Armand Isard / Legends Armand Isard was a male Human who served the Galactic Republic as both the Director of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence and the Director of Republic Intelligence , and he later acted as the Director of Imperial Intelligence for the Republic ' s successor regime , the Galactic Empire . From humble beginnings as an agent within the Senate Bureau of Intelligence , Isard worked his way up through the ranks , doing sterling work for the Republic , and he became a close ally of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , the Republic ' s leader . During the Clone Wars , a conflict between the Republic and the breakaway Confederacy of Independent Systems , Isard aided the Republic ' s war effort as a member of the Security and Intelligence Council , a war council made up of Palpatine ' s most trusted advisors . Following the formation of the Empire in 19 BBY , Isard continued to serve Palpatine , as the leader of Imperial Intelligence . He worked closely with Palpatine ' s Sith apprentice Lord Vader and the Inquisitorius to hunt down the survivors of Order 66 , a decree issued by Palpatine that called for the execution of all members of the Jedi Order . On several occasions , Isard ' s men were able to pinpoint the location of Jedi for the benefit of Vader or Inquisitor Antinnis Tremayne . Simultaneously , Isard began grooming his daughter , Ysanne , for a career as a field operative within Imperial Intelligence . After the outbreak of a civil war between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance , Isard acted to crush Rebel cells , and he also dispatched the Imperial agent Jahan Cross to investigate a clandestine project in the Corporate Sector . As Ysanne grew , she became more and more capable in her role as an intelligence operative , and , naturally , Armand felt threatened . He sent her on a mission to the planet Darkknell to recover some stolen Imperial plans as a means of getting rid of her , convinced that she would be unsuccessful and would be executed for her failure . Much to Armand ' s surprise , she deduced his motives for sending her on the assignment and had Armand framed for treason . Ysanne was rumored to have personally executed him , ending his decades - long career as Director of Intelligence and launching her own . Biography . Intelligence reforms and the Separatist Crisis . Armand Isard was a male Human who was born during the latter years of the Galactic Republic , and he went on to work for the Republic ' s Office of Analysis , in which he rose through the ranks . Isard also had a brother , but his sibling was killed during the Stark Hyperspace War in 44 BBY . He became an associate of Senator Palpatine of Naboo , and shortly prior to Palpatine ' s election as Supreme Chancellor of the Republic 32 BBY , Isard worked with Palpatine ' s aides Kinman Doriana , Janus Greejatus and Sate Pestage behind the scenes , to plant incriminating evidence against Palpatine ' s rivals . Circa 30 BBY , Isard became a father to the girl Ysanne Isard . By the time of the Separatist Crisis , Isard had reached the rank of Director - General of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence and Director of Republic Intelligence — positions he would hold until the dissolution of the Old Republic . Shortly before the Clone Wars , he had a Crisis Branch created for the SBI , an act that had not been seen since 60 years prior . During this reform , Isard fired the 32 Mid Rim subdirectors of SBI , claiming that they were " rife with corruption " . But Isard ' s detractors claimed that these reforms were only giving more power to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine — an assumption that would later prove to be correct . To further the suppression of anti - Republic feeling , Isard had the Sluis sector HoloNet node shut down , as a response to the rallies in the area in support of the Confederacy of Independent Systems , a separatist coalition of worlds that sought to secede from the Republic . Isard told HoloNet Regional : " This isn ' t about freedom of speech . The HoloNet is a Republic asset , and Sluis sector has opted to leave the Republic . It ' s well within our jurisdiction to shut down their network during this crisis . " Isard had to work overtime to deal with the constant menaces that endangered the Republic . Due to the impending threat of war , fear was rife throughout the populace of the Republic ' s capital , Coruscant , causing people to panic at any given thing . There was also the threat of lone operators : those not affiliated with the Confederacy , but still capitalizing on the crisis to do personal damage to the Republic . Count Dooku , the Confederate head of state quickly became SBI ' s top priority , when he was sighted in the Gree Enclave . Though Dooku managed to escape under the radar once again , he had been sighted using an unidentified and exotic craft , a prospect that had SBI worried . SBI ' s concerns were directed back home once again , however , when protests were held outside the Senate Rotunda . Despite