Jai Kell Jai Kell was a male human cadet at the Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal fifteen years after the rise of the Galactic Empire . He was known to have a mother , who also lived on Lothal . During his time at the Imperial Academy , he was a member of Unit Aurek which was part of squad LRC077 . Kell had an amicable relationship with Zare Leonis and Pandak Symes but did not get along with Nazhros Oleg . While Kell was Force - sensitive , he was unaware of his Force powers that allowed him to excel in his Academy training . Later , Unit Aurek was joined by Dev Morgan , who was actually the Force - sensitive rebel and Jedi - in - training Ezra Bridger . Ezra was on a mission to steal a decoder from Imperial Headquarters which contained the location of a kyber crystal shipment . Due to their enhanced physical abilities , Kell and Morgan attracted the attention of the Grand Inquisitor , who ran a secret program known as Project Harvester which identified Force - sensitive individuals . After Bridger learned that the Inquisitor was coming , he and Leonis persuaded a reluctant Kell to escape the Imperial Academy . The Spectres then arranged for Kell and his mother to go into hiding . Four years later , Jai , now a member of Ryder Azadi ' s Lothal resistance , encountered the Spectres once again . They had been sent to Lothal by Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma in response to a message from Ryder about a new TIE Defender the Empire was developing on the planet . Jai helped Ezra and Sabine Wren avoid detection and arrest , and later helped the Spectres escape the occupied Jhothal through its sewer system . He later helped recover the hyperdrive of the stolen TIE / D Defender Elite prototype , and assisted in destroying the air defenses placed to defend the Imperial Armory Complex . Biography . Orientation . Jai Kell was born and raised on the planet Lothal during the Age of the Empire . During his childhood , he and his family visited Pretor Flats one winter and regarded it as a beautiful place . While he still had a mother , Kell ' s father had died two years before he had enrolled at the Academy for Young Imperials in Lothal ' s Capital City . The Academy for Young Imperials was a junior one - year academy that prepared Imperial cadet s for training at more specialized senior academies which prepared cadets for a career with the Stormtrooper s , the Imperial Army , and the Imperial Navy respectively . Jai joined the Empire with the hope of seeing the wider galaxy and reaching a top rank in the Galactic Empire . During his time at the Imperial Academy , Jai was assigned to Unit Aurek , a four - member cell within the cadet squad LRC077 . He befriended his fellow Aurek members Zare Leonis and Pandak Symes . However , Jai had an acrimonious relationship with Nazhros Oleg , who was disliked by the other cadets for being selfish and a bully . Unknown to Jai or the other cadets , Leonis was a rebel sympathizer who had infiltrated the Academy to find his missing sister Dhara Leonis , who had disappeared during a field exercise the previous year . Throughout their two - week orientation , Jai and his fellow cadets participated in frequent running drills and field exercises under the supervision of Sergeant Currahee and Lieutenant Chiron . Like his fellow cadets , Jai regarded Currahee as a " witch " because of her fiery temper and even nicknamed her " Curry " . Jai also thought that Lieutenant Chiron was " inhuman " due to his incredible running stamina . One night , while their fellow cadet Symes was sleeping , Jai caught Oleg " borrowing " Symes ' chance cube from his footlocker . When Oleg alleged that Symes had gained the cube by cheating during a game , Jai responded that Symes was not a cheater ; prompting Oleg to return the stolen cube . Jai then turned to chat with Leonis about their personal backgrounds . After learning that Leonis was a recent migrant who had been born offworld , Jai asked Oleg where he had come from . Oleg revealed that he had come from the Outer Rim colony world of Eufornis Minor , and added that his ambition was to make it to a senior academy so that he did not have to return to Lothal again , which he dismissed as a " dirtball " . Cool - minded , Jai did not take insult at his homeworld being disparaged and instead commented that the seniors would have to wait . The following morning , Jai and his fellow cadets were woken up by Sergeant Currahee , who did a footlocker inspection . The tough - minded Currahee found infractions with the entire Unit Aurek and