- Darth Andeddu Guide - February 1, 2023
- Miraluka Guide - November 20, 2022
- Cathar Star Wars Guide - November 20, 2022
For us earthlings, Plo Koon made his debut during Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, where he sat on the Jedi council. He had similar follow-up appearances in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. He had much more character development, however, in the animated TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Much like Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon was a wise Jedi Master. What makes Plo Koon different, however, is that his strange and fearsome appearance that belied his truly compassionate nature. In fact, Koon had relatively little screentime in comparison to many other characters in the Star Wars saga. His character in still serves an important function in Star Wars canon, as we shall see, as a touchstone for Master Yoda.
Bottom Line Up Front:
Plo Koon was born on the planet Dorin and was of the Kel Dor species. Like the other inhabitants of Dorin, he was used to breathing air that was very different from that of most planets and needed goggles and an “antiox” mask to accommodate himself to the atmospheres that humans would be capable of breathing.
A highly accomplished Jedi, Plo Koon eventually became a Jedi Master, a member of the Jedi Council, and even a general of a clone army. He was also an accomplished pilot and lightsaber duelist. Although Star Wars legends claims that Plo Koon participated in many other battles before the First Battle of Geonosis, his battles that can be verified by Star Wars canon had occurred during the Clone Wars.
A highly accomplished Jedi, Plo Koon eventually became a Jedi Master, a member of the Jedi Council, and even a general of a clone army. He was also an accomplished pilot and lightsaber duelist. Although Star Wars legends claims that Plo Koon participated in many other battles before the First Battle of Geonosis, his battles that can be verified by Star Wars canon had occurred during the Clone Wars.
Description/Overview
As far as Star Wars canon goes, there is not much to say about Plo Koon’s early life. However, if you believe in Star Wars legends, Plo Koon was Padawan to the Wookie Jedi Master Tyvokka. Klo Poon had also discovered the future Jedi Knight Ashoka Tano, who became Anakin Skywalker’s Padawan.
The Clone Wars
During the final years of the Republic, there was conflict between the Republic and the Separatists that culminated with the Clone Wars. While there is a lot more information available about Koon’s life in Star Wars Legends, within Star Wars Canon, the majority of Koon’s significant contributions were during the Clone Wars, from the very first battle to his death during Order 66.
The First Battle of Geonosis
Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi and his Padawan Anakin Skywalker were trapped on the planet Geonosis with Senator Padme Amidala. They had been captured by the Geonosians and scheduled to be executed in an arena.
Plo Koon was one of over 200 Jedi under Mace Windu that were sent to rescue the three. Just as the three were about to be executed, the Jedi entered the arena with light sabers drawn.
This sight was enough to send most of Geonosians fleeing in panic and the Jedi thought that the day might be won without a fight, but that was not to be. Count Dooku had a large droid army waiting in reserve for them. The droids surrounded the Jedi in the arena and attacked. Even though the Jedi, individually, were much better fighters than the droids, the droids had the numbers and a positional advantage in that they both had the Jedi surrounded and had the higher ground from the stands of the arena. The ranks of the Jedi were withering under sustained blaster fire. Count Dooku gave the Jedi a chance to surrender, but they refused.
Just when all hope was lost, Master Yoda showed up with a regiment of clone troopers. The Jedi rallied, Padme was saved and the mercenary Jango Fett was killed by Mace Windu. The price of the victory, however, was that half of the Jedi had been killed in the battle and the Clone Wars had begun.
Hunting the Malevolence
Plo Koon became a general during the Clone Wars and was in command of a battalion of clones, the 104th Battalion, aka the Wolf Pack. Their mission was to take three star-destroyers and find and engage the enemy, General Grievous and his ship the Malevolence. Unfortunately, Plo Koon and his Wolf Pack got hit with a new weapon, a large ion cannon that enabled Grievous to destroy Plo Koon’s fleet.
Plo Koon feared for the lives of his clones more than he did for his ships, so he ordered everyone to use escape pods. Grievous, however, sent his forces to break open the escape pods, causing the clones inside to die in outer space. Only the clones that were in Plo Koon’s pod survived: Wolffe, Sergeant Sinker, and Boost. Even though Grievous’s droids tried to destroy the Jedi and his remaining clones, Plo Koon, through both his leadership and fighting prowess, was able to keep the droids at bay while Wolffe sent a distress signal. Due to his Kel Dor body and Jedi training, he was even able to operate in outer space for a limited time without any helmet. Ashoka Tano, due to her close bond with Plo Koon, was able to locate him so that she and Anakin Skywalker could rescue Plo Koon and the clones.
