- "War is not a state of being. It is meant to be a temporary chaos between periods of peace. Some want it to be the course of things: a default fact of existence. But I will not let that be so."
- ―Mon Mothma, shortly after the death of Emperor Palpatine
Mon Mothma was a human female politician and revolutionary leader who served in the Galactic Senate and Imperial Senate as the representative of Chandrila, the leader of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and the first chancellor of the New Republic. She came to political prominence during the Separatist Crisis and the Clone Wars as a member of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's Loyalist Committee. Along with such allies as Bail Organa of Alderaan and Padmé Amidala of Naboo, Mothma became an outspoken proponent of pursuing peace between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. She also spoke out against the increase in executive wartime power given to Chancellor Palpatine. At the end of the war, as Palpatine continued to amass power and ultimately transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire, Mothma worked with Senator Organa to begin planting the seeds of rebellion against the Imperial regime. Though she remained in the Imperial Senate as a proponent of democracy, these seeds ultimately led to the formation of the Rebel Alliance to militarily combat the might of the Empire.
After the dissolution of the Imperial Senate and Organa's death during destruction of Alderaan, Mothma became the primary political leader of the Rebel Alliance throughout the Galactic Civil War. The Battle of Endor, which Mothma helped plan with the Alliance High Command, saw the death of Emperor Palpatine and left the Empire in chaos. In its aftermath, the Rebellion formed the New Republic and headquartered the new Galactic Senate on Chandrila. Mothma was elected as the first chancellor of the New Republic Senate and intended to do away with Palpatine's emergency powers, which the Senate gave to the office of the New Republic chancellery. She also intended to demilitarize Republic, hoping to cut the New Republic Starfleet by ninety percent while leaving the defense of member worlds to the worlds themselves. When the war with the Empire finally came to end, the Republic and the Imperial remnants signed the Galactic Concordance and the Republic passed the Military Disarmament Act.
The Clone WarsEdit
An advocate for peaceEdit
Born into a political family, Mon Mothma would become the youngest Senator to enter the Senate, and was to serve as representative of the planet Chandrila during the final days of the Galactic Republic. She became a member of the Loyalist Committee, a group of senators tasked by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to maintain the integrity of the Republic during the political crisis that saw the formation of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. After the Clone Wars broke out between the newly-formed Grand Army of the Republic and the Droid Army of the Separatist Alliance, Mothma remained a member of the Loyalist Committee but became an outspoken opponent of the war with the Separatists. Mothma, along with friends and allies like Senators Padmé Amidala of Naboo and Bail Organa of Alderaan, came to fear that the Republic's push to defeat the Separatists made it blind to the toll that the war would take on the Republic. She warned that wartime measures, such as the increasing scope of the emergency powers that the Galactic Senate gave the chancellor, were a threat to democracy. It was the desire of Mothma and her allies to find a peaceful solution to the Clone Wars, and Mothma served as a mentor to Amidala as the young senator became one of the leading advocates for peace in the Republic.
During the Battle of Malastare, the Grand Army of the Republic discovered a creature known as the Zillo Beast that dwelled underneath the surface of the planet Malastare. Having been given a way to the surface by the bombardments during the battle, the Zillo Beast fought against the Republic Army, and it was discovered that the creature was nearly-indestructible. In the hopes of replicating the indestructibility for use in clone trooper armor, Chancellor Palpatine approved the creature's relocation to Coruscant, the capital of the Republic. The Zillo Beast escaped from captivity and made its way towards the Senate Office Building to find the chancellor, who had ordered the beast be destroyed so its indestructible scales could be removed for testing and replication. The creature attacked the Senate Office Building, and Mothma was present during the attack, walking the corridors of power with Senator Organa. The Republic and the Jedi soon eliminated the creature, bringing an end to the threat against the Senate.
