Marcellin Wessel

Marcellin Wessel

Biography[]

Beginning as acolonel commandingGrand Army of the Republic forces on the more remote fronts of theClone Wars, Wessel was appointed byPalpatine under theSector Governance Decree, which authorized the creation of regional governors to administer entiresectors. Wessel's early rise to the administration ofImmalia sector hints at a history of unquestioned loyalty to Palpatine, since such appointments were made only on behalf of those who had proven their loyalty, and as moffs were intended from the start to be answerable only to the Emperor, it was crucial that they be beings who could be depended on without reserve. Shortly after the conclusion of theClone Wars, Moff Wessel, acting at the request ofSate Pestage, submitted areport outlining the "highlights" ofOrder 66 toEmperor Palpatine.

WhenEmperor Palpatinedeclared hisGalactic Empire in19 BBY, Wessel was madeGrand Moff of theImmalia Oversector and assumed the role of commander of the7th Sector Army.^[2]

It is not known exactly what happened, but evidently Moff Wessel's fortunes turned for the worse. In3 ABY, at the height of theGalactic Civil War, he had been relegated to the governorship ofYinchorr, a dead-end position in a useless star system. Wessel decided that he could advance his career again by capturing PrincessLeia Organa, and kidnapped the leaders of theYinchorriElders Council, offering to trade their lives back to the Yinchorri in exchange for Organa. With no choice, the Yinchorri agreed that their beloved elders were worth the life of one Human. They set a trap for Leia, but Wessel double-crossed the Yinchorri,^[3] angering them sufficiently to overthrow him and his regime. However, their insurrection was swiftly crushed by the Empire, ending with the killing of the Council and destruction ofTol-Kachorn.

These events did not, however, stop the advancement of his son,Redd, to becoming ageneral in theImperial Army and eventually head ofCentral Command underCarnor Jax.

Behind the scenes[]

Governor Wessel was created in1983 for the Marvel comics issueThe Alderaan Factor by writerRandy Stradley, currently in charge of theStar Wars comic lines for Dark Horse Comics. Like so many Imperial characters written in those days, he had no first name, and indeed it was not seen as relevant at the time. However,Daniel Wallace, included the name as a sort of easter egg in hisHoloNet News article forStar Wars Insider 84. In his blog, he wrote: "'Meet Your Regional Governors' has profiles onDenn Wessex (an old WEG character from the gaming moduleStarfall) and Marcellin Wessel, who is intended to be the old man in charge ofYinchorr in the Marvel comicThe Last Gift From Alderaan (one of the rare instances when Wallace may have been in error, as it was actuallyThe Alderaan Factor). GeneralRedd Wessel, who appears inStar Wars: Crimson Empire, would presumably be his son."^[4]

Appearances[]

• "Republic HoloNet News Special Inaugural Edition 16:5:241" —Star Wars Insider 84(First identified as Marcellin)
• Star Wars (1977) 86(recolorized inStar Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 6: Wookiee World)(First appearance)

Sources[]

• "Order 66: Destroy All Jedi" —Star Wars Insider 87
• The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
• The Essential Guide to Warfare

Notes and references[]

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