The Jedi decided that they would send Shadow Squadron, led by Anakin Skywalker, their best pilot, to destroy the Malevolence. Plo Koon requested to join Shadow Squadron and was accepted by Skywalker. Plo Koon’s starfighter was a Delta-7B Aethersprite-class light interceptor.
In order to reach the Malevolence before it could reach its target, a medical center, Shadow Squadron had to travel through a dangerous nebula. They managed to attack the Malevolence before it reached its destination, but half of their squadron was destroyed or disabled by the ship’s ion cannon.
With their reduced numbers they could not destroy the ship. Instead, they focused their firepower on the ion cannon. The damage to the cannon was sufficient to cause it to damage its own ship when it attempted to fire on the medical station. Eventually, with help of Obi Wan Kenobi and his forces, Skywalker was able to cause the destruction of the Malevolence.
First Battle of Felucia
Plo Koon oversaw the extraction of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and the clone forces they led. He also personally led a squadron of fighters to protect the gunships that were doing the extracting and personally shot down two enemy starfighters, “vulture droids”, to protect his clone wingman “Warthog”.
Hunting Boba Fett
When Mace Windu used his lightsaber to decapitate Jango Fett at the First Battle of Geonosis, he made an eternal enemy of Jango’s son, Boba Fett. Boba and some former bounty associates of Jango, Aurra Sing and Bossk, hatched a plot to extract revenge.
Boba attempted to assassinate Windu and blew up the star destroyer carrying Windu, The Endurance. Having failed to assassinate Windu, the bounty hunters took hostages.
Windu was too injured to go after Boba and free the hostages, so Koon and Ashoka Tano undertook that mission instead. Rather than go to the planet Vangor, where the Endurance had crashed, Koon wisely decided to go to Coruscant, where Jango Fett and his fellow bounty hunters had established themselves. Koon and Tano were required to navigate the criminal underworld in order to get the information they needed. Through clever investigating and some tense moments with their lightsabers, the Jedi were able to get the information they needed.
Even though Boba and Sing had laid a trap for the Jedi, the bounty hunters were no match for Tano’s lightsaber and Koon’s telekinesis. The Jedi allowed Sing to escape so that they could get the location of the hostages from Boba. Arriving at planet Forum, the two Jedi battled and defeated the remaining bounty hunters, Sing and Bossk, and freed the hostages.
Escape from the Citadel on Lola Sayu
Jedi Master Even Piell had discovered the secret coordinates for a strategically important hyperspace portal known as the Nexus Route. The problem was that Piell and his team had been captured by the Separatists and were being held at a fortress known as the Citadel on Lola Sayu.
A strike force of clone troopers was organized and led by Masters Kenobi and Skywalker.
The strike force had successfully freed the prisoners, but their shuttle had been destroyed. Fleeing on foot from the Citadel, Koon correctly deducted that an entire fleet would be needed to rescue them.
Plo Koon personally led the rescue fleet, accompanied by Jedi Masters Kit Fisto, Tiin, and Gallia. He had Tiin engage the enemy while Koon escorted the rescue ships, the gunships, in to get Piell and company. After a hard fight in which Piell had been mortally wounded, Koon managed to extract the survivors. Before expiring, Piell managed to give the Nexus Route coordinates to Tano and Captain Wilhuff Tarkin.
Second Battle of Felucia
The Jedi returned to Felucia to battle the forces of General Grievous. Koon led the assault. Although the attack was successful, Ahsoka Tano was missing in action.
Their search for Tano was unsuccessful. When it was time for the Republic forces to return to Coruscant, Anakin Skywalker did not want to leave without Tano. Koon, who had confidence in Ahsoka, said that the mission came first and she would be able to use her Jedi training to return to them on her own.
It turned out that Ahsoka had been captured by Trandoshan hunters. Luckily, she was able to escape through her own resources and the help of some Wookies, including the famous Chewbacca.
Koon also led a fleet to rescue Master Gallia from General Grievous and personally boarded Grievous’ ship with Commander Wolffe and soldiers from the Wolfpack Battalion. The rescue was successful and the two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2 were also recovered. Koon, not without humor, forced Commander Wolffe to listen to C-3PO talk about their adventures at length.
