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- "But at what cost? It's like you once said. 'Many lives get caught between the Republic and the Separatists.'"
"I did say that once. Then after watching the heroics and selflessness of the Jedi, I do believe the Republic is the right side to be on."
"What do you mean?"
"Dendup has appointed me the new senator of Onderon. I will follow in my mother's footsteps. And I will bring us back to the Republic." - ―Ahsoka Tano and Lux Bonteri
Lux Bonteri was a human male senator and rebel fighter from Onderon during the Clone Wars. He was the son of the Separatist senator Mina Bonteri. During the Clone Wars, he allied with Saw and Steela Gerrera to lead the Onderon rebels during the Onderonian Civil War. After the conflict, he followed in his mother's footsteps and became a senator, this time representing Onderon in the Republic. During the Imperial Era, Bonteri eventually reacquainted himself with Saw, who was leading the Partisan rebel group, and eventually joined a group called the Dreamers after Saw's death.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Lux Bonteri was the son of Onderon's[7] senator, Mina Bonteri, and her husband.[3] When he was four, Lux enjoyed bright colors and making a mess which manifested in paintings including one of a speeder bike, which his mother kept in her office in the Galactic Senate Building even after Lux had found new hobbies as she was fond of them. In 28 BBY,[9] Padmé Amidala saw the painting's when she was having tea with Mina in her office.[10]
The Clone Wars[]
After the formation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Bonteri and his family sided with the Separatists when Onderon joined the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Bonteri and his family moved to the planet Raxus Secundus, the capital of the Confederacy, where his mother was a member of the Separatist Senate. Some time after Onderon joined the Separatists, Bonteri's father, an officer in the Confederacy military, was killed while setting up a base on Aargonar after an attack by Republic clone troopers early in the Clone Wars.[3]
Initiative for peace[]
- "Well, I mean, you think we're all the bad guys. But how many of us have you actually met? And droids don't count."
"Well, other than military officers like Grievous and Ventress… none, I guess. You and your mother are the first."
"Well, look at me. Am I so bad?" - ―Lux Bonteri and Ahsoka Tano, in a discussion of perspectives
Bonteri and Tano discuss their biases about the Clone Wars.
During the Clone Wars, Bonteri was present when the Republic Senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano traveled to Raxus to speak with his mother about negotiating a peace treaty between the Confederacy and the Republic. While his mother and Amidala negotiated, Bonteri and Tano conversed outside in the garden. Both spoke of their biased perspectives of the war; Bonteri confessed his distrust of the Jedi and the Republic, and Tano spoke of her distrust of the Separatists. Bonteri had never met a Jedi before while Ahsoka had never met a Separatist civilian, and they mutually agreed that they were in fact not that different from each other. Despite being on opposing sides of the war, the two quickly became friends.[3]
Concluding her discussion with Amidala, Mina Bonteri initiated a motion in the Separatist Senate to begin peace negotiations with the Republic Senate. The vote passed with a majority, and Amidala and Tano returned to Coruscant. However, Count Dooku, the Separatist Head of State and secretly Sith Lord, needed the war to continue for the sake of the Sith. Dooku orchestrated a Separatist attack on Coruscant, causing the Republic Senate to vote against peace negotiations with the Separatists. Dooku also secretly ordered the assassination of Mina Bonteri, publicly blaming her death on the Republic.[11] The murder of his mother left Lux an orphan, and he refused to believe that the Republic ordered her death.[6]
Confronting Dooku[]
Believing that it was Dooku that was responsible for the death of his mother, Bonteri sought out the Mandalorian Death Watch led by former Separatist ally, Pre Vizsla. Like Bonteri, Vizsla also desired revenge on Dooku after Death Watch's attempt to take over Mandalore fell through, resulting in Dooku withdrawing his support of the organization.[12] Together, Bonteri and Vizsla planned to track Dooku down using a holotrace device and then, with knowledge of his location, Death Watch would help Bonteri assassinate Dooku.[6]
Bonteri confronts Dooku, accusing Dooku for the murder of his mother.
