Ferus Olin was the Human Jedi Padawan of Jedi Master Siri Tachi. Considered very mature for his age by many Jedi, Olin was well-respected for his dedication to the Jedi Order. He often clashed with fellow Padawan learner Anakin Skywalker, who disagreed with his strict adherence to Jedi rules and protocol. The two and their masters, Tachi and Obi-Wan Kenobi, often worked together on missions, traveling to such varied worlds as Radnor, Euceron, Andara, Typha-Dor, Romin, Falleen, and finally, Korriban. Many of these missions were orchestrated with the goal of capturing the escaped scientist and criminal Jenna Zan Arbor, who the Jedi later discovered was working with Granta Omega, the murderer of the Jedi Council member Yaddle. However, Zan Arbor consistently eluded them.

Shortly before the onset of the Clone Wars, Olin resigned from the Jedi Order due to the guilt he felt over the inadvertent death of fellow Padawan Darra Thel-Tanis on Korriban, where Omega was finally killed in battle with Kenobi present. Eventually, he befriended Roan Lands on Bellassa, and the two started a business together—Olin and Lands. Olin and Lands would produce fake, brand-new identities for anyone that wanted to escape from the empire. Olin grew fond enough of Bellassa to adopt it as his homeworld.

Soon after the execution of Order 66, Olin founded a rebel organization on Bellassa in opposition to the Galactic Empire, newly in control of the galaxy. He would later retrain himself in the Jedi ways with the aid of Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the few Jedi to survive the Great Jedi Purge. Olin also created a safehouse for fugitive Jedi on an asteroid hidden within an atmospheric storm. Here he would begin to form the early stages of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. During his search for Jedi refugees from the Empire, he was blackmailed into aiding Emperor Palpatine, but would act as a double-agent, seeking information and attempting to undermine the Empire from the inside, eventually confronting Darth Vader himself. His resistance movement spanned the galaxy, reaching Bellassa, Acherin, Coruscant, Naboo, Samaria, and Alderaan, among other planets. This lasted until the Empire thwarted his plans for early rebellion by destroying his secret asteroid base. He eventually accepted a mission from Obi-Wan to watch over Princess Leia Organa on Alderaan, where he would reside for many years. Darth Vader killed him a year after that planet was completely destroyed.

Biography[]

Jedi apprentice[]

The Evacuation of Radnor[]

Olin first worked closely with Anakin Skywalker in 27 BBY during a mission to evacuate the planet Radnor when the release of a deadly airborne toxin left many of its citizens unable to flee in the face of near-certain death. The two were sent to the planet along with their Masters, Siri Tachi and Obi-Wan Kenobi, and four other Jedi — Ry-Gaul with his apprentice Tru Veld, and Soara Antana with her Padawan Darra Thel-Tanis. During the mission, the Masters and Padawans were forced to separate, since there were not enough bio-isolation suits to enable all of the Jedi to investigate the area already afflicted by the toxin. Left to their own devices, the more experienced Padawans Olin and Skywalker quickly clashed over issues of leadership.^[3]

Despite these tensions, the four Jedi were able to cooperate well enough to gradually discover the explanation for the release of the toxin. While tracing a group of raiders who were ransacking the homes of fleeing civilians to steal their valuables, the Padawans discovered that the criminals had managed to obtain the evacuation schedule for the citizens of the still-unaffected city of Tacto, enabling them to steal from the fleeing citizens in a suspiciously organized and efficient manner. This information, combined with Skywalker and Veld's discovery that the planet's communications were being jammed from orbit rather than suffering from malfunction, led them to deduce that the natives of the neighboring planet of Avon were planning to invade Radnor, using an offer of assistance in the evacuation as a smokescreen to allow them to land an army of battle droids to quickly conquer the planet. The Jedi teams thwarted the invasion and exposed Galen, the Radnoran scientist who had originally developed the toxin, as a traitor, but Skywalker and Olin remained at odds even after their success. At the end of the mission, Olin, distrusting his fellow Padawan due to the desire for control he had shown, warned him that he would watch him in the future, further infuriating Skywalker and cementing the two apprentices' rivalry and mutual dislike for one another.^[3]

The Galactic Games[]

Several months later, in 26 BBY, the two apprentices met again, along with their masters, at the Galactic Games on the planet Euceron. The Padawans, joined by fellow apprentice Tru Veld, helped their masters to discover a plot to rig the games. When Skywalker discovered that an illegal podrace was rigged in favor of one competitor, he decided to compete in it to discover how the race would be manipulated and who was behind it. Olin opposed this plan, believing that Skywalker was racing as much for the thrill as for the mission's success, and his opinions irritated his rival. Skywalker did enter the race, but discovered that he was the racer with the advantage rather than Hekula, the son of his former podracing rival Sebulba. However, he narrowly escaped death when his pod was sabotaged in an attempt to force a dramatic crash into the crowd. Unable to prove the corruption and crimes of the celebrity athlete Maxo Vista and his confederate Liviani Sarno, head of the Games Council, the Jedi left Euceron with a hollow victory and mutual feelings of animosity between Olin and Skywalker still lingering.^[2]

When Skywalker took private lightsaber training lessons with Soara Antana, the Jedi Master chose Olin to surprise him with an attack after one of their lessons. With no love lost between the two Padawans and Skywalker already exhausted from training, Olin took the upper hand at first before Skywalker gave into his feelings of anger, which fueled him and allowed him to defeat his fellow apprentice. However, the display of rage and Skywalker's lack of awareness of his error gave Antana serious doubts about the young Padawan. This led to her decision to end her training with Skywalker, after warning him to beware the temptation to give in to his emotions during battle.^[7]

Infiltrating the Leadership School[]

When Gillam Tarturi, son of Senator Berm Tarturi and a student at the luxurious Leadership School on Andara, disappeared, his father suspected that political rivals had kidnapped his son. Coincidentally, a squad of young mercenaries was suspected by the Jedi Council to be using the Leadership School as a training ground. In order to look into both Gillam's disappearance and the secret squad, Olin was sent with Skywalker to infiltrate the school disguised as students; with this cover, the two would be able to identify and investigate the mercenaries in hopes of finding a clue to the motive behind Gillam Tarturi's disappearance.^[8] When they arrived at the school, Olin befriended a troublesome student named Reymet Autem, the son of Senate Guard Sagoro Autem,^[9] who seemed to know something about the inner workings of the school.^[8] While Olin began to get to know Autem in an attempt to learn about the mercenaries from the student, Skywalker managed to infiltrate the secret squad. However, as he learned more about them, he gradually became more and more in agreement with the unit's ideals—this led him to decide to join them on a mission to penetrate Andara's airspace. The mission was based on Ieria, a planet in the system, and Skywalker suggested Gillam might be there, trying to justify his planned participation in the raid. However, Olin adamantly opposed the violation of the Jedi Code, and attempted to convince his rival not to participate in such a potentially inflammatory act. Skywalker agreed to meet with him later to consult Kenobi, but before the two Padawans had a chance to contact Skywalker's master, Olin disappeared.^[8]

He had began a search for Gillam in an effort to find him before Skywalker left the school, hoping to eliminate Kenobi's apprentice's rationale for seeking Gillam on Ieria. However, Tarturi, actually hidden in the old and abandoned system rooms inside the school, stumbled upon him. Along with a few members of the secret squad, Tarturi imprisoned Olin there, before leaving for Ieria in secret. Skywalker, even after discovering that Olin was missing, chose to go with the secret squad instead of searching for him, which left the young Jedi imprisoned until Kenobi and Tachi arrived at the Leadership School to rescue him, under the cover of parents considering enrolling their children in classes there.^[8]

During his explorations of the system rooms, Olin had discovered Gillam's datapad. Using the Force to deflect the mercenaries' attention from it, he managed to keep it from being confiscated. With study of the datapad, he and the Masters discovered that the Senator's son had staged his own kidnapping, and planned to pin it on his own father. The Jedi also realized that he was preparing to stage his own death, killing Skywalker instead; he would then disguise the young Jedi's corpse as his own. The trio traveled to Ieria in an attempt to rescue Skywalker. Tarturi had underestimated the power of the Jedi, though, for the teenager easily disabled the squad's starfighters, along with attack droids sent in to assassinate him. The other Jedi then arrived in time to take the mercenaries into custody.^[8] However, the fact that Skywalker had not even looked for Olin when he discovered that he had disappeared infuriated Kenobi, creating a rift between the Master and his Padawan that would take some time to heal.^[10]

The Invasion of Typha-Dor[]