reprimanded Kell and Leonis for leaving dirt on their boots . As punishment , she issued all the cadets in the unit three demerits each . Later that day , Jai ' s fellow cadet Symes found himself falling behind the other cadets and was regularly berated by Sergeant Currahee . When Leonis attempted to help Symes , Jai tried to advise him that he couldn ' t since it was not his responsibility . As the Orientation period progressed , Jai and his fellow cadets were issued with helmets and E - 11 blaster rifle s , standard Imperial Military equipment . Near the end of the orientation phase , Jai and his fellow Unit Aurek cadets took part in a training exercise which involved the cadets deploying from a " Sentinel " - class landing craft into a lake . After disembarking , Jai and the rest of Unit Aurek had to reassemble their rifles before embarking on an obstacle course to reach a pre - set destination . While navigating through the obstacle course , the cadets had to avoid being hit by trainers with their blaster s set on stun mode . For the obstacle course , Jai and Symes elected Leonis as their leader , overruling Oleg , who had coveted that position for himself . Under Leonis ' leadership , Unit Aurek proceeded forward in wedge formation with Jai and Oleg flanking Leonis on the right . The four cadets also worked together to knock out a trainer , with Jai and Oleg distracting him so that Leonis could sting him with his blaster . Learning that the trainers held the high ground , Leonis ordered his fellow unit members to switch to file formation . This tactic work and Unit Aurek succeeded in achieving their objective . However , Symes experienced a nervous breakdown and Leonis attempted to help him . Shortly later , the exercise ended , which marked an end to the orientation phase . While Symes decided to withdraw from the Academy , Jai , along with Leonis and Oleg , decided to continue their training . Surviving the Well . After surviving the orientation phase , Jai and his fellow cadets quickly adjusted to the rhythm of Academy life . He and his fellow Unit Aurek members were jubilant when Sergeant Currahee failed to find any infractions during an inspection drill . For the rest of the term , Jai and the rest of squad LRC077 underwent a series of grueling physical assessments which were designed to test the cadets ' physical prowess , mental acuity , leadership skills , and strategic adaptability . Most of these assessments took place in the Well , a purpose - built facility in the Academy that could be remotely configured to simulate a wide variety of obstacle courses . For their first assessment , the Well was configured into a deep pit with a large retractable device known as the Pillar in the center . Under Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko ' s orders , the cadets were ordered to attach their harnesses to rings hanging out on the Pillar . After the Pillar rose carrying the cadets with it , Jai and his fellow cadets were ordered to climb down . While descending , Jai and the other cadets also had to ride over a series of floating repulsorlift platforms that detached themselves from the wall of the pit . Taking a risky maneuver , Jai unlocked his carbiner and jumped down two meters , landing on a platform . He managed to reattach his harness to a nearby ring before the platform beneath him began to retract . Jai was one of the first three cadets to reach the bottom , coming in third place to Cadets de Grom and Wheeler . As a reward , he and the other winners were given an extra dessert ration and a free period . To encourage competition , Commandant Aresko announced that future top three finishers would be rewarded with weekend passes and work details at Imperial headquarters . During the second assessment , Jai and his fellow cadets had to climb up the Pillar while navigating retracting platforms . This time , Jai worked in a team with Zare to reach the top . Despite their efforts , Oleg managed to beat them to the top of the Pillar while pushing down another cadet named Lomus . While this training assessment appeared to reward selfishness , it was designed to simulate the competing priorities that Imperial officers would have to face when trying to complete a mission . During a third exercise conducted by Sergeant Currahee , Jai was again paired together with Leonis . This exercise involved firing an old Clone Wars - era projectile launcher at targets . This time , the two cadets succeeded in completing their objective by striking a target with a direct hit . Enter " Dev Morgan " . Jai Kell befriended Dev