During a peace conference between the Confederacy and the Republic on Mandalore, a neutral system, Bonteri burst into the meeting uninvited and publicly accused Dooku of his mother's murder. This alarmed many of those present at the conference, including Republic Senator Padmé Amidala as well as Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, who was serving as Amidala's personal bodyguard. Separatist Congress Leader Bec Lawise ordered for Bonteri's arrest, and security droids removed him from the room. The droids brought Bonteri before Dooku via hologram, where Bonteri discreetly used his holotrace device in order to discover the location of Dooku's transmission. Dooku, unaware of Bonteri's holotrace device, denied his involvement in Mina Bonteri's death and ordered Bonteri to be executed for treason. Before the droids could kill Bonteri, Ahsoka entered and saved Bonteri from the droids, having followed him since he left the meeting. Tano took Bonteri to the Phoenix, accompanied by R2-D2, where she contacted Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who told her to bring Bonteri to Coruscant. Bonteri refused, insisting that he had plans to deal with Dooku with the help of the Death Watch. Learning of his desire to kill Dooku, Tano advised him not to, and began to take the Phoenix to Coruscant. However Bonteri, adamant about his decision, knocked out Tano, hiding her lightsabers and taking her to Carlac in order to meet with Death Watch.[6]
Welcome to Death Watch[]
Bonteri silences Tano's anti–Death Watch objections from Pre Vizsla and Bo-Katan Kryze
Once on Carlac, Bonteri planned to meet with Death Watch alone and leave Tano on the ship, however when Tano woke up she instructed R2 to find her lightsabers and hold on to them for her, so that she could hide her true identity from Death Watch. Just as Tano met up with Bonteri outside of their ship, the pair was greeted by Bo-Katan Kryze, Pre Vizsla's second in command, who took them to the Death Watch camp to meet with Vizsla. Tano, pretending to be engaged to Bonteri, told Bonteri not to trust the Death Watch because of their terrorist ideology, but Bonteri refused to listen to her. When brought before Vizsla, Bonteri provided him with the holotrace device, and Vizsla invited Bonteri to a feast to celebrate their success. Bonteri obliged, and the celebration took place with Tano acting as a servant, alongside several Ming Po women who had been captured by the Death Watch. The celebration was interrupted, however, when Chieftian Pieter of the nearby Ming Po village demanded that Vizsla return the women that the Death Watch had taken from them.[6]
Bonteri watches as Death Watch destroys the Ming Po village.
Surprisingly, Vizsla agreed, promising Pieter he would return the women to the village the next day, and Bonteri took this as a sign that the Death Watch had honor and were not terrorists as Tano had warned him. However, the truth was revealed when the next day Vizsla and his soldiers brought the women back to the village, only to kill Pieter's granddaughter Tryla in front of him and proceed to burn down the village. With the innocent Ming Po in danger, Tano revealed her true identity as a Jedi when she attacked the Death Watch soldiers in order to protect the Ming Po people, and was subsequently captured by the Death Watch.[6]
Bonteri and Tano were taken prisoner by the Death Watch, and Bonteri realized that Tano had been right when Lux saw that Vizsla planned to execute Tano for the Jedi's crimes against Mandalore. However, R2-D2 entered the tent and created a distraction, allowing Bonteri to escape while Tano engaged Vizsla in lightsaber combat. Outside the tent, Bonteri discovered many battle droids that the Death Watch had been using for target practice turn on their masters after being reassembled by R2. With the droids' assistance, Tano and Bonteri were able to escape the Death Watch on the Phoenix. Tano again wanted to take Bonteri to Coruscant, but Bonteri again refused, headed toward the ship's escape pod. Tano tried to stop him, but Bonteri said he needed to find his own way, hoping that they would see each other again. Departing on good terms, Bonteri detached the pod and left Tano to go into hiding.[6]
Revolution of Onderon[]
Bonteri and Saw Gerrera contact the Jedi Council for help.
