Mission to Mustafar

This article is about Darth Vader's mission to Mustafar at the end of the Clone Wars. You may be looking for another mission to Mustafar.

The title of this article is conjectural.

Although this article is based on official information from the Star Wars Legends continuity, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.

Concurrent

Infiltration of the Jedi Temple^[1]

Mission to Mustafar

Conflict

Clone Wars^[1]

Objective

Destroy the Separatist Council and end the Clone Wars^[1]

Factions
Order of the Sith Lords^[1]	Confederacy of Independent Systems†^[1]

Commanders
Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious (orders)^[1] Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader^[1]	Head of State Nute Gunray†^[1]

Participants
Darth Vader^[1]	Separatist Council†^[1] Nute Gunray†^[1] Rune Haako†^[1] Aruteous Gunnay†^[1] Aito Laff†^[1] 3 Neimoidian aides†^[1] Wat Tambor†^[1] Poggle the Lesser†^[1] Unidentified Geonosian aide†^[1] San Hill†^[1] Shu Mai†^[1] Cat Miin†^[1] Passel Argente†^[1] Denaria Kee†^[1] Po Nudo†^[1] Nank Tun†^[1] Tikkes†^[1] Neimoidian Gunnery Battalion members†^[7] Captain Gap Nox†^[1] Lieutenant Fame Drimal†^[1] 1 OOM command battle droid†^[1] B1-Series battle droids†^[7] OOM security battle droids†^[1] Droidekas†^[7]

Casualties
None^[1]	The entire Separatist Council†^[1] All droid forces†^[7] All Neimoidian forces†^[7]

"The Chancellor has given me a very important mission. The Separatists have gathered in the Mustafar system. I'm going there to end this war. Wait for me until I return… things will be different, I promise."

―Darth Vader to his wife Padmé Amidala^[1]

In 19 BBY, Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith and Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, sent his new apprentice, Darth Vader on a mission to kill the remaining members of the Separatist Council on the volcanic planet of Mustafar. The Council, consisting of the surviving top members of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, was a loose end in Sidious' plot to gain control of the Republic and mold it into the galaxy's first empire. Vader willfully carried out the slaughter after he trapped the council in the War Room and Conference Room, where he slew each Separatist leader, one by one. The slaughter ended with the death of Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, who was one of the most influential members of the Council.

As the bloodshed came to an end, Darth Vader contacted Sidious to inform him that the Separatist Council had been killed. Sidious then ordered Vader to send a message to the ships of the Trade Federation which stated all battle droids were to be immediately shut down, an order that he carried out, ending the Clone Wars.

Prelude[]

"The plan has gone as you had promised, my Lord."
"You have done well, Viceroy. When my new apprentice, Darth Vader, arrives, he will take care of you."

―Nute Gunray And Darth Sidious^[1]

SepCouncilUtapau-ROTS — The Separatist Council on Utapau.

In 19 BBY, with Count Dooku, having been killed by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker during the Battle of Coruscant, General Grievous became the new public head of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He was ordered by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious to move the Separatist Council, who were on Utapau at the time, to the Klegger Corp Mining Facility on Mustafar, where he secretly planned to kill them, as they were no longer useful to him. Grievous did so, informing the council of where he was sending them before they boarded a ship to take them there. Immediately afterwards, the Battle of Utapau broke out, in which Grievous was killed by Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, leaving the Separatist Council as the sole public leaders of the Separatists.^[1] On Mustafar, they were contacted by Darth Sidious, who ordered them to begin shutting down their droid armies.^[2]

Sep council sidious — The Separatist Council meeting with Darth Sidious.

When Skywalker turned to the dark side and pledged himself to Darth Sidious, becoming Darth Vader, he was sent to Mustafar after carrying out Operation: Knightfall to kill the Separatist Council. As Vader approached the facility — remotely deactivating the air defenses in the process — the Separatists and their aides had gathered in its war room, where they were guarded by soldiers of the Neimoidian Gunnery Battalion and OOM security battle droids. Sidious contacted the council again and asked if the droids armies had completed shut down, to which Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray confirmed that they had an hour prior. Sidious informed the council that they were to be rewarded for their role in the Clone Wars and that his new apprentice was coming to do so.^[2]

Upon landing, Vader ordered his astromech droid R2-D2 to stay with his starfighter as he made his way into the facility. He was witnessed by two nearby Mustafarians. As Vader was lead to the council by Mouse droids, the Separatists stood around talking and viewing the movements of clone troopers on holograms.^[1]

The assassinations[]

"Welcome, Lord Vader. We've been expecting you."

―Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray^[1]

When Vader entered the war room, the Separatists scrambled to greet him,^[2] with Gunray^[1] and InterGalactic Banking Clan Chairman San Hill doing so. Vader responded by closing the doors to the room and destroying the control panel with the Force, trapping the Separatists inside. Hill, realizing Vader was Skywalker, recoiled in horror as Vader activated his lightsaber and stabbed him through his three hearts, killing him.^[2]

Mission-to-Mustafar — Passel Argente being slain by Darth Vader.

