Twilight (Star Wars)

The Twilight was a G9 Rigger freighter that was originally used by Hutt crime lord Ziro Desilijic Tiure as a spice freighter during the War of the Ring. Later in the Battle of Teth, Jedi Knight Frodo Baggins and his Padawan, Eowyn, used it to take Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's son back to his home planet of Tatooine, but were shot down over the planet and were forced to crash-land the ship. After they abandoned it, the ship was scavenged by Jawas, and Baggins later returned and reclaimed it.
After it had been reclaimed, the Twilight was later used by Baggins in several missions during the coming events in the war. These included Baggins and Sam Gamgee's rescue of Galactic Senator Padmé Amidala aboard the Confederacy warship Malevolence during the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula, as well as Baggins and Eowyn's mission to destroy a Confederacy listening post. Additionally, Frodo and Gamgee took the freighter to Florrum to confirm that Sith Lord and Confederacy Head of State Saruman the White had been captured by pirates, in order for a deal to be struck between the pirates and the Galactic Republic, and the two Jedi later used the Twilight to find an antidote for the deadly Blue Shadow Virus on the planet Iego. Later on, the Twilight would be used once again by Baggins and Eowyn during their mission to Mustafar. In 1983, it was discovered that Gollum had taken over the dwarf kingdom of Erebor with the help of Pre Vizsla and the Death Watch. Gamgee used the freighter as a way of sneaking in to rescue Duchess Satine Kryze, who had been imprisoned by Gollum. The two attempted to escape in the Twilight but it was hit by a missile and crashed, forcing them out of the ship.
==Description==
The Twilight had one big main wing and one retractable second wing, which was placed under the main wing and was approximately half the size of the main wing. The retractable wing was called a Tal Nami Freighter Swing Wing, which gave the craft extra maneuverability. It was also equipped with one heavy blaster cannon. Another smaller retractable wing was placed above the main wing equipped with a double heavy blaster cannon. If needed the wing would go in the upright position to allow the blasters to be fired. The cockpit was positioned between the main wing and the main engine. Astromech droid R2-D2 traveled inside this cockpit with the ship's captain, Jedi Knight Frodo Baggins. Just next to the cockpit, the main wing housed two small, secondary engines. Despite similarities to the later Imperial Lambda-class T-4a shuttle, it was of Corellian manufacture.
The ship was armed with three heavy blasters, located on struts around the ship, concussion missiles and also had a rotating laser cannon mounted on the main wing, with periscope controls. The Twilight had a small hangar in its rear, big enough to fit Baggins's starfighter. The hangar was otherwise used as a cargo hold and was equipped with a magnetic field to allow outer space transfer of goods. A tow cable was placed to winch in heavy containers. The ship also had a boarding ramp underneath the vessel, which acted as the main entrance to the ship. The hangar door could also be used as an exit and entrance to the ship.
==History==
===Spice freighter===
Not designed as a starfighter, the Twilight had been used to smuggle illegal spice by Hutt crime lord Ziro Desilijic Tiure, and was an aging freighter by the time of the War of the Ring, the galaxy-wide conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Because of its origins, the ship was not able to hold its own in space superiority battles.
===Use under Baggins===
====A new owner====
The Twilight was on the planet Teth when Jedi Knight Frodo Baggins and his Padawan, Eowyn, sought medical assistance for Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's son, Rotta. It was being loaded by B1-Series battle droids and was being prepared for departure; nevertheless, Baggins and Eowyn destroyed the battle droids and attempted to take off. At first, the freighter refused to start, but R2-D2 managed to fire up the battered engines and the Jedi attempted to take it to the nearest Republic cruiser. The sky fight above Teth prevented them from landing on the cruiser, so they were forced to take the ship directly to Tatooine. With the help of a medical droid hologram and medicine, Rotta was saved from near death.