claims to the contrary , Isard ' s handling of the situation was purely non - violent , and he was able to disperse the crowds effectively , with the help of the Senate Guard . Clone Wars . After the Battle of Geonosis , open war broke out between the Republic and the Confederacy , and Isard became a member of the Security and Intelligence Council , a war council made up of Palpatine ' s most trusted advisors When the Confederates began transmitting propaganda along conventional Republic communication lines , Isard decided that it was time to take extreme measures . He formed an entirely new Intelligence Committee , called the Cryptanalysis Department , that would be dedicated to the protection of Republic HoloNet channels . The Committee would dissuade both CIS propaganda and viruses , thereby hopefully keeping Republic media free of enemy taint . Isard resorted to unusual recruiting techniques for the new Committee : while the heads of department would be drawn from existing SBI ranks , slicers would be enlisted from the populace . Candidacy was determined by the transmission of a unique encrypted recruitment guide , which the hopefuls would receive and decrypt to pursue the job further . As the Wars ground on , Isard devised the shadow trooper , a new type of clone commando that would be used in covert operations during the war . They were used as a replacement for the Republic ' s dwindling special forces ARC troopers . These troopers , fitted with state - of - the - art Phase II armor , would operate in a solitary manner , and would be the precursor to the storm commando s and shadow stormtrooper s of later years . To combat the technological advantage held by Dooku due to his alliance with Foreman Wat Tambor and the Techno Union , Isard appointed Baron Orman Tagge , head of TaggeCo , to a position in the SBI Analysis Bureau , in a bid to compete with the Union in the arms race . The conflict continued and unrest developed among the population of the planet JanFathal , due to their lack of political rights . However , Isard believed that the Republic needed JanFathal , so he thought that the Fathalians would have to wait until the end of the war for democratic change to begin . A short time later , the Confederacy broke Republic communications codes around JanFathal , so Palpatine told Isard that the codes should be changed more regularly . In 20 BBY , the planet Duro fell to the forces of the Kaleesh General Grievous . This caused widespread panic in the Republic capital , due to Duro ' s relatively close proximity . Isard held a press conference to assure the citizens that there was nothing to panic about , and that core world security would be increased . At the same time , the Republic officer Terrinald Screed was given direct control of Coruscant ' s garrison , but Isard insisted that this had nothing to do with any tip - offs that SBI could have hypothetically received as to an attack on the capital . When Praesitlyn , home to the Intergalactic Communications Center was attacked by Confederacy forces under the command of the Muun Pors Tonith , Isard needed to collect information from unorthodox sources . He was able to gain intelligence on the attack from Captain Zozridor Slayke , a former pirate , much to the chagrin of Isard ' s peers . Along with Palpatine , Shayla Paige - Tarkin , Mas Amedda , Jannie Ha ' Nook , Sly Moore and Sate Pestage , Isard planned to resolve the Praesitlyn crisis . The SBI provided the two Jedi commanders dispatched , Nejaa Halcyon and Anakin Skywalker , with all the relevant information needed , and the resulting operation was a success . In 19 . 5 BBY , Kishi , in Coruscant ' s Westport district , fell prey to what Isard perceived to be a terrorist attack . The locale was overrun by Separatist - controlled stone mites , which had been carried to the capital on the freighter " Spinner " . In retaliation to the supposed Confederate attack , Isard had a batch of mutant stone mites bred , while his agents discovered that the " Spinner " last port of call had been Orleon . Believing Orleon to be the location of the Confederate bio - labs in which Doctor Jenna Zan Arbor was breeding the stone mites , he had his own batch of the creatures deployed on the planet . However , the Director had been wrong , and Orleon contained no bio - labs . Nothing could stop his stone mites , and in the course of a week , the planet ' s structures were nothing but dust . Its entire population was forced to flee while the creatures slowly devoured their homeworld . As a result , Isard was responsible for the destruction of an entire planet . Isard was a mainstay at Palpatine ' s conferences , even at those with the Jedi Council . Palpatine had him on hand to provide critical info to others in the room , although Isard was always under strict orders from Palpatine not to reveal " everything " . This loyalty earned Isard some degree of respect from Palpatine , and served him well in the coming Imperialization of the galaxy . He became wary of the Jedi Order toward the final months of the Clone Wars — when in 19 BBY a