Escape from the Spire

|prev=Mission to Moraband
|conc=*Battle of MoriaStar Wars Character Encyclopedia
*Siege of SaleucamiThe New Essential Chronology
|next=Battle of Zanbar
|name=Escape from the Spire
|image=
|conflict=
|objective=Rescue Gollum from the Spire
|date=October 17th, 1983Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates the Battle of Anaxes and the Second Battle of Dathomir to 1983. As the novel this event takes place within takes place between the events of the episode and comic the other events are attached to according to , this event must take place in 1983.
|place=Spire, Stygeon Prime
|result=Shadow Collective successfully helps Gollum escape from the Spire, which the Sith intended
|side1=Shadow Collective
|side2=Confederacy of Independent Systems
|commanders1=*Gollum
*Commander Gar Saxon
*Prime Minister Almec 
|commanders2=Head of State Saruman the White
|ppl1=*1 renegade Sith Lord
**Gollum
*2 Mandalorian super commandos
**Rook Kast
**Gar Saxon
*1 Kom'rk-class fighter/transport
|ppl2=*1 Sith Lord/Head of State
**Saruman the White
*Multiple B2-series super battle droids
*Multiple BX-series droid commandos
*Multiple droidekas
|casual1=None
|casual2=*Multiple battle droids
*Multiple super battle droids
*Multiple droidekas
}}
During the War of the Ring, the renegade Sith Lord Gollum led a criminal army known as the Shadow Collective to take control of the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor. During a battle in the city of Dale (LOTR), Gollum was captured by his former Sith Master, Darth Sauron, who imprisoned Gollum in the Spire, a Separatist prison on Stygeon Prime. Sauron' vessel was followed by Mandalorian super commandos Rook Kast and Gar Saxon of Death Watch, part of the Shadow Collective, on orders from Prime Minister Almec of Mandalore. It was their mission to ensure that Gollum escaped from the Spire.
Sauron and his apprentice, Saruman the White, intended for Gollum to escape, hoping he would lead them to the Nightsister witch Mother Talzin, Gollum's mother and an old enemy of Darth Sauron. Saruman briefly interrogated and tortured Gollum for information about the Shadow Collective, causing the renegade Sith Lord to believe that his enemies were only interested in destroying his base of power. Following the interrogation, the Mandalorians assaulted the prison and rescued their captive leader, where they rendezvoused with the remainder of their forces on the moon Zanbar. Gollum's escape led to a battle between Death Watch and the Separatists on Zanbar, sparking a chain of events that culminated in Talzin's death and the destruction of Gollum's Shadow Collective.
==Prelude==
During the War of the Ring, and over ten years after being presumed dead during the Duel on Mount Doom, the Sith Lord Gollum returned to galactic prominence by creating a criminal army known as the Shadow Collective. The army—made up of Death Watch, a Mandalorian splinter faction; the Pyke Syndicate, the galaxy's primary spice dealers; and the Hutt Clan— launched a coup against Duchess Satine Kryze and her pacifist government on the dwarves kingdom of Erebor. This fulfilled a years-long goal of Death Watch to take over the kingdom and restore Mandalore's ancient warrior culture, which had been replaced by the pacifistic ideals of Duchess Kryze and the New Mandalorians.With Death Watch in control of Erebor, Gollum seized power from the Death Watch leader, Pre Vizsla. Numerous Death Watch loyalists turned against Gollum, who formed his own Mandalorian super commandos. The fighting that resulted from Gollum's power grab led to a battle in the capital city of Dale (LOTR), where Darth Sauron—Gollum's former Sith Master—arrived and captured Gollum during a lightsaber duel. Sauron revealed to Gollum that he did not intend to kill his former apprentice, as he still had use for Gollum; it was Sauron' hope that Gollum would lead the Sith to Mother Talzin, Gollum's mother and the leader of the Nightsisters,Gollum—Son of Dathomir 3 so she could be eliminated as a potential threat to the eventual Sith rule of the galaxy.
Sauron brought Gollum to the Spire, a prison fortress controlled by the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Stygeon Prime. It was there that Sauron briefly interrogated Gollum, and told Saruman the White, Sauron' apprentice, to find out information about who and where the Shadow Collective leaders were. The goal was to make Gollum believe that the Sith wanted to destroy the Shadow Collective, so he would seek out Mother Talzin. Meanwhile, Sauron was followed to Stygeon Prime by two Death Watch warriors, Rook Kast and Gar Saxon, under orders from Mandalore's Prime Minister, Almec, to free Gollum from the Spire.
==The escape==
Once inside the Spire, and while Saruman interrogated Gollum for information about the Shadow Collective, Kast and Saxon contacted Almec, with Saxon telling the Prime Minister that they had located Gollum on the seventh level of the prison. Almec gave them the order to proceed, and the two set off explosive charges on the third level of the prison as a diversion. Battle droids were sent to the third level to investigate the explosion, though Saruman suspected that the true target of the attack was Gollum. Droidekas were sent to the seventh level, where the two Mandalorians disabled super battle droids with electromagnetic explosives.
As they approached Gollum's cell, Kast and Saxon took out the droidekas with a rocket, destroying them and clearing the approach to the cell. Once they had Gollum, they freed him from his restraints and informed him that they had arrived to rescue him. They shot another rocket through the walls of the prison, and all three escapees repelled via zipline out of the fortress and through the mountains to the surface, where a group of battle droids opted against pursuing them. With little resistance, designed to deliberately allow Gollum to escape, the three boarded a Death Watch Gauntlet fighter and lifted off. Before leaving Stygeon Prime, the fighter fired back into the prison, destroying the battle droids who had decided against chasing them.
==Aftermath==
Kast and Saxon took Gollum to Zanbar as ordered, where the Death Watch leader reunited with his forces. They were followed by the Separatists, led by General The Mouth of Sauron—who was under strict orders to weaken, but not destroy Gollum, which would force him to seek out Mother Talzin for help against the Sith. The two armies collided on Zanbar and, by the battle's end, Gollum ordered his forces to retreat. As Sauron and Saruman suspected, Gollum contacted Mother Talzin, who told him to meet the Separatists in combat again on Ord Mantell. During the next battle, Gollum captured Saruman and Mouth of Sauron,Gollum—Son of Dathomir 2 leading to a temporary alliance between Gollum and Saruman when confronted by the Grand Army of the Republic. This alliance was part of Sauron's plan, but Gollum knew this as well.Gollum—Son of Dathomir 4
==Behind the scenes==
Maul's escape from the Spire appeared in the comic book Gollum—Son of Dathomir 1, written by Jeremy Barlow and published by Dark Horse Comics on May 21, 2014. At the time, the prison did not have a name, but was later named the "Spire" in Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide.Star Wars Rebels: The Visual Guide
==Appearances==
*Gollum—Son of Dathomir 1 
*Gollum—Son of Dathomir 2 
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==Sources==
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*Ultimate Star Wars
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==Notes and references==
Category:Missions