In 25 BBY, Skywalker and Kenobi were sent into the Uziel system to the planet Typha-Dor, the only planet that continued to hold out against the invasions masterminded by the system's largest planet, Vanqor. Their mission was to inform the members of a Typha-Dorian surveillance post that the Vanqors had nearly discovered their position, and they needed to evacuate. When the two Jedi arrived, however, they discovered that the members of the surveillance post had obtained the invasion plans the Vanqors intended to use in their invasion of Typha-Dor. During the attempted escape of the team, Skywalker was captured by the Vanqors and taken to Vanqor itself, where he was placed in the Zone of Self-Containment, a drug that induced a state of blissful content, by the criminal scientist Jenna Zan Arbor. Skywalker also discovered later that the Zone interfered with his ability to use the Force. While this occurred, Olin and Tachi, along with the Jedi Garen Muln, Clee Rhara, Ry-Gaul, and Tru Veld, were dispatched to rescue Kenobi and Skywalker and aid them in getting the invasion plans to Typha-Dor. Kenobi managed to spring Skywalker from the Vanqor prison, and the Jedi team arrived just in time to rescue the two from Vanqor forces. Evading enemy starships, the Jedi team arrived safely at Typha-Dor. When the Typha-Dorian General Bycha mentioned that rumors had arose of medical experiments being performed on the prisoners in the camp Skywalker was imprisoned in, the young Jedi revealed that he had undergone the procedure. This surprised all of the Jedi, but most of all Kenobi—none of them had yet been told this by Skywalker. This made Olin believe that Skywalker had refrained from telling his Master because he enjoyed the lack of feeling, saying that it even overcame his loyalty to Kenobi, and causing Skywalker to become defensive of his actions. Although with the Jedi's aid the Typha-Dorians managed to force the Vanqor forces into surrendering without firing a shot, Jenna Zan Arbor escaped Vanqor, after which the four Jedi chose to continue their attempts to track her down.^[11]

Mission to Quas Killam[]

At some point, Olin and Tachi embarked on a mission to the mining planet of Quas Killam, although the exact date of the mission is unclear. On the planet, they oversaw peace talks between a trinium mining cartel and another faction; the two groups wanted to form a coalition government of the planet. Although their mission was successful, Olin was uneasy with the result, believing that the cartel had made too many concessions to the other group. However, Tachi reminded him that their mission was complete, and they could not interfere with the government to investigate the Padawan's suspicions. At the beginning of the Clone Wars, however, Olin's misgivings were proved correct. The cartel allied with the Trade Federation to take control of Quas Killam's government, giving the Separatists control of all the factories and trinium mines. Many Killams not in the cartel were conscripted or killed. Later, during a mission undertaken by Tachi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padmé Amidala, the female Jedi Master recalled the mission to Quas Killam with regret, wishing that she had observed more of the occurrences there, and possibly prevented the Separatists' takeover of the planet.^[12]

Tracking Jenna Zan Arbor[]

Uprising on Romin[]

During the following few months, Kenobi and Skywalker tracked Zan Arbor across the galaxy, while Tachi and Olin only assisted them occasionally. However, Tachi had promised to help Kenobi finally effect Zan Arbor's capture, and when Kenobi and Skywalker traced the criminal scientist to the planet Romin, Tachi, along with Olin, planned to join Skywalker and Kenobi to assist in capturing the criminal.^[6]

The Senate's bureaucracy held the Jedi back, though, as a law stated that it was illegal to arrest or transport a galactic criminal off Romin; corruption in the Senate caused the passing of the law, which enabled the planet's corrupt leader, Roy Teda, to make a fortune offering refuge to criminals. This did not deter Kenobi, however, and when he learned that a gang of thieves known as the Slams had just been captured by the Republic, and their capture had not yet been publicized, he managed to convince the Jedi Council to allow the four Jedi to impersonate the Slams in effort to gain entrance to Romin, despite the disagreement of Olin, who argued that the Jedi were above using trickery to capture Zan Arbor.^[6]

Arriving on Romin, Kenobi and Tachi split up with their Padawans, meeting with Zan Arbor and stealing her datapad while Skywalker and Olin explored the city. Before the Padawans could return to their villa, however, they were ambushed by mysterious assailants and captured. Their attackers took them to Joylin, leader of the anti-Teda resistance, who revealed to them that a coup was planned against Teda in one day, at the reception Teda held for the wealthy residents of Romin. Believing the Jedi to be the Slams, Joylin asked them to steal codes from Teda's palace that would allow the resistance to deactivate his droid army, allowing a nearly bloodless transition of power. Despite Olin's objections to the plan, the Jedi agreed to assist the resistance in removing Teda from power, believing it to be an act of justice against the dictator.^[6]

That night, Olin, unable to sleep, came across Kenobi in the garden of the villa the Jedi were staying in. He confessed to the Jedi Master his fears about Skywalker's power, but Kenobi disagreed.^[6] This would later haunt him after Skywalker became Darth Vader; he would remember that Olin had warned him about the dangers of Skywalker's incredible potential, and he had not heeded the young Padawan's warning.^[1] However, confessing his fears for his rival seemed to release a weight from Olin, and the two Jedi later became, if not friends, certainly much less antagonistic towards one another during much of the remainder of their search for Zan Arbor.^[13]

During the reception the next day, the Jedi successfully managed to steal the codes required by the resistance. However, with Teda's droids out of commission, the revolters vandalized much of the city, proving that Olin's misgivings were warranted. Teda and Zan Arbor fled the capital, and summoned the Slams for a job. When the Jedi reached the hideout of the two, though, the real Slams, freshly escaped from prison, arrived, denouncing the Jedi as impostors. Zan Arbor then recognized Skywalker from her experiments upon him on Vanqor, and realized the impostors were Jedi; after this the four were taken captive and sent into the prisons. Before they could be locked away, they freed the other prisoners of Teda, and demoralized the dictator's army, forcing them to surrender. Teda and Zan Arbor were captured and taken before Joylin, the new leader of Romin, making it seem like the Jedi had won. Unfortunately, Joylin had other plans. He released Teda and Zan Arbor, and gave the true Slams permission to leave, attempting to use their flight as justification for his planned execution of Teda's followers. Skywalker sensed his plan soon enough that the Jedi would have been able to capture their enemies, if not for a bit of information discovered on Jenna Zan Arbor's datapad by Kenobi She had been corresponding with Granta Omega,^[6] a notable enemy of the Jedi responsible for the murder of Jedi Master Yaddle.^[10] Hoping Zan Arbor would lead them to Omega, the Jedi instead planted a tracking device on the Slams' ship, allowing the Jedi to follow them to Omega.^[6]

Investigation on Falleen[]

The four Jedi tracked Zan Arbor and Teda to the planet Falleen.^[13] On Romin the Jedi had discovered that Zan Arbor and Teda were in league with Granta Omega,^[6] the wealthy son of Qui-Gon Jinn's former Padawan Xanatos, and an enemy of the Jedi who was responsible for the death of Jedi Master Yaddle.^[10] They believed that he was attempting to assist Zan Arbor in her attempts to perfect the transmission of the Zone of Self-Containment.^[13]

On Falleen, the Jedi discovered that Roy Teda, who fled Romin along with Zan Arbor, was staying at a luxurious hotel on Falleen, which Tachi and Olin went to investigate. Meanwhile, Kenobi and Skywalker investigated a relatively new factory, Blackwater Systems, that had been built without respect for safety laws, and had bribed investigators to overlook these oversights.^[13]

The factory was destroyed by the owners to cover up the illegal activities that took place inside, and Tachi and Olin barely arrived in time to rescue Kenobi and Skywalker, only to discover that their quarry had fled Falleen. Before the Jedi could continue to follow the trail, Mace Windu called them back to Coruscant to help defend the Jedi Order from the accusations of an anti-Jedi faction of the Senate working to deprive the Jedi of official Senate authority for their actions.^[13]

Attack on the Senate[]

During a Senate hearing regarding the Jedi's actions on Romin, Tachi and Olin discovered what they thought was the hideout of Omega and Zan Arbor. The Master and her Padawan called in Kenobi and Skywalker to assist them, but when they entered, the only occupants were three droidekas and a group of seeker droids. The Jedi destroyed the droids, but found the hideout devoid of any evidence of Omega's plans. Later discovering that the criminals planned to use the Zone of Self-Containment to allow them to steal the vertex being donated to the All Planets Relief Fund, the Jedi captured the Slams and prevented the theft, only to discover that it was a diversion. Omega and Zan Arbor really planned to use the Zone of Self-Containment in the Senate to assassinate Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Planning for Bog Divinian, the leader of the anti-Jedi movement, to propose the election of Senator Sano Sauro, an ally of Omega's, as Palpatine's successor, Omega and Zan Arbor nearly succeeded in releasing the Zone.^[13]

Although Kenobi arrived at the Senate in time to prevent Omega and Zan Arbor from unleashing the biochemical, he could not prevent Omega from launching hundreds of killing seeker droids programmed with the vitals of Republic Senators, including the Supreme Chancellor. Skywalker, Tachi, and Kenobi attempted to prevent Omega's escape while Olin guarded the Chancellor, but their efforts were in vain. Omega and Zan Arbor escaped the Jedi's clutches once again. During the chaos that followed in the Senate, Olin saved the life of Palpatine, but twenty-one Senators died amidst the carnage, as well as Roy Teda. For his heroics in saving the life of the Chancellor, Olin received a special commendation from the Jedi Council. Then, the Jedi once again continued the search for Omega and Zan Arbor.^[13]