Eventually, Bonteri returned to his homeworld of Onderon, which was under Separatist occupation. The Separatist regime had made Sanjay Rash King of Onderon, and removed the true King, Ramsis Dendup. Bonteri joined a resistance group that had been formed by Steela and Saw Gerrera with the goal of returning Dendup to the throne. In order for their mission to be successful, however, the rebels required supplies, weapons, and training. Using his personal connection to Ahsoka Tano to his advantage, Bonteri contacted the Jedi High Council, asking for aid to help restore peace to Onderon. The Jedi promised to help, however many were resistant to becoming directly involved in the matter, saying that it was an internal affair and out of their control. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker suggested that the Jedi provide supplies and training to the rebels, but not directly become involved in the fight; allowing the rebels to retake their homeworld on their own. Agreeing with this idea, the Council sent Jedi Generals Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, accompanied by Commander Ahsoka Tano and Clone Captain CT-7567, known as "Rex," to Onderon where they began to train the rebels for combat.[7]
Upon arrival to Onderon, Kenobi, Skywalker, Tano, and Rex were brought to the rebel camp and began to train the rebels. The rebels began by learning to disable Armored Assault Tanks and droidekas using grenades. Bonteri was particularly good as disarming the droidekas, however when paired with Saw to take out the tank, he fell off the tank taking Saw down with him. This caused Saw to be upset with Bonteri, claiming that he was a politician and not meant to fight. Both Steela and Saw could not disable the droidekas, and Steela became frustrated with herself, preferring her skills as a sniper to destroy droids.[7]
While practicing their marksmanship with the Jedi, a group of battle droids, learning the location of the rebel base, began to attack the rebels. Using their new training, the rebels took out the first wave of battle droids using grenades. However, the second wave of battle droids arrived with a tank, which Bonteri and Saw had been unsuccessful disarming in training. Bonteri and Saw paired up again to take out the tank, and this time succeeded, using thermal detonators and destroying the tank. After succeeding in defending their base, the Jedi and the rebels decided that they were ready to take the fight to Iziz and reclaim Onderon. In order to get into the Separatist controlled city, Bonteri came up with the idea of posing as hunters, coming back into Iziz to sell their game in the market. Not detecting any of their weaponry due to the high amounts of organic matter on their carts, the battle droids allowed the rebels to enter. After entering Iziz, the group split up to avoid attention; agreeing to regroup after nightfall.[7]
Steela, Bonteri, and Tano inspect the power generator complex from an adjacent rooftop.
The group decided to execute a series of small strikes on battle droid battalions throughout the city, where Bonteri hid behind a market stand and disables a patrol of droids in front of some citizens. When the rebels later met up in a safehouse in Iziz, Saw suggested that they increase their attacks on the Separatists. However, it was noted that many of the civilians in Iziz had become frightened by the sudden outbreak of violence, and it was suggested by Bonteri and Steela that they first must win the trust of the people. Bonteri suggested that they take on a large target to show their strength and draw public attention to themselves. It was decided that they would attack the city power generator. Skywalker, Kenobi, and Rex left the rebels and returned to Coruscant, while Tano remained as an advisor to the rebels.[13]
Eventually, after some time training, Bonteri, Tano and the Onderon rebels—led by Steela—made their presence known to the people in Iziz and fought against the droid army, forcing them to retreat. Onderon was won, Dendup became king again, and Bonteri—having his faith placed in the Jedi and the Republic—was appointed Senator of Onderon. He swore to serve the Republic.[8]
The Mentor[]
After the rise of the Galactic Empire, Bonteri married an Imperial woman and became a father to her daughter. Both Bonteri's wife and stepdaughter were staunchly loyal to the Empire.[5] Bonteri's goddaughter Maia became a member of Saw Gerrera's Partisans[5] and was killed whilst on a mission to the Mid Rim planet Inusagi.[14] Bonteri eventually became a member of the Rebel Alliance.[5]
After Saw's death during the destruction of Jedha City, Bonteri contacted his stepdaughter saying Saw's death had upset him more than he could have realized. He asked his stepdaughter, a clerical worker, for amnesty in exchange for surrendering to the Empire and disclosing all his information on the Rebel Alliance and their operations. Bonteri's stepdaughter loved him, and gave him a list of specific times and locations where he could turn himself in to moderate Imperial authorities who could be trusted to honor his defection without torturing or killing him.[5] Instead of turning himself in, however, Lux contacted Staven, the leader of the Dreamers, and joined the group as "the Mentor". Bonteri slowly divulged the information from his stepdaughter to give Staven a constant supply of Imperial targets to hit.[5]