The neutrality of the planet Mandalore, led by Duchess Satine Kryze, soon came into dispute when the Mandalorian splinter group known as Death Watch threatened to overthrow the pacifist New Mandalorian government that the duchess led. The Senate debated whether or not to send military assistance to Mandalore, a move that the duchess strongly opposed—and one that the Separatists hoped the Republic would enact, as they believed that the people of Mandalore would greet the Death Watch as liberators fighting against a Republic occupation force. The Senate initially voted to send an occupation force, based on doctored evidence suggesting that Mandalore's Deputy Minister Jerec called for a Republic presence on his world to combat Death Watch. In actuality, the full recording of Jerec showed that he argued strongly against a military occupation. Mothma was present in the Senate session in which Jerec's true words were broadcast, and the Senate ultimately voted against sending Republic forces to Mandalore.
In response to the growing number of refugees displaced by the ongoing war with the Separatists, Senator Amidala and Senator Organa led a conference to discuss and, hopefully, resolve the issue. The conference took place on the planet Alderaan, and Mothma was in attendance. She and Organa greeted Amidala, the keynote speaker, when she arrived on Alderaan and escorted her to her quarters. The conference was briefly disrupted when a bounty hunter, Aurra Sing, attempted to assassinate Amidala on behalf of the imprisoned crime lord Ziro the Hutt, but the conference continued onward when Amidala was saved by Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Soon after, Senator Mothma attended a party thrown by Amidala in Amidala's apartment in honor of Senator Aang, a member of the Military Oversight Committee who was persuaded to vote in favor of reducing military spending.
Military funding debateEdit
- "My dear, you were brilliant."
"Thank you, but perhaps we should wait until we actually win the vote before we make a victory speech."
- ―Mon Mothma and Padmé Amidala, following the latter's speech arguing against increased military spending
The Galactic Senate became embroiled in debates regarding the cost of fighting the Clone Wars. A particularly passionate topic of debate was whether the Senate should fund the creation of more clone troopers to combat the Separatist Alliance, despite the Republic nearing bankruptcy as a result of the war. Senator Gume Saam argued in favor of a bill that would open new lines of credit to fund the Republic's war effort. Mothma spoke out against the measure, arguing that it would essentially deregulate the banks. The Senate, at Organa's urging, tabled any decision on the proposal until the matter could be considered further. After a Separatist attack destroyed Coruscant's power generator, the Senate voted on the measure and opted to deregulate the banks in order to open additional lines of credit to fund the war effort.
Despite the passage of the bank deregulation, the debate over increased military funding continued. Senator Halle Burtoni of Kamino, the source of the clone troopers, proposed legislation to create five million additional clone soldiers. Organa intended to speak before the Senate in opposition to the bill, but he was injured in an attack by Separatist-aligned bounty hunters. As the Senate awaited his address, representatives in favor of Bertoni's bill urged the Senate to vote, while Mothma insisted that the bill's opposition, which included herself, be allowed to speak out against the legislation. With Organa too injured to speak, Amidala addressed the Senate on his behalf, giving an impassioned plea to oppose increased military funding so as to continue funding critical social services for the people of the Republic.
The Senate prepared to vote on the measure, and the bill's opposition continued working to persuade their fellow senators to vote against the increase in military spending. Mothma worked with Amidala, Organa, and Senator Onaconda Farr of Rodia in the efforts, and Amidala delivered another speech to the Senate on behalf of their position. The speech was greeted with enthusiasm from the Senate, and Mothma and the other opposition senators celebrated Amidala's address over drinks. Mothma told her former protege that she did brilliantly, though Amidala was reluctant to feel victorious until such time as Bertoni's bill was struck down. Bertoni herself crashed the conversation, suggesting that the opposition was loyal to the Separatists. Mothma urged the feuding representatives to end their argument, and Farr forced Bertoni to leave the gathering. The senator from Chandrila then praised Farr for leading the efforts against the bill, and the Rodian expressed regret for once siding with the Separatists against the Republic. Mothma assured him, however, that he was now doing the right thing by helping defeat the military spending increase. Farr unexpectedly collapsed after his drink was unknowingly poisoned, so Mothma ran to find help for the dying senator of Rodia. After his death, Mothma attended a memorial service for Farr on a Coruscant landing platform, before the senator's body was returned home.