With Hill dead, Vader then turned to two members of the Neimoidian Gunnery Battalion, Gap Nox and Fame Drimal, who were standing next to the door he had entered from and killed them.^[8] Engaging in a rampant killing spree, Vader strode around the room, slaughtering members of the council, their aides, and more members of the Neimodian Gunnery Battalion, along with destroying the security battle droids. The war room had automated defense systems, but Vader was able to defend against them. As he first walked around, he killed the Magistrate of the Corporate Alliance, Passel Argente and his aide Denaria Kee; Ando system Senator Po Nudo, and his aides, Nank Tun and an unidentified Aqualish; Mon Calamari system Senator Tikkes; Cat Miin, the aide of the Presidente of the Commerce Guild, Shu Mai; and several Trade Federation advisors, which included Aruteous Gunnay and Aito Laff.^[1]

DisneyPlusStarWarsEpisodeIIIRevengeoftheSith Promo Background — Vader during the assassination.

Vader then killed the Archduke of Geonosis, Poggle the Lesser, who attempted to defend himself with his cane, and Mai, who pleaded with Vader, claiming that they were promised a handsome reward, to which he mockingly stated that he was their reward and questioned that she didn't find him handsome before slicing her head off.^[2]

Gunray, his Lieutenant Rune Haako, and Foreman Wat Tambor of the Techno Union fled into a nearby conference room. Vader followed, scraping his lightsaber along the wall. Haako tripped over a chair and Vader caught up to him, ignoring the Neimoidian's pleas, and slashed him across his body. Vader then found Tambor clawing at the conference room's viewports. Tambor offered to give Vader anything if he allowed him to live,^[2] but Vader grabbed his shoulder and thrust his lightsaber through his body,^[9] before cutting off his arms and head, mockingly thanking him afterwards.^[2]

TheDeathofNuteGunray — Vader killing Nute Gunray

Gunray, now the last surviving member of the Separatist Council, fled back into the war room, only for Vader to give chase and jump in front of him. Gunray tried to beg with Vader, claiming that the war was over and Sidious had promised them peace, to which Vader responded that his transmission was garbled and Sidious actually said they'd be left "in pieces," before slashing him across his chest, killing him.^[2] Unbeknownst to the Separatists, Sidious had kept the connection open and watched the entire slaughter.^[10]

Aftermath[]

"The Separatists have been taken care of, my master."
"It is finished, then. You have restored peace and justice to the galaxy."

―Darth Vader and Darth Sidious^[1]

Conferenceroom — Wat Tambor's body lying on the floor of the conference room.

Vader went outside the war room and stood on a balcony that overlooked the lava below and gazed out at the sky, a tear flowing down his cheek as he reflected on his transformation to a Sith Lord.^[1] He then went back inside and looked out the viewports of the conference room, where he thought about the galaxy and his plans to rule it. Returning to the war room, he contacted Darth Sidious and informed him that the Separatists had been killed.^[2] Sidious then ordered Vader to send a message to the ships of the Trade Federation, which stated that all remaining droid units were to immediately shut down. Vader did so, effectively ending the Clone Wars. As he sent the shut down order, he noticed the starship of his wife, Padmé Amidala approaching the facility. When he went outside to greet Amidala and ask why she was there, Vader noticed Kenobi, his former master, standing on the entry ramp of the ship, having stowed away onboard without Amidala's knowledge.^[1]

Vader, misled into believing that Amidala had brought Kenobi to kill him, Force choked her and dueled Kenobi, with their fight making their way through the war room, onto the balcony, and into the rest of the facility.^[1]

After the massacre of their leaders, the Trade Federation and the Techno Union were forced to turn over their assets to the Empire, the former of which attempted a last stand against the Empire, while the Corporate Alliance and the Commerce Guild were quietly dissolved. The InterGalactic Banking Clan, however, survived the catastrophe, though it was much less successful than before.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

This mission was first depicted in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, released in 2005.

In the DVD commentary of Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas stated that the interwoven scenes of the Mission to Mustafar and the Declaration of a New Order was an homage to the christening and assassination sequence of the 1972 mob classic film The Godfather, directed by his friend Francis Ford Coppola.^[11]

In the Revenge of the Sith video game, Vader is depicted fighting his way through the mining facility after killing two aides at the landing platform and battling battle droids and Neimoidian guards. Upon reaching the war room, Vader kills Poggle the Lesser with the room's blast door and kills Wat Tambor, two unidentified Neimoidians, and Rune Haako, who pleads for his life before dying. As Nute Gunray attempts to escape in his shuttle, Vader brings it down into the lava below.

The Revenge of the Sith novelization depicts Vader as killing each of the Council members in a particularly brutal way and responding to the Separatists' pleas for mercy with amusing one liners and witty wordplay. In particular, he responded to Nute Gunray's pleas of Sidious's promise to leave them "in peace" with the remark, "His transmission was garbled. He promised to leave you in pieces." Also notable is that this version marks San Hill as the first casualty, followed by Poggle, then Shu Mai, then Rune Haako, then Wat Tambor, then Nute Gunray.