More context about the main protagonists of Star Wars: The Mask of Fear and their backgrounds before they cause or witness the events in the book.
This won’t affect the overall experience of reading the book. You can even come back to it while reading to look for answers to some of your questions that might pop up.
Because The Mask of Fear takes place a few months after Revenge of the Sith, I am only including information from the prequel era. So, we are not discussing events from Star Wars Rebels, the Original Trilogy, Andor, or Rogue One.
Bail Organa’s story up to The Mask of Fear
Bail Organa is the charismatic and idealist Senator of Alderaan. He married Breha Organa, the queen of Alderaan, and together, the couple sought to maintain Alderaan as an influential system while vowing for progress and democracy.
His career in politics allowed him to meet and befriend other like-minded individuals like Padmé Amidala from Naboo, Onaconda Farr of Rodia, and Mon Mothma of Chandrila.
As the Clone Wars erupted, Senator Organa was constantly involved in humanitarian causes like attending planets affected by the conflict and providing refuge to people who lost their homes. This also came with numerous anti-war acts that often went against the interests of Chancellor Palpatine.
The defiance of Palpatine’s absolute power was something that many Senators shared so in response to the Chancellor’s increasing powers, the Delegation of 2000 was created. Mon Mothma and Padmé Amidala are obviously also part of this group.
If you are curious about it, you can see more of the Delegation of 2000 in the Revenge of the Sith deleted scenes.
Jedi and politicians work together when the situation requires it. It has been like that for thousands of ages. It happened during the Mandalorian wars, also when Marchion Ro and the Nihil attacked the Republic, and during the Clone Wars as well.
Bail Organa not only worked with the Jedi, he is one of the few politicians who became a true friend of them. Bail’s idealism prevents him from being tempted by money, power, influence, or anything that other politicians would take without thinking it twice.
After helping escape Obi-Wan and Yoda, Bail would attend Padmé’s funeral accompanied by Mon Mothma. Just a few days later, he and Breha would adopt Leia as their own daughter.
Saw Gerrera’s violent past
Saw Gerrera is the face of an extremist faction of rebels. While his intentions are somewhat aligned with Mon Mothma or Bail Organa’s, the things he is willing to do are just as ruthless as what the Empire has done to many worlds.
In order to understand this radical man, we have to go back in time, before the Galactic Empire even existed.
Onderon is one of the planets that fell under CIS influence. It was of great importance to Count Dooku so he created political distress. The king was arrested and a new monarch was placed on the throne. Obviously, one who would serve as a puppet.
Onderon is a n Inner Rim world, a region that is between the Colonies and the Expansion Region. During the Clone Wars, the Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) used this territory to move some of their prototype technology while also attempting to gain control over some of the systems located here.
Dooku’s plan was a success but many Onderonians refused to recognize their new ruler. A rebel cell led by Saw and Steela Gerrera fiercely opposed the CIS. Eventually, the Republic would send its own forces to help Gerrera’s cell.
Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Captain Rex trained a resistance movement. After some time, the Separatists were expelled from Onderon, and the former king was reinstated. However, Steela Gerrera died during the campaign.
Nothing or no one was more valuable to Saw than his sister. Losing her was devastating but it only fueled Saw’s extremism. She is Gerrera’s constant reminder of what’s at stake and all the things that have already been lost. That’s why he can’t stop and why no price is too high when it comes to take down the Galactic Empire.
Mon Mothma’s past and set up for her future
Mon Mothma is the Senator of Chandrila, a planet located in the Bormea sector and one of the twenty-two worlds that founded the Galactic Republic.
Mothma married Perrin Fertha at the age of fifteen, as the Chandrilan tradition requires it. Despite her young age, she became a Senator and continued her family’s political legacy.
When the Clone Wars began, she and other Senators including Bail Organa and Padmé Amidala were included in the Loyalist Committee. This committee’s task was to support and advise Chancellor Palpatine.
We know that for Palpatine this was only a facade, but Mon Mothma and the others took this role very seriously. Eventually, many of these Senators would become part of the Delegation of 2,000.
Through her political career, Mothma became a known and influential voice against anything that involved armed conflict, escalating violence, or giving more power to the Supreme Chancellor.
Palpatine continued to gain executive powers as the war prolonged. Even if the Chancellor’s speech was to end the war as soon as possible, his actions said otherwise.
Mothma, Organa, Amidala, and other Senators started reuniting in secret to think of what could possibly be done if the Chancellor would not surrender power.
Their plans fell apart as not much after their reunions Palpatine declared Jedi as traitors to the Republic and the Galactic Empire was established with a majority approval.
Mon Mothma might not have been one of Padmé’s close friends, but she was one of her closest allies and supporters.
At this point, Mon Mothma is not as experienced and “problematic” as she is in Star Wars Rebels or Andor but The Mask of Fear shows how the first steps she makes on that path. Without a doubt, Mon Mothma is the most important character of the book.
The Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS)
Also referred to as “Separatists”, the CIS is a group made of thousands of systems who were discontent with their state as members of the Galactic Republic.
Excessive taxes, corruption, and neglect of their planets in favor of the core worlds are some of the reasons why this group decided to secede from the Republic and create their own government.
While Count Dooku became the face of the CIS, it’s important to point out that not everyone wanted an armed conflict with the Republic. Many members of its senate were against it but Dooku and Sidious were always able to manipulate everything so the war would not halt.
The CIS was funded by some of the wealthiest corporations in the galaxy. Techno Union, Trade Federation, Commerce Guild, and the InterGalactic Baking Clan.
With so much money being invested by these major corporations, the interests of most of the CIS members became almost irrelevant.
While Dooku did manipulate many of the CIS leaders, we can’t deny that many people truly wanted to be separated from the Republic and they were more than willing to fight and die for their cause.
With an army of Battle Droids led by General Grievous and Sith being involved it’s easy to dehumanize this faction. But if you get to know the context, it becomes easier to understand why the Separatists were pushing for their independence.
All its members are part of the Mid and Outer Rim, for centuries they have been exploited for their resources while also being treated as second-class citizens. They tried to improve their status through diplomacy but the corruption of the Senate never allowed the bills to pass.
Tired of the bureaucracy and ineptitude of the Senate, they decided to take matters into their own hands. Ironically, the victory of Naboo over the Trade Federation served as an inspiration for these systems to create the CIS. They became aware that united, their combined strength could be enough to match the Republic’s.
Fighting an army of elite soldiers with Jedi serving as their generals is no small thing. With the experience and resources of its members, the CIS resorted to different technologies hoping that it would provide the advantage they needed against such a powerful enemy. The Malevolence, BX-Commando Droids, and even General Grievous’ cyborg body are all creations of the brilliant CIS scientists.
Why is the CIS relevant to the story if the book happens after Revenge of the Sith? Well, I’m not going to spoil it but what I can say is that there is something that embodies everything the CIS stood for, and that theme remains very relevant for the entire book.
Don’t miss our spoiler-free review of The Mask of Fear! This is the first book in a new trilogy, and Alexander Freed—one of Vulkk’s and my favorite Star Wars authors—once again delivers a wonderful reading experience. We love how this new novel fits its narrative seamlessly into such a richly detailed moment in the timeline and still delivers new content and surprises.
