Helgait

"You're a Separatist?"
"Separatist is a pejorative term. I support democracy. Count Dooku was a visionary. He was cut short in his prime by the Jedi enforcer…"

―Bo-Katan Kryze and Helgait^[1]

Helgait was the Head of Security on the planet Plazir-15.

Biography[]

Gatekeeping Plazir[]

CommissionerHelgait-YearInReview2023 — Helgait served as Head of Security

Helgait was a human male who supported Count Dooku of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the days of the Republic Era. He believed the Galactic Republic was corrupt and saw Dooku as a visionary who was taken out in his prime. When the Republic transitioned into the Galactic Empire, Helgait continued to resist them, believing they were no better. Following the fall of the Empire,^[1] by around 9 ABY,^[2] he had become Head of Security and a commissioner on the planet Plazir-15, having served the Duchess's family in the past.^[1]

While serving as Head of Security, Helgait illegally bought Techno Union nano-droids and put them in a batch of the droid lubricant Nepenthé, intending to cause the droids on which all citizens of Plazir relied to malfunction against their owners. The rulers of Plazir, the Duchess and Bombardier, caught wind that droids were going rogue; when the Mandalorians Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin arrived onworld, the pair requested for the Mandalorians to investigate the situation. Kryze and Djarin started by watching the security footage in the Security Office, which was shown by Helgait, who pretended to be none the wiser as to the malfunctioning—he claimed that while the droids had previously been programmed for violence, they had since been reprogrammed.^[1]

Kryze, confused, asked why the droids were not all simply shut off, inquiring as to whose authority that was. Helgait informed her that it was his but that the citizens, comfortable spending their days recreating while letting the droids do the work, had voted against interrupting droid services. He claimed that the citizens would be unable to live without their droids, resulting in their society's collapse. Helgait went on, asking them to decommission the remaining malfunctioning droids, a list of which they could acquire from the Ugnaughts of the planet's lower levels.^[1]

Hel to pay[]

The Mandalorians' search led them to the droid bar The Resistor, where they discovered that all of the rogue droids had partaken in the same batch of Nepenthé. After testing the substance—which they had taken from a malfunctioning B2-series super battle droid—they found the nano-droids within and linked their purchase back to Helgait. Kryze and Djarin thus returned to the Security Office, confronting Helgait about his programming the droids for attack and asking that he come with them.^[1]

After hesistating for a moment, he leapt up, putting his hand over the button he had previously indicated shut off the droids; he proclaimed that it actually was a failsafe for the droids' docile programming, threatening to turn them all violent against the unsuspecting citizens. Kryze held her ground, commanding him to give himself up; Helgait scoffed, declaring that he had not given up to the Republic and Empire and would certainly not do so for her. Based on this little speech, Kryze reasoned that the commissioner was a Separatist, by which he felt insulted—he was simply a supporter of democracy who appreciated Count Dooku. Before he could continue, however, Kryze fired an electroshock dart, disabling him and knocking him to the ground.^[1]

Djarin and Kryze thus brought a stuncuffed Helgait to the Duchess and Bombardier, which surprised the latter; Djarin explained that Helgait had been behind the malfunctions, which the commissioner confirmed to the Duchess. Bombardier found the security head's actions despicable, but Helgait called him equally so, describing the planet as "unrecognizable" since Bombardier's arrival. The Duchess expressed her disappointment in Helgait as he had served her family well in the past, admitting that Bombardier—a former Imperial—had made mistakes just like everyone else. The commissioner apologized, hoping to earn her forgiveness; the Duchess allowed that possibility but exiled Helgait to the moon of Paraqaat, eliciting gasps from onlookers. Helgait bowed his head, accepting his fate and walking out with the constable droids.^[1]

Behind the scenes[]

Helgait appeared in "Chapter 22: Guns for Hire," the sixth episode of The Mandalorian's third season,^[1] which was released on April 5, 2023.^[3] He was portrayed by Christopher Lloyd,^[1] who is also known for playing Doc Brown in the 1985 science-fiction film Back to the Future.^[4] In the episode, lab tech's analysis of the battle droid references Brown by including in Aurebesh the line "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads,"^[1] which Lloyd says in Back to the Future.^[4]