Aayla Secura: the Twi'lek Jedi who fell on Felucia

Aayla Secura was a Force-sensitive Rutian Twi'lek female who served as a Jedi Master in the final years of the Galactic Republic and as a Jedi General during the Clone Wars. Trained as the Padawan of Quinlan Vos, she rose to Jedi Knight, took command of the 327th Star Corps with Clone Commander Bly as her second, and fought across the galaxy from Geonosis to Felucia. She was among the first to die when Sheev Palpatine issued Order 66, shot in the back by Bly and his troopers on Felucia. (Attack of the Clones; Revenge of the Sith; The Clone Wars, "Jedi Crash")

Early years and apprenticeship#

Aayla Secura was born on the planet Ryloth and came from the disreputable side of her homeworld. She was rescued by Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos, who sensed her connection to the Force and brought the youngling to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Vos took her as his Padawan and oversaw her training, and the two grew close, with Secura coming to see her master as a father figure. Under his guidance she ascended to the rank of Jedi Knight. (Dark Disciple; Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy; The Clone Wars, "Jedi Crash")

The Clone Wars#

Secura was on Coruscant during the last days of the Separatist Crisis in 22 BBY. When Obi-Wan Kenobi uncovered the Separatist Droid Army on Geonosis, Mace Windu assembled a strike team of every available Jedi, Secura among them. The Jedi infiltrated the Petranaki Arena, igniting their blades against waves of battle droids before the arrival of Yoda and the newly formed Grand Army of the Republic turned the tide. In the open battle that followed, Secura led her own unit of clone troopers alongside Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Kit Fisto, helping force the Confederacy into retreat. Her performance won her command of the 327th Star Corps and her own fleet group, with Clone Commander Bly assigned as her second-in-command. (Attack of the Clones; StarWars.com Databank, "Aayla Secura")

When her flagship the Liberty was crippled in the Battle of Quell, Secura and Bly fought off boarding rocket droids until Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, and Captain Rex arrived. Their crippled frigate crashed on the planet Maridun, where Secura helped defend a village of Lurmen from the Separatist general Lok Durd and his Defoliator weapon. During the campaign on Maridun she counseled Tano on the Jedi prohibition against attachment, recalling how she had once let go of her own master Vos for the greater good. (The Clone Wars, "Jedi Crash"; "Defenders of Peace")

Across the war Secura crossed paths repeatedly with Asajj Ventress, defeating her in single combat on at least one occasion and choosing to break off a duel to save Geonosian workers rather than recover stolen data. She joined Yoda in distracting the Zillo Beast on Coruscant, confronted Ventress on Alzoc III alongside Luminara Unduli, and partnered with Shaak Ti to seal a Starweird in the Sason Temple. Late in the conflict she investigated the aftermath of a battle on Ord Mantell with Windu, Kenobi, and Commander Wolffe, and aided in the fight against Maul on a Mandalorian outpost. By the war's end she had achieved the rank of Jedi Master. (Star Wars Adventures 12; The Clone Wars, "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back"; Mace Windu and Other Users of the Force; Doctor Aphra 33; Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir 3)

Death on Felucia#

In the final days of the war, in 19 BBY, Secura and Bly campaigned against Separatist forces on the Outer Rim world of Felucia. She attended a Temple war-room meeting by hologram with Windu, Yoda, Skywalker, and Mundi to discuss Palpatine's refusal to surrender his emergency powers, then returned to her campaign. As she and her troops prepared to engage Separatist spider tanks, Palpatine issued Order 66. Bly relayed the command, and Secura, distracted by a bird taking flight, was unable to draw her lightsaber before she was shot twice in the back by the clones she had trusted. As she fell beneath a fungal tree, the troopers continued to fire to ensure her death. (Revenge of the Sith)

Yoda felt the deaths of Secura and many other Jedi while on Kashyyyk, which warned him in time to defend himself and escape. Master Depa Billaba witnessed Secura's death in a Force vision she shared with her Padawan Caleb Dume on Kaller. (Revenge of the Sith; Kanan 2)

Legacy#

After her death, Secura's pink astromech QT-KT went to live with a friend of hers on Ryloth and later carried word of her master's fate to other droids. In 35 ABY, during the Battle of Exegol, Secura's voice was among the many fallen Jedi who spoke to Rey, urging her to let the Force guide her. (Dark Droids: D-Squad 3; The Rise of Skywalker)

Personality and abilities#

Secura was athletic, agile, and occasionally mischievous, but above all compassionate, and her clone commander came to respect her grit and sense of duty. She prioritized the survival of the many over the few, warning Tano never to lose a thousand lives to save one, yet she was also willing to abandon a mission objective to save lives. (The Clone Wars, "Jedi Crash"; Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia; Star Wars Adventures 12)

A master of lightsaber Form IV, Secura combined exceptional acrobatic skill with her blade work, was capable of meeting Ventress one-on-one, and helped Windu hold off Maul. She wielded a blue-bladed lightsaber with a durasteel hilt and flew a blue Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor during the Battle of Felucia. (Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded; Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir 3; Star Wars Lightsabers: A Guide to Weapons of the Force; Star Wars: X-Wing, Eta-2 Actis Expansion Pack)