After the service, Mothma attended a meeting in Chancellor Palpatine's office, where Lieutenant Tan Divo of the Coruscant Security Force shared his theory that Farr had been murdered. After the meeting, Mothma conversed with Amidala, Organa, and Farr's aide Lolo Purs. Mothma wondered who would have wanted to harm Farr, and, despite Divo's theory that the murder was a result of a secret from Farr's past, Purs speculated that the assassination was the result of Farr's opposition to the spending bill. Organa urged them to put an end to speculation and double their efforts on defeating the bill, but Amidala insisted that they delay the vote until Farr's murderer was apprehended, lest senators vote in favor of the measure in order to avoid harm coming to themselves. Organa agreed to put a delay motion before the Senate while Amidala said she would conduct her own objection. Mothma questioned her decision, as Divo had asked them not to interfere, but Amidala was sure that they could resolve the case better than Divo, in whom she had little confidence. Organa worried that such an investigation could disrupt the coalition against the bill, a concern that Mothma shared. Knowing that Amidala would see it through anyway, Mothma recommended that Amidala bring her head of security, Captain Gregar Typho, with her, but Amidala preferred to handle it along. At Mothma's insistence, however, Amidala agreed to work with Senator Organa on her investigation.
During the course of their investigation, Amidala and Organa were targeted for death by the assassin. They were discovered by Lieutenant Divo, who later met with the opposition group, including Mothma, and theorized that the killer was targeting the opposition leadership. Divo placed the group under his protection as he continued the investigation, though Purs left after objecting to having themselves all kept in one room as an easy target. Purs soon returned, claiming she had been attacked by Bertoni, one of the suspects in the murder, which Bertoni laughingly denied. She also denied being involved in the assassination of Senator Farr. Despite suspicion falling onto Bertoni, Amidala realized that Purs had to have been the assassin; the poison targeted Rodians, so Purs would have died too if only she had taken a drink. Her duplicity having been discovered, Purs admitted to killing Farr due to his brief allegiance to the Separatist Alliance, and Purs was arrested for her crime. Soon thereafter, the Senate voted on the funding bill and passed the measure in spite of the opposition efforts of Mothma and the others, leading to the production of more clone troopers.
The war continuesEdit
As the war progressed, a peace conference was held between the Republic and the Separatists on the neutral planet of Mandalore, overseen by Duchess Satine. Mothma, Amidala, and Organa represented the Republic in the conference, while three members of the Separatist Senate represented the interests of the Separatist Alliance. The Separatists demanded that the three senators, as representatives for Chancellor Palpatine, recognize the legitimacy of the Separatist Alliance's existence, a stance that the senators were reluctant to take. The talks were disrupted by Lux Bonteri, son of the assassinated Separatist Senator Mina Bonteri, and asserted that Count Dooku, the leader of the Separatist Alliance, was behind his mother's death. Bonteri was removed from the talks, but the talks did not result in peace between the two sides.
The Jedi soon learned that a criminal named Moralo Eval had hatched a plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. In order to infiltrate the conspiracy, led by Count Dooku himself, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi faked his death so his face could be surgically altered to look like the bounty hunter Rako Hardeen, who had fired the shot that supposedly killed the Jedi Master. Believing that Kenobi was dead, Mothma attended the funeral held for the Jedi Master in the Jedi Temple. Kenobi ultimately disrupted the plot to kidnap the chancellor, and Palpatine was left unharmed.