Upon arriving in the Tatooine system, Baggins diverted power to the front shields instead of the rear. The Twilight was ambushed by two Rogue-class starfighters piloted by IG-100 MagnaGuards, ironically attacking from the now-unprotected rear. Astromech droid R2-D2 unlocked the weapon systems and was able to destroy both fighters, but extensive damage to the craft caused it to crash-land into the atmosphere. After the four abandoned the ship through the rear door, Jawas came by to salvage it. Baggins later reclaimed the Twilight and modified it to update its age-induced shortcomings. These modifications included an increase in both top speed and agility.
====The Malevolence====
Baggins and Eowyn used the Twilight to rescue Jedi Master Gimli after his fleet was destroyed by a "secret" Confederacy weapon. Baggins and Eowyn came upon Gimli and several clone troopers in an escape pod, the only survivors of the battle. However, the crew was forced to shut down the ship's systems, including astromech droid R2-D2, as an enormous battleship approached; alerting the warship to their presence would surely mean certain doom. However, the medical droid tending to the clones was missed. After a horror of swerving through the remains of the other Star Destroyers,the group managed to get away and avoided the wave from the ship's ion cannons by quickly jumping to hyperspace, taking their knowledge of the deadly weapon with them.
Baggins, Eowyn and Shadow Squadron went to the Bormus Testing Facility in the Twilight, shortly after Baggins was unable to acquire BTL-B Y-wing starfighters through official means.The War of the Ring: Procedure After Shadow Squadron took the fighters back to the Venator-class Star Destroyer Resolute, Baggins led them through the Kaliida Nebula to engage the Malevolence, which General The Mouth of Sauron was planning on using to destroy an Outer Rim medical center. After sustaining losses, Baggins and what remained of his squadron were able to severely damage the battleship's ion cannons, preventing the destruction of the station.
The Twilight was later used to rescue Senator Padmé Amidala from the extensively damaged Malevolence after Mouth of Sauron captured her during the Battle of the Kaliida Nebula, as the Mordor general sought to flee from the attacking Republic Venator cruisers. Baggins and Jedi Master Sam Gamgee took the Twilight and docked at the emergency airlock below the bridge, seeing as the droids were "too busy repairing the ship to notice them." After the Jedi rescued Amidala, the Twilight returned to the fleet, managing to evade Mouth of Sauron in his fighter and several Vulture droids. Thanks to sabotage by Baggins, the Malevolence was destroyed, colliding with the nearby Dead Moon of Antar.
====Battle of Bothawui and aftermath====
After defeating Mouth of Sauron over the planet Bothawui, Baggins and Eowyn took the Twilight to find a missing Artoo, who had disappeared after Baggins's Delta-7B starfighter was damaged. Baggins docked the Twilight on the nearby scavenger ship salvaging the battlefield, hoping that the ship had picked up Artoo, but was unsuccessful in locating him, who in fact had been arranged to be sold to Mouth of Sauron by the ship's captain, Trandoshan scavenger Gha Nachkt.
After Baggins headed away in his fighter to scout ahead with replacement astromech droid R3-S6, his tracking beacon was accidentally activated, and Eowyn and Clone Captain Rex proceeded to rescue him in the Twilight from several Munificent-class frigates that had arrived under command of Mouth of Sauron.
====Mission to Skytop Station====
After the group received a transmission from R2-D2, they tracked the droid to Skytop Station, where Baggins and Eowyn took a team of clone troopers to destroy the Confederacy listening post. During the mission, Baggins headed off to rescue Artoo, while Eowyn and the clones set explosive charges to destroy the station. However, Mouth of Sauron attacked Eowyn and the clones, and Eowyn, accompanied by R3, engaged Mouth of Sauron alone, while Rex and Sergeant Denal planted the rest of the charges.
Baggins succeeded in rescuing Artoo, and returned to the hangar bay where he signaled the Twilight for the evacuation. The pilot brought the Twilight into the hangar and met with Baggins and Artoo. However, after R3, Rex and Denal arrived, Baggins learned of Eowyn's single combat against Mouth of Sauron. Before they could rescue her, R3 revealed himself to be a spy and traitor, closing the hangar door and all entrances, and sealing the Republic forces inside the station. The droid also activated three Vulture droids, and several B2 super battle droids arrived, engaging Baggins and the clones in combat. Eowyn arrived, and after Artoo opened the hangar door from an outside platform (and also destroyed R3 in a duel), the Jedi and the clones fled the exploding station in the Twilight.
