Alderaan Ascendancy Contention
From Wookieepedia, the Star Wars wiki.
- "You know anything about that?"
"No more than any other Alderaanian. The question was whether the line of ascent to Viceroy should go to Bail Organa's father or one of the other family lines." - ―Luke Skywalker and Winter, discussing the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention[src]
The Alderaan Ascendancy Contention was a political conflict between the high houses of Alderaan, the House of Antilles and the House of Organa in particular, over which house would succeed to the Viceroyship of Alderaan. It took place sometime before the Clone Wars and the fall of the Galactic Republic. The mediation team sent by the Galactic Senate resolved the dispute in favor of the Organas, although a marriage was called for between the Antilles and Organa families.
Contents |
[edit] History
At some point before the Clone Wars, a political conflict between the high houses of the planet Alderaan arose. Known as the Alderaan Ascendancy Contention, it was the result of the inability of the great families—among them the House of Organa and the House of Antilles[1]—to choose the next Viceroy of Alderaan. When the third vote on the matter did not yield a winner, the government of Alderaan appealed to the Galactic Senate for mediation. In response, a delegation including Jedi Watchman[1] Jorus C'baoth was sent to resolve the case.[2]
The crisis strained the relations between the House of Antilles and the House of Organa in particular. When the tensions escalated at one point, the intervention of Tash Scrambas, captain of the frigate Qel-Droma, proved instrumental. He refused to choose a side and cooperated with the mediation team in solving the crisis.[1] In less than a month, the delegation came to the conclusion that the Organas had the rightful claim, and a member of the family became the new Viceroy.[2] Although the dispute was ultimately settled in a peaceful manner, C'baoth called for a marriage between the Antilles and Organa families. With the union of the two houses, the Ascendancy Contention was brought to a successful conclusion.[1] This focal event in the history of Alderaan was well known among Alderaanians even decades later.[2]
[edit] Behind the scenes
[edit] Timeline
The exact timing of the Ascendancy Contention has not yet been established. However, it must have taken place before 27 BBY, the year Jorus C'baoth died.[3] Timothy Zahn, author of Dark Force Rising in which the contention was first mentioned, originally placed the event in 70 pre-Empire date, which would work out to 89 BBY. However, C'baoth's birth year was later retconned from 112 pre-Empire (131 BBY) mentioned in Dark Force Rising to 70 BBY,[4] meaning the other events of his life as established in the book are pushed later as well, including the Ascendancy Contention.
Taking into account the original dates given in Dark Force Rising, C'baoth would have been 42 years old at the time of the contention. If this is still the case after the changes made to the timeline, the Ascendancy Contention would take place in 28 BBY. Deducing from the clues offered by official sources, the earliest possible date for the contention seems to be 35 BBY, when C'baoth was 35. Winter states in Dark Force Rising that in a group hologram of the mediation team, he seemed to be around forty: "plus or minus five years perhaps." However, C'baoth was known to have looked older than most people his age, the Roleplaying Game Revised Core Rulebook mentioning him having a white beard at the age 38. Thus it is entirely plausible that he could have been even under thirty during the contention, placing the event somewhere around 40 BBY.
[edit] Families involved
The wording in both Dark Force Rising and Dark Force Rising Sourcebook leaves room for interpretation as to how many families were involved in the Ascendancy Contention. While both sources clearly state that the Organa family was one of them, it remains ambiguous whether there was more than one other family claiming the title of Viceroy. In the Databank entry for Pello Scrambas, only the House of Organa and the House of Antilles are mentioned. This, along with the fact that the dispute ended when the families joined in marriage, would imply that at least the final choice was made between the two. Since nothing definite has been established one way or another, this article is written with the assumption that there could have been more than the two named families involved.
According to What's The Story? author Aidan Hennessy, his Pello Scrambas entry was supposed to indicate that the marriage joining the House of Antilles and the House of Organa was between Breha Antilles and Bail Organa.[5] So far, no official source has addressed this.
[edit] Appearances
- Dark Force Rising (First mentioned)
[edit] Sources
- Dark Force Rising Sourcebook
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 18 (ALD3-4, Alderaan)
- The Official Star Wars Fact File 67 (ORG1, Bail Organa)
Bail Organa in the Databank
- Pello Scrambas in the Databank
