Tala Durith was a human female who served in the Imperial Army in the Galactic Empire. While on the Outer Rim planet Garel, she participated in the execution of four Force-sensitive families. Having initially joined the Empire to make a positive difference, she was disillusioned by the Empire's cruelty. Afterward, Durith joined the underground network known as the Hidden Path and began helping smuggle Force-sensitive individuals out of the Empire's reach. She and other dissidents, such as the Path's leader, Kawlan Roken, worked with surviving Jedi and others to operate a network of safehouses that moved people to the Outer Rim planet Jabiim to receive new identities. At some point, Durith was stationed in a mining village on the Mid Rim planet Mapuzo as part of the world's Imperial battery.

While maintaining her cover as one of the Empire's captains, she and the loader droid NED-B continued assisting the Hidden Path by operating one of the organization's safehouses and coordinating pickups from the planet. In 9 BBY, Durith traveled to rendezvous coordinates sent to her by the con artist Haja Estree with three Imperial stormtroopers, whom she killed upon arrival to assist her new charges, the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa. After escorting them to the Mapuzo safehouse, Durith attempted to flee the world with Organa while Kenobi stayed behind to distract their pursuer, the Sith Lord Darth Vader. However, she later left the princess to rescue the Jedi from Imperial capture, successfully extracting him to Jabiim. Organa, meanwhile, was apprehended by the Imperial Inquisitor Third Sister, who had killed the pilot assisting Durith.

Not long after, she and Kenobi mounted a rescue mission for Organa with the assistance of the Hidden Path, planning to infiltrate the underwater Fortress Inquisitorius on the moon Nur in the Mustafar system. Durith used her officer clearance to access the fortress, overriding an entry port to allow the Jedi to sneak inside. When questioned by a terminal officer and led away from her station, she killed him and continued assisting the Jedi. Durith interrupted the Third Sister's planned interrogation of Organa, allowing Kenobi to rescue her from a torture chamber. She reunited with the pair and met in a hangar, engaging in a brief skirmish with stormtroopers. The pair successfully fled the fortress with Organa, escaping via a Hidden Path airspeeder to retreat to Jabiim. Having tracked them to the world, Vader attacked the dissidents' base. In the attack, Durith was shot in the abdomen by stormtroopers and immobilized. She chose to detonate a thermal detonator when Imperial forces continued to approach, sacrificing herself to successfully buy her allies more time to avoid capture.

Biography[]

Disillusion with the Empire[]

Tala Durith hailed^[1] from the Mid Rim mining planet^[3] Mapuzo.^[1] Not long after the beginning of the Galactic Empire's reign in 19 BBY,^[7] Durith joined the galactic government's service in the hopes that^[3] she^[2] could foster positive change throughout the galaxy. She eventually became an Imperial officer, rising to^[3] the military rank of captain in the Imperial Army.^[8] At some point by 9 BBY,^[2] Durith was deployed to^[6] the planet^[9] Garel and given orders to round up people that had apparently not paid their taxes. The captain complied and assisted Imperial forces in gathering fourteen individuals from four Force-sensitive families—including six children. The officer then watched as members of the Empire's^[6] Jedi-hunting^[10] Inquisitorius executed the families.^[6]

Following the executions,^[6] Durith became disillusioned with the Empire and regretted the mistakes she had made during her deployments.^[3] At some point, Durith carved a marking on her holster for each individual that Imperial forces had killed on Garel.^[6] Eventually, she discovered^[7] an underground, anti-Imperial network known as^[3] the Hidden Path^[2] and began to work with them. The organization operated several safehouses on worlds across the galaxy to help Jedi and other Force-sensitives reach^[3] the planet^[7] Jabiim^[3] and other safe locations^[7] where they could be assigned new identities and live outside the Empire's reach. Durith maintained her position as an Imperial officer as a cover, operating officially at a battery on Mapuzo.^[3]

