What Do We Know About The Jedi Master Who Discovered Ahsoka Tano?
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With our holiday present of The Bad Batch Season 2 set to drop on January 4 on Disney + and The Mandalorian Season 3 ready to go on March 1, we can rest assured we can get through the winter months with new Star Wars content. For many of us, this is leading up to the spring premiere of Ahsoka. Aside from rewatching Tales of the Jedi, The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Mandalorian, we can take our fascination with all things Ahsoka Tano, a step further by taking a deeper look at the Jedi Master who discovered her. After all, how much do we know about Plo Koon?
Early Life
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Plo Koon is a Kel Dor from the planet Dorin. Kel Dor’s need to wear a special breathing mask when they’re away from Dorin, as they cannot breathe oxygen, and goggles to protect their eyes from foreign atmospheres. Even though Dorin is very inaccessible, Plo Koon was discovered to have Force powers and, according to Legends, was the Padawan of the Wookiee Jedi Master Tyvokka. He continued a family line of Jedi.
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Early Jedi Career
When we first saw Plo Koon in The Phantom Menace, he was already a Jedi Master with a seat on the Jedi Council. You need to stretch into Legends territory to find that he had participated in battles prior to the Battle of Geonosis. He went on a mission to the planet Oosalon to save children from becoming trapped in Warlord Guattako’s army. He also fought and easily defeated Savage Oppress, Asajj Ventress, and Aurra Sing. There are even rumors that Plo Koon once had a duel with Yoda! And, while on a mission on the planet Shili, Plo Koon found a very young native Togruta named Ahsoka Tano, who was Force-sensitive, and, saving her from a dreadful fate, brought her back to Coruscant to become a Jedi.
Although some of these escapades are considered Legends, they provide the backstory explaining how Plo Koon got elected to the Jedi Council.
Jedi Council
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The Naboo crisis occurred around the same time Plo Koon was elected to the Council. An unforeseen circumstance of this was the discovery of another young person who was very Force-sensitive - Anakin Skywalker. When Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, brought young Skywalker back to Coruscant for training, as Qui-Gon believed that Anakin was the prophesized Chosen One of Jedi lore, not all the Council members took his warnings of the reemergence of the Sith seriously, including Plo Koon. However, the Council members traveled to Naboo after Qui-Gon’s death at the hands of Darth Maul. Koon was one of many Council members who changed his mind about admitting Anakin to the Jedi Temple for training.
We see Plo Koon again in Attack of the Clones. Near the beginning of the movie, Plo Koon is seen at the meeting with Palpatine after the assassination attempt on Queen Amidala. Later, he travels to Geonosis to rescue Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padme, only to find himself and the other Jedi in a trap laid out by the former Jedi, Count Dooku. Plo Koon is one of the survivors of the Battle of Geonosis but is plunged into the Clone Wars.
The Clone Wars
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Like many Jedi, Plo Koon becomes a general during the Clone Wars. His was the 104th Battalion, known as the Wolf Pack. By this time, Ahsoka was old enough to go from a Youngling to a Padawan. Even though Plo Koon discovered her, and they had always kept a close relationship, Ahsoka is assigned to Anakin as his Padawan. There are still instances where Plo Koon and Ahsoka are given a chance to fight side-by-side. Some notable battles Plo Koon participates in are:
Destroying General Grevious’s battleships Malevolence
First and Second Battles of Felucia
The Capture of Eeth Koth
Breaking into the Citadel
The Capturing of Boba Fett
Rescue of Adi Gallia
Thwarting the Return of the Zygerrian Slave Empire
Near the end of the Clone Wars, Plo Koon received a distress call from a ship and, using his investigative skills, found out the fate of the Jedi Sifo-Dyas and the true Sith identity of Count Dooku.
Unfortunately, he also had to oversee Ahsoka Tano’s trial for the bombing of the Jedi Temple. Plo Koon could not believe that Ahsoka could be capable of such a thing. “I do not believe Ahsoka could have fallen so far,” Plo Koon says, yet, when faced with overwhelming evidence, he votes to expel her from the Jedi Order. When the truth is revealed, Plo Koon is among the first to apologize to Ahsoka and welcome her back to Order, an offer Ahsoka cannot accept.
Death & Legacy
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At the end of the Clone Wars, Plo Koon had been sent to help the 442nd Siege Battalion on the planet Cato Neimoidia. After he leads the Clones to a Republic victory, Palpatine gives the order to execute Order 66. Instead, Captain Jag, Koon’s wingman, shoots down his general, killing him instantly. Or does he…?
According to the Star Wars Legends page on Comicvine, Plo Koon survives Order 66 and returns to his homeworld of Dorin. There, much weakened, he becomes “The Hidden One.” Plo Koon slowly goes insane and loses his connection with other Force users.
Obi-Wan reached out to the Force to find him but met only the thin stirring of a barren world. It was strange to live in a galaxy with no Jedi. He hadn’t realized that he had once felt a humming presence, alive with the Force-ability of his fellow Jedi. It had fed him, and he hadn’t even known it.
The Last One Standing
Regardless of which ending you choose, Order 66 brings about the end of Plo Koon. Even if he did not physically die when his fighter ship is shot down, he becomes a broken shadow of his former self. And that is what we know of the Jedi Master who discovered Ahsoka Tano.
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