Morgan , a transfer cadet from Pretor Flats Academy , who had been sent to replace Pandak Symes . While Kell quickly took a liking to the newcomer ' s good sense of humor , Leonis was suspicious of Morgan and disliked his braggadocio . Meanwhile , Oleg despised the newcomer for being a " moisture farmer " who was out of place in the big city . Despite being a newcomer , Morgan excelled in the assessments and seemed to be in the right place at the right time . Unknown to Kell and the other cadets , Morgan was actually Ezra Bridger , an undercover rebel and Jedi - in - training who had been sent by his rebel cell to steal a decoder containing the coordinates for a kyber crystal shipment . Nonetheless , they became firm friends in the short time they knew each other . As the term progressed , Kell and his fellow cadets embarked on a week of training assessments under the supervision of Commandant Aresko , who would decide which academies they would go to continue their training the following year . During the first training session , Unit Aurek and Unit Besh were tasked with using floating repulsorlift platforms to climb out of the Well . During the assessment , Kell noticed that Morgan had an uncanny ability to anticipate the platforms before they appeared . After a challenging exercise , Morgan , Kell , and Leonis were the first three candidates to emerge from the Well . Morgan and Kell ' s success during the exercise caught the attention of Commandant Aresko , who praised the two cadets for setting course records . As a reward , the three cadets were given work details at the Imperial Complex in Capital City . While Jai was working at the Imperial Complex , Leonis caught Morgan attempting to remove the Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus ' decoder from his office . Instead of reporting him , Leonis saved Morgan by warning him not to take it out through the door since it would cause the place to go into lockdown . After discussing their motives for resisting the Empire , Leonis and Morgan made an agreement to steal the decoder . To get back into Imperial Headquarters , the two cadets made an agreement to win the next assessment in the Well . As a result of this secret agreement , Kell ' s relationship with Morgan would be tested during the next training assessment . This time , the cadets had to use their blasters to activate the repulsorlift platforms in order to race to the top . To guarantee Leonis a spot in the top three places , Morgan sabotaged Kell by shoving him from a repulsorlift platform , causing him to fall to the bottom of the Well . Due to his efforts to befriend Morgan , Jai was angered by what he perceived as competitive backstabbing . He was further hurt when Commandant Aresko used Morgan ' s example to teach the cadets that there was no friendship in war and that the only thing that mattered was victory . When he confronted his former friend , Morgan merely explained that he did what he had to do ; though Ezra was genuinely remorseful , he was forced to do so in order to complete his mission . Jai sadly responded , " Good to know . " Escaping the Academy . Morgan ' s apparent " backstabbing " of Jai Kell during the assessment enabled him and Leonis to carry out their plan to steal the decoder from Agent Kallus ' office . While Leonis distracted Kallus with a fake procurement order , Ezra crawled into a ventilation shaft above the ISB agent ' s office and used the Force to levitate the decoder into his hands . An opportunity for Morgan to make amends with Kell surfaced when the rebel infiltrator overheard a conversation between Commandant Aresko and the Grand Inquisitor , a high - ranking Dark Side agent of the Empire tasked with hunting down Jedi Purge survivors and recruiting prospective Inquisitors . Aresko had identified Morgan and Kell as two cadets who fitted the Grand Inquisitor ' s " special criteria " . The Grand Inquisitor informed Aresko that he would be visiting the Academy the following to inspect these cadets , and to take them into custody if they indeed met his requirements . Realizing that Kell was Force - sensitive , Morgan informed Leonis . Unwilling to allow Kell to meet the same fate as his sister Dhara , Leonis and Morgan agreed that they had to warn Jai before it was too late . After passing the decoder to Morgan ' s rebel colleagues , the two cadets awoke Kell from his sleep that night and brought him to the storeroom lair . Due to Morgan ' s recent backstabbing , Kell was initially unwilling to believe his and Leonis ' story , and thought that they were trying to get him " busted " from the Academy . He also questioned the Inquisitor ' s existence and even welcomed the idea of the Inquisitor training him , not knowing of the fate that would befall him . Leonis managed to win over Jai after he recounted how his sister Dhara had disappeared under similar circumstances a year ago . Since Jai ' s only family was his mother , he realized that he would never be able to see her again if the Inquisitor took him away , nor would she ever know why he had disappeared . Realizing that he was in danger , Jai agreed to cooperate with Morgan and Leonis . The three cadets then devised a plan to escape from the Academy by winning the next challenge in the Well . Since Commandant Aresko had announced that the top three cadets would be allowed to ride an AT - DP walker , Dev devised an escape plan which involved using the walker to escape the Academy . The following day , the three rebellious cadets proceeded with their plan . However , their plan encountered an unexpected setback when Oleg fired on Jai and Dev took the shot for him , saving Jai at the cost of his own spot in the top three . Jai and Leonis managed to win the challenge along with Oleg . Despite Jai ' s misgivings , Dev told him to " stick to the plan . " While riding in the AT - DP walker , Kell and Leonis heard an explosion outside . This was Jai ' s signal to stun the walker ' s driver with the blaster he had been given . He then stunned Oleg when he tried to intervene . Leonis then took control of the walker and attempted to reach the bay doors , but came under attack from an Imperial Troop Transport . After being rejoined by Morgan , the three cadets managed to breach the Academy ' s gates . Upon exiting the blast doors , Kell and Leonis were met by Morgan ' s rebel associates Garazeb Orrelios and Sabine Wren . While Jai and Morgan escaped with the rebels on a landspeeder , Leonis decided to stay behind to find his sister . To cover his involvement , Leonis pretend to shoot at the landspeeder . After escaping Capital City , Jai and his rebel rescuers fled to the plains of Lothal , where they rejoined the other crew of the " Ghost " , a modified VCX - 100 light freighter which served as the main base of the Spectres . The rebel cell ' s leader , Hera Syndulla , agreed to help Jai and his mother hide from the Empire , though Jai seemed pessimistic about their chances of success . Lothal resistance . Reunion with the Spectres . Sometime during the next four years , Jai joined the Lothal resistance , led by former governor Ryder Azadi . During this time , the Empire began building and developing TIE / D Defender s on Lothal , under the supervision of Grand Admiral Thrawn . In 1 BBY , an even more advanced model of Defender , the Elite , was developed . By this time , Lothal was in a tight lockdown , but Ryder sent a message to Alliance High Command on Yavin 4 about the fighter . Shortly after , Jho , a member of the Lothal resistance , was captured during an Imperial raid , and executed shortly thereafter . Ryder sent Jai to the Pit Stop , the cantina formerly owned by Jho , to wait for the Spectres to arrive , as they were familiar with the place and unaware of the changed circumstances . When Ezra and Sabine , disguised as civilians , entered the now - Imperial - owned bar , Jai was present . He realized who they were when Ezra mentioned to the cantina ' s new owner , Baron Valen Rudor , that he had patronized the place when it was still owned by Jho . When Ezra and Sabine were nearly detained by stormtroopers when they attempted to leave , Jai stepped in to extricate them , calling Ezra " Oleg " as a hint to his identity . Ezra did not immediately recognize Jai , as it had been years since they had seen each other . When the rebels ' attempt to escape from Jhothal in a landspeeder was thwarted , Jai led them to an entrance to the town ' s sewers , which Jho had kept up as an escape route . After a chase by stormtroopers , the rebels found their way to the correct exit , where they were met by Ryder and escaped in his U - wing . The TIE Defender Elite . Jai later helped search for Ezra and Sabine , after they went missing after stealing the prototype TIE Defender Elite . Shortly after , Jai was sent with Ezra and Zeb to help retrieve the Defender Elite ' s hyperdrive , which Ezra and Sabine had hidden in the rocks near the prototype ' s crash site . He and Ezra were disguised as scout trooper s . Shortly after Ezra and Zeb found the hyperdrive , Thrawn ' s assassin , Rukh , arrived in the area to assist in the search for the Rebels , and