Gherant/Legends

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"Too late!"
―Commander Gherant's final words, during the Battle of Endor[2]

Gherant was a Human male commander of the Imperial Navy during the height of the Galactic Civil War. By 3 ABY, Gherant had been hand-picked by then-Captain Firmus Piett to an assignment aboard Darth Vader's personal flagship, the Star Dreadnought Executor, where he was responsible for overseeing authorized access of the Super Star Destroyer's sensitive areas.

During the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, Gherant served aboard the Executor's bridge, under the command of the since-promoted Admiral Piett, as the fleet commander of the giant Imperial armada assembled to protect the unfinished second Death Star from Rebel Alliance attack. Gherant died during the battle along with Piett when a wayward Rebel RZ-1 A-wing interceptor crashed into the Executor's bridge tower, destroying the Super Star Destroyer shortly thereafter.

Biography

"We're not going to attack?"
"I have my orders from the Emperor himself. He has something special planned for them. We only need to keep them from escaping."
―Commander Gherant and Admiral Firmus Piett, regarding the Executor's role during the Battle of Endor — (audio) Listen (file info)[2]
Gherant and Admiral Firmus Piett aboard the Executor, moments before their deaths

Gherant was a commander of the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War, serving aboard[3] Darth Vader's personal flagship,[2] the Super Star Destroyer Executor,[3] attached to the Imperial Death Squadron,[2] by 3 ABY.[4] Prior to the Battle of Hoth,[5] then-Captain Firmus Piett personally selected Gherant as a deck officer to Vader's command ship. Gherant was responsible for preventing unauthorized access to sensitive areas of the Executor.[3]

Gherant's service aboard the Executor continued into[2] 4 ABY,[1] while Piett himself ascended to the rank of admiral in charge of Vader's flagship. During the Battle of Endor of that year, Gherant served aboard the Executor's bridge alongside Piett as the fleet commander in charge of the massive Imperial Star Destroyer armada assembled in the Endor system to both protect the incomplete second Death Star and to ambush the imminently-arriving Alliance Fleet, which had come to destroy the battlestation.[6]

As the Imperial Fleet under Piett's command reached attack position at the beginning of the battle, Gherant was left flabbergasted by Piett's order for the Executor to refrain from engaging the Alliance Fleet. Piett explained that his orders came down from the highest authority—Emperor Palpatine himself had instructed the Executor and the remainder of the Imperial Fleet to simply hold the Rebel capital ships at bay to give the Death Star's secretly operational superlaser the opportunity pick them off one by one.[2]

Gherant and Piett dive for cover as the Rebel A-wing smashes into the bridge.

Gherant and Piett both died at the apex of the battle when the wayward A-wing starfighter of Rebel pilot Arvel Crynyd crashed into the Executor's unprotected command tower after the Super Star Destroyer's main bridge deflector shields had been knocked out. Although Gherant had seen the starfighter barreling out of control toward the bridge, there was little he could do to escape. With primary bridge control lost, the Executor plummeted into the Death Star's gravity well, obliterating upon impact.[2]

Personality and traits

During the Battle of Endor, the Human Gherant was surprised to learn that the Executor would not enter the fray after reaching attack position. Gherant had brown hair, blue eyes, and light skin.[2]

Equipment

Commander Gherant wore the standard-issue Imperial officer's uniform with a cap that included an Imperial officer's disc, a rank insignia plaque with three red and three blue squares, and a code cylinder during the Battle of Endor.[2]

Behind the scenes

Notable appearances

Gherant first appeared in the[7] May 12, 1983[8] novelization of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, just prior to the film's theatrical release[2][7] on the 25th of the same month.[9] Actor Pip Miller[10] portrayed the character in the film and is credited as "Stardestroyer Captain #1."[2] Miller was dubbed by a United States actor post-production,[11] and his scenes on the Executor were filmed on February 8, 1982 in England's Elstree Studios.[12]

The character was first named on the "Commander Gherant" card as part of the 1997 Dagobah Limited expansion set of the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. However, while the character is included in the Dagobah Limited set, which primarily includes characters seen in the[3] 1980 original trilogy film, Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, Gherant's character does not actually appear in that film.[13]

Inconsistencies

The Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi PhotoComic, which retells the film's story through live-action stills and accompanying speech bubbles with dialogue from the film, credits the line, "Sir, we've lost our bridge deflector shield!", to Gherant rather than the Executor bridge officer who speaks this line in the film. The PhotoComic also mistakenly credits Gherant's subsequent line, "Too late!," to Firmus Piett, and additionally incorrectly cites the line as "It's too late!"[14]

Due to a costuming error during Return of the Jedi production, all Imperial officers in the film, including Gherant, wore identical uniform insignia regardless of rank.[2][15]

Appearances

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Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New Essential Chronology dates the events of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, which includes Gherant's death aboard the Executor during the Battle of Endor, to 4 ABY.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3  Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Dagobah Limited (Card: Commander Gherant) (backup link)
  4. ↑  Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Dagobah Limited is set around the time of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back, which The New Essential Chronology dates to 3 ABY.
  5. ↑ Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back shows Captain Firmus Piett being promoted to admiral right before the Battle of Hoth. As  Star Wars Customizable Card Game – Dagobah Limited (Card: Commander Gherant) (backup link) specifically identified Gherant as being chosen by Captain Piett for service aboard the Super Star Destroyer Executor, this must have also occurred before the aforementioned battle.
  6. ↑ Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi junior novelization
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi novelization
  8. ↑ Star Wars : Return of the Jedi on Amazon.com (backup link)
  9. ↑ StarWars.com Critical Opinion: Return of the Jedi Original Reviews on StarWars.com (backup link not verified!)
  10. ↑ Oldbury, Dave Louis: My Pip Miller Starwars Autograph (2011-07-12). Star Wars Autograph Collecting published by let-the-wookie-win.com (content obsolete and backup link not available)
  11. ↑ Star Wars Aficionado Magazine — BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGE: REBEL SURPRISE! on Blogspot (backup link)
  12. ↑ The Making of Return of the Jedi
  13. ↑ Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
  14. ↑ Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi PhotoComic
  15. ↑ "25 Years of Return of the Jedi!" – Star Wars Insider 105
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