Mission to Korriban[]

Due to the noticeably increasing influence of the dark side, in 24 BBY the Jedi Council made a decision to accelerate the promotion of Padawans to the rank of Knight. Due to the magnitude of the decision, the council decided to proceed cautiously, beginning the program with one test case—Olin. This enraged Skywalker, who believed he was better than Olin and deserved to be the first to become a Jedi Knight. In addition, the Council revealed to the two rivals and their masters, along with Darra Thel-Tanis and Tru Veld and their masters (Soara Antana and Ry-Gaul, respectively), that they had discovered the location of Granta Omega, along with Zan Arbor, his companion. The two criminals were on Korriban. Inferring that the mysterious and secretive Sith Lord had finally noticed Omega, and decided to reward him for his dedication, the Jedi were sent immediately to Korriban to apprehend Omega and Zan Arbor.^[14]

During the flight to Korriban, Skywalker made clear his feelings toward Olin, angering him, and leaving Veld and Thel-Tanis in embarrassed silence as they futilely attempted to defuse the tensions between the two rivals. When they landed, Skywalker and Olin were sent to infiltrate the planet's black market in order to find Zan Arbor and Omega by meeting a thief named Auben. However, when they finally made contact with her, they were attacked by droids of the Commerce Guild army, and fled with the thief into a nearby Sith monastery, and were soon followed by their fellow Jedi. Before the trio could escape the monastery, however, Olin and Skywalker sensed dark power within the hangar that contained the exit, and they fled along with Auben back towards the droids, not knowing that they had just sensed a Sith in the hangar. Meeting up with Darra and Tru, the four Jedi were attacked by numerous super battle droids, and when a Jedi victory no longer seemed in doubt to Skywalker, he noticed a shadowy figure heading towards the exit.^[14]

The young Padawan followed him, believing he was Omega, only to be thrown backwards with a surge of Force energy from the fleeing man, who was in fact the unknown Sith. Despite the Jedi's efforts, the Sith escaped the hangar, and slew Auben as he fled. In the battle with the droids, however, Veld's lightsaber was damaged. A rift had begun to grow between he and Skywalker after the latter's showdown with Olin during the flight to Korriban, and he asked Olin, not Skywalker, to repair the lightsaber. Olin repaired it, but was ignorant of a prior repair done by Skywalker, which was offset by the power boost he had done. Skywalker saw Olin fix the lightsaber; however, angered by the fact that Veld had gone to Olin instead of him, chose not to mention the need to double-check the area of the weapon he had repaired. The Jedi then took an airspeeder to the Valley of the Dark Lords, where Kenobi had discovered that Omega and Zan Arbor planned to meet the mysterious Sith Lord.^[14]

In the Valley of the Dark Lords[]

During the flight to the Valley, the Jedi were forced to evade Commerce Guild security craft, but managed to reach the Valley unscathed. In the Valley, they were confronted by a pack of tuk'ata, which they managed to defeat, along with Korriban zombies activated to protect Omega by the ancient Sith. During the battle with the zombies, however, Veld's lightsaber began to fail because of the repair that Skywalker failed to double-check, and he switched lightsabers with Olin. When Veld's finally failed utterly, Thel-Tanis rushed to aid Olin, only to be shot with a blaster pistol by Omega. Her death caused Olin much grief, and would later cause him to leave the Jedi Order.^[14]

Omega, closely pursued by Kenobi and Skywalker, fled, planning to meet the Sith Lord. But he was betrayed. The Sith Lord escaped Korriban, and Kenobi struck down Omega, ending his vendetta against the Jedi once and for all, but leaving repercussions throughout the Jedi that would never fully fade.^[14] However, Jenna Zan Arbor escaped Korriban as well, and disappeared for a time, eventually joining the Confederacy of Independent Systems as a scientist.^[15]

Leaving the Jedi[]

Grief-stricken with guilt that he had not told Ry-Gaul about the damage to Veld's lightsaber, and believing he had inadvertently caused Thel-Tanis's death, Olin made the decision to resign from the Jedi Order. Upon exiting the Council Chamber after submitting his resignation, he met Skywalker outside. When he told his rival the reason for his withdrawal from the Order, Skywalker unintentionally revealed that he had known that Olin had fixed the lightsaber. However, lightsaber expert and Jedi Master Tolan Hing had told Olin that it was, in fact, the failing of the piece that Skywalker had neglected to tell Veld to adjust that had caused the saber's failure. Veld, also present, was shocked by this, and renounced his friendship with Skywalker. The trauma of Darra's death had brought him into closer friendship with Olin, however, and the two parted pleasantly.^[14] Despite the revelation of Skywalker's indirect involvement in Thel-Tanis's death, Olin left the Jedi with a promise to help any Jedi in need, even his rival.^[14] Later, after the execution of Order 66, Olin would return to the Jedi Temple in search of imprisoned Jedi but instead discover Tru's lightsaber alongside many others and was saddened by this apparent evidence of his friend's death.^[5]

Life on Bellassa[]

A few months after resigning from the Jedi Order, Olin met Roan Lands one morning in a cafe. The two became fast friends and started their own business, Olin and Lands, on the planet Bellassa. They protected whistleblowers like Dona Telamark from vengeance, enabling them to testify in court against dishonest and corrupt businesses that cut corners on their products. During this time, Olin became an accomplished slicer, considered among the most skilled in the galaxy.^[1]

When the Clone Wars broke out, the two joined the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as officers. During the early days of the Jedi Purge, Olin escaped the notice of the Empire because he was no longer a Jedi, and therefore not considered a threat to Palpatine's new regime. However, he refused to stand on the sidelines when he heard of the atrocities that Palpatine had committed. He and Lands founded a resistance group on Bellassa known as the Eleven, with nine other Bellassans, including Wil Asani, Rilla, and Loran. The Empire, in an effort to crush the Bellassans' resistance, made finding Olin and Lands a top priority. Eventually, Lands was captured, and Olin barely escaped with his life. He found refuge in the mountain cabin of Dona Telamark, he and Roan's first client, as the wound he had received in his escape from the Empire began to heal. Despite he and Roan's vow never to come rescue one another if they were captured, Olin planned to go back to rescue Roan once his wound healed. His plan changed, however, when his old friend Obi-Wan Kenobi tracked him to Telamark's mountain cabin.^[1]

Return to the Jedi Order[]

Reunion[]

Kenobi revealed that he had spirited Roan away from prison to the Eleven's safehouse, where he was recovering from neurotoxins administered to him by the Empire. The mass arrests that had occurred in Ussa while Kenobi was there were lauded as evidence of the dangers in returning to the city by the Jedi, but when Dona activated the HoloNet the next day, Olin was given no choice. The cabin's occupants discovered that the Empire had issued an ultimatum: if Ferus Olin did not surrender to them within two days, all the people imprisoned in the mass arrests would be executed. Though Olin planned to give himself up, his location was discovered before he got the chance to leave the mountain cabin. Boba Fett and D'harhan, bounty hunters in the employ of an Inquisitor named Malorum, attacked the cabin sanctuary, and Olin was forced to flee with Kenobi into the old mining tunnels located under the building.^[1]

Narrowly escaping the bounty hunters, the duo commandeered the landspeeder of one of Dona's friends, and safely reached the Eleven's safehouse in Ussa. The Eleven developed a plan with the two to ensure that all the prisoners were returned safely, in case of a double-cross by Malorum. Sure enough, the Inquisitor attempted to double-cross the Eleven, claiming the prisoners were rioting even as stormtroopers dragged Olin into the Imperial garrison. But before the garrison's doors closed, Kenobi piloted a small airspeeder into the garrison and fled into an air vent with Olin after cutting down his guards. The two managed to escape the prison and discovered that Malorum was researching an event that had happened in Polis Massa. They then stole a ship to leave the planet. Their troubles were not over, however. Boba Fett and his partner followed them in the Slave I, forcing the two to jump to hyperspace to the Red Twins, a system that lacked an Imperial presence. Trever Flume, a teenage street thief who had assisted the two in their escape and a former friend of Olin during his days at Olin and Lands, stowed away aboard the spacecraft, increasing the size of the group to three.^[1]

However, Fett and D'harhan tracked the trio to the Red Twins spaceport,^[1] and after a confrontation in the spaceport, which resulted in D'harhan's detainment by authorities, the three fled the Red Twins. Boba Fett continued to trail them in his Firespray with the tenacity of a mynock. Flying into an atmospheric storm, Olin managed to lose Fett, forcing him to crash-land on the planet Deneter.^[16]

