Jhared Montferrat

"Spare me, commander. After the battle is won I am sure there will be time enough for appropriate congratulations."

―Montferrat to Gradd^[2]

Jhared Montferrat was a human male who served as an admiral in the naval forces of the Galactic Empire. Late in the Galactic Civil War, he commanded the Devastator, one of the most prestigious Imperial-class Star Destroyers in the Imperial fleet. That year, Montferrat participated in the Battle of Endor, during which the Empire intended to put an end to the Rebel Alliance that opposed it. During the battle, the Devastator faced the rebel Blade Squadron. Against all odds, two members of that enemy squadron scored hits to the Star Destroyer's navigational shielding, causing a chain reaction of explosions. Montferrat died on the burning bridge of the Devastator.

Biography[]

Early life and career[]

Imperial-I-SD-ANH — Officer Montferrat was posted on the *Devastator*, Darth Vader's flagship.

The male human Jhared Montferrat served as an officer in the Imperial Navy, the spacefaring forces of Emperor Sheev Palpatine's Galactic Empire. At some point in his career, Montferrat was assigned aboard the Devastator, an Imperial-class Star Destroyer that served as the flagship of the Sith Lord Darth Vader, the Emperor's second-in-command. The ship was notably famous for its participation in the capture of the Tantive IV shortly before the Battle of Yavin. While he was one of Vader's subordinates on the Devastator, Montferrat witnessed the untimely death of several officers who had dared to question the armored man's orders, living in the fear that, one day, he could kill him too. At some point, Vader transferred his flagship to his brand new Super Star Destroyer Executor, much to Montferrat's relief.^[2]

At some point after the death of Grand General Cassio Tagge^[3] at the hand of Vader,^[4] Montferrat was appointed to the Joint Chiefs of the Imperial Military, a committee whose ranks had been severely depleted due to the destruction of the Death Star at Yavin.^[3]

Assault on Hoth[]

Upon Vader's abandon of the Devastator, Montferrat took command of the ship, although it remained a part of Death Squadron, the Sith Lord's personal flotilla. His promotion occurred even as the Empire was about to win a major tactical victory over the Rebellion.^[2] One of the many probe droids that had been dispatched across the galaxy in search of the new Rebel base had led the Imperials to the icy world of Hoth, in the solar system of the same name.^[5] Montferrat took part in the ensuing battle,^[2] during which General Maximilian Veers' ground forces were to bring down the Rebels' protective shield, while Death Squadron would take up a blockade formation in an effort to prevent any fleeing Rebel starships from escaping. That plan was a success, allowing the Empire to invade the Hoth base and rout the Rebels.^[5] While participating in the blockade, Montferrat's ship took down an evacuation ship that transported the wife of a young Rebel named Adon Fox. Following the Imperial triumph on Hoth, Montferrat started combing the ranks of his battleship, only recruiting and promoting the men who met his highly demanding criteria. Thanks to that, he would later pride himself on having the best trained crew in the whole Imperial Starfleet.^[2]

In the shadow of Endor[]

"Admiral: the rebel fleet just emerged from hyperspace."

―A bridge officer to Montferrat^[2]

Le Chiffre — Admiral Montferrat orders suspected rebel spies to be blown out of an airlock.

Eventually, Montferrat reached the senior command rank of admiral. Toward the end of the Galactic Civil War, Montferrat and his crew were tasked with joining Lord Vader and his fleet in the Endor system, where a decisive battle against the enemy Rebel Alliance was about to occur.^[2] Emperor Palpatine had deliberately leaked false information to the Rebels, leading them to believe that the new Imperial superweapon, the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station, was incomplete and non-operational. However, the planet-killing superlaser of that battle station was perfectly functional, and the largest Star Destroyers armada ever assembled would be waiting the Rebels in its orbit.^[6]

On its way to Endor, the Devastator captured four individuals whom Montferrat suspected to be Rebel spies. Intent on keeping his men focused on the impending battle, the admiral chose to deal with the captives swiftly by having them blown out in the vacuum of space. He then had the gun crews of the Devastator to use the corpses drifting in space for target practice. Montferrat ordered Commander Gradd to take up position aft of the ship with his interceptors, as a means to ensure his ship would not be surprised by a snubfighter attack when entering the vicinity of Endor.^[2]

