Borsk Fey'lya

"You refer to us as 'alien' and the Princess called you 'non-human'. Why are we defined by you and in comparison to you?"

- Borsk Fey'lya

Borsk Fey'lya was an antagonistic politician from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. An expert in manipulation and strategy, Fey'lya easily emerged as a leading diplomat throughout the history to the New Republic. He is perhaps most known as the Chief of State during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion.

Due to his ambitious nature, Fey'lya served as a secondary antagonist in most of his appearances. Even his supposed allies deem him to be a dangerous adversary. Throughout his political career, he repeatedly tried to discredit the infamous Gial Ackbar (his one true political rival) and impede on the efforts of the New Jedi Order. As depicted in the X-wing series, Fey'lya believed im the superiority of the Bothan race over any other species, particularly humans.

Probably his worst action was his stance during the Yuuzhan Vong War. Despite being forewarned by the Jedi, Fey'lya ignored the threat until it was too late. In a fruitless attempt to redeem his good name, Fey'lya sacrificed himself during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Coruscant. Despite his despicable nature, his people would later view him as a hero and a true Bothan patriot.

Interactions with Rogue Squadron
Fey'lya's first chronological appearance was as a minor antagonist and New Republic Senator in the X-wing series. As described by his rival Gial Ackbar, he is very persuasive and "has [Chief of State] Mon Mothma's ear on many things."



Throughout the first four books of the series, he falls right into Ysanne Isard's hands, as she tries to turn the aliens against the humans. Fey'lya preaches his anti-human tendencies in front of the New Republic Senate, wondering aloud why non-human species are compared and defined by humans.

Besides his clear anti-human tendencies, his rivalry with Gial Ackbar, interim Senator of Mon Calamari and Supreme Commander of the New Republic, and his opposition to fellow Bothan Asyr Sei'lar's relationship with human Gavin Darklighter play a major role in the series. Near the end of Iceheart's campaign, Fey'lya tries to interfere in Sei'lar's affairs, vainly attempting to convince to aid him in discrediting the humans of the New Republic government. Sei'lar, who by this point was in love with Darklighter, outright refuses. She just becomes one of his many enemies, which include Ackbar, Wedge Antilles, Corran Horn, and Tycho Celchu.

Rivalry with Ackbar
Fey'lya reached his peak as an antagonist during the original Star Wars trilogy written by Timothy Zahn. During the trilogy, the Imperial warlord Thrawn serves as the main antagonist. Once more, Fey'lya falls right into the Empire's hands. As Thrawn tries to turn the New Republic leaders against each other, Fey'lya serves as the perfect, as he makes a mad grab for power. In an attempt to usurp his position, he has Ackbar arrested for treason after the Mon Calamari is framed by Thrawn's agents.



Ultimately, Fey'lya's attempts end in failure. After his machinations lead to the New Republic's failing to prevent Thrawn from capturing the enigmatic Ketanna fleet, his colleague Leia Organa Solo works with notorious smuggler Talon Karrde to discredit Fey'lya's reputation. As Luke Skywalker and Han Solo investigate the Dark Force, Leia and Karrde trick Fey'lya into announcing his true hateful feelings about the New Republic military. In doing so, the progress Fey'lya made over the years unravels, sending Fey'lya to become very unhelpful just when the New Republic needed him the most. To add insult to injury, around this same time, the presumed dead Senator Garm Bel Iblis, who Fey'lya had tried to recruit, rematerialized, at the bequest of Organa Solo's husband Han and notorious gambler Lando Calrissian.

Finally, coming out of his self-imposed political exile, Fey'lya, upon overhearing a conversation between Leia and Karrde, demands that Karrde destroy Mount Tantiss, the storehouse of the late Emperor Palpatine, be destroyed for unknown reasons. It is only discovered later that Palpatine stored information there that could tear the New Republic apart and destroy the Bothans' reputation. Fortunately, Thrawn is never able to take advantage of this information. Luke and smuggler Mara Jade confront the Dark Jedi Joruus C'Baoth and destroy him, along with Mount Tantiss. Around this time, Thrawn is assassinated by one of his own Noghri bodyguards, Rukh.

Fall of the Empire
Following Thrawn's death, Fey'lya's reputation is repaired. After Leia succeeds Mon Mothma as Chief of State, Fey'lya escalates to the position of Chair of the Justice Council. He reappeared as an antagonist in the Dark Nest Trilogy. After Han is captured by the xenophobic Yevetha, Fey'lya drafts a vote of no confidence in Leia's leadership, in order to secure his election to interim Chief of State. However, Leia declares war on the Yevetha, and the vote never goes through.

In later books, Fey'lya's role would become less antagonistic, particularly in Timothy Zahn's Hand of Thrawn duology. After the Caamas Document is recovered in the remains of Mount Tantiss, it is discovered Fey'lya's own family had been involved in Palpatine's destruction of Caamas, set shortly after Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. As the Senate, now led by Leia's temporary replacement Ponc Gavrisom, turns on Fey'lya, Leia, Han, and their droid C-3PO fight to redeem Fey'lya's reputation. It is hinted that his guilt for his clan's involvement largely convinced Fey'lya to throw in his lot with the Rebellion during the Empire's glory days.

In the aftermath of this crisis, the Galactic Civil War comes to peaceful conclusion, with Gavrisom signing a peace treaty with Imperial Head of State Gilad Pellaeon. In a seemingly symbolic act, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker marries former Emperor's Hand Mara Jade, a ceremony in which Fey'lya is present for.

Chief of State
During the epic New Jedi Order series, Fey'lya returned to his original position as secondary antagonist. Following the resignation of Leia Organa Solo, Fey'lya finally achieves his dream and succeeds Organa Solo as New Republic Chief of State. Unfortunately, Fey'lya's presidency coincided with the invasion of the extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong race. Fortunately, due to errors of the Praetorite Vong, early intruders were neutralized.

If it were not for Fey'lya's decision to ignore the Jedi's warning, the New Republic might have had the advantage in the war. However, Fey'lya initially insisted that the Yuuzhan Vong were fictitious and the disaster of Sernpidal, which led to the death of the Wookiee Chewbacca, was a deliberate plot by the Jedi and human politicians, like Leia, to take control of the New Republic. Ignoring this, Fey'lya's Caamasi colleague, Senator Elegos A'Kla, departed for Yuuzhan Vong space, in order to learn more about the enemy. A'Kla would join Chewbacca as one of the early casualties of the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Finally, after facing overwhelming evidence, Fey'lya declared war on the Yuuzhan Vong. Unfortunately, his increasing antagonism towards the Jedi and the military proved to be a hindrance on the war effort. Once Grand Admiral Pellaeon of the Imperial Remnant and Jagged Fel of the Empire of the Hand allied with the New Republic against the Yuuzhan Vong, Fey'lya caused further strife, by his refusal to cooperate with his former enemies, going so far as to accuse Fel of anti-alien tendencies. It was only after Pellaeon threatened to retreat back to Imperial space that Fey'lya finally relented.



However, contrary to his cowardly reputation, Fey'lya proved to have a bit of courage during the Battle of Ithor. After the communications officer of his cousin Traest Kre'fey's flagship Ralroost is shot down, Fey'lya courageously takes over for him. Unfortunately, the Bothan returns to his typical despicable nature following the disaster of Ithor, which is destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong, despite Jedi Corran Horn's victory over Yuuzhan Vong warrior Shedao Shai. Fey'lya turns Horn into a scapegoat for the disaster, naming him as the Jedi who lost Ithor, which later devolved into the Jedi who destroyed Ithor.

Besides this, Fey'lya also proved to be willingly to sacrifice to certain worlds in order to preserve the Core Worlds, such as Coruscant and his home system of Bothawui. Following Tsavong Lah's demand that the New Republic turn over Jacen Solo or any other Jedi over to the Yuuzhan Vong, Fey'lya did little to stop the treasonous Peace Brigade from capturing Jedi for their Yuuzhan Vong masters.

Over time, Fey'lya finally came to the realization that the Jedi were the New Republic's only hope. In the ninth installment of the New Jedi Order series (Troy Denning's Star by Star), Nom Anor appeared before the Senate demanding the lives of the Jedi. In an act of redemption, Fey'lya announced that Luke Skywalker and his Order had his full support, and he kicked Nom Anor out of Coruscant. Unfortunately, this was too little too late for Fey'lya. Days later, the Yuuzhan Vong launched a massive attack on Coruscant, forcing Fey'lya to order an evacuation in the face of overwhelming numbers. In a noble sacrifice, Fey'lya strapped a bomb to his chest, taking out several Yuuzhan Vong, among them his killer Commander Romm Zqar, in the resulting detonation.

Whether or not this redeemed Fey'lya is unclear. However, his sacrifice would place him among the Bothan Martyrs, among them include the Bothans who died recovering the Death Star plans. In later years, Fey'lya would be viewed as a hero by the New Republic and Yuuzhan Vong alike. Whether one like him or not, Fey'lya did indeed die a hero.

Trivia

 * Fey'lya is similar to Harry Potter antagonist Cornelius Fudge. Both characters were power-hungry politicians who happened to be the leader of their respective governments during an impending crisis. In both situations, both Fey'lya and Fudge denied the existence of this threat, and even went as far as too discredit the people warning them. However, Fey'lya's sacrifice is more akin to Fudge's successor Rufus Scrimgeour, another antagonistic character who died in a noble fashion.
 * Fey'lya is also similar to Heroes of Olympus antagonist Octavian. Both characters are power-hungry Senators who use nefarious methods in order to discredit their political rivals. With both characters, their onetime allies ended up turning against them, and they eventually died in an explosion. The difference is that Fey'lya's death was an honorable sacrifice; Octavian's was not.