In the heat of their escape from the Red Twins, Flume had not had time to trade the stolen Imperial ship for a ship with a hyperdrive. This greatly limited Olin's options, and he had no choice but to head to the planet Acherin to refuel. When they reached Acherin, however, they landed right in the middle of the war. A resistance movement on Acherin was engaged in a desperate last stand against an Imperial fleet, and one of its starfighters forced Olin to land. The pilot, Commander Raina Quill, led the three to the resistance's stronghold, the hidden city of Eluthan, once she discovered that Kenobi was a Jedi. There, they met the resistance's leader, Toma. Olin and Raina each volunteered to pilot a fighter against the Imperial forces, but their resistance was futile. The Empire shot down ship after ship, until Toma had no choice but to call a retreat. The Admiral commanding the Imperial fleet, Riwwel, refused to accept Toma's surrender and instead ordered annihilation as a punishment: after Raina and Olin exited their fighters and boarded Toma's escape craft, the group barely escaped Eluthan ahead of the orbital bombardment of the city delivered by Riwwel's Star Destroyer.^[16]

Dodging Imperial fighters, Raina piloted the ship to the atmospheric storm where Olin, Kenobi and Flume had evaded Boba Fett. They planned to take refuge within it before making a jump to hyperspace. However, within the storm, they discovered an uncharted asteroid capable of supporting life that traveled within the storm. Raina landed the ship there, where she and Toma stayed, waiting for Kenobi, Olin, and Flume to return from Ilum. This planet, according to Toma, was the sanctuary that a Jedi fighting on Acherin during the Clone Wars and a good friend of Kenobi, Garen Muln, had fled to after Order 66 was given.^[16]

Rescue on Ilum[]

During the flight to Ilum, Kenobi told Olin that he would need to rescue Garen on his own. Although he did not inform Olin, Kenobi, receiving guidance from the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn, had decided to go to Polis Massa, to ensure that records showing his visit to the asteroid with Yoda and Padmé Amidala were destroyed. Despite his anger and bewilderment with Kenobi, Olin agreed to the plan. The Jedi Master disclosed to Olin the location of a secret entrance through the caves, which would enable Olin to enter the caves without attracting the notice of the Imperial garrison that was sure to be on Ilum. Unfortunately for Olin, the passageway led straight through the middle of a gorgodon nest, home to fierce native beasts of Ilum.^[16]

After dropping Olin and Flume on Ilum, Kenobi departed, leaving the two alone on the icy planet. Olin left Flume outside the entrance of the cave, much to the young thief's chagrin, and entered the gorgodon nest. He narrowly escaped an attack from the creatures, but advanced further into the crystal cave unhindered. After enduring visions of his former master Tachi, his rival Skywalker, and Palpatine's apprentice Darth Vader, Olin reached the rear of the cave, where he met a tattered, exhausted Jedi- Garen Muln.^[16]

Before the Jedi could tell Olin much of how he came to reach the cave, an agonized howling rang through the cave. Stormtroopers were exterminating the gorgodons in an effort to reach Olin, who they had discovered was on Ilum. Muln gifted Olin with his lightsaber, to which Olin added the crystals he had taken from the cave, and tried to persuade the Jedi apprentice to leave him. However, Olin refused the weakened Jedi. He convinced Garen to distract the stormtroopers waiting at the cave's main entrance, while he destroyed the Imperials, wielding a lightsaber for the first time since his days in the old Jedi Order. They escaped the Crystal Cave in an Imperial ship hotwired by Flume, who rescued the two Jedi from another Imperial onslaught.^[16]

In a hidden cave formerly used as a hangar by the Jedi, Kenobi picked the three up in Toma's ship. They returned to the asteroid after meeting up with Olin's friend Roan, who had brought him the supplies he needed to create a secret base for Jedi refugees on the asteroid. Unable to risk leaving young Luke Skywalker unprotected any longer, Kenobi was forced to return to Tatooine, angering Olin, for the apprentice was ignorant of Kenobi's reasons for staying hidden. Olin had other priorities, though. He learned from Garen that another Jedi had sought safety at the Crystal Cave… Fy-Tor-Ana. She had gone to Coruscant to search for other Jedi. Combined with D'harhan's insinuation that there was a Jedi prisoner on Coruscant, Olin inferred that Fy-Tor had been captured by the Empire. Along with Flume, he set out to Coruscant to rescue her, leaving Raina and Toma to care for Garen at the asteroid.^[16]

Stop at Korriban[]

En route to the galactic capital, however, Toma's ship needed to be refueled. As fate would have it, the nearest refueling station was located on Korriban,^[15] the location of Olin's last mission, and where Darra Thel-Tanis had died.^[14] Olin chose to land on the Sith burial world in part to test himself, and to see if he was capable of resisting the dark side. After touching down, however, ghosts of the Sith tempted Olin to stay on Korriban to learn to use the Force more powerfully. Olin resisted the dark forces, and decided to continue on to Coruscant. However, before leaving, Olin sighted Jenna Zan Arbor on Korriban, who left the city of Dreshdae to return to the Valley of the Dark Lords even as Olin and Flume left the former Sith stronghold.^[15]

Return to Coruscant[]

Infiltrating the Temple[]

Returning to Coruscant for the first time since his resignation from the Jedi Order, Olin was devastated to see the Jedi Temple in its current, damaged state after being set fire to during Order 66. Following information gleaned from D'harhan and Garen Muln, Olin planned to infiltrate the Temple to free the Jedi Fy-Tor-Ana, whom he suspected to be in Imperial captivity there.^[5][16] He hired an air-taxi pilot to fly over a burnt tower of the Temple, allowing he and Flume to rappel down to gain entrance to the former stronghold of the Jedi without attracting the notice of stormtroopers.^[5]

Inside the Temple, Olin came across the area where he had first met Anakin Skywalker, many years ago.^[5] Deceived by Obi-Wan Kenobi into believing that Skywalker had been killed by the Empire,^[1] Olin solemnly remembered the young Jedi he had known, and looked upon his death with sadness,^[5] although the two had never liked each other.^{[2][3][7][11][14]} Before the two left the room, they narrowly escaped a run-in with stormtroopers, escaping only because of the failings of the white-armored troops' helmet sensors. With his knowledge of the various passages of the Temple, Olin led Flume through the Room of a Thousand Fountains, among other locations, before eventually reaching the basements of the vast building. There they discovered an enormous pile of lightsabers, taken from Jedi slaughtered at the hands of the Empire during the Jedi Purge. This devastated Olin, especially when he discovered the lightsaber of his friend Tru Veld among the others, making his death almost certain.^[5]

Olin was jolted from his reverie, though, when Flume heard stormtroopers entering the room. Realizing that the Empire had spread rumors that a Jedi was imprisoned in the Temple in order to ensnare any survivors in a trap, Olin and Flume fled the area, and evaded their pursuers by a very slight margin. However, the damage was done. The Empire was now alerted to the presence of the two intruders.^[5]

To escape scrutiny, Olin and Flume fled to Malorum's private office, located in what was once Yoda's quarters. Believing the Inquisitor to be absent from the Temple, Olin saw the unlikely area for an infiltrator to hide as both a safe refuge and a place where he had the opportunity to slice Malorum's files and attempt to aid Obi-Wan Kenobi by informing him Malorum's reasons for investigating the world of Polis Massa. However, Malorum was not absent from the Temple. He had returned earlier than expected, forcing Olin and Flume to hide behind a wall panel in his office just before he arrived with Darth Vader, at the Temple for a surprise visit.^[5]

During Vader's visit, the Inquisitor revealed that he had planted spies in the lower levels of Coruscant, and when Vader mentioned he had heard of another Jedi on Coruscant, Malorum claimed to have a spy in the Jedi's group. When he revealed his investigations into rumors about Polis Massa to Vader, though, the Sith unleashed his fury on the Inquisitor, choking him with the Force. As yet another mention of Polis Massa appeared, Olin's curiosity was piqued, making him realize the necessity of Kenobi's detour while Garen was rescued. But he and Flume were not safe yet. In Vader's rage, he ripped off the panel which the two were hiding behind, exposing them to Malorum and the Dark Lord. The duo managed to elude Malorum, while Vader simply let them escape, likely because it would humiliate his rival Malorum.^[5]

Using the Force to confuse a squad of Imperial guards, Olin and Flume stole an airspeeder and managed to safely escape the Temple. Although they had discovered that Fy-Tor-Ana was not in the Jedi Temple, Olin still believed she was on the planet. He and Flume flew to Dexter's Diner to find Dexter Jettster, an old friend of the Jedi^[13] and of Kenobi in particular.^[17] If anyone knew where a fugitive Jedi would be hiding, in Olin's opinion it was Dexter Jettster.^[5]

Meeting the Erased[]

When Olin arrived at Dex's Diner, he was shocked to find it destroyed. Without Jettster, he had no leads on Fy-Tor's whereabouts. However, he ran into a woman who, after confirming he was not an Imperial spy, recommended that he enter the Orange District at sunset. From her, he learned that Jettster was rumored to have joined the Erased, a group of people active in the Republic who had virtually disappeared rather than face arrest and even execution. Realizing the hidden message in her warning, Olin and Flume headed further into the sublevels of Coruscant, towards the Orange District.^[5]