While assisting the Path, Durith worked with the Path's leader, Kawlan Roken, who had lost his Force-sensitive wife to the Inquisitors,^[8] and also conspired with the Jedi Quinlan Vos, who helped younglings reach safety. She also maintained contact with Haja Estree,^[3] a con artist working on the planet Daiyu who posed as a Jedi for profit while also helping Force-sensitive refugees reach the Path.^[10] At some point, Durith began assisting with Path activities on Mapuzo, helped by the loader droid NED-B stationed in the organization's safehouse on the world.^[3]

A timely encounter[]

In 9 BBY,^[2] Estree encountered the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa while Inquisitors and bounty hunters were chasing the pair on Daiyu. The con artist helped Kenobi and Organa reach a transport to Mapuzo,^[10] informing Durith of a pickup arrangement at a set of coordinates. The officer arranged for a pilot to transport her new charges offworld later that day, giving him an estimate of when she would need his services. She then began making her way to the designated meeting location in an Imperial ground troop transport with three stormtroopers. However, the officer was unable to rendezvous with Kenobi and Organa before an Imperial probe droid identified the pair at an Imperial checkpoint. As the Jedi and the princess fled the area, having eliminated the checkpoint's security, Durith's troop transport intercepted the two, and the officer's stormtroopers surrounded them. Durith then used her blaster to shoot the Imperial soldiers with her, shocking the Jedi and his charge.^[3]

After explaining that she had been on her way to meet them at Estree's coordinates, Durith led Kenobi and Organa through a nearby mining village and into one of the Hidden Path's safehouses. The officer introduced them to NED-B, assuring them that the droid was on their side. After Durith led them into the safehouse's hidden room, she discussed how she had joined Imperial service and why she no longer believed in the government's ideals. As Kenobi studied the room's inscription-covered walls, the officer informed him that many Jedi had been through Path safehouses, including^[3] one of his former mission partners,^[11] Vos. A pair of stormtroopers entered the Path's safehouse, searching for Kenobi. Although the troopers failed to locate the Jedi, Durith contacted her pilot and ordered him to prepare to leave Mapuzo immediately. She changed out of her officer's uniform and packed a backpack for the trip ahead. Organa questioned whether it was frightening to need to live a double-life by pretending to be an Imperial, to which the officer replied that it could be, but was nevertheless worth it if she could help people.^[3]

When asked by Kenobi, Durith explained that she risked rebelling against the Empire through her Path work to assuage the guilt of her past actions as an Imperial officer. As the trio prepared to flee through a tunnel connected to the safehouse, Kenobi sensed the arrival of the Sith Lord Darth Vader on Mapuzo. She and the Jedi watched Vader venture further into the mining village from their safehouse's window for a moment before eventually pulling away. Kenobi implored Durith to flee with Organa, making the officer promise to return the child to^[3] her homeworld, the Core Worlds planet^[11] Alderaan. As they fled, Kenobi exited the safehouse and ran further from Durith and Organa, hoping to give them time to escape.^[3]

Rescue from Vader[]

As the pair ran down an escape tunnel, Organa begged Durith to go back and assist Kenobi. Though the officer initially refused, she eventually decided to help the Jedi and instructed the princess to keep running to the end of the path until she met their escape pilot at a nearby port. Durith then ran the way she had come, returning to the safehouse to meet with NED-B. As Imperial forces circled an injured Kenobi, she and NED-B drew closer to the Jedi's location and surveyed Kenobi and Vader's confrontation from a nearby cliffside. The officer fired blaster shots at Vader's forces from above and ignited a pile of flammable stones, causing them to break formation. In the chaos, NED-B carried Kenobi away from the scene and to a secluded area. As Durith inspected Kenobi's injuries, she asked the loader droid to prepare their transport for immediate departure to Jabiim.^[3]

She, NED-B, and the Jedi swiftly departed Mapuzo aboard the vessel. However, the Imperial Inquisitor Third Sister killed the pilot Organa had been sent to meet and captured the princess. As Kenobi drifted in and out of consciousness, she assured him he would be alright. After landing on Jabiim, Durith escorted the injured Kenobi's stretcher through a Hidden Path safehouse and watched over him as he healed in a bacta tank. Kenobi jolted awake while recovering in the tank and pulled himself out of it, despite the officer's protests that he was still injured. He and Durith then went to find Roken, who was displeased with the risk the Jedi's presence at the base posed. Kenobi implored Roken to help rescue Organa, and Durith supported him, mentioning that the princess knew about the Path's activities on Jabiim and could expose their operations if pressured.^[8]