====Capturing Saruman====
The Twilight was used as a ploy to get Baggins onboard Sith Lord and Confederacy Head of State Saruman's Munificent-class frigate to locate and capture the elusive Sith Lord.The War of the Ring: Bait Gamgee came to assist Baggins, and they were able to follow an escaping Saruman, but both parties crash-landed on Vanqor. Saruman was captured by the Weequay Hondo Ohnaka's pirate gang, and was taken to Florrum, while Baggins and Gamgee were rescued by Eowyn. When Baggins and Gamgee were dispatched to confirm that Saruman was in the captivity of the pirates, in order for a deal to be struck between the pirates and the Republic for the transfer of Saruman's captivity, the Jedi took the Twilight to the pirates' stronghold .
Baggins and Gamgee were captured by the pirates as well, who were additionally seeking to capture the two Jedi for ransom. The Jedi were forced to strike an uneasy alliance with Saruman, who later escaped separately. The two Jedi spared Ohnaka, showing wisdom in not arresting him in spite simply for capturing them. Baggins and Gamgee left the planet on the Twilight with Representative Jar Jar Binks, Commander Stone and a few members of the Coruscant Guard, who had originally been sent to negotiate the deal concerning Saruman with the pirates.
====Curing the Blue Shadow Virus====
When Eowyn, Senator Padmé Amidala and several clones were infected with the deadly Blue Shadow Virus shortly after a raid on Confederacy-allied Dr. Nuvo Vindi's laboratory on Naboo, Baggins and Gamgee took the Twilight to Iego to find an antidote known as Reeksa weed. There, they learned from Jaybo Hood that "Drol", the "phantom ruler" of Iego, was preventing the inhabitants from leaving the planet. After finding the Reeksa weed and attempting to leave the planet, the hobbits discovered that "Drol" was actually an energy field, installed by the Separatists when they invaded the system. The hobbits took a few of Hood's reprogrammed Vulture droids and were able to destroy the energy field, liberating the planet and allowing the inhabitants to leave whenever they chose. Baggins and Gamgee returned to Naboo, where they were able to give their infected friends the antidote in time.
====Space battle above Devaron====
The Twilight was stationed aboard the Resolute when the cruiser attacked Mezmaron's Munificent-class frigate. Later, Frodo and Eowyn took the ship to Mustafar in order to rescue several Force-sensitive children on the world.
====Battle at Erebor====
After hearing about the chaos on Erebor in 1983, Samwise flew the Twilight to Erebor to avoid detection by Gollum and Death Watch. It already saw a significant amount of disrepair, even causing a minor blaze onboard the ship after landing before its automatic emergency systems extinguished the blaze, causing Gamgee to state that this was the last time he would borrow any ship from Baggins. Frodo had earlier warned him of its then-current state when Baggins borrowed the ship, although Baggins figured that he could use it as long as it at least could still fly and land well. The much-battered freighter now sported a cartoonish illustration of Baggins as a boy Podracer pilot, with Aurebesh text that said "WIZARD!!!" 
On Erebor, the Jedi Master freed Duchess Satine Kryze from prison and attempted to flee. Already in a state of heavy disrepair, the Twilight did not get far before being hit by three Death Watch soldiers' jetpack-mounted missiles. This dealt the ship irreparable damage and caused it to spin out of control, forcing Samwise and Satine to exit the freighter while still in the air. The Twilight exploded seconds after their descent back to the surface of Erebor.
==Behind the scenes==
The Twilight first appeared in Star Wars media in the 2008 The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring film and its novelization, and appears multiple times in the television series, upon which the movie was based.
The Twilight was based off an unused ship design for The Lord of the Rings: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.
Confusingly, the Twilight laser fire alternates colors multiple times. In the The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring film, the blasts are