Searching the streets of Coruscant, the two deciphered the woman's clues, inferring that the orange street lamps that glowed similarly to a setting sun were characteristic. When Olin tried to enter a cantina to find information, though, he was immediately tossed out by a Whiphid. Olin refused to be shrugged off, and attempted to enter, but a group of thugs emerged, drawing weapons and preparing to drive him off. Before they attacked, however, Dexter Jettster emerged from the cantina. Recognizing Olin, he prevented the thugs from attacking him and Flume, and invited them inside.^[5]

They entered the cantina, the hideout of Jettster, and in it were introduced to the Erased, none other than the thugs that had been so eager to attack them only seconds before. Jettster was surprised to find Olin on Coruscant, and he was further shocked when the Jedi informed him that Obi-Wan Kenobi, a good friend of Jettster, was still alive. The Besalisk had seen a Jedi matching Fy-Tor's description, and expressed his suspicions that the Jedi Temple was merely a Jedi trap, which Olin confirmed. Because of this, he had warned her to avoid the Temple. When Ana left, Jettster said, she had told him that if ever he needed her assistance, to find Solace.^[5]

When Olin warned the Erased of Malorum's plans to crack down on the lower levels of Coruscant, the group decided to search for Solace, a rumored refuge said to be all the way down to Coruscant's crust, that was considered almost indiscoverable by the Empire. Jettster maneuvered the Erased into appointing Olin the leader of the expedition; Olin was not happy with this, but did not protest. Before leaving, Olin contacted Kenobi and informed him of the recent developments on Coruscant. Kenobi warned the Padawan that Malorum's investigations into Polis Massa needed to be stopped.^[5]

Hunting for Solace[]

Though Jettster chose to remain in the Orange District, Olin, Flume, and the rest of the Erased set off deeper into the underworld of Coruscant in search of Solace. At last reaching the lowest level of Coruscant, they were attacked by a local street gang numbering about fifteen. Olin's fighting skills, along with the assistance of the Erased, allowed him to defeat the gang with ease. During the fight, Flume was attacked by a duracrete slug emerging from a hole in the duracrete; however, a well-placed vibro-shiv from Keets Freely stunned the slug into retreat. At the Underworld Inn that night, Flume realized that there was space in the crack where the slug had emerged from to attack him. Olin did not doubt the boy's intuition; after all, some rumors heard stated that Solace was below Coruscant's crust. Immediately, Olin roused the Erased, and they returned to the site of the battle.^[5]

Climbing beneath the duracrete, Olin, Flume, and the Erased discovered the remains of an ancient transportation system, confirming that sentient life had once existed within the tunnel. Within the caverns, they met a creature calling himself "Guide." He claimed to be able to take the group to Solace. Realizing they had little other choice, Olin agreed to allow him to lead them there. When they reached the refuge, however, it became clear that Solace was not a place, it was a person— Guide. Guide was not trustworthy, though, and turned the Erased over to the refuge's residents. Olin's drawn lightsaber, however, elicited a reaction. The mysterious man called Olin a Padawan, not quite a Jedi; this caused him to realize who "Guide" really was… not a man at all, but Fy-Tor-Ana in disguise.^[5]

Recognizing Olin, Fy-Tor ordered the crowd to disband. Olin told her of his plans to search for fugitive Jedi and collect them, but she disagreed. Ana said her identity was that of Solace, not Fy-Tor; she believed that the hidden city provided her with all she needed, and she could not stop the Empire anyway. When the Padawan told her of Malorum's claims that there was a spy in her organization, Solace refused to believe it. Only when Olin told her of the pile of lightsabers collected in the Temple did Fy-Tor come to believe that the Empire had to be fought. She, Olin, and Flume planned to reenter the Temple and steal back the lightsabers rather than leave them in Sith hands; also, she and Olin could slice Malorum's data files to ensure that he did not, in fact, have a spy in her organization.^[5]

Captured by the Empire[]

To enter the Temple, Solace devised a plan. Earlier, she had built a customized ship utilizing parts from a mole miner and an ARC-170 starfighter that was capable of burrowing beneath Coruscant's crust. The two Jedi planned to utilize this feature to get under the Temple, then to head towards the surface, coming up in an abandoned turbolift shaft. This plan worked to perfection, and they reached the Temple without incident. Once the three entered, though, something seemed wrong. Olin nearly tripped over conductor wire in the middle of a corridor, and stormtroopers were nowhere to be found. Also, when the group reached Malorum's office, it was emptied completely. Unable to learn anything from Malorum's files any longer, the Jedi decided to collect the lightsabers and leave quickly. However, in a burst of intuition, Flume connected the mysterious events. Opening a power vent, he discovered that the conductor wire was being used to drain power from the Temple's core to be used to power a bomb. Malorum was trying to obliterate the Temple; also, this would enable him to blame it on Darth Vader by claiming that he gave the order to do so, though Vader had only suggested such an idea to prove that Malorum was keeping private files outside the main Imperial databanks. Unable to bear the thought of fleeing the Temple and leaving it to be destroyed, the Jedi chose to risk their lives and attempt to disable the explosives.^[5]

Although they successfully deactivated the bomb, the three were not safe yet. Squads of stormtroopers with AT-RT's entered the Temple before they could escape, with Malorum at their head. Realizing that without a drastic measure, Solace and Flume had no hope of escape, Olin surrendered to the stormtroopers, giving his companions time to flee in Solace's esoteric craft. However, the Jedi first entrusted Solace with his lightsaber, unable to bear its capture by the Empire.^[5]

Awaking in a prison, Malorum entered and interrogated Olin, attempting to learn the identity of the Jedi who infiltrated the Temple with him. When Olin refused to reveal the information, however, Malorum indifferently walked out.^[5]

That prison was the planet Dontamo, the location of Dontamo Prison. Introduced to the prison routine by his cellmate, Prisoner 934890, Olin immediately began searching for a way to escape. However, when Olin fought Prisoner 677780 over rations, the man immediately began preparing to get Olin back. One morning, the Jedi was ambushed by "Prisoner 67" and five of his henchmen. Only the quick action of Clive Flax, a fellow prisoner and a friend of Olin from the Clone Wars, saved Olin from being suffocated. The two developed a plan and managed to steal a starship, but were nearly shot down by Imperial fighters over Dontamo. Only the timely arrival of the Erased prevented Olin and Flax from being reduced to mere space dust. They headed to Alba-16, where Olin learned that the ranks of the Erased had been thinned by an Imperial raid on Solace's hidden city. When Keets Freely told Olin that Malorum had gone to the planet Naboo,^[18] however, the Jedi remembered the warnings of Obi-Wan Kenobi that Malorum's investigations into Senator Padmé Amidala's death must be stopped.^[5] He, the Erased, and Flax left for Naboo.^[18]

Mission to Naboo[]

Olin and the Erased traced Malorum to the residence of Ryoo Thule, the grandmother of the deceased Senator Padmé Amidala, after speaking with former Captain Gregar Typho and Queen Apailana. Olin discovered her near-death after being mortally wounded by the Inquisitor, and the old woman warned him with her dying breath that Malorum suspected the truth of a great secret,^[18] which Obi-Wan Kenobi thought vital to protect.^[5] This was in fact the knowledge of the Skywalkers' existence.^[1] Spotting Malorum, the group pursued him in boats, but the Inquisitor destroyed them by using wrist rockets, and managed to escape. Only the assistance of a Gungan bongo pilot named Yunabana saved the Erased from drowning. Yunabana brought the group before Boss Rugor Nass. He and Olin contacted Queen Apailana for a holoconference, where the Jedi revealed a daring plan. The Gungans and the Naboo would attack and destroy the Imperial garrison while Olin neutralized Malorum. The Empire was storing illegal explosives in their garrison, according to Naboo intelligence; if these were detonated after the Imperials were killed, it would destroy the garrison, and prevent the Empire from unleashing retribution on the Naboo since they would not want it known that they were storing outlawed weaponry.^[18]

Olin drove Malorum backwards into the Theed Royal Palace, pressing him into the Theed reactor core,^[18] where Qui-Gon Jinn and Kenobi had dueled Darth Maul during the events of the Battle of Naboo.^[19] As a Jedi, Olin had assumed he would defeat Malorum without difficulty;^[18] although he had sensed Malorum's aptitude for using the Force,^[1] he had not expected Malorum to be trained in the use of a lightsaber. He soon realized his error, as the Grand Inquisitor revealed a red lightsaber and attacked. The battle was surprisingly evenly matched, and the two combatants progressed through a corridor containing energy walls, finally emerging at the edge of the melting pit where Qui-Gon Jinn was slain.^[19]

In the end, Malorum was closely bested by the former Padawan. Pinning Malorum against the melting pit, Olin left himself open to an attack. The Inquisitor took the bait and charged him, only to be disarmed, and to have his lightsaber knocked over the pit. Attempting to leap across the pit and summon the lightsaber with the Force, Malorum was blinded by need; he lost control and fell into the melting pit, taking the secret of the Skywalkers with him.^[18]

