Antidar Williams

"Captain, look!"
"Shields up!"

―Antidar Williams and Maoi Madakor —

Antidar Williams was a Human male who piloted Senatorial shuttles in the service of the Galactic Republic. Originally hailing from Barkhesh, Williams flew agricultural airspeeders in his youth, before departing his homeworld in the hope of finding adventure. He found employment with the Republic, but soon afterward he joined Senator Ranulph Tarkin's unsanctioned paramilitary force, which journeyed to the Troiken system to engage Iaco Stark's Stark Commercial Combine in the Stark Hyperspace War.

Williams served faithfully in the various battles of Troiken, and he was later recruited to join the Judicial Forces. Over the years, he reached the rank of lieutenant, and became the pilot of the Consular-class cruiser Acceptance. The Acceptance and Williams himself would in time participate in the Battle of Galidraan, and the Yinchorri Uprising, the latter of which resulted in the cruiser's destruction. Afterward, Williams was relegated to piloting shuttles, but one fellow pilot he had befriended at Galidraan, Maoi Madakor, requested that he serve as her co-pilot for a mission to deliver the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to the blockaded world of Naboo. The mission would cost the two their lives, however, as their ship, the Radiant VII, was destroyed by the Trade Federation with them on board.

Biography[]

Early career[]

Antidar Williams was a native of the planet Barkhesh, a tropical world. When he was a teenager, he flew agricultural airspeeders, but he eventually clamored for a more adventurous and exciting line of work. Departing Barkhesh, he found employment with the Galactic Republic. However, his first job was not for the Republic proper; instead, he chose to volunteer for Senator Ranulph Tarkin of Eriadu's Republic Outland Regions Security Force during the Stark Hyperspace War,^[1] which took place in 44 BBY.^[4] Williams served aboard Tarkin's flagship, the Republic light assault cruiser Invincible.^[1] Iaco Stark, head of the Stark Commercial Combine, had been raiding bacta supplies and reselling the product at a far greater price. A summit between Stark, the Jedi, and the Trade Federation was held on the world of Troiken to discuss the issue, but Tarkin, with his paramilitary, was heading to the world to crush Stark by force.^[4]

TarkinsInvincible — The *Invincible* is downed over Troiken.

Stark had anticipated the move, however, and sent a navigation computer virus to the ships of Tarkin's armada. The virus played havoc with the navigation of the battleships, causing two thirds of them to come out of hyperspace into planets, suns, black holes, or other locations far from Troiken itself. The remaining third, including the Invincible, made it to Troiken intact, only to be met by Stark's far superior force. The Invincible sustained heavy fire, forcing Tarkin's aide, Jace Dallin, to order everyone to abandon ship.^[5] Williams was able to find his way to an escape pod, which in turn landed on the planet below.^[1] He and the other survivors from Tarkin's paramilitary retreated to Mount Avos, where they were met by the Jedi from the failed summit. Several battles ensued as Stark's men attempted to take Mount Avos;^[5] Williams acquitted himself well during the various engagements,^[1] until relief came from the Republic.^[5] Due to his faithful service during the Stark Hyperspace War, Williams earned himself a place in the Republic's sanctioned Judicial Forces.^[1]

Lieutenant in the Judicials[]

Jango 3 13 Acceptance — The *Acceptance* descends toward Galidraan.

Reaching the rank of lieutenant, Williams piloted the Consular-class cruiser Acceptance. The Acceptance was later called into service during the Battle of Galidraan—the Governor of Galidraan had contacted the Jedi Order, claiming that a group of Mandalorian warriors were committing atrocities against his people. Five Consular-class cruisers, the Acceptance among them, delivered a task force of twenty Jedi to the world to put a stop to the Mandalorians. The group's leader, Jedi Master Dooku, and his Padawan, Komari Vosa, traveled on the Acceptance itself.^[6] During the mission, Williams met and befriended the captain of the Radiant VII, Maoi Madakor.^[1] Though the Jedi won the Battle of Galidraan, it was done so at tremendous price, with eleven of the Jedi having lost their lives, and all but one of the Mandalorians perishing.^[6]

