Star Wars has introduced three new Jedi survivors of Order 66 – and explained their tragic fates. The list of Jedi who survived Order 66 has only grown as more Star Wars stories have been told during and after the Great Jedi Purge. While the Jedi Order itself was destroyed when Emperor Palpatine issued Order 66, the Empire continued hunting down Jedi survivors for years to come. The Empire proved very effective in hunting down the survivors of Order 66 because of Darth Vader’s Inquisitors, a group of fallen Jedi who were trained in the dark side and forced to hunt their former comrades.

With the combined threat of the Inquisitors, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and the entirety of the Empire, many of the Jedi who initially survived Order 66 didn’t live for much longer. Those dangers were a major threat to the Jedi, but the Empire also robbed them of most of the support that would have helped them. After Order 66, the Empire began a propaganda campaign to label the Jedi as terrorists and would-be assassins, and anyone who colluded with them was branded a traitor. That made most of the galaxy turn on the Jedi, but some people were brave enough to offer them help.

Bail Organa Wasn’t The Only Senator Who Tried To Help Order 66 Survivors

Though the Jedi faced extreme persecution from the Empire, there were still some people who were willing to give them aid and assistance, even though it came at great personal risk. Some of those helpful people were even high-ranking senators, most notably Bail Organa, who helped both Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi escape from Coruscant. Bail wasn’t the only senator who was willing to help the Jedi, though, and Chris Kempshall’s “Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire” revealed that a senator named Sanver also helped hide three previously unknown Jedi Padawans.

“The Inquisitorius also appear to have existed outside of any formal Senate oversight or controls from the political wing of the Empire. Two years after the Empire had been declared, the Barabel Senator Sanver was found to have secreted three fugitive Padawans in his private quarters. Barabel culture had long revered the Jedi, and it should be no surprise that this carried over into sheltering survivors from Order 66.”

While these three Jedi Padawans aren’t named in the book, they are still important additions to the list of survivors of Order 66. Star Wars stories about Galactic Senators usually focus on Mon Mothma, Bail and Leia Organa, and a handful of others. The rest of the Senate can sometimes seem like apathetic tools of the Empire, but Sanver showed that there were other people in the Senate who were willing to do the right thing.

Senator Sanver Paid The Price For His Faith In The Jedi

While Senator Sanver’s willingness to help the Jedi illustrated his bravery, it also highlighted just how dangerous offering aid to enemies of the Empire truly was. Sanver knew his fugitives would be hunted and executed if they were ever found, but he might not have thought that he would share in their fate.

“When this deception was discovered, Sanver and the three Knights were swiftly executed by the Inquisitorius.”

“The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire” explained that in the two years Sanver hid the three Padawans, they continued their training and became Jedi Knights. That detail makes Sanver’s sacrifice even more courageous, as it showed that he was completely dedicated to the concept of the Jedi. It wasn’t enough for him to simply keep the Padawans alive and safe. He wanted them to continue their training, and he wanted the Jedi Order to survive along with them. Sanver may have helped them simply out of his cultural reverence for the Jedi as a Barabel, but he paid for his faith with his life.

Senator Sanver and his hidden Jedi survivors are only a small detail in the larger story of Star Wars, but they use that short amount of time to tell a particularly compelling tale. In a way, Sanver is emblematic of exactly why the Empire fell at all: because normal people put themselves in harm’s way in the hopes of a better tomorrow. While heroes like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa dealt the death blow to the Empire, it was everyday people who made it all possible. In that way, Senator Sanver and his three Jedi survivors are the essence of Star Wars as a whole.

Purchase Chris Kempshall’s “The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire” on Amazon.