Some time later, Mothma attended yet another funeral in the Jedi Temple, this one for the victims of the bombing that killed several Jedi and civilians alike. Mothma was a member of the court that would decide the fate of Ahsoka Tano, who was arrested and charged with being the mastermind of the temple attack. Tano was prosecuted by Admiral Wilhuff Tarkin and defended by Senator Amidala. Ultimately, it was discovered that Padawan Barriss Offee, who had grown disillusioned with the Jedi High Council for their leadership in the continuing Clone Wars, was responsible for the plot and had framed her friend and fellow Padawan for the attack. Tano was freed from Republic custody and chose not to return to the Jedi Order, as she was unwilling to return after the Jedi Council did not trust her innocence.
Later in the war, former Senator Rush Clovis was installed as the leader of the InterGalactic Banking Clan. He was merely a pawn of Count Dooku, however, and his installation as leader led to a Separatist invasion of Scipio, the headquarters of the Banking Clan. The Senate voted to authorize a Republic military strike against the Separatist invasion force, and the Republic was able to repel the Separatists. In response to the actions of the Separatist Alliance, and following the death of Rush Clovis, the Banking Clan ceded control of their banks to Chancellor Palpatine, a move that Mothma reacted to with disapproval. Palpatine promised to reinstate private control of the banks when the Clone Wars were over but urged that it was necessary to ensure financial stability in the interim, a stance that most of the Senate greeted with enthusiastic approval. Shortly thereafter, Mothma was present in a Senate session in which Queen Julia of the neutral planet Bardotta spoke via hologram and requested the Republic's assistance in uncovering why Bardottan spiritual leaders were disappearing. At the queen's request, the Republic sent Gungan representative Jar Jar Binks, as well as Jedi Master Mace Windu, to help resolve the situation.
Fall of the RepublicEdit
- "As a practical matter, the Senate no longer exists."
- ―Mon Mothma
In the final days of the Clone Wars, the chancellor continued to amass more executive powers. Palpatine was given control of the Jedi Council and appointed governors to oversee all of the star systems in the Republic. A small group of concerned senators, including Mothma, Amidala, and Organa, met in Organa's office to discuss the developments. Amidala wondered if the chancellor would dismantle the Senate, to which Mothma said there was little use in disbanding it. In her view, the Senate barely existed due to its diminished powers. The group refused to allow a millennium of democracy to end without a fight, and Mothma assured the group that they were not like the Separatists. Rather, they were still loyalists hoping to preserve the democracy of the Republic. Amidala lamented that the chancellor, one of her oldest advisers from Naboo, had allowed things to reach such a point, and Mothma told her that Palpatine had expertly played the Senate during the war. Organa began to explain that he and Mothma were beginning to put together an organization to push back against Chancellor Palpatine, but Amidala cut him off, saying that she understood and that some things were best left unsaid. It was decided that the group would not discuss their plans with any outsiders, including family, without the agreement of the entire group. This simple meeting would eventually set the spark for a highly secret Rebellion movement.
The Clone Wars came to a close following the deaths of Count Dooku and the droid General Grievous. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker discovered that Palpatine was secretly Darth Sidious, a Dark Lord of the Sith who had manipulated the entire conflict to gain power over the Republic. Mace Windu and three other Jedi Masters attempted to arrest the chancellor, but the Dark Lord killed them all and seduced Skywalker to the dark side of the Force, anointing him as the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Having found justification to eliminate his enemies, Palpatine declared the Jedi Order to be enemies of the Republic and ordered Darth Vader and clone troopers across the galaxy to destroy the Jedi. A disfigured chancellor, injured in his confrontation with Master Windu, spoke to the Senate about the so-called Jedi betrayal and proclaimed that, in the interest of stability and security, the Republic would be reorganized into the Galactic Empire. The worst fears of Mothma and her allies were confirmed. Amidala died soon thereafter, and Mothma and Organa continued to prepare for resistance to the Emperor's rule.
The Rebel AllianceEdit
- "We have a mission for you. A major weapons test is imminent, and we need to know what it is and how to destroy it."