Other rescuing included Koon freeing the Togruta colony of Kiros from the Zygerian Slave Empire, with Koon managing to down several Zygerian starfighters with his Arguitens-class light cruiser.
Temple Bombing
Six Jedi were killed in a terrorist bombing of the Jedi Temple. Skywalker and Tano arrested suspect Letta Turmond, but Turmond was later “force choked” to death in her cell.
Tano was suspected and arrested, but, apparently, she had escaped and killed several clone troopers with her lightsaber. Even though Koon did not believe that Tano was guilty, he and Skywalker were sent to search for her and bring her in.
While searching the lower levels of Coruscant, they witnessed Tano having a meeting a meeting with Asajj Ventress. Tano and Ventress fled and the two Jedi and several clones chased after them. Tano was captured and appeared to be in possession of the same type of explosives used in the Jedi bombing.
Tano was put on trial, but Skywalker had brought in the real culprit, Jedi Barriss Offee. Even though Tano had been vindicated, she did not return to the Jedi order due to a sense of betrayal, despite Koon’s sincere apologies.
Sifo-Dyas and the Clone Army
Plo Koon was sent to investigate a distress signal that turned out emanate from the ship of Sifo-Dyas, the deceased Jedi Master who had been responsible for creating the clone army. Through Koon’s investigation, he was able to deduce that Count Dooku was actually Darth Tyranus, a Sith Lord, and had murdered Sifo-Dyas to take over production and control of the clone army. Koon and the other council members agreed to keep this information secret.
Death
While patrolling in Aethersprite starfighter after a victorious battle at Cato Neimoidia, Koon became a victim of Order 66. When Sith Lord and Sith Master Darth Sidious issued Order 66, an inhibitor chip embedded in all clones over-rode their programming and forced to turn against their Jedi masters and exterminate the order of knights. Koon was shot down by his own wingman, “Jag”, and perished as his starfighter exploded.
Key Moments
Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace—Plo Koon can be seen sitting on the Jedi Council during the important meetings about important issues, such as the return of the Sith and the discovery of Anakin Skywalker.
Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
- Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones—Plo Koon is again seen sitting on the Jedi Council and in fighting in the background for the First Battle of Geonosis.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Rising Malevolence (S1E2) – Plo Koon gets ambushed by General Grievous but personally fights to protect the surviving members of his fleet, even though they are clones.
- Holocron Heist (S2E1) At the First Battle of Felucia, Koon again uses his combat prowess to protect his clone troopers from harm, this time, however, not with his lightsaber, but with his skills as a fighter pilot in his
- Lethal Trackdown (S2E22) On the planet Coruscant, Koon, with Tano, uses his talents as an investigator to find the bounty hunter Boba Fett and rescue some hostages, one of which is a clone.
- Escape from Kadavo (S4E13) In liberating the Togruta colony of Kiros from the Zygerian Slave Empire, Koon again used his skills in the cockpit, this time to shoot down several Zygerian fighter craft.
- The Lost One (S6E10) Through his investigative abilities, Koon is able to discover the fate of Sifo-Dyas, the origins of the clone army, and the true identity of Count Dooku, Sith Lord Darth Tyranus.
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
- Plo Koon’s death is depicted on film with Koon dying as he lived, in the cockpit. The point of view of Koon’s killer, Jag, is also depicted when Darth Sidious appears in a hologram and delivers his infamous line, “Execute Order 66.”
Plo Koon’s Key Quotes
(all Plo Koon quotes are taken from Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
Plo Koon in Witches of the Mist (S3E14)
“Not everything is what it seems. There may be a new threat. Someone or something has eluded us, perhaps a newly appointed Sith Lord.”
Sergeant Sinker and Plo Koon in “Rising Malevolence” (S1E2)
“We’re just clones, sir. We’re meant to be expendable.”
“Not to me.”
Boba Fett and Plo Koon in Lethal Trackdown (S2E22)
“I’m not a murderer! I want justice!”
“We are justice.“
C-3PO and Plo Koon in Nomad Droids (S4E6)
“We have been on quite an adventure.”
“Well I’m certain Wolffe would love to hear about it.“
FAQs
Question: What color was Plo Koon’s lightsaber?
Answer: Blue.