Staven regularly fought with the Mentor, but could not kill Bonteri because only Bonteri had access to the targeting information obtained from his stepdaughter. Despite joining up with the extremist Dreamers, Bonteri opposed attacks on civilians. Bonteri emphatically objected when Staven and Sadori Vushan sought to bomb a munitions factory while teenage students were touring, but was overruled by other Dreamers who saw Imperial schoolchildren as enemies-in-training.[5]
When Imperial Captain Iden Versio, who had infiltrated the Dreamers along with her special forces team members, confronted Bonteri, he told her his life story and how he acquired the list of targets from his stepdaughter. She had discovered that he had loved both a Jedi and a freedom fighter, as well as much more of his history. Iden asked Lux whether he'd ever thought about turning himself in, to which he replied that he indeed had, but he knew the Empire would eventually trace the source of his information to his stepdaughter and torture and/or kill her—the thought of which he could not bear. When Versio revealed that she intended to kill Bonteri in order to recover the stolen information in his possession, he entreated Versio to always have hope before she shot him. Instead of killing Bonteri, Versio stunned him, but after she went back to collect him his body was no where to be found, leaving her to question his whereabouts.[5]
Personality and traits[]
Bonteri was willing to fight for a cause he believed in.
With his family joining the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Lux initially sided with the Separatists when the Clone Wars began. Before the war, Lux heard that the Jedi were good, but as they fought for the Republic that the Separatists saw as corrupt, Lux was left not knowing what to think about the Jedi, hearing things contrary to what he had heard about them from several people, including his friends. Although Lux had never met a Jedi, that changed when her mother was visited by her friend Padme Amidala, who was accompanied by Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Despite their differing opinions about the war and the sides they both represented, Lux and Ahsoka immediately became friends, which improved Lux's opinion of the Jedi.[3]
After the death of his mother, who was murdered by Count Dooku due to her efforts to end the war, Lux decided to get revenge on Dooku, and began working with Death Watch. However, after seeing Death Watch destroy and massacre a village and try to kill Ahsoka because she was a Jedi, Lux regretted joining the group, as although they both wanted Dooku dead, Lux realized they were just assassins just like Dooku.[6] After seeing how his homeworld, Onderon, was suffering from Separatist occupation, Lux joined the rebels led by Steela and Saw Gerrera to liberate the world.[7]
After the rise of the Galactic Empire, Bonteri married a woman and ended up joining the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Learning of Saw Gerrera's death during the war against the Empire greatly upset Lux, which made him use information he got by lying to his stepdaughter about surrendering to the Empire to help the Dreamers attack various Imperial targets. Although the Empire was his enemy, Bonteri was against risking the lives of imperial civilians. When confronted by Iden Versio, an imperial captain, Bonteri said he couldn't turn himself in because he knew the Empire could trace the source of information to his stepdaughter, and Bonteri couldn't bear to think about what the Empire could do to her, showing concern with her. Lux was infatuated with Ahsoka Tano and Steela Gerrera, a Jedi and a freedom fighter, which was said in his confrontation with Versio.[5]
Appearances[]
- Star Wars: Galactic Defense (as Luz Bonteri)
- Queen's Shadow (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Heroes on Both Sides" (First appearance)- "Pursuit of Peace" — The Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark (and audiobook)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "A Friend in Need"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "A War on Two Fronts"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Front Runners"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "The Soft War"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Tipping Points"
- Rebel Rising (and audiobook) (Mentioned only)
- Battlefront II: Inferno Squad (and audiobook)
Sources[]
Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4
Lux Bonteri in the Databank (backup link)
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Heroes on Both Sides"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
- ↑ 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 Battlefront II: Inferno Squad
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "A Friend in Need"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "A War on Two Fronts"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Tipping Points"
- ↑ The main story of Queen's Shadow takes place 4 years after the Invasion of Naboo, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas places in 32 BBY.
- ↑ Queen's Shadow
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Pursuit of Peace"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Duchess of Mandalore"
- ↑ Star Wars: The Clone Wars — "Front Runners"
- ↑ Rebel Rising