- ―Mon Mothma, to Jyn Erso
Before she died, Amidala secretly gave birth to twins: Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, the latter of whom was adopted by Senator Organa and his wife, Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan. Mothma knew the adopted Princess from an early age and watched as she grew to become a politician in her own right. Mothma became the princess' political tutor, teaching her before she took her father's place in the Imperial Senate, and watched as the princess became a leader in the emerging rebellion against the Empire.
That rebellion emerged the years following the rise of the Empire, when several resistance movements developed across the galaxy to oppose Imperial rule. One such group was the crew of the starship Ghost, which operated on the Outer Rim world of Lothal before becoming part of a wider rebellion against the Empire. In time, these various resistance movements were united under Mothma and Organa's leadership. They also had help from Ahsoka Tano, who had become a key figure in the emerging rebellion by acting as a contact for rebel cells. Under Mothma and Organa's guidance, these cells became the Alliance to Restore the Republic. At some point, Mothma assigned Rebel soldier Jyn Erso to uncover information about the construction of the battle station known as the Death Star, an Imperial superweapon capable of destroying entire worlds. This mission ultimately led to the theft of the Death Star plans.
Mothma's time in the Senate soon came to an end when the Emperor disbanded the Imperial Senate. Shortly thereafter, the Empire used its superweapon known as the Death Star to destroy Alderaan, killing Organa with it. Mothma became the sole political leader of the Rebel Alliance, serving as its own chancellor throughout the Galactic Civil War.
After the Battle of Yavin, in which Luke Skywalker, who had become a Rebel pilot, destroyed the Death Star and prevented the annihilation of the Rebel Alliance, the Alliance High Command met in the Alliance Fleet to discuss what actions to take next. Organa, who had just completed a successful assault on Weapons Factory Alpha on Cymoon 1, urged the leadership to allow her team to continue pressing the Alliance's advantage against the Empire. Admiral Gial Ackbar told the princess that they could not maintain such an offensive due to still being on the run, a stance that Mothma agreed with. The chancellor said that the few resources that they had must be put towards keeping the fleet moving so the Empire could not find them. Only by establishing a new base, Mothma said, would they be able to change that stance. Concerned for the well-being of her old friend, Mothma also reminded the princess that she could not afford to continue pushing herself or her team so hard in the fight against the Empire.
High Command later received word that Skywalker had been captured by Grakkus, a Hutt crime lord, on the moon of Nar Shaddaa. Despite Skywalker's value to the Alliance and his status as the hero of the Battle of Yavin, Mothma made the difficult choice to decide against using any large amount of Alliance resources to rescue him, knowing that the Rebellion could not move against a Hutt stronghold. She also believed that sending a covert team would be a suicide mission. Nonetheless, Skywalker's Wookiee friend Chewbacca and protocol droid C-3PO agreed to travel to Nar Shaddaa to help the captive Rebel. With help from Organa, the smuggler-turned-Rebel Han Solo, and astromech droid R2-D2, who rendezvoused with them on Nar Shaddaa, Chewbacca and Threepio successfully rescued Skywalker.
At some point during the war, Mothma met Lieutenant Thane Kyrell, an Imperial-turned-Rebel, after he had become intoxicated following a night of drinking. Though he did not know who she was, Mothma helped find a chair so he could sit down, and he told her all about how he had defected from the Empire but still loved Ciena Ree, a childhood friend turned lover who served in the Imperial Navy. Mothma listened to his story, including how he was afraid that he might shoot Ree down in battle some day and that he did not want to let his fellow Rebels down for fear of killing the woman he loved. The next morning, Mothma briefed Kyrell and other pilots on a mission they were to carry out for the Alliance. At the end of the briefing, Mothma spoke to Kyrell, who apologized for his actions the previous night. Mothma told him that she did not drum anyone out of the Alliance for getting intoxicated once in awhile, lest there be no Rebellion left to fight the Empire, but she did want to know he was capable of doing his duty. He assured her that he was, and he took heed of her words that it was acceptable to love someone on the other side of the war so long as he loved the cause of the Rebel Alliance more.
