-volume “The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia”, the Wookieepedia website, starwars.wikia.com, and IMDb.com, as well as my countless viewings of all six films aided in my research.]

Two hundred one days and counting…

Until next time, MTFBWY 🙂

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