How Did Aayla Secura Die? Felucia, Order 66 and Bly

Aayla Secura died on Felucia in 19 BBY when Order 66 turned her own clones on her. Commander Bly, her second-in-command in the 327th Star Corps, relayed the order, and she was shot in the back before she could draw her lightsaber. (Revenge of the Sith; Wookieepedia, canon article)

How did she die?#

She and Bly were fighting Separatist forces on Felucia in the closing days of the Clone Wars. As they prepared to meet spider tanks, Palpatine, who had been Darth Sidious all along, gave Order 66. Bly relayed it, and the clones opened fire. A bird suddenly took flight, and Aayla, distracted by it, was hit twice in the back before she could reach her lightsaber. She fell under a big fungal tree and the clones kept firing to be sure. (Wookieepedia, canon article; Revenge of the Sith)

She appears in the Order 66 sequence of Revenge of the Sith, played by Amy Allen. The wiki notes a brief glimpse of a floral navel piercing there, which canon media ignored and Legends made part of her look. It suggests the piercing was Allen's own jewellery and possibly an oversight, but that is the wiki's guess. (Revenge of the Sith; Wookieepedia, canon article)

What was Bly's part in it?#

Bly's own article is the clearest. Secura was leading a Republic vehicle column with him when he relayed the order. Bly shot her from behind, and he and his troopers kept firing, since a wounded Jedi was still dangerous. He then ordered his men to check her body. The article stresses that the two had a mutual trust and that he'd defended her for years until that moment. (Wookieepedia, article on CC-5052)

The two wiki articles tell the shooting a little differently. The body of Secura's article says Bly ordered the clones to fire and the clones shot her, while Bly's says Bly shot her himself. The summary at the top of Secura's article has Bly among the troopers who fired. Either way, he was the one who passed on the command. (Wookieepedia, canon articles on Aayla Secura and CC-5052)

Did Bly die too?#

The wiki's canon article gives Bly no death date. After Order 66 he served the Empire in the Stormtrooper Corps. The article says he worked with Darth Vader to capture two rebellious Padawans, and that he was sent after Force users who had survived the purge. That's as far as the evidence goes, and I won't guess past it. (Wookieepedia, article on CC-5052)

Who knew she was dead?#

Yoda sensed Secura's death and those of many more Jedi from Kashyyyk, and that let him defend himself and escape. On Kaller, Depa Billaba, meditating at the time, had a Force vision of Secura among the dead and shared it with her apprentice Caleb Dume, the future Kanan Jarrus. Billaba gave her life shortly after to save Dume. (Wookieepedia, canon article)

Afterwards, her astromech droid QT-KT ended up on Ryloth with Loris Cona, a friend of hers. Around 3 ABY, QT-KT told the droids of D-Squad that its master died in Order 66. In 35 ABY, her voice was among those Rey heard on Exegol, urging her to let the Force lead. (Wookieepedia, canon article; The Rise of Skywalker)

How old was Aayla Secura when she died?#

Canon doesn't say. The wiki's canon infobox leaves her birth blank. Legends is different: it puts her birth at about 48 BBY, a date derived from artist Jan Duursema's 2003 forum comments (Aayla was two when found, nine years younger than her master, and around 16 when The Phantom Menace takes place) and a 32 BBY date for that film. Counting from 48 BBY to her death in 19 BBY gives roughly 29. (Wookieepedia, Legends article)

So "29" is a Legends figure, worked out by me from the wiki's numbers. Don't treat it as an official canon age.

What did the Empire say happened?#

In Legends only, Imperial records written up by Sate Pestage claimed Secura and Barriss Offee had been executed for scheming to contaminate Felucia's water. In fact the Separatists had done it. A trooper of the 501st, although he thought the Jedi were traitors, hoped her death had been quick. (Wookieepedia, Legends article)

My read#

Of all the Order 66 deaths, hers is the one I find hardest to take, because of Bly. The wiki stresses how close the two were and that his programming compelled him, so the shooting reads as a betrayal he couldn't refuse. (Wookieepedia, article on CC-5052)

For the war that put them on Felucia, see the Clone Wars page, and for another Jedi caught by the same order see did Luminara Unduli survive Order 66.