team of Jedi began investigating Senate sessions and exploring sub - levels around 500 Republica , the home of much of the Senate , Isard resented the intrusion and began to view the Order in a suspicious light . While the Jedi were conducting the investigation that was so unwelcome to Isard , Coruscant was suddenly assaulted by the forces of the Confederacy ' s Supreme Commander , the cyborg General Grievous . During the chaos , Chancellor Palpatine was abducted and taken aboard Grievous ' flagship , only to be rescued by a pair of Jedi — Anakin Skywalker and Obi - Wan Kenobi . Although Grievous ' forces retreated shortly after Palpatine ' s recapture , Isard was vexed by the Chancellor ' s seeming lack of care for his safety , as the elderly Human arrived at the Senate Annex in a speeder bus accompanied by only two guards . Isard was able to agree with the Chancellor that no media should be present when Palpatine disembarked the speeder bus , and personally monitored the activities of the senators who welcomed the Chancellor . Isard was soon informed by the SBI ' s assistant director that several senators linked to the Delegation of 2000 , a political movement opposed to the scope of the executive powers held by Chancellor Palpatine , were meeting clandestinely with two pilots from a YT - 1300 light freighter in a berth below where Palpatine had disembarked . The news that J ' oopi Shé , a Jedi Master from the Order ' s Technical division , was present with the senators , and the fact that the group had accepted a carry case from the two pilots , heightened Isard ' s suspicions , especially following the activities of the Jedi prior to the Battle of Coruscant . It transpired that the YT - 1300 had attained access to Coruscant airspace by masquerading as an emergency vehicle and had reached the Senate Annex with a stolen authorization code . With the meeting already under surveillance and with pretexts for arresting or dispersing all individuals present , Isard ordered a squad of shock troopers to disrupt the affair . By the time the troopers had done so , however , the senators — Largetto , Fang Zar and Des ' sein — had absented themselves . The two pilots fled the scene in the YT - 1300 ; despite Isard ' s efforts to coordinate a pursuit , the freighter was able to flee the system . Hunting the Jedi . Several days later , following an uprising by the Jedi which resulted in the issuing of Order 66 — an executive order to eliminate the Jedi — Chancellor Palpatine declared the Galactic Republic obsolete and the Galactic Empire its successor , with himself at its head as Emperor . In the wake of the changes , Armand Isard was appointed Director of SBI ' s successor , Imperial Intelligence . As a part of the Imperialization process , Isard arrested a batch of Imperial Senators suspected of treason . Shortly after Palpatine had established the Empire , Isard accompanied Palpatine ' s Sith apprentice , Darth Vader , on a mission to the Jedi Temple to retrieve Sith holocrons from the temple archives . While there , Isard ' s men detected unauthorized remote access to the archives , and Vader ordered them to track it . As they did , Vader was able to surmise that the hackers were two Jedi , Roan Shryne and Olee Starstone , fugitives of his purge . While Isard pinpointed their location , they were able to escape . On the world Oznar , Isard witnessed a change in the state of mind in the citizenry under the Empire . Twenty - six Imperial enforcement officers had been deployed on the planet , and they received an influx of reports on criminal and anti - Imperial activity . Ninety percent of the reports came from regular citizens who were branding their neighbors and denouncing them . Isard observed that the populace were not being stifled under Imperial rule — instead , they were taking the opportunity to settle scores or make a demonstration of their fealty to Palpatine . The director also guessed that these citizens would deny that they had ever done so . He later received a report from Section Controller J506 H . F . Marigand , on the various clone trooper desertions that the Empire had endured , as well as the fact that former Jedi Bardan Jusik had joined the Mandalorians , as well as several other issues . The controller issued a series of resolutions to Isard , suggesting that the director follow them to help avert future disaster . As the Empire continued to forge ahead , Lord Vader founded the Inquisitorius , which would be a Force - sensitive branch of Intelligence . Isard found it difficult to work with one particular Inquisitor , Antinnis Tremayne , who was hunting for a Jedi fugitive called Jodd Sonta . The parameters that Tremayne set for Isard ' s staff to pinpoint Sonta ' s location were far too broad , preventing any kind of specific localization . Vader , at Tremayne ' s urging , requested that Isard devote more resources to the Inquisitor ' s mission of hunting the Jedi , but that did not help matters . Eventually , Tremayne was able to link Sonta to the hospitalized Omwati Kodo Finn , yet he failed to apprehend the criminal . Eventually , Vader took the reins from Tremayne on the Sonta operation , and put him to work with both Isard and the clone trooper CC - 5052 in order to catch the fugitive and his Jedi accomplices . Among them was Ekria , a talented hacker . Isard was indignant when CC - 5052 suggested that the young Jedi girl may have sliced the Intelligence network , but he had flags set up at choice points , hoping that Ekria would trip them in her slicing efforts . She did so , but only intentionally . Both Ekria and " Sonta , " who was actually Drake Lo ' gaan , were believed to have been killed on the world Tepasi . In 17 BBY , Isard , alongside Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin and Imperial Advisor Janus Greejatus , accompanied Palpatine in his throne room as the Emperor questioned Vader and the clone stormtrooper Hock Malsuun about the events of the Shrouded Offensive , an Imperial military operation that ended in what was at the time the biggest military disasters the Empire had ever known . Imperial service . At some point , Isard established a secret headquarters for himself inside the Lusankya , an underground Imperial prison located within the depths of the Coruscant cityscape . Isard became particularly adept at hunting down Palpatine ' s enemies and bringing them to justice . He would constantly ferret out cells of alleged Alliance to Restore the Republic sympathizers , even if they had no ties to the Alliance whatsoever . During this time , he trained his daughter , Ysanne , to be a field agent , much as he had been in his youth . She was allowed to sit in on Intel , Imperial Security Bureau , and even Inquisitorius conferences . In 3 BBY , the Imperial Intelligence agent Jahan Cross killed the Imperial officer Milosh Muhrlein after learning that Muhrlein had been stealing credits from the Empire . Subsequently , Cross met with Isard inside the director ' s office deep within the Imperial Palace — the seat of the Empire on Coruscant — to report on his encounter with Muhrlein . Isard berated the agent , because Murhlein was from an influential family and had had friends in the Imperial Court , but Cross revealed that Murhlein had been involved with the company Rossum Droidworks in relation to a clandestine project that was referenced by the name " Iron Eclipse . " Isard authorized Cross to travel to the Corporate Sector , where Rossum Droidworks was based , to investigate the project , and he ordered the agent to contact Blains Vorlin , the Empire ' s ambassador to the Corporate Sector . Cross journeyed to the world Etti IV to meet with Vorlin and the agent was framed by the businessman Iaclyn Stark for the murder of Stark ' s Nautolan step - mother , Dah ' lis , which forced Cross to go on the run from the local security force . Isard was informed of the Nautolan ' s death , but he was unable to intervene on Cross ' behalf because Blains Vorlin believed that the agent was guilty . Cross later contacted Isard via a comlink and awoke the Intelligence director , who had been asleep in bed . The agent explained his situation to Isard and informed the director that Vorlin ' s aide Emesh Nar had colluded with the Stark family in relation to Iron Eclipse . Isard then became incensed when Cross revealed that the Imperial Intelligence Human replica droid IN - GA 44 had been taken captive by Iaclyn Stark . Despite his displeasure , Isard sanctioned the agent to scrutinize the Eclipse resort on the world Reltooine , which Cross believed was connected to the Iron Eclipse project . Cross discovered that Iron Eclipse was a virus developed by the Stark patriarch Iaco to take control of all of the droids in the galaxy , and the agent shut down the operation . Iaclyn ' s sister , Elli Stark , agreed to vouch for Cross ' innocence , which enabled Isard to have the criminal charges against Cross dropped by the Etti IV authorities . A short time later , Cross assassinated the noble Count Adan Dooku , the nephew of the former Confederate head of state , at the behest of Imperial Intelligence , on the planet Alderaan . Afterward , Cross returned to Coruscant and convened with Isard in the director ' s office inside the Imperial Palace , and Isard tasked the agent with ensuring that the Count Rodas Borgin of House Borgin , one of the five Great Houses of Dooku ' s homeworld Serenno , be appointed as the regent of Dooku ' s son , Bron . Isard also berated Cross after the operative inquired whether it had been necessary to kill Count Dooku , stating Cross ' job was to accept orders unquestionably . Cross journeyed to Serenno and thwarted an attempt by Borgin to kidnap the young Count , so Borgin requested that the agent be recalled from the world . A fleet of Imperial Star Destroyers was dispatched to Serenno to ensure that Borgin be installed as regent , and Isard thereafter contacted Cross and ordered him to leave with the fleet when the task force arrived . The Darkknell operation . Despite the pride that he felt towards Ysanne , Armand feared that she would become his rival for the leadership of Imperial Intelligence . After the plans to the Empire ' s top - secret Death Star project were stolen in 0 BBY , Armand sought to use the theft as an opportunity to eliminate his daughter by dispatching Ysanne to the planet Darkknell to recover the missing blueprints , in the hope that she would be unsuccessful at reclaiming the plans and would be executed for her failure . He summoned Ysanne to his office to provide her a briefing for the mission and ordered that all of Darkknell ' s spaceports be interdicted , and his daughter departed to commence her assignment . As Armand had hoped , Ysanne was unable to recover the plans . However , she deduced why her father had sent her on the mission , and she plotted revenge . Ysanne implicated Armand as having been involved in the original theft of the plans and she concocted a story whereby Armand had sought to have her killed , then to use her death as a justification to enable him to join the Rebel Alliance . She claimed that he then planned to reveal secret Imperial information to the Alliance , to allow them to overthrow Palpatine and to put Armand in position to claim the throne for himself . Ysanne also implicated her father as having been behind the bombing of the Treitamma Political Center on the planet Anchoron , which had claimed the lives of the family of the Rebel leader Garm Bel Iblis , purportedly to push Bel Iblis further into the Alliance , by eliminating Iblis ' pro - Imperial wife . Ysanne revealed her " findings " to Palpatine , while Armand — who was unaware of his daughter ' s contact with the Emperor — also spoke with Palpatine , to request that Ysanne ' s life be spared for her failure on the mission . Armand subsequently met with Ysanne to debrief her on the results of her mission , and she revealed to him the aspersions against him that she had made to Palpatine . Several of Palpatine ' s Royal Guardsmen escorted Armand away for an audience with the Emperor regarding Armand ' s fate , and he was subsequently arrested by Imperial Security and executed within the hour . According to an unverified rumor , it was Ysanne herself who fired the shot that killed him . Legacy . Isard was eventually replaced as the Director of Imperial Intelligence by the Dark Jedi Cronal . Ysanne Isard later succeeded Cronal as the Director of Intelligence , and she went on to have a successful career , eventually becoming the leader of the Empire after the death of Palpatine during the Battle of Endor . At some point , Ysanne named a Coruscant prison the " Armand Isard Correctional Facility " , after her father , out of a malevolent sense of humor . Following the capture of Coruscant by the New Republic in 6 ABY , the prison continued to operate under the same name and was still in use during 44 ABY . Personality and traits . Isard believed that someone strong and ruthless was needed to lead the Republic , and he was staunchly loyal to Palpatine ' s rule both as Supreme Chancellor and Galactic Emperor . He did not display any kind of instability , nor did he show any kind of callous indifference towards the sentients of the galaxy until the Darkknell operation , where he effectively sentenced his own daughter to death . When Ysanne turned the tables on him shortly after the Darkknell operation , Isard did not plead for clemency , but instead displayed a tinge of pride for his treacherous daughter . He liked to keep both his allies and his enemies off - balance , and he also valued competence in those who served him . Palpatine knew Isard as a man who knew much , but talked little . He was thought by some to have an inhuman gaze . Isard was fair - skinned , with blue eyes and black - colored hair that had a white stripe running through it . Behind the scenes . Armand Isard was first mentioned in Michael A . Stackpole ' s 1996 novel " " . Stackpole created the character as an element of Ysanne Isard ' s backstory , and , as such , very little information about the character himself was known , other than the fact that he had once been the Director of Imperial Intelligence . In 1999 , three years after his initial mention , Isard appeared in Stackpole and Timothy Zahn ' s " Interlude at Darkknell " , a short story set shortly before the Battle of Yavin . Isard would go unused and unmentioned for a further three years , until Paul Ens and Pablo Hidalgo inserted him consistently into the " HoloNet " news webpages . David Sherman and Dan Cragg later included him in the book " Jedi Trial " , which marked Isard ' s first appearance in a major " Star Wars " novel . Following his " Jedi Trial " appearance , Isard was a mainstay in " Palpatine ' s Office " scenes in following works . Paul Ens ' " Reversal of Fortune " finally provided Isard with his first visual appearance , almost a decade after his creation . Isard later received an entry in the 2008 compendium " The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia " , which incorrectly stated that he was the leader of the Imperial Security Bureau , rather than of Imperial Intelligence . In 2012 , he appeared in a number of issues of the Dark Horse Comics ' " " series .