The Jedi Clone That Went Mad
There are many stories in the galaxy of clone madness, a disease of what happens when the cloning process has gone wrong, and the clone slowly begins to lose their mental capabilities. However, no story is more important to both the in-universe and out-of-universe stories of Star Wars than Joruus C'baoth, the mad clone Jedi in the time after Battle of Endor.
Joruus C’baoth first appeared in Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire, and was featured throughout the rest of The Thrawn trilogy. The Star Wars Legends series took place five years after the Battle of the Endor. His original character concept was to be Obi-Wan Kenobi as a clone. However, the idea was vetoed and a new character was created, one that many fans would remember for just how bizarre yet fascinating of an idea he was.
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The Mad Clone
Joruus C’bath was a clone of the Jorus C'baoth, a Jedi Knight from the time of the Galactic Republic who died just before the Clone Wars. However, due to still unknown reasons, part of his genetic material was taken by the Emperor to make a clone of him. This clone would be used to guard the Imperial vault on Mount Tantiss on the secret world of Wayland. The hidden fortress would not be uncovered for many, many years.
After Grand Admiral Thrawn returned to the known galaxy to lead the remnants of the Empire, he searched for the rumored cloning facilities on Wayland. He aimed to create clone soldiers to refill the ranks of the dying Empire. Thrawn would find Joruus C’baoth hidden in Emperor’s Vault on Mount Tantiss. He enlisted the help of the mad clone as he also required a Force user’s battle meditation. This particular Force power would help coordinate and increase the efficiency of his forces. In exchange for his services, C’boath asked for Thrawn to hunt down Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo so that they and Leia’s unborn children could be his apprentices in his new Jedi Order.
Thrawn could tell the clone was quite mad and mentally unstable. However, as long as he could control him, he would have the ability of battle meditation at his disposal. For the most part, Thrawn was able to protect himself and his officers from Joruus and his Force powers by using the Ysalamiri. He kept these Force-blocking creatures around with him at all times as well as strategically positioned them in various locations in the Imperial facilities. With the Ysalamiri, Thrawn was able to defend himself whenever the mad clone had an emotional outburst or brief moments of insanity. Otherwise, he was proven far too dangerous to keep around Thrawn’s personal flagship Chimaera.
As time went on, C’baoth’s ambition grew. He was no longer content with ruling over the Jedi, but the whole galaxy as well. His new agenda caused him to stray away from Thrawn’s control. C’baoth had the abilities to control people's minds. He personally took pleasure in breaking someone mentally and then remolding them in any way he wished. He believed that personal control over an individual was far more satisfying than controlling star systems and armies. Outside of battle meditation, Joruus C’baoth was also adept with Force lighning. The most famous user of this ability, of course, is the Emperor himself, Darth Sidious.
Luke Skywalker and the Emperor’s former assassin Mara Jade would encounter C’baoth in the cloning facilities on Wayland. They would also discover that C’baoth had created a clone of Luke Skywalker named Luuke in hopes of making an apprentice for himself. In the end, Jade killed both the mad Jedi C’baoth and Luuke. The rest of the Wayland cloning facility was then destroyed, ending one of the Empire’s attempts to reclaim the galaxy once and for all.
Legacy Of The Clones
From an out-of-universe perspective, C’baoth is the beginning of the franchise’s use of clones as we see it in the wider Star Wars context. It was the first but not the last time we see a Force user get cloned or experimented on in any way. We would see it again in Dark Empire, The Force Unleashed 2, and a few other places as well. We would also see these clones go mad.
Star Wars Legends show just how hard it is to clone a Force user let alone have one that is stable and able to stand on their own. The Force works in mysterious ways and does not like to be tampered with by things like science and technology. It will fight back if it feels that it is being pushed. The Force will strike back in unforeseen ways. Joruus C’boath and clone madness are the results.
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