Ronhar Kim

"I always thought, from our chats together, that you possessed more political acumen than most of the Jedi!"

―Palpatine^[1]

Ronhar Kim was a male Human Jedi Master from Naboo and a General in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. He was eventually betrayed by his close friend, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, which led to his death.

Biography[]

A Force-sensitive born on the planet Naboo, Ronhar Kim was one of the three sons of Senator Vidar Kim, who represented their homeworld in the Galactic Senate.^[5] Kim was given over to the Jedi Order as an infant, and only returned to Naboo after the deaths of his mother and older brothers in an accident. Having constructed a blue-bladed lightsaber and attained the rank of Jedi Knight, he met with his father who tried to get him to abandon the Order and return to politics on Naboo. Kim lamented the loss of his family members and his father's pain, but stood firmly with the Jedi, saying that they were his family now. His father was furious, and the two didn't talk for two years.^[1]

Some time had passed before the two reunited on Coruscant, and discussed politics while riding aboard an airspeeder in the Coruscant skyline. While they were talking, they were attacked from behind by an assassin on a speeder bike. Senator Kim was immediately killed, while Jedi Kim vaulted from the speeder and knocked the assassin to the ground. Kim attempted to interrogate the assassin, but the being produced a hypodermic needle and injected herself, dying instantly. After his father's death, Kim was the only remaining member of his bloodline.^[1]

Kim attended his father's funeral at the Naboo Embassy on Coruscant, and was there approached by a young man named Palpatine, who had been elected to take Senator Kim's place in the Senate. Kim expressed to Palpatine that perhaps he should have remained on Naboo as his father had asked, and perhaps they both would have had different paths in life. Palpatine in turn told Kim that the Jedi were far more important than any senator, and that he shouldn't regret his decisions. Palpatine then proposed that the two of them could become good friends, and could teach one another about the Jedi and politics in turn.^[1]

Around 32 BBY, after receiving the title of Jedi Master, Kim visited Palpatine in his new office as Supreme Chancellor. Palpatine and Kim joked with one another, and took a walk through the halls of the Senate accompanied by a pair of Senate Guards. They were approached by Senator Viento, who began to discuss the topic of creating a personal guard for Palpatine. The Chancellor pointed out that he already had the Senate Guards protecting him, who ironically then pointed their weapons at him. While they attempted to assassinate the Chancellor, only to be engaged by Kim, who killed one guard and wounded the other. He began to coerce the assassin to answer who he worked for, but just as twenty years earlier, the guard injected himself with a poison that instantly killed him. Master Kim connected the two assassination attempts, but still had no answers. While Master Kim deliberated over the implications of this connection, the Jedi Master selected Cerean Initiate Tap-Nar-Pal as his Padawan^[1]

The Clone Wars[]

TapNarPal — Tap-Nar-Pal presents their plan.

Ten years later, the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems went to war. Forever known as the Clone Wars, the conflict saw Master Kim and his Padawan joining the Grand Army of the Republic as commanding officers, Kim as a General and Pal as a Commander. While most of the Order was unaware of the Sith's involvement in the war, Master Kim had information gleaned from Jedi High Council meetings that there was a mysterious second Sith, the master of Darth Tyranus, otherwise known as Count Dooku. Master Kim, intrigued with the idea, was pleased when Padawan Pal devised a plan to capture the elusive Sith Lord. As the Council believed that the Sith was hidden within the members of the Republic government, Tap-Nar-Pal suggested that they test all the members of the Senate to determine their respective midi-chlorian counts. Whomever had the highest count would clearly be the Sith they sought.^[1]

Kim and his Padawan presented the plan to Chancellor Palpatine within an elegant garden, who immediately rejected the idea as too controversial. He pointed out that some Senators such as Bail Organa of Alderaan would object to the test on principle, but this was not sufficient to dissuade them. Palpatine asked the two Jedi to hold off on suggesting the plan to the High Council until they could discuss it at a later time. Kim said that he and Tap-Nar-Pal were leaving on a simple mission to Merson to battle pirates for a few days, and they would hold off on informing the Council until then.^[1]

Battle of Merson[]

"Die well."
"Copy that."

―Ronhar Kim and Dox^[1]

Almost immediately after landing on the planet, Kim, clone Commander Dox, and his clone troopers planetside were overwhelmed with battle droids.

Kim1 — Ronhar is killed in the Battle of Merson

Tap-Nar-Pal, flying his Delta-7 Aethersprite, and Republic Captain Gilad Pellaeon faced an insurmountable force in orbit. Intelligence reports had put the Separatist forces at five times less than what they were; knowing their destination, Palpatine had ordered Count Dooku to ensure that no one survived the battle. Pellaeon refused to land transports to evacuate the forces on the ground and decided to order a full retreat. Kim reluctantly agreed with Pellaeon, and ordered Tap-Nar-Pal to accompany the Captain out of the battle. Tap, however, ignored his Master's orders and instead plunged his fighter into Merson's atmosphere in a vain attempt to help Kim. The Cerean believed that he would be able to hold off the attacking droids long enough for Kim and his ten remaining troopers to escape, but he was quickly shot down and killed, crashing his fighter into the advancing columns of droids.^[1]

Kim quickly mourned the loss of his Padawan, then ordered Dox to engage the droid forces. He told Dox to die well, and the Jedi joined the clones in attacking the battle droids. Kim was gunned down, wounded in several places, and collapsed to the ground. As he died, he realized he had been set up by the second Sith, until a B2 super battle droid shot him in the head, killing him.^[1]

Legacy[]

Kim and Tap-Nar-Pal were publicly mourned by Palpatine before the full Galactic Senate. He used their death as an excuse to goad on the war effort and further increase security measures, boosting his own executive power. Just as Palpatine planned, Tap-Nar-Pal's and Kim's idea to expose Darth Sidious died with them.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Comic writer John Ostrander based his name after the screenname of a poster on the Dark Horse forums.^[source?] Ostrander speculated that Kim was born in 58 BBY.^[6]

Ronhar Kim's appearance seems to have drawn inspiration from concept art for Obi-Wan Kenobi found in The Art of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.