Leaving the melting pit behind, Olin exited the palace to discover that the Empire had been routed. He and Flax successfully destroyed the explosives, preventing blame from being pinned on the Naboo. They, the Erased, and Solace planned to return to the secret base with much needed supplies for Toma, Raina, and Garen. Before they could set a course, however, Olin received a message from Emperor Palpatine himself. The Emperor offered Olin amnesty for all his past "crimes" if Olin would agree to meet with him on Coruscant. Even if Olin refused the Sith's offer, Palpatine said that the Jedi would be allowed to take the amnesty and go free without retribution.^[18]

Double-Agent[]

Blackmailed by the Emperor[]

Olin decided to hear Palpatine out. With the Erased, he traveled to Coruscant, although he was the only one who met with the Sith, along with Sly Moore and Moff Tarkin. Palpatine asked the Jedi to help aid the planet of Samaria. A desert world completely dependent on technology, Samaria was devastated when a bug was introduced into its computer mainframe, causing critical systems everywhere to malfunction. Despite the sorrow he felt for Samaria, Olin was unwilling to work for the Emperor, and planned to take the amnesty the Sith offered. Palpatine had a catch in place, though. He informed Olin that his friends Roan Lands and Dona Telamark had been arrested, and would be executed, unless Olin aided him on Samaria. Unable to let his friends die, the Jedi agreed to travel to the desert planet.^[20]

On his way to an Imperial starship, Olin managed to pass on the details of his encounter with the Emperor to the Erased, who utilized disguises to get close to him without attracting the notice of a trailing prowler droid. When he reached his ship, Solace, in the guise of another pilot, told him that she and the Erased would free Lands and Telamark. With this knowledge, Olin left for Samaria. However, Keets Freely and Curran Caladian chose to stay on Coruscant with Dexter Jettster in the event that they were needed there.^[20]

Reaching the capital city of Sath, Olin met with Prime Minister Aaren Larker and the resident Imperial Advisor, none other than Bog Divinian,^[20] who Olin had met at the Galactic Games.^[2] Although Divinian attempted to assert control over him, he grew impatient when Olin failed to solve the problem quickly, and left the Jedi alone, leaving him with orders to report to him if anything happened.Despite his skills at slicing, Olin was unable to make any headway in discovering the source of the computer virus. He was forced to seek other methods of finding clues. Finally, he cross-referenced the records for requests to buy spacecraft with the Sath mausoleum. Correctly assuming that the saboteur would attempt to get off planet, and fear filing for a refund, he found the few who did not request their money back listed in handwritten records. When Olin checked the mausoleum on a hunch that the slicer would have stolen the identity of someone already dead, he discovered the slicer's alias—Quintus Farel, who in reality had died in a speeder crash at the age of two.^[20]

Olin exited the mausoleum, where he met up with Flax, who had arrived on Samaria to help him. On their way to investigate the ship that "Farel" had bought, the two managed to lose a trailing seeker droid in the city's disorganized traffic; however, unknown to him, Divinian had also planted a sensor tag on his boot. After questioning the starship salesman, the pair learned that Farel lived in the Fountain Towers, a recently built district of Sath. Soon after, Olin discovered the sensor tag, and tossed it onto a passing vehicle, hoping to throw Divinian off his trail. The two then headed for the Fountain Towers.^[20]

Olin and Flax tracked down the ship of the saboteur in the Fountain Towers' hangar, but saw something unexpected inside it— a child's laser lasso. Olin was surprised that a child was involved with the saboteur, but continued to trail "Farel." Entering the Fountain Towers, Flax sliced the security keypad to the saboteur's apartment, and the two stealthily entered, only to discover that it was empty. Olin was not deceived by the ruse, however. He and Flax entered the unfinished tower nearby, and discovered the saboteur's real apartment. Entering the same way as before, they confronted the saboteur, only to find that it was Astri Oddo, the former wife of Divinian.^[20]

During a discussion with Oddo, Olin realized that her son, Lune Oddo Divinian, was Force-sensitive. He and Flax expressed their shock at the realization that Oddo had sabotaged the entire planet's infrastructure to protect Lune from Bog, but Oddo was unabashed. As she begged the two to let her go, Olin sensed the arrival of Darth Vader at the Fountain Towers.^[20]

He, Oddo, and Flax fled their room, knowing Vader's men would soon begin searching the Towers. The three headed to the roof in order to cross construction beams at the top to reach the hangar next door, which contained Oddo's cruiser. Along the way, they came across Solace, Flume, and Oryon, with the freed Lands and Telamark in tow. When Solace queried Astri about her motives in sabotaging the Sath computer systems, the woman offered more information than she had to Olin and Flax; she revealed that Larker had given her permission to do so. The Sathan Prime Minister intended the disruption in the systems to give his people the chance to establish a resistance movement, and when the computers came back on-line, records containing information such as who fought for the Republic during the Clone Wars, or who criticized Palpatine when he was the Supreme Chancellor, would be missing; the Empire would have to start from scratch to find out who their enemies were.^[20]

Successfully crossing to the hangar of the Towers, the two Jedi destroyed a squad of stormtroopers, and reached the cruiser. However, attacks from Imperial forces nearly destroyed it, and the group was forced to commandeer an airspeeder. They managed to reach the Imperial vessel Solace had commandeered, but Olin chose to stay and continue attempting to learn the plans of the Empire as a double-agent. Though worried about the consequences of staying so close to his enemies, the Jedi decided to take the risk, and remained on Samaria.^[20]

Resistance in Sath[]

Although the slicer had escaped Samaria, Palpatine considered Olin's efforts in the computer crash successful, insinuating that it had been Darth Vader's responsibility to capture the culprit. In a private conversation with Olin, the Emperor gave him orders to offer amnesty similar to that which the Jedi had received to the fledgling Sathan resistance. Olin agreed, planning to use the offer as a way to contact the resistance. By trailing the aide of Prime Minister Aaren Larker, he managed to make contact with the members of the Sathan resistance— these used the codenames of "Nek," "Dinko," and "Firefolk."^[21]

A few days later, Nek contacted Olin with information. Bog Divinian, attempting to prevent a trade agreement between Samaria and its technological rival Rosha, had electronically linked his newly acquired Personal Droid Helper with two Roshan prowler droids. Fearing that Divinian would attempt to blame the Roshan delegation currently in Sath for something, Olin headed to the diplomatic wing of the city Residence Tower, where the Imperial Representative was meeting with the delegates. Suddenly, a thief in an airspeeder used a liquid cable to snare Bog's droid, and fled. The speeder was closely trailed by the Roshan droids, however; Divinian had programmed them to fire at his droid with low-power weapons, creating the illusion that the Roshans had attempted to assassinate him.^[21]

Catching the thief, Olin discovered it was none other than Flume, who had left the asteroid alone to make contact with Flame, the leader of a galaxy-wide resistance movement known as Moonstrike. They had tried to steal the droid to learn what Divinian was up to— the droid would have recorded every conversation it had overheard while at the Representative's side. Olin returned the droid, and left Flume, but refused to take Flame to meet his resistance movement.^[21]

Vader, however, suspicious of Olin, ordered him to capture the thief, threatening to institute mass arrests if the Jedi did not comply. Confused about the situation, the Sith's threat made Olin wonder why the Empire was so concerned with Samaria. In conversation with the resistance, Flame, and Flume, Olin had an intuitive leap. Learning that Roshan droids could transfer information from a mainframe without any sort of plug-in, the Jedi made the connection that the Roshans could combine their technology with the Sathan ability to transfer large amounts of data at once. Although Roshan droids could not carry much data at once, a melding of the two technologies could theoretically create a "commander" battle droid—one that could intake enormous amounts of data and transfer it to an Imperial droid, overloading and destroying it. At last Olin had hit upon the reason the Empire was so concerned about the Sathan-Roshan trade agreement— they feared what the two societies could do with exchange of technology.^[21]

However, they realized the Empire likely knew this as well. Meeting with the delegation hurriedly, Olin informed them of the possibility of merging their technology with that of the Sathans. Flame quickly evacuated the Roshans from the planet, returning them to Rosha once they realized the Empire planned to assassinate them. Also, Aaren Larker sacrificed his life by posing as the thief of Divinian's droid. Although he believed he would remain free because of his popularity with Sathans, he was imprisoned, and Darth Vader ordered his murder a day after his interment. Olin did believe that Flame and the delegation had reached Rosha safely, however, until the Sith apprentice revealed to him a HoloNet broadcast glorifying the Empire's invasion of Rosha. Olin had been tricked— the Empire had really been planning to invade Rosha, not Samaria— and he believed Flame and Flume dead after seeing the wreck of their ship on the Imperial broadcast.^[21]

Return to Bellassa[]