The Battle of EndorEdit
- "The Emperor has made a critical error and the time for our attack has come."
- ―Mon Mothma, just before the Battle of Endor
Three years after the Battle of Yavin, the Alliance learned from Bothan spies that the Empire was building a second Death Star in orbit of the Forest Moon of Endor. Mothma met with the Alliance High Command to discuss strategy for how to deal with the threat of a new Death Star, and it was agreed that the battle station had to be destroyed before it was fully operational. The leadership began planning for an assault on the Death Star II over Endor, but first the Alliance Fleet, which had broken up following the Rebellion's defeat during the Battle of Hoth—Mothma insisted that it break into smaller groups to avoid another disaster that the Empire could celebrate—would have to regroup near Sullust. Organa volunteered to lead an operation, codenamed Operation Yellow Moon, to distract Imperial forces while the Alliance Fleet gathered together. Mothma was opposed to the idea at first, and she spoke with the princess about her concerns—concerns stemming from Organa's willingness to sacrifice herself for the Alliance. The chancellor knew that Organa was in love with Captain Solo, who had been taken captive by Jabba the Hutt months earlier, and worried that Organa was willingness to sacrifice happiness to die for the Rebel cause. Mothma also knew that Organa blamed herself for the destruction of Alderaan, so she told the princess a piece of intelligence: the Emperor intended to use the new Death Star to destroy such worlds as Mon Cala and even Chandrila, all to eliminate opposition to his rule. Mothma knew that if she allowed herself to be ruled by such fears, she would not be able to serve the Alliance. The chancellor approved Operation Yellow Moon, and urged her young friend not to deny herself an opportunity for love—a love denied because of total devotion to the Alliance—because of what happened to her parents and to Alderaan.
Operation Yellow Moon was successful and the Alliance Fleet gathered near Sullust. When it was assembled, the High Command addressed Rebel forces aboard Home One, the Rebel command ship, and shared the existence of the second Death Star. Mothma also revealed that the Emperor himself was personally overseeing the completion of the station's construction. During the briefing, Admiral Ackbar and General Crix Madine outlined the plan of attack. General Solo was picked to lead a ground assault to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star, while Organa, Chewbacca, and Skywalker volunteered to accompany him. After the briefing, Mothma spoke to Organa and expressed concern that the princess had volunteered for the mission. As with Operation Yellow Moon and the rescue of General Solo from Jabba the Hutt, Mothma feared that Organa was putting herself, a valuable member of the Alliance and the future republic that they hoped to build, at too great a risk. Mothma shared a story of how, after the Empire's massacre on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, she thought that diplomacy was dead and she trained as a starfighter pilot in order to fight against the Empire. She realized, however, that while she could have helped win a battle, she could contribute more as the leader of the Alliance. Despite Mothma's concerns, which the princess understood, Organa felt it was her destiny to be part of the Battle of Endor and chose to accompany the Rebel forces to the Forest Moon.
Before the Alliance Fleet left for Endor, Mothma's ship departed so she could be taken to a safe location. The Battle of Endor commenced once the Rebel forces arrived over the Forest Moon. Unknown to the Rebellion was that the Emperor had allowed them to learn of the station's existence to lure the Rebels into a trap meant to destroy them once and for all. However, the Alliance emerged victorious: the second Death Star was destroyed, the Emperor was killed, and the Empire was left leaderless and in chaos. The tide had turned in the war against the Empire.
Forging a New RepublicEdit
- "I've seen war. I know its shape. I know its margins. But I'll never be comfortable with it. It is our fault and we must act that way to uphold our responsibilities. And it's why the war must stop soon. We cannot keep fighting it."