Several years later, the Yinchorri of the Yinchorri system began acting aggressively toward their neighbors, prompting the Republic to act by sending in the Jedi to resolve the issue.^[4] Williams and Madakor served together once again during what came to be known as the Yinchorri Uprising,^[1] when the Senate voted to impose a technological embargo against the Yinchorri. The Jedi that had already been dispatched to amend the situation were struggling, and so the Senate sent in four Judicial navy attack groups to Uhanayih, the Yinchorri center of command.^[7] During the Battle of Uhanayih, however, the Acceptance was destroyed, although Williams survived.^[1]

Mission to Naboo[]

Following the conclusion of the Yinchorri Uprising, Williams was tasked with piloting Senatorial shuttles on short trips from Coruscant, due to his loss of the Acceptance. A break from his usual itinerary came when Madakor personally requested that Williams serve as her co-pilot on the Radiant VII during a special mission. He accepted, and joined Madakor as she flew two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, to the blockaded world of Naboo^[1] in 32 BBY.^[2] The Senate's new decision to tax the use of trade routes had caused the Trade Federation to protest by blockading the peaceful world of Naboo. Hoping to deal with the situation quietly, Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum had secretly dispatched Jinn and Kenobi to negotiate a settlement with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray.^[3]

Radiant VII destruction — The *Radiant VII* is destroyed, resulting in Williams' death.

Madakor and Williams successfully delivered the two Jedi to the Trade Federation flagship, the Lucrehulk-class LH-3210 cargo freighter Saak'ak, but were then forced to wait until the Jedi returned. Williams began to grow impatient, but he was given no opportunity to act, as Trade Federation gunners destroyed the Radiant VII while it rested in the Saak'ak's hangar. Williams and Madakor perished in the ensuing explosion.^[1] Simultaneously, the Federation had attempted to kill Jinn and Kenobi, but they failed. The blockade eventually escalated into a full-scale invasion, but the Federation was eventually beaten back, and Naboo was liberated.^[3]

Personality and traits[]

An adventurous and impatient man, Antidar Williams was eager to seek out and find excitement as a pilot, and in doing so ended up joining an illegal paramilitary force in his early career. Even after he had served in several major conflicts, he still possessed an adventurous spirit, as he demonstrated while waiting for Jinn and Kenobi to return from their negotiations on the Saak'ak.^[1] During the Naboo mission, Williams was particularly nervous, as was his superior, Captain Madakor.^[8] Williams had brown hair and brown eyes.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Antidar Williams was created for George Lucas' May 1999 prequel trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, as an unnamed pilot in the opening scene,^[3] though he first appeared in the film's novelization, written by Terry Brooks and released in April of the same year.^[8] He was played by Silas Carson, who had auditioned for the role and subsequently caught director Lucas' eye. Carson went on to do animatics work for the film, and also played the characters of Lott Dod, Nute Gunray, and Ki-Adi-Mundi.^[9] The character was later given the surname of "Williams" in the "Coruscant Limited" set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.^[10]

In 2006, the character's backstory was written by Ian Tapley via the StarWars.com Hyperspace feature "What's The Story?" Initially, Tapley wanted to tuckerize his own name while trying to concoct a first name for Williams, but was unable to do so successfully. Unable to remember the name of the actor who had played Williams, he instead chose to use an anagram of "radiant." In searching for a suitable homeworld for the character, Tapley selected a planet he thought was likely to go unused in future canon, Barkhesh, which had featured in the video game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, of which Tapley himself was a fan.^[11]

Since the character dies in the opening of The Phantom Menace, Tapley tried to write him into as many adventures set before 32 BBY as he could. The first was the Stark Hyperspace War, from the 2001 comic run of the same name. The second was the Battle of Galidraan, which was introduced in 2002's Jango Fett: Open Seasons. The third and final conflict was the Yinchorri Uprising, from 2000's Jedi Council: Acts of War. In Tapley's original submission, Williams was given the rank of captain at the time of the Yinchorri Uprising, but was demoted for the loss of the Acceptance. Tapley also suggests that Williams may have had relatives that participated in the Clone Wars and the Galactic Civil War.^[11]