Aboard an Imperial starship, Olin managed to discover the existence of a large-scale Imperial operation, codenamed Twilight. Remembering that Order 66 had been a large-scale operation, the Jedi felt it was important to discover the details of the operation. However, he received a new assignment from Palpatine— travel to his homeworld of Bellassa and aid Darth Vader in restructuring the Bellassan factories to focus on communication and infrastructure technologies. Although the Sith Lord did not explicitly state it, Olin realized that his presence was to be used to crush the morale of the resistance on his homeworld, making them feel that defeat was inevitable. Despite his reluctance to possibly destroy the morale of the Bellassans, Olin agreed, hoping to find more information about Twilight.^[22]

As Palpatine had expected, Olin's presence on Bellassa greatly angered its citizens. Olin, although pained by the effect his presence was causing, continued to attend Imperial meetings with scientists adapting the planet's industry, in order to remain unsuspicious to the Empire. Managing to meet with Lands, he decided that he would attempt to expose the Empire's activities on Bellassa, and would then end his tenure as a double-agent. He, Lands, Flume, and Doctor Amie Antin, a member of the Eleven, would infiltrate the Imperial facility once the Jedi found a way in.^[22]

Conversing with Russell Wake, a gardener and the head of security at the building, Olin persuaded him to give he and his team fifteen minutes inside the facility. That night, the four entered successfully, and split up within the facility. They broke into Moff Tarkin's office and copied his files to a datapad, learning that Jenna Zan Arbor had entered the Empire's employ. Olin met up with Flume, who revealed that Vader had executed Wake. Realizing that he might not escape, Olin gave the datapad to Flume, telling him to get the pad to the Eleven, and left to find Lands and Antin.^[22]

However, Vader had already reached the two resistance members. In a move aided by the power of the dark side of the Force, the Sith struck down Lands, even as Olin attempted to stall him. Shocked, Olin attacked Vader, only to realize that the Dark Lord meant for him to do so, provoking him by murdering Lands. The Sith easily evaded Olin's attack and choked him with the Force before ordering stormtroopers to imprison Antin and the Jedi.^[22]

Expecting to be executed, Olin was shocked when the Emperor entered his prison cell and offered to teach him powers that would enable him to defeat Darth Vader. Palpatine told the Jedi that he could teach him the power over life and death, saying that his apprentice had been overreaching his authority. Olin accepted the Sith's offer when Palpatine stated that he would give Olin command of the Inquisitorius, and give him authority over those hunting for Force-sensitives. Planning to bring the Force-sensitives to his secret asteroid base rather than turn them over to the Empire, Olin agreed to learn from the Emperor.^[22]

The Emperor's student[]

Palpatine did not have new techniques for Olin to learn at first, however; he simply told the Jedi to give in to, rather than fight, his anger. With his memory of Vader's execution of Roan Lands infuriating him, Olin utterly demolished a training room. Olin still believed he was merely pretending to be on the side of the Empire, though. As such, he secretly met with the Eleven and Flame, informing them of the Empire's plans for the captured Amie Antin and helping prepare a rescue operation. Also, Solace revealed to him that Ry-Gaul had survived Order 66, and in an encounter with the two, both Masters sensed a hint of dark-side aura in Olin, causing them to privately question his ability to resist being corrupted.^[23]

Unbeknownst to Ry-Gaul and Solace, Olin had not returned directly to Bellassa's Imperial garrison after their meeting. Unwilling to leave Bellassa as planned without talking to Roan Lands's family, he met with Enna and Alexir, Roan's parents, and gave them details on the events that occurred the night of their son's death. Also there was Roan's cousin Malory, and upon learning that she had been offered a job at the EmPal SuRecon Center and refused it, as she was against working for the Empire, Olin urged her to reconsider. Investigating the identity of Darth Vader, he hoped to use her as a connection to infiltrate EmPal, where he suspected the Sith had been fitted with his array of prosthetics. At first, Malory was reluctant; she relented, however, when Olin told her that he needed her to accept the Empire's offer to help him avenge his friend's murder.^[23]

His business on Bellassa finished, Olin returned to Coruscant to meet Hydra, the new Grand Inquisitor. With her help, Olin accessed the list of reported or suspected Jedi sightings, and was surprised to discover an individual matching Ry-Gaul's description at the highest priority on the list—the Empire had successfully tracked a Jedi. He was also given a list of suspected Force-sensitives including a small Alderaanian child. However, Hydra stated she would be accompanying him, much to Olin's displeasure. Olin managed to stave off the search for a day so that he could start his investigations in EmPal, where he met Malory, who devised a plan for him to get into the facility's access records. Though he found nothing, Olin knew instinctively that Vader had been born in EmPal.

While he continued his investigation, Olin spotted Jenna Zan Arbor in the facility, though he ignored her since he was investigating Vader. He later found Vader in the tower, and while he grappled with the dark side and his hatred for Vader, he quelled them, believing the key in defeating Vader was by discovering his true identity. After returning to the room where he spotted Jenna, he discovered, to his shock, that she was using Lune Oddo as a test subject, with the forced assistance of Linna Naltree. Using a mind trick on Jenna as a distraction, Olin escaped with Lune on an Imperial vessel hijacked by Flume and a former Imperial teacher named Maggis.

After returning Lune to a safe house on Coruscant, Olin contacted Kenobi and informed him of his assignment to track down Force Adepts, as well as tell him about the existence of Moonstrike. Kenobi said that starting a resistance was too soon as the Empire already had a lock on power and ordered Olin to investigate the baby on Alderaan without the Empire knowing, saying it was something he must do. Olin agreed, trusting Kenobi's judgment.

Mission to Alderaan[]

Arriving with Hydra on Alderaan, Olin knew that Bail Organa would despise him because he sided with the Empire. Learning about Mustafar, he considered it to be Vader's birthplace. However, once he figured out that Leia was Force sensitive, he contacted Kenobi, demanding answers. After weeding out a spy on the planet, the Emperor arrived to "install" order on the planet. Vader said to him something he heard long ago, from Anakin Skywalker, "Save your fears for yourself." He then came to the revelation that Vader was in fact Skywalker.

Battle with Vader and aftermath[]

Olin accessed the power of the Sith holocron given to him by Emperor Palpatine in an attempt to gain dark side power to defeat Vader. In a confrontation with Vader, he revealed to Vader that he knew his secrets—both his past history as Anakin Skywalker and his having killed his wife Padmé Amidala. Vader however, appeared to be fairly unperturbed at Olin's revelation. Following a fierce battle, both were left alive, though Olin was seriously injured. Vader eventually discovered the location of the secret asteroid base due to the betrayals of Flame and Toma who were both discovered by the resistance then abandoned and killed respectively. He drew upon the power of the Force and eventually returned to Obi-Wan Kenobi. He accepted a mission to live on Alderaan, as Fess Ilee, protecting Princess Leia Organa -- "she would never know him, but he would always be there."^[24]

Later life[]

Reunion with Leia[]

After Vader informed the Imperial Senate that Princess Leia's ship had been destroyed over Tatooine and Leia along with it, her foster father, Bail Organa, sent Olin out to find the truth and the latter was thus off-planet when Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star. Having heard rumors that Leia was indeed alive, Olin traveled to Delaya, Alderaan's sister planet in the system, hoping she would appear sooner or later. Leia did, in fact, travel there shortly after the Battle of Yavin, along with her allies Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Luke Skywalker, on a mission from the Rebel Alliance to Delaya and to Alderaan's refugees. During their visit, Olin learned of the death of his friend and mentor, Kenobi. Leia invited Olin to become involved with the Rebellion, but Olin declined, believing that were he to do so, his presence in the Force would be like a beacon to both the Emperor and to Vader, and thus endanger whom he was charged to protect.^[25]

Solo Mission[]

Olin decided to find out what Vader was up to. Learning that Vader was searching for the person who destroyed the Death Star, Olin began tracking Slej Hant, whom Vader commanded to find the information. However, an informant told Olin of another Imperial on the mission. He dwelled on a satellite in the Zoma system, and he almost had the information, as did Hant. Obi-Wan, in spirit form, came to Olin and gave him a plan. Olin hired a Balosar to hire Han Solo to steal a shipment of glitterstim from the satellite in the Zoma system, hoping that Solo would find the information needed to stop the Imperial's plan to kill Luke.^[26]

Joining the Rebellion[]

Later, when Luke and Lune Divinian were in a tight spot involving a Star Destroyer, Olin, in a hijacked TIE fighter, sent them Imperial docking codes - to get in the Star Destroyer - and hyperdrive coordinates. When Luke and Div hesitated too long and the other TIE fighters attacked, Olin began attacking the other fighters. With the time Olin's attack bought them, they made the jump to hyperspace. Olin followed, and all three met on a tiny, faraway moon. Seeing Div triggered old memories, and to keep the truth from Luke, he knocked him out with an injection. Div thought he had turned to the dark side, piloting a TIE and knocking out Luke, but Olin explained some of the situation while Luke slept. After Luke woke up, the three of them returned to the Rebel base on Yavin 4.^[27]