Question: What powers did Plo Koon have?
Answer: Master Plo Koon’s powers were many. He had the same powers as all Jedi, such as telekinesis, but he was also one of the best pilots and lightsaber duelists in the order. As a Kel Dor, he was stronger than a human and could survive in outer space for short periods of time without a helmet or space suit. According to Star Wars legend, Koon developed a new Jedi power, Electric Judgement. Also, according to Star Wars legend, in addition to Jedi training, Koon had received training in a separate tradition, , which was older than the Jedi and had been developed and preserved by the Kel Dor.
Question: Was Plo Koon a grey Jedi?
Answer: No. Plo Koon did not train in the dark side of the force. Plo Koon’s Electric Judgement was not Force Lightning, a weapon used by the Sith. Kloon simply had a very deep understanding of the force but always operated from the light side of the force.
Question: Who were Plo Koon’s Padawans?
Answer: Even though Master Plo Koon was both a mentor and a father figure to Ahsoka Tano, she was not actually his Padawan. She was the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. According to Star Wars legends, however, Plo Koon did indeed have Padawans, the Trandoshan female Lissarkh and the human female Bultar Swan.
Question: Did Plo Koon fight any duels?
Answer: According to Star Wars legends, Plo Koon fought a duel with Savage Oppress. He only lost because Oppress had managed to remove Koon’s antiox mask and render him incapable of breathing normally away from his home planet’s atmosphere. To put this in perspective, in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, there is a scene when Oppress manages to kill a Jedi, his Padawan, and several clone troopers with ease.
Conclusion
Like most on the Jedi council, the function of Koon’s character is to serve as wise master and mentor. What separates him from other masters, especially Master Yoda, is his warmth.
It was not enough for Koon to protect life; he had to protect self-esteem. As life forms created specifically to be soldiers, the clones saw themselves as expendable. Koon, with passion and conviction, fought to break their paradigm so that the clones could learn to love themselves. He let them know that their lives served a purpose other than fighting and that their lives mattered to him personally. Then, the Kel Dor Jedi backed up his words with his lightsaber and his Aethersprite, often at the risk of his own safety.
From a dramatic point of view, the sight of Koon continuously doing this, is a paradigm-breaker. With his alien appearance and antiox mask, Koon looks and sounds like a tentacle-faced Darth Vader. And yet, Koon is the wise, kind, and sensitive version of Darth Vader.
He is a direct contrast to the hard taskmaster that Yoda is. As wise and virtuous and powerful Yoda is, he shows a disturbing lack of empathy throughout the series.
After Anakin Skywalker, as a young child, shows courage and promise by rescuing Senator Padme Amidala and basically saving the day, Yoda wants to turn him away from the Jedi order because he “senses great fear” in him. No apologies. No consideration that this child had been in slavery and had just been separated from his mother. Somehow, the Jedi order and Senator Amidala, with all of their power and influence, did not see fit to return to Anakin’s home planet on Tatooine and buy his mother out of slavery.
Later, when Anakin has dreams of Padme’s death, Yoda is callous, saying that her being reunited with the force would be a good thing.
Unlike Master Koon, Master Yoda is one of the few Jedi to survive Order 66. Very uncharacteristic of Yoda, however, is his display of anger and bloodlust at decapitating two of his would be clone assassins. Considering that Yoda would soon survive a duel with Darth Sidious himself, it is hard to believe that Yoda was incapable of disarming and subduing a couple of clone troopers who were not at fault for their embedded inhibitor chips.
It’s nice to know that the best of the Jedi wasn’t always that good. It sounds like a plot-hole, but it is actually good writing. Yoda’s lack of empathy was the blind spot that exterminated the Jedi order and brought the Republic crashing down. It was his Shakespearian fatal flaw because his flaw was also his virtue, his Zen-like mastery of his emotions.
Much later, when Anakin’s son Luke Skywalker wants to rescue his friends, Yoda coldly tells him that he should sacrifice them for the greater good and continue his Jedi training so that he could eventually be strong enough to resist the dark of side of the force. Instead of following his teacher, Luke decided to follow his heart and save his friends. Ultimately, in doing so, he not only saved his friends, but saved the galaxy simply by saving his father. By rejecting Yoda, Luke had managed to do something Yoda could never do, return a Sith Lord to the light side of the force.
For more interesting readings check out: