Giles Durane Giles Durane , also known as the " Weapons Master , " was a Human male veteran who was a friend of Bail Prestor Organa , whom he served with during the Clone Wars . Durane ' s family was killed when his homeworld was hit with a plague ; left poor and cynical , Durane became a mercenary . Years later , Durane agreed to train Organa ' s daughter , Leia , in the use of weaponry . Biography . During the Clone Wars , Giles Durane was a good - hearted idealist . He served with Bail Organa , who saved his life on more than one occasion . Accompanying the Senator on a mission to Virgillia 7 during the first week of the war , Durane teamed with Jedi Master Ashka Boda to rescue Jedi Padawan Halagad Ventor and his master , Everen Ettene from the conflict on the ground . While Ettene did not return from that mission , Durane and Boda successfully extracted Jedi Ventor . Durane even trained Organa ' s bodyguard , Sateen Vestswe . When the galactic conflict came to an end , Durane was left so poor that when a plague swept his homeworld , he had no money to transport his family off - planet . By the time he made contact with his friend Bail Organa , it was too late . At that point , Durane vowed to himself that he would never be poor or in anyone else ' s debt ever again . Many years later , Organa hired Durane to teach his daughter Leia , who was serving her first term as an Imperial senator , how to use weapons to be able to defend herself . Though there was little money in it for Durane , he agreed because he owed it to his friend Organa . When Leia arrived on the planet Challon , she met Giles and his partner , Gimlet , and the pair soon saved Leia from an assassination attempt . As Durane explained to her why he was hired , Leia was initially somewhat reluctant , being from the pacifist world of Alderaan . Yet her life was obviously in danger , and as Durane told her , " not all matters can be settled by senatorial debate . " During his service to the Senator , Durane was given the title of Royal Weapons Master . Durane took Leia aboard his ship and trained her for a variety of weapons , from a handheld blaster to a ship ' s laser cannons . After a period of time , Durane spoke with Bail , and both felt that Leia was skilled enough to defend herself , even though Giles thought she could use a bit more " speed and accuracy " . As Leia continued with her senatorial business on Challon , General Emir , the man behind the failed assassination attempts on Leia ' s life , realized that he had hired the wrong assassins ; the man who had been killing his assassins was the only man who could kill the senator . With this in mind , he hired Durane to kill Torgas , the head of the Assassins Guild , and to finish his job by killing the senator . Though Durane warned Gimlet not to alert Leia , his partner tried anyway . However , Torgas arrived first and killed Gimlet just as he approached Leia . Because of this , when Durane showed up to kill Torgas , Leia thought that she was safe - but then Durane told her of his new job . His debt to Bail Organa was paid off , and now he was pure mercenary ; he was going to carry out his job , no matter what . However , when Durane fired his blaster at Leia , she spun out of the way and fired back , delivering a fatal blast with the speed and accuracy she had never achieved before . Durane dropped his blaster and fell to the ground . With his dying breath , Durane told Leia that he always knew that someday , in the right circumstances , she ' d get it perfect . Personality and traits . Giles Durane was a jovial man . An idealist during the Clone Wars , Durane became more of a cynic after a plague hit his homeworld , killing his family and leaving him poor . Durane vowed to become self - reliant and be indebted to no one . As a mercenary , Durane was incorruptible , always putting his job first . Still owing Bail Organa for saving his life decades prior , Durane agreed to train Leia Organa to defend herself with weaponry . The skills he taught her served her well — after his debt was paid off , the mercenary Durane took on a job to kill Leia , only to be killed by her own quick blast . He died a man proud of the skilled young woman he had trained . Equipment . True to his name , the Weapons Master carried a veritable arsenal of diverse weaponry . The most obvious of these were two light blasters ; one at his right hip , the other in a cross - draw rig under his left arm . As well , Durane wore an unobtrusive , wrist - mounted dart - launcher on his right wrist capable of firing explosive or poison - tipped darts silently with a wave of his hand . Along the left sleeve of his nondescript hooded jumpsuit were a row of small throwing discs , which Durane could wield with equally deadly accuracy . In a boot sheath Durane kept an imposingly large throwing dagger that he could draw with blinding speed thanks to a magnetic attractor hidden in his gauntlet . The Weapons Master also carried a multipurpose scanner that could detect the presence of hidden explosives as well as monitoring the remote systems aboard his private ship . Behind the scenes . Giles Durane was created by writer Archie Goodwin and artists Carmine Infantino and Steve Mitchell for the story " The Weapons Master ! " , which was published in Marvel UK ' s " Star Wars Weekly 104 - 106 " and later reprinted in Marvel Illustrated Books ' " Star Wars " . Durane also appears in the comic story " The Princess Leia Diaries " in " Star Wars Tales 11 " , but instead of being a huge man as portrayed in " The Weapons Master ! " , he is a much smaller man with darker skin .