immediately smelled the Lasat Zeb . He also smelled that Zeb was not alone , and set off for the Rebels ' position . Jai , on watch , alerted Ezra and Zeb to the assassin ' s approach . While Zeb dealt with the hyperdrive , Ezra attempted to stall Rukh . With Jai as backup , Ezra attempted to persuade Rukh that the two were genuine scout troopers who had just finished searching the area . Due to the Noghri ' s excellent sense of smell , this did not work , and a fight ensued . Ezra exposed himself as a Jedi when he used the Force to throw Rukh off Jai , shortly before the two escaped on a speeder bike . They were pursued by Rukh and two scout troopers . Meanwhile , Zeb , having evaded the Imperials , stole a troop transport in order to escape and return to the Rebel camp . Jai and Ezra were pursued by Rukh and the troopers through a maze of rock spires . During the chase , Rukh managed to plant a homing beacon on Jai and Ezra ' s bike without them noticing . Thus , when the two escaped , Rukh was able to report the Rebel camp ' s position to Governor Arihnda Pryce after the Rebels reached it . When the Imperials attacked the camp , Sabine had just finished installing the hyperdrive on Ryder ' s U - wing , and Hera and Chopper were quickly able to escape Lothal with the Elite ' s stolen flight data recorder . Jai escaped the camp in a landspeeder loaded down with crates , promising to make contact with the others later . Hera ' s strike on Lothal . Later , Jai was present at the Lothal rebels ' new base in the southern hemisphere . When Alliance High Command approved an attack on the planet ' s Imperial Armory Complex , Jai assisted Ryder and the Spectres in planting explosives on turrets installed as anti - air defenses to cover the factory complex . He , along with the others , saw the Rebel fighters sent on the attack be shot down by a second wave of Imperial fighters over Lothal City , before they were forced to return to their base . Kanan ' s death . Following Hera ' s failed air strike and capture , Jai along with Ryder and Mart Mattin watched as the Spectres Ezra , Sabine , Zeb , and Chopper assembled three Loth - bat glider s for their mission to rescue Hera Syndulla . Despite rescuing Hera , Kanan was killed when Governor Arihnda Pryce bombarded the Lothal City fuel depot . Later , Jai along with Ryder and Mart were listening to a propaganda broadcast by Alton Kastle claiming that the rebel cause on Lothal was lost . However , the Spectres subsequently discovered that Kanan had not died in vain and that the explosion had knocked out Thrawn ' s TIE Defender factor . Personality and traits . Jai Kell was an amicable and good - natured cadet who got on well with his peers . He had a good sense of humor and tended to avoid getting embroiled in arguments . When another cadet , Nazhros Oleg , described his homeworld Lothal as a " dirtball " , Kell merely changed the topic and went to bed . Kell also coped with the harsh training regiment at the Academy for Young Imperials by finding things to poke fun at . On one occasion , he joked that the drill sergeant Currahee lived on blaster gas and molten carbonite . Physically fit and agile , Kell was also Force - sensitive but was unaware of this fact until his encounter with Dev Morgan . A loyal Imperial citizen , Jai had joined the Academy with the hope of becoming an Imperial Military officer . He also wanted to see the galaxy , and admired the Galactic Empire for rebuilding civilization and defeating the Separatists . Jai also regarded the Empire as a positive force in the galaxy which stopped corruption and made the galaxy a safe place by fighting slavers and pirate s . In addition , he welcomed the employment opportunities that the Empire had brought to his homeworld of Lothal . While Kell was initially disbelieving of Zare Leonis and Dev Morgan ' s reports about the Grand Inquisitor , he came to accept their arguments after Leonis recounted his sister Dhara ' s disappearance under suspicious circumstances . Jai was also very fond of his mother , since his father had died sometime prior , and it was realizing that he would never see her again that made him agree to escape the Academy . Behind the scenes . Jai Kell first appeared as a supporting character in the " Star Wars Rebels " episode " Breaking Ranks " , which was released on October 27 2014 . His backstory and character development was later expanded in Jason Fry ' s " " , the second book in the " " young adult novel series that was published as a supplement to " Star Wars Rebels " . He was voiced by Dante Basco .