The Devastator took position among the armada, and Montferrat deployed the ship just in front of the Death Star's shield, ready to take down any Rebel vessel that would try to reach it. Down on the sanctuary moon of Endor, the Rebels had charged a strike team with deactivating the Death Star's shield while their fleet was to vector onto the superweapon. As Montferrat predicted, a group of enemy B-wing snubfighters—codenamed Blade Squadron—started an attack run on the Devastator. Through his tactical display, the admiral witnessed the dogfight between the Rebels and Commander Gradd's interceptors. Despite the B-wings' technical inferiority, Blade Squadron managed to inflict damage to the Imperial fighters, scoring no less than three kills. Moreover, one of Montferrat's gunnery officers had kept firing into the dogfight, a move that effectively took down a B-wing but nearly hit two Interceptors. The furious admiral then ordered his helmsman to change course so the Devastator would remain between the attack force and the Death Star.^[2]

Devastator devastated — At impossible odds, the *Devastator* was destroyed by two B-wing starfighters.

To Montferrat's annoyance, Commander Gradd was killed by the leader of Blade Squadron, who was none other than Adon Fox. When the rebel fighters were down to less than half a dozen units, the flight deck of the Devastator had sustained too much damage to launch or even recover interceptors. Since a titanic battle raged between the two fleets and the battle station, the admiral knew he could not ask for fighter support. He decided upon a new strategy, ordering his crew to set all weapon batteries to point blank range and fire at will. That maneuver turned up to be useless, as two of the remaining Blade Squadron pilots—Gina Moonsong and Braylen Stramm—managed to hit the weak points of the Star Destroyer's navigational shielding. Because of that, the Devastator's hyperdrive exploded, which led to a series of explosions that blew back into the ship's main generators. Montferrat only realized what had just happened when he tried to see why the drive section had stopped to answer his calls. While trying to cope with the imminent and unavoidable destruction of his ship, the admiral also noticed that the Death Star's shield was down, leaving the battle station vulnerable. Disgusted with the way a rebellion he despised had bested the Imperial might, Jhared Montferrat allowed himself to die as the artificial gravity of the Devastator went out.^[2]

Legacy[]

"This outburst provoked accusations of high treason from an unnamed source, who was probably either Admiral Montferrat—given his close affiliation to Darth Vader—or Admiral Versio, who was a diehard loyalist."

―Beaumont Kin, in The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire^[3]

Montferrat was mentioned four times—both as a commander and a member of the Joint Chiefs—by the historian Beaumont Kin in his book, The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, which was released after the Battle of Exegol in 35 ABY. According to Kin, Montferrat attended the pre-battle briefing in the command chamber of the Executor, during which Admiral Firmus Piett relayed the Emperor's orders. One of the attendees allegedly criticized both the Emperor and Vader out loud, prompting a fellow officer to accuse them of high treason. Kin speculated that the accuser might have been either Montferrat or Admiral Garrick Versio, but remained unsure if the incident had actually happened to begin with.^[3]

Personality and traits[]

Admiral Montferrat SWA — Montferrat aboard the *Devastator* over Endor

"Sir, may I suggest—"
"You may not."

―Gradd and Montferrat^[2]

As an Imperial admiral, Jhared Montferrat kept his brown haired cropped short and his face shaven. He had gray eyes, although he had lost the use of the left one, which was barred by a scar. A pragmatic man, he did not believe in luck, but was convinced that failures should be dealt with swiftly and definitely. As the commanding officer of the Devastator, a historical ship, he considered himself the guardian of a vital legacy.^[2]

Behind the scenes[]

Jhared Montferrat was the main antagonist in Blade Squadron, a two-part short story written by David J. and Mark S. Williams, which was published in the 149th and 150th issues of the Star Wars Insider magazine in 2014. He is one of the first original characters in the new canon since the policy change that was announced on April 25, 2014. Montferrat's only depiction in the story was drawn by Star Wars artist Chris Trevas. Montferrat's appearance was partially inspired by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen.^[7]

According to David Williams, he and his co-writer designed Montferrat as "someone who's a little aloof but with a firm grasp of military tactics," and having "an old-school aristocratic feel."^[8] Like all character names from the Blade Squadron series, Montferrat's was coined by Mark Williams specifically.^[9]

After it was announced that Mikkelsen would be featured in the upcoming 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,^[10] some like the Nerdist website^[11] and the Rebels Report podcast speculated that he might in fact portray Montferrat in the movie.^[12] However, the actor went on to reveal on Sky News that he would be portraying the father of Jyn Erso, the main character of Rogue One.^[13] The name of Mikkelsen's Rogue One character, Galen Walton Erso, was revealed by Entertainment Weekly on June 22, 2016.^[14]