Roken reluctantly agreed to assist them, leading the pair to one of the Path's control rooms, which housed a holographic depiction of the moon Nur—home to the underwater Fortress Inquisitorius. Durith promised to infiltrate the facility with Kenobi, despite the misgivings of other her other colleagues,^[8] Sully Stark^[6] and Wade Resselian. Although they were unsure that her cover as an Imperial officer was intact, Durith felt it was worth trying to use it as an advantage to infiltrate the fortress. In preparation for their mission, she had her ship refueled and donned her officer's uniform as a disguise. As she and Kenobi traveled to the Mustafar system, the officer encouraged him to take time to heal and forget the past.^[8]

Fortress rescue[]

Upon landing in the fortress's hangar, Durith confidently strode past Imperial personnel to an entrance checkpoint. When questioned by the Imperial security guard^[8] Tytan Latimer,^[7] the captain insisted she had clearance and submitted her cylinder to him. Despite the terminal officer's initial refusal to let her pass, they eventually permitted her entry after she threatened to report them to the Grand Inquisitor for not letting her through to deliver classified intelligence. Once inside, Durith sat at a terminal and used her comlink to contact Kenobi. She guided him toward a port that she had overridden, and he entered the facility.^[8]

When Durith was confronted at her station by a terminal officer, they escorted her out to verify her identity. She quickly killed the officer, later reassuring Kenobi that she had encountered some company and eliminated the threat. After being told by the Jedi to cause a distraction, Durith rushed to Organa's interrogation chamber and requested an audience with Third Sister, the Inquisitor who had been preparing to torture the princess. When granted an audience, Durith expounded on a falsified story to buy time, claiming that Hidden Path insurgents were hiding Kenobi on^[8] the planet^[11] Florrum using a salvage business as a front. However, Third Sister instead ordered that she be apprehended, having sensed that she was lying. Though troopers detained her, the captain swiftly took them down with a blaster and reunited with the Jedi and Organa, who had just exited the torture chamber. As Durith and the princess ran down a corridor, Kenobi held back a cracking window, letting water spill in and flood the area after the trio had escaped behind a door.^[8]

As Durith entered the hangar, she walked alongside Kenobi, who was hiding Organa under an Imperial greatcoat. The fortress was locked down, resulting in the trio's capture by nearby troopers. When Third Sister denounced Durith as an Imperial traitor, she responded that she never was loyal in the first place. The Inquisitor ordered the trio's execution, but before troopers could carry out the order, Stark and Resselian's T-47 airspeeders strafed the Imperials in the hangar. Kenobi, Organa, and Durith fled amidst the chaos, gunning down everything in their path. Though the trio successfully escaped on Stark's airspeeder, they were saddened when Imperials downed Ressellian's vessel in the ensuing chaos. After Stark's airspeeder transferred them to a larger ship, Durith briefly reminisced about their fallen comrade's sacrifice.^[8] Once the vessel landed at the Path's Jabiim base, Durith disembarked.^[6]

Attack on Jabiim[]

Shortly afterward, Vader's Star Destroyer arrived on Jabiim, and he issued orders to lock down the Path's base as the sabotage of Organa's droid, L0-LA59, had locked their hangar doors. Durith and Kenobi briefly discussed the situation and speculated on Vader's next plans. While the Jedi Master prepared to confront Vader, Durith began helping Roken determine how to re-open the hangar. She later found Kenobi elsewhere in the base, confiding that she had participated in a massacre of Force-sensitive families on Garel while working as an Imperial officer and now chose to fight against the Empire's cruelty to assuage her guilt. As Imperial forces drew closer to the base's entrance, Durith joined the ranks of the Path's fighters while Kenobi attempted to stall for time by initiating a conversation with Third Sister.^[6]