- ―Mon Mothma, shortly after the death of Emperor Palpatine
Twenty days after the Battle of Endor, Mothma tasked Organa with traveling to Naboo in order to gather support for the formation of a New Republic. Organa was reluctant to leave her other duties and recommended that Mothma send diplomats in her place, but the chancellor believed that Organa's skill and reputation were essential for the mission as the princess represented the best that the Rebel Alliance had to offer. Organa, along with her assigned pilot, Lieutenant Shara Bey, departed for the mission. Their time there coincided with the Empire launching an attack against the planet, as part of Operation: Cinder, but Organa and Bey fought alongside Queen Sosha Soruna to repel the Imperial attack. The Alliance continued fighting back against other strikes in Operation: Cinder for months.
The Alliance formed the New Republic in the months following the Battle of Endor. The Galactic Senate was reestablished and headquartered on Chandrila, as the New Republic felt that Chandrila represented a planet with big ideas that the Republic would need in order to be successful. Mothma was elected as the first chancellor of the New Republic Senate, and, to her great reluctance, the charter of the chancellor included the emergency powers that had once been given to Palpatine during the Clone Wars. It was Mothma's intention to do away with those powers, believing them to be a poison to democracy. Mothma also planned to propose a massive military disarmament once the Galactic Civil War came to end, hoping to cut the size of the New Republic Starfleet by ninety percent. The other ten percent would go towards training and supporting local militias, which would be responsible for the defense of their worlds.
One year after the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Civil War came to an end. The Battle of Jakku, in which the Republic triumphed over the Empire, marked the final large-scale engagement of the war. The Republic and the Empire signed a peace treaty known as the Galactic Concordance, which required the Empire to remain inside predetermined territories within the Core Worlds and the Inner Rim. Mothma urged the Republic to remain vigilant in the event that the conflict returned, and temporarily kept the New Republic Starfleet on wartime funding and alert status. Once it became clear that the war was over, and the remnants of the Empire disappeared into the Unknown Regions, the Galactic Senate fulfilled Mothma's goal and passed the Military Disarmament Act. Some time during her tenure, Mothma further reformed the Senate by establishing that member worlds would act as the Senate's capital on a rotating basis. Rotating the capital, and in particular keeping it off of Coruscant, did much to convince member worlds that the New Republic would be different from its predecessor governments.
Sometime later, Mothma became ill and stepped down as Chancellor. However, her successors lacked Mothma's charisma, and failed to create that same political consensus as she did. In her absence, the New Republic fell into chaos and the Galactic Senate became divided into two factions: the Populists, who believed that individual member planets should retain their full sovereignty, and the Centrists, who favored a stronger galactic government and a larger military.
Mothma showed her personal support of Leia after it was publicly revealed that she was the daughter of Darth Vader. Her message to Leia indicated that she had suspected the truth for some time before the announcement.
Personality and traitsEdit
- "We are not Separatists trying to leave the Republic. We are loyalists, trying to preserve democracy in the Republic."
- ―Mon Mothma
Mon Mothma was a human female with auburn hair, blue eyes, and light skin. She was a firm believer in democracy and opposed Chancellor Palpatine's amassing of executive power during the Clone Wars. She contrasted her beliefs with those of Separatists who wanted to leave the Republic, believing instead in loyalty to the Republic and the preservation of its democracy. It was this opposition to authoritarianism that led Mothma to help form the Rebel Alliance. She pursued peace during the Clone Wars, but she was willing to fight to restore democracy to the galaxy. Her ideals led her to become the first chancellor of the New Republic, where she pushed to avoid the mistakes that the Galactic Republic had made during the Clone Wars. Though strong executive powers were granted to her, she wanted nothing of the sort and believed them to be destructive to the democratic process.
