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"They should have surrendered, but instead they fought back. Suddenly all the relatively new Knights like me, who mistook our overconfidence for foresight, had to figure out what to do next."
―Bultar Swan, on the battle in the Petranaki Arena[5]

Bultar Swan was a Force-sensitive human female who trained as Jedi Master Plo Koon's Padawan before becoming a Jedi Knight. Not long after she became a Knight, Swan was among a group of 212 Jedi that Master Mace Windu led to the Petranaki Arena on the planet Geonosis in order to rescue Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Confederacy of Independent Systems in 22 BBY. Swan expected the Separatists to surrender, but instead they fought back and deployed their droid army.

Swan fought the droids back-to-back with fellow Jedi Stass Allie, but the situation turned against the Jedi and soon the pair were surrounded, along with their other surviving allies. Grand Master Yoda then saved the Jedi in the arena when he arrived with Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry gunships carrying the clone troopers of the new Grand Army of the Republic. Swan and Allie climbed aboard one of the gunships, which swiftly left the arena and landed in the nearby deserts. There, the two Jedi charged into battle with more droid forces and helped to ultimately defeat the Separatists.

Biography[]

Challenges for a new Knight[]

"I let my saber training take over. Muscles moved by themselves as I unconsciously ran the sweeping and batting exercise that is blaster deflection. My brain, however, was racing at lightspeed. Events moved alarmingly fast, and they weren't moving in our favor."
―Bultar Swan, on the battle in the Petranaki Arena[5]
SwanColemanGeonosis-AOTC

Bultar Swan was part of the assault team that traveled to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Bultar Swan was a Force-sensitive human female who served in the Jedi Order[1] as the Padawan of Jedi High Council member Master Plo Koon,[4] who taught her well.[2] At one point the pair discussed the weather.[4] By 22 BBY,[6] Swan had recently ascended to the rank of Jedi Knight and was among[5] the 212 Jedi[7] that Master Mace Windu hastily assembled into an assault team that traveled to the planet Geonosis in order to rescue the Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi.[3]

Kenobi had been captured after discovering a secret droid army being built by the newly formed Confederacy of Independent Systems, and had been taken to the Geonosian[3] Petranaki Arena[8] to be executed alongside his Padawan Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala, who had been captured during their own attempt to rescue Kenobi. The trio of captives fought off beasts, Geonosians, and droids while Swan and her colleagues infiltrated the arena before revealing themselves, lightsabers drawn. Swan stood with[3] Jedi Master Coleman Trebor[8] in the arena stands[3] and expected the Separatists to surrender;[5] however, the Jedi's foes instead deployed their droid army to the arena and fierce fighting broke out between the two factions.[3]

Back to back[]

"What I saw was bigger than anything I had imagined. Distant rectangles bobbed up and down as they marched in our direction, each speck in the formation representing an armed battle droid. Hoop-wheeled tanks roared past the droids, stirring up clouds of red dust."
―Bultar Swan, on the Battle of Geonosis[5]

Allowing her lightsaber training to take over, Swan began unconsciously running through the sweeping and batting exercise of blaster deflection. For most of the battle she fought back-to-back with fellow Jedi Stass Allie,[5] but the odds eventually turned against the Jedi, with Swan, Allie, and other survivors being forced into a circle on the arena grounds and surrounded by droids. The fighting ceased, and Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy, offered Windu the chance for the Jedi to surrender. After the Jedi refused, Dooku ordered his forces to kill Swan and the others.[3] Still beside Allie, Swan sliced through a B2-series super battle droid, and then looked up to see Jedi Grand Master Yoda on a Low Altitude Assault Transport/infantry gunship.[5]

JediCircle

Bultar Swan (center) was among the final surviving Jedi in the arena on Geonosis.

Yoda had arrived to rescue the Jedi with the clone troopers of the new Grand Army of the Republic,[3] and Swan and Allie leapt together onto the deck of one the other gunships that had arrived in the arena. The pair hung on tightly as the ship took off and cleared the arena walls before making a fast landing on the desert plains outside the arena. Swan could see the distant shapes of Separatist battle droids and IG-227 Hailfire-class droid tanks marching toward her, while the Galactic Republic deployed various war machines that she did not recognize among the many clone troopers around her. The new Jedi Knight then shared a nod with Allie, before the pair raised their lightsabers and charged into battle.[5] Ultimately the Republic claimed victory on Geonosis, forcing the surviving Separatists to flee.[3] Swan survived the battle[2] and later gave an account of her actions there.[5] She would go on to become a veteran of the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Separatists,[1] which began with the battle on Geonosis.[3]

Personality and traits[]

"The battle wasn't supposed to happen. I knew it might happen, but when you're a Jedi, you get accustomed to surrenders as soon as you ignite your lightsaber. And in my defense, we had more than two hundred lightsabers packed into that arena, with Master Windu's only a centimeter from Dooku's throat."
―Bultar Swan, on the Battle of Geonosis[5]
Bultar Swan on Geonosis

Bultar Swan (right) fought alongside Stass Allie during the Battle of Geonosis.

By the time she traveled to Geonosis, Swan had grown accustomed to opponents surrendering as soon as a Jedi ignited their lightsaber, and so expected that the Separatists would do the same when more than two hundred members of the Order confronted them. She understood that the battle might happen, but believed it would not until the Separatists fought back, at which point she realized that what she had believed to be foresight on her part had in fact been overconfidence.[5]

While her muscles moved unconsciously to deflect incoming bolts, her mind was racing as the events around her unfolded quickly, forcing her focus to narrow down to only herself and her moment-to-moment survival. When she spotted Yoda during the fighting, her first thought was only to wonder how long had he been present. The larger-scale conflict on the desert plains was bigger then anything Swan had ever imagined, and as she engaged she realized that what she was seeing was a full-scale war.[5] The Jedi Knight fought courageously on Geonosis, which marked the beginning of her boldest adventures in the field.[9] Swan had black hair, tan skin, and brown eyes.[3] She stood 1.68 meters (5 foot, 5 inches) tall.[2]

Powers and abilities[]

Bultar Swan was known for her ability to defeat her enemies using non-lethal methods. Her knowledge of martial arts led to a new form of combat that combined physical attacks with using a lightsaber for defense.[1]

Equipment[]

"So this was what war looked like. Stass and I shared a nod, raised out lightsabers, and charged."
―Bultar Swan, on the Battle of Geonosis[5]

While on Geonosis, Bultar Swan wore a set of light and dark brown Jedi robes with the darker elements including a tunic, boots, and pants. She used a green-bladed lightsaber with a silver colored hilt.[3]

Behind the scenes[]

Bultarconceptart

Concept art of Bultar Swan

Bultar Swan was portrayed by actress Mimi Daraphet[10] in the prequel trilogy film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones,[3] which was released on May 16, 2002.[11] Daraphet was cast by extra casting director Ros Breden[12] and concept art of the character was created by Dermot Power.[13] Her outfit in Episode II is very similar to the leather-accented ensemble worn by Anakin Skywalker in the film.[10] The Jedi battle in the Geonosis arena scenes were filmed on Stage 3 at Fox Studios, Sydney, between August 10 and August 15, 2000.[14]

The character was revealed to the public prior to the release of the Episode II, when a publicity still of Swan debuted on StarWars.com on January 31, 2002, captioned "Bultar Swan, heroic Jedi."[12] In the current Star Wars canon, Bultar Swan's name was first used in the mobile card game Star Wars: Force Collection,[1] which initially launched in 2013. Although the launch of Force Collection predates[15] the Star Wars canon reset of 2014,[16] Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee confirmed that the game was kept updated to fit with canon.[17]

A set diary for the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith that was made available to members of the Hyperspace fan club on StarWars.com reported that Daraphet underwent makeup and wardrobe tests for the film. However, Swan's name was not featured in the script and she did not appear in the film's final cut.[18][19]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

Notes and references[]

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Star Wars: Force Collection (Card: Bultar Swan (★★★))
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Star Wars Jedi Pocket Expert
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Star Wars Workbook: 2nd Grade Reading
  5. 5.00 5.01 5.02 5.03 5.04 5.05 5.06 5.07 5.08 5.09 5.10 5.11 5.12 Star Wars: On the Front Lines
  6. Star Wars: On the Front Lines states that Bultar Swan was new to being a Jedi Knight during the First Battle of Geonosis, which Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates to 22 BBY.
  7. Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
  8. 8.0 8.1 Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
  9. Topps logo 2020 Topps Women of Star Wars (Card: Bultar Swan) (backup link)
  10. 10.0 10.1 Databank title Swan, Bultar in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link)
  11. Star Wars Year By Year: A Visual History, New Edition
  12. 12.0 12.1 StarWars Extras, Extras: Ros Breden on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  13. The Art of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
  14. The Star Wars Archives: Episodes I–III, 1999–2005
  15. StarWars Announcing Star Wars: Force Collection on StarWars.com (content now obsolete; backup link)
  16. StarWars The Legendary Star Wars Expanded Universe Turns a New Page on StarWars.com (backup link)
  17. TwitterLogo Leland Chee (@holocronkeeper) on Twitter: "I'm not gonna go through the trouble of changing them and I don't have any reason to believe currently that anyone would. […] On the off-chance that we DID have a current need to change any of these, we would have for Force Collection." (backup link)Leland Chee of the Lucasfilm Story Group has confirmed that in-universe information from Star Wars: Force Collection conforms with Star Wars canon.
  18. HyperspaceIcon Episode III Set Diary - The Cruel Fate of Shaak Ti on Hyperspace (content removed from StarWars.com and unavailable)
  19. Blogger-Logo The DweebletterStar Wars, more odds-n-ends on Blogspot (backup link)
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