When the stalling attempt failed, the Third Sister's troopers breached the Path base. Durith and her colleagues began shooting at the intruders, but the Imperials vastly outnumbered them. As she retreated with the others deeper into the base, Durith was hit in the abdomen with blaster fire and fell to the ground. Kenobi and NED-B attempted to rescue her, with the latter carrying the woman and using his body as a shield. However, she implored Kenobi to retreat, activating a thermal detonator after shooting the blast door control between them. The Jedi grieved Durith's sacrifice and wanted to surrender, but Roken dissuaded him. Eventually, Organa managed to reopen the hangar doors, allowing the Path's members to escape aboard a ship.^[6] Having held on to Durith's blaster holster, Kenobi gave it to the princess when they left Jabiim. When she later asked why the holster did not come with a blaster, the Jedi said he would not bequeath a ten-year-old child a blaster. Organa kept Tala's holster with her after returning to Alderaan and used it as a place to keep her droid L0-LA.^[12]

Personality and traits[]

Durith was an idealistic woman who became disillusioned with the Galactic Empire after witnessing its violence towards civilians and children. She involved herself in the activities of the Path in order to atone for her role in a massacre on Garel, and felt sympathetic for those who were mistreated by the Empire, including Force-sensitives and droids.^[3] On Jabiim, Durith was willing to sacrifice herself to buy her allies more time to escape, blowing herself up with a detonator.^[6] The woman found purpose in her work helping the individuals that Imperials sought to destroy.^[7]

The officer's dogged pursuit of the Path's goals led her to display a certain degree of ruthlessness, as exemplified by her willingness to murder troops under her own command to save Force-sensitive refugees from execution. While on Mapuzo, Durith built a friendly rapport with Organa, showing her why she wore her holster on a particular side, though not showing the girl how to shoot despite the latter's request.^[3] While in Fortress Inquisitorius, she was willing to lie to achieve her goals, readily killing Imperials who posed a threat to her and Kenobi's rescue of Organa.^[8] A human^[3] female,^[4] she had brown eyes and tan skin. While serving as an Imperial officer, Durith kept her^[3] raven-black^[5] hair styled in a bun fastened with pins under her uniform kepi.^[3]

Skills and abilities[]

Durith was skilled with a blaster, accurately firing blaster pistols and rifles from both short and long range.^[3] The officer was also trained in hand-to-hand combat, being able to silently dispatch an opponent larger than herself within seconds. While working for the Path, Durith regularly engaged in subterfuge. She confidently lied while maintaining her cover as an Imperial officer, weaving elaborate justifications for her duplicitous behavior whenever questioned.^[8]

Equipment[]

While stationed on Mapuzo, Durith donned a gray-green Imperial officer's uniform, including an Imperial kepi bearing an officer's disk, code cylinder, black gloves, and black boots. She also wore brown belt with a silver buckle that also had an officer's disk. She displayed the rank insignia plaque of an Imperial Army captain, on the breast of her uniform, composed of a single row of three red squares and one blue. Durith carried a SE-14r light repeating blaster with her while on Mapuzo, which she kept in a holster by her hip.^[3] On Jabiim, she wielded a WE-11 blaster pistol.^[7] After the Garel executions, Durith carved a marking into her holster for each individual that had died during the event.^[6]

While on Mapuzo, Durith wore a long-sleeved light blue shirt under her officer's uniform. She paired the shirt with a ribbed brown tunic and a multicolored, patterned sash. In preparation to leave the world, she fastened a brown holster belt to her waist and took a brown backpack with her from the Path safehouse. She also possessed an Imperial transport ship, which she used to assist Kenobi.^[3] While rescuing Organa from the Inquisitors' fortress, Durith used a comlink to communicate with Kenobi.^[8] On Jabiim, the she activated a thermal detonator in her dying moments to give her allies more time to escape. After Durith's death, Kenobi bequeathed Durith's holster to Organa as a memento.^[6]

Behind the scenes[]

Milestones[]

Tala Durith was first pictured in the teaser trailer for the Disney+ television series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which was released on March 9, 2022.^[14] She first appeared in the third episode of the series,^[3] which aired on June 1 of that year.^[15] She was portrayed by actress Indira Varma.^[3] Her Imperial rank and full name were revealed on a viewscreen in aurebesh in the fourth episode of the series.^[8]

While Varma's involvement in Kenobi was officially revealed in Obi-Wan Kenobi's casting announcement on March 29, 2021,^[16] an exclusive by Deadline leaked her that she had joined the cast on March 1 of that year.^[17]

Recruitment[]

According to Varma, she first took interest in joining the cast of Obi-Wan Kenobi when her manager brought up the opening of a role in the series. By the time she had been cast as Durith, Varma had not watched any of the Star Wars franchise^[18] and felt that she did not need an encyclopedic knowledge of Star Wars to understand her character's motivations.^[13] Nevertheless, Varma chose to research the franchise by watching^[18] the Disney+^[19] television series The Mandalorian, as Obi-Wan Kenobi's director Deborah Chow had been part of it^[18] and her friend Pedro Pascal, a co-star of hers in the fantasy franchise Game of Thrones,^[13] was the lead character.^[19]

Having enjoyed the wit, humanity, and serialized feel of The Mandalorian, Varma conversed with Chow and they talked about joining the show. Varma trusted Chow's sensibilities and liked how the director wanted the show to be character driven and Chow asked for her input. Varma saw being in the show was an exciting time to change how women are perceived and found her character unique. That made her feel more welcome in Star Wars, which in the past she had considered a boys' franchise, and she believed she didn't need to copy any other portrayal as she was not reprising an existing character.^[13]

Production[]

By the time Varma learned about Durith, her character's story had gone through a number of incarnations. According to the actress, Durith reportedly originated as a love interest for Obi-Wan Kenobi, but Chow and showwriter Joby Harold ultimately dropped that idea, feeling that it was too cliché.^[18] Durith's holster was made to fit both her and its inheritor Leia Organa. The designers removed the drop portion from the gun belt to fit Organa well. In order to be a fit for both Durith's blaster and eventually Organa's droid L0-LA, the blaster was designed with a scope in the style of Han Solo's blaster that could require a holster space that fitted the droid as well. The detonator which Durith used to sacrifice herself was inspired by the one used by Leia Organa in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi and was made from a replica that was modified by the designers.^[20]

On her first day of filming, Varma was amused by the presence of stormtroopers and was exhilarated when she first saw Darth Vader on set. According to Varma, she worked well with Kenobi's actor Ewan McGregor,^[18] who playfully teased her on multiple occasions for having not seen the Star Wars films.^[13] At the end of filming for the sequence^[21] where Durith perishes in the episode "Part V,"^[6] which released on June 15, 2022,^[15] the actor called it an emotional day.^[21] Varma enjoyed filming in "the Volume," a 360-degrees LED screen set that projected the background around her. The actor's trainer named Lacey introduced her to ice baths, which she gained a habit of doing.^[22]

Characterization[]

McGregor considered the character of Tala Durith to be important for encouraging Kenobi to leave the past in the past. Varma similarly saw the character as someone who wanted to help Kenobi face his past and fears. She considered Durith to be the equivalent to^[21] the French Resistance, which opposed the Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War,^[23] and someone who had been hurt by and deeply disillusioned with the Empire.^[21]

Varma felt that while Durith was not romantically involved with Kenobi, she was still willing to give up everything to further his quest. The actor considered Durith's character a risk-it-all type^[18] who had nothing to lose as she attempted to atone for her past sins.^[24] Varma and many of her colleagues did not see the final episodes until Kenobi's premiere at Celebration Anaheim, nearly a year since they were all working together on Obi-Wan Kenobi.^[25]

Appearances[]

• Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part II" (Indirect mention only)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi 2 (Indirect mention only)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part III" (First appearance) (First identified as Tala)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi 3
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part IV" (First identified as Durith)
• Obi-Wan Kenobi 4
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part V"
• Obi-Wan Kenobi 5
• Obi-Wan Kenobi — "Part VI" (Indirect mention only)

Sources[]

Notes and references[]