Over the past months, the Imperial assassin X-7 had tried to kill Luke Skywalker on several occasions. Ferus proposed a plan to get X-7 to turn to the Rebel Alliance by forging evidence that he was Trever Flume. They enacted this plan on the world of Belazura, the adopted home of Astri, Clive, Trever, and Div. The plan was only partly successful, and X-7 betrayed the Rebels to the Empire in the Battle of Belazura. Ferus fought X-7 and killed him.^[27]

Death[]

Ferus remained in the Rebel Alliance, though he continued to conceal his Jedi past and worked with Div at the base on Yavin 4. They eventually learned that Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia had gone missing after a Mission to Nyemari. The Rebels planned to attack the Imperial High Command in the Sixela system, though Ferus suspected it was a trap. Ferus received guidance from the Kenobi and managed to locate Luke, Han, and Leia on a moon in the Sixela system. The rogue Imperial commander Rezi Soresh was trying to turn Skywalker into an emotionless, obedient Assassin to replace X-7, and attempted to lure the Rebels and Vader into a trap. When the Rebels and Imperials arrived, they proceeded to battle one another, and Soresh let loose a weapon which would, in time, destroy that star system. After Olin and Princess Leia finished evacuating prisoners from the moon, Olin felt Vader's presence. To allow Leia to escape, Olin, in an effort to stall for time, engaged Vader in a duel. After a short battle, where Olin taunted Vader, Vader stabbed Olin in the heart. After Vader had walked away from the corpse, Princess Leia found Olin's body. In death, Ferus reunited with his friend Roan Lands.^[28]

Legacy[]

Having sacrificed himself at the hands of Darth Vader, Olin was able to give the rebels a chance to escape. A few years later, they were able to defeat Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and the Empire. With the giving of his life, Luke Skywalker survived and managed to create a New Jedi Order, meaning Olin indirectly aided Skywalker by saving his life.

Personality and traits[]

Although it was always strictly emphasized in the Jedi Temple that one student is never better than another, Ferus seemed to have all gifts. He was steady and brilliant, a physically gifted athlete, and popular with all the students. He excelled at everything he tried, causing everyone to admire him and want to be like him, and there was not a single person at the Jedi Temple who did not speak his name without praise, the only exception being Anakin Skywalker.

Ferus felt driven by the need to excel at every waking moment and, as a result, though he had many friends, he hadn't developed any truly intimate relationships or, what might be considered, very close friendships. However, through his friendship with Roan Lands after leaving the Jedi Order, he was able to open up to others more, and become more independent.

Ferus Olin had thick dark hair with gold streaks running through it. Later in life, he created a disguise to make himself look harmless, appearing, in Leia's description of him, to be a "paunchy old man with a bulging belly."

Powers and abilities[]

Ferus Olin was stated to be the most exceptional Padawan in the entire Jedi Order, second only to Anakin Skywalker^[29]. This sentiment was echoed by Obi-Wan Kenobi years after the Fall of the Republic.^[16] Even Emperor Palpatine stated that Ferus had the potential to be more powerful than all of his Inquisitors and even more powerful than Darth Vader himself.^[21] The Dark Lord apparently had plans to replace Vader as his apprentice if Ferus proved worthy enough, presumably only because Vader had lost access to his original potential following his injuries on Mustafar.

Lightsaber Abilities[]

Just like his Force potential, Ferus Olin's lightsaber abilities were second only to Anakin as a Padawan. Having trained under Siri Tachi (whose own master was Adi Gallia), Ferus Olin's chosen lightsaber style as a Padawan would have likely been Shien with heavy emphasis on Ataru. He often times opened with a Shien defensive stance^[8] and was adept at chaining unarmed strikes into his lightsaber sequences.^[18] He's also described as being very acrobatic, using overhead flips, defensive rolls, and spinning strikes to duel his opponents.^[7] He was also extremely skilled with blast deflection and redirection, a primary tenant of the Shien fighting style, able to "boomerang" a steady barrage of blaster fire back onto a group of fifteen thugs.^[30]

Like all Padawans in the Jedi Order at that time, he was also taught the principles of Shii-Cho. However, where Ferus truly came into his own as a lightsaber duelist was during his training under Emperor Palpatine. Ferus had always had an interest in Form VII: Juyo, even asking his Master Siri Tachi if it was acceptable for a Jedi to enjoy battle for battle's sake, with her response being that Mace Windu does it.^[21] While he would never formally train in Form VII before leaving the Jedi Order, he picked this fighting style up during his dark side training. This is evidenced by his two duels with Darth Vader. In their first duel, relying solely on Shien and Ataru, Vader easily outstripped and could have killed Ferus at any moment. In their second duel, after his training with Palpatine, Ferus is able to evenly contend with Vader, using Dun Moch tactics to goad the Dark Lord's rage and then feed on it himself to become even more powerful. This actually isn't a tactic of Juyo, but instead Mace Windu's more advanced Form VII: Vaapad that Siri had explained to him years earlier, which Ferus was instinctively using.^[24]

Force Powers[]

As mentioned, Ferus was considered to be naturally gifted with the Force by the likes of Siri Tachi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and even Emperor Palpatine. While his magnitude and access to rarer Force abilities eluded him while he was still in the Jedi Order, they became manifest during the Imperial Era. After re-honing his powers in battle, receiving tutelage from Obi-Wan Kenobi, and delving into the dark side under Palpatine, Ferus became skilled enough with physical augmentation and Force Valor to match Vader's raw strength and speed in their final duel on Alderaan.^[24]

Ferus also had access to the rare Battlemind ability, connecting to his companions and using the Force to bolster his skills as well as theirs.^[11] He could hide his Force signature from Grand Inquisitor Malorum using Force Stealth,^[30] telepathically communicate with Leia from a vast distance to reassure her everything was going to be okay,^[25] and even mind trick a strong-willed person like Jenna Zan Arbor.^[23] It is also heavily implied that he's using a Force-based illusion to disguise himself later in his life, as Leia swears she sometimes sees him as a youthful-looking man instead of the overweight, "repugnant" man he disguised himself as.^[25]

His telekinesis was also very powerful. As a Padawan, he could use Force pushes and waves with casual ease.^[6] Later on in his life, he could lift heavy objects like the beam of a building,^[20] use powerful waves to shatter transparisteel windows, and even use Force Repulse to wreck an entire training room with a telekinetic storm.^[23] Ferus could even, with the aid of Obi-Wan Kenobi, manipulate the water molecules in the air to create water currents in a form of Alter Environment.^[29]

Lastly, although he turned away from the dark side, Ferus often used Palpatine's lessons to bolster his physical capabilities through his rage. In doing so, he gained access to Force screams powerful enough to destroy objects.^[23]

Behind the scenes[]

Ferus Olin was created by author Jude Watson as a rival to Anakin Skywalker in the Jedi Quest series. Later, after he left the Jedi at the end of that series of novels,^[14] Watson brought back Olin as the main character of the Last of the Jedi series of novels.

Watson confirmed on Twitter that, when she was writing Olin, she intended for him to be read as gay.^[31] She also commented that, in her mind, Ferus Olin and Roan Lands were married.^[4]

In Jedi Quest: The Way of the Apprentice, Ferus is stated to have a red lightsaber, but on the cover of Jedi Quest: The Master of Disguise, he wields a green weapon. Further complicating the issue is his Jedi weapon giving off a bronze glow in the Granta Omega-masterminded Seeker-droid battle in the Senate Building in 24 BBY, as recounted in Jedi Quest: The False Peace.^[13] It is possible that Olin changed the crystals used in his lightsaber between the events of the Jedi Quest novels, therefore accounting for the change in blade color.

Although it is mentioned in Secrets of the Jedi that Olin and Siri Tachi embark on a mission to Quas Killam, the exact chronological time of this event is never stated in canon material. As it is mentioned that he and Tachi did not aid Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker during the whole of their search for Jenna Zan Arbor,^[6] this article has conjectured that the mission to Quas Killam occurred during that time.

Rebel Force: Uprising appears to be self-contradictory with regard to the disposition of Olin's body. Pages 132 and 133 indicate that Luke, Leia, and Han carry his body to the Millennium Falcon, and the next few pages suggest that his body was loaded onto the Falcon. On page 136, however, the narrator states, "Ferus and Div were lost in the inferno," implying that Olin's body was left on the planet. However, this could mean that the lives - souls - were lost to a planet that was destroyed in fire. While the body was saved, the life had left while on the planet.

A 2007 issue of Game Informer mentioned that Ferus Olin would be one of the Jedi opponents in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. This was proven to be false.

Appearances[]

Sources[]

• The New Essential Chronology
• "Blaster" — Star Wars Insider 102
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• Star Wars: The Official Starships & Vehicles Collection 29
• The Essential Reader's Companion
•  Star Wars: The Card Game — Darkness and Light (Card: Ferus Olin)

Notes and references[]