Mothma's devotion to her ideals did prove difficult at times. After the Empire's massacre on Kashyyyk, she thought diplomacy was dead and considered becoming a fighter pilot in the war against the Empire, but she learned that she provided more value to the Rebellion as its leader than as a soldier. Later, when she learned that the Emperor intended to destroy Chandrila with the Death Star II as a means of silencing her, showing his willingness to destroy an entire world just to eliminate the voice of opposition from one person. Throughout the Empire's reign, many Chandrilans begged her to cease her opposition to the Emperor for fear of Imperial reprisal against Chandrila, and Mothma wondered if a destructive fate for Chandrila would be her fault. She knew it would be because of her, but only because the Emperor was willing to destroy it to silence her. She refused to allow herself to be ruled by fear, however, knowing that if fear ruled her actions then she might as well surrender to the Empire.
Behind the scenesEdit
Development and portrayalEdit
- "Certainly people are always very envious of me. When I join a new theater company, the other actors look down the program, see my Return of the Jedi credit and say, 'Oh, you were part of Star Wars.' I smile and say, 'Yes, but only for twenty-six and a half seconds.'"
- ―Caroline Blakiston
Mon Mothma was first introduced in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, directed by Richard Marquand from a script by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. She was portrayed by Caroline Blakiston, who was cast while working in Manchester, England on a television series. Blakiston met with costume designers in a Manchester hotel room to fit her for a costume and discuss what kind of hairstyle her character would sport, but it was ultimately decided she would use her own red hair. Blakiston was provided with an initial script for her brief part in the film, but, upon arriving on set, she learned that her lines had been changed and she would have to learn an entirely new monologue. This proved somewhat stressful, particularly as a result of the dialogue containing Star Wars terminology like the word "Bothan." While in production, Blakiston came up with her own idea for the character's backstory, hoping to find inspiration in the Star Wars saga's classical underpinnings. She felt that the name "Mon Mothma" bore a similarity to the words "Moon Mother," and as a result she saw her character as someone who would be cool and collected.
A younger version of Mon Mothma appeared in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, written and directed by George Lucas. Genevieve O'Reilly was chosen to portray the role due to her resemblance to Blakiston, and she filmed a few scenes for the film that were meant to set up the eventual formation of the Rebel Alliance. Before filming, O'Reilly studied Blakiston's performance, hoping to capture the character's voice and mannerisms. The scenes in which O'Reilly had a speaking role were cut and later included on the film's DVD release though O'Reilly did appear in one scene in the final film in a non-speaking role. Blakiston hoped to have a part in the film, asking Lucas if she could appear as her character's grandmother, but she never received a response from the director. O'Reilly returned to the role for the film Rogue One.
The character later appeared in an expanded role in the animated television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In the three episodes in which the character had a speaking role, she was portrayed by actress Kath Soucie. Her role as leader of the Rebel Alliance and New Republic has also been expanded upon in several canonical Star Wars tales.
Role in Star Wars LegendsEdit
- "This great struggle is a people's struggle: a struggle between the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the cruel and the gentle."
- ―Mon Mothma, describing the Rebellion in a quote from the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook
Mon Mothma appeared in numerous stories in the Expanded Universe of books, comics, and games, which have since become non-canon and rebranded as Star Wars Legends. These stories saw her role in the Rebellion fleshed out, showing her as the leader of the Rebel Alliance. The 1991 novel Heir to the Empire, written by Timothy Zahn, showed her becoming Chief of State of the New Republic, setting the stage for her canonical counterpart to become the first chancellor of the New Republic. She was succeeded as New Republic Chief of State by Leia Organa Solo, who became a prominent and influential member of the New Republic. The canonical story departed from this, showing that Organa became ostracized from the New Republic and was ultimately labeled a warmonger after warning against the demilitarization efforts that began under Mothma's leadership. The 2005 reference book The New Essential Chronology established that the Legends version of Mon Mothma died in her sleep twenty years after the Battle of Endor. After the character continued appearing in Legends stories, Blakiston became aware of her character's prolific appearances. She was intrigued by this fact and credited it to what she saw as Mothma's strong personality. Blakiston stated that, despite the character's limited screentime in Return of the Jedi, she saw Mothma as an archetypal figure not unlike Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi.