| “ | Our true king has been silenced. The one you recognize is a traitor and a Separatist minion. | „ |
| ~ Saw Gerrera on Sanjay Rash. |
| “ | It's clear that Dendup is behind this. We mustn't allow his followers any momentum. Justice must come swiftly, without mercy! | „ |
| ~ Sanjay Rash believing Dendup to still be the source of the rebel attacks. |
Sanjay Rash is the main antagonist of the Onderon arc of Season 5 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
He was a human male and aristocrat from the Inner Rim world of Onderon who seized power by becoming king of the planet by aligning himself with the Confederacy of Independent Systems, thus earning their military support.
As King of Onderon, Rash had his planet align with the Confederacy and subjected it to a military occupation by the Separatist Droid Army which angered enough citizens that they formed a resistance movement and waged an insurgency in order to remove Rash from power. Desperate to retain his position as King of Onderon, Rash attempted to sell his planet's sovereignty to the Seperatists in exchange for his position being secured.
He was voiced by Kirk Thornton.
Biography[]
Taking over Onderon[]
During the Clone Wars, Rash was an aristocrat on the planet of Onderon in the Inner Rim and the world was ruled by King Ramsis Dendup, who was pressured into either siding with the Galactic Republic or the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He chose neither and to remain neutral, but the Separatist Alliance had other plans, so they invaded the world and forced Dendup to abdicate and was succeeded by Rash who supported the Separatists. Rash would be installed as King of Onderon, but was ultimately a proxy for Count Dooku, and Dendup was imprisoned in the garden of the Royal Palace.
Growing rebellion[]
Not long after Rash took over as king, the Separatist Alliance occupied Onderon and a resistance movement was formed which sought to restore Dendup and overthrow Rash's pro-Separatist government. The Onderon rebels eventually contacted the Jedi Council and managed to get the support of the Republic, but only through covert training and advisors and no ground troops or any intervention. Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker along with Padawan Ahsoka Tano and Clone Captain Rex were sent to help train the Onderon Rebels and arrived at one of their outposts in the jungles which was spotted by a probe droid and attacked by Separatist troops.
The attack was repulsed and the rebels would eventually sneak into the capital city of Iziz and after setting up a secret base, they would attack multiple droid patrols in the city and even attack the royal carriage thinking Rash was in it. Angered by this, the false king would order Dendup to be summoned into the throne room where he demanded the dethroned monarch to call off the attacks having blamed him for orchestrating the rebel attacks despite Dendup having no contact with the outside world. That same night, the rebels staged an attack on the city's power generator and successfully destroyed it leaving the droids in the dark, unable to recharge and vulnerable to attacks. Following the attack, Sanjay Rash contacted Dooku and requested reinforcements, a request that was granted along with a new commanding officer, General Kalani.
Reinforcements[]
Kalani would soon arrive on Onderon with fresh Separatist reinforcements who continued their crackdown on Iziz to tighten their grip on Onderon. Not long after Kalani arrived, a droid patrol was ambushed and destroyed so Steela Gerrera, Leader of the Onderon Rebels, could send a message to the Onderonian people encouraging them to rise up and take back Onderon. After the message was sent, Rash was in the palace where General Tandin, Head of the Royal Onderon Militia, identified Steela and her brother Saw as leaders of the rebellion. He then suggested that the Royal Onderon Militia take over security operations thinking it would encourage the rebels to negotiate, but Kalani refused believing that the militia was compromised by sympathizers to the rebels.
At this point Rash was getting increasingly more and more frustrated and eventually had Dendup summoned where he once more demanded that he call off the rebel attacks, but he refused once more stating that he's no longer the king and has no control over the rebels. Furious, Rash had Dendup taken back to his cell and planned his execution for the next day. The night before the execution, Saw broke into the palace and attempted to free Dendup, but was caught and captured. The next day both men were staged for execution and were brought before the front of the palace in front of a large audience. However, as the execution was about to take place, General Tandin betrayed the Separatists and took Rash hostage, allowing Dendup and Saw to escape. Rash's droids attempted to pursue them, but Ahsoka jumped out of the crowd and destroyed them.
Infuriated by Tandin's betrayal, Rash and Kalani sent a massive droid army, complete with seemingly indestructible HM Droid Gunships, to eradicate the rebels. At first the new gunships seemed indestructible, but Anakin Skywalker managed to buy a few effective rocket launchers from Hondo Ohnaka per Ahsoka's request. The rebels were able to destroy the gunships and win the battle, but at the cost of losing Steela Gerrera.
Death[]
Back at Iziz, King Rash was desperate and demanded more troops from Count Dooku, but he wasn't interested in a prolonged war and ordered Kalani to retreat the remaining army to Agamar. Count Dooku signaled to Kalani to execute Rash, who stood up as he protested the Count's orders, but before he could finish, he was shot dead by Kalani. As Kalani and the droid army retreated from the planet, the rule was brought back to Dendup, ending the Separatist occupation.
Trivia[]
- His first name is of Sanskrit origin, meaning "triumphant" or "victorious", while his surname is similar to the same word that refers to a skin condition usually caused by an injury or illness, and describing someone who acts quickly without considering the risks and consequences.
- His surname is symbolically fitting of his personality as a corrupt, tyrannical, and arrogant king determined to maintain his reign over Onderon by stopping anyone who opposes his authority, even if they had no involvement with the Onderon rebels like the usurped King Dendup, which motivates the rebels to overthrow him and their Separatist invaders in order to restore Dendup as their rightful monarch.
- His first name is ironic because he took the throne by force as a puppet ruler rather than being legitimately crowned king, as well as demonstrating incompetency with stopping the rebels from overthrowing him, making his reigning victory fall short and gradually lose support from his citizens and the Separatists (the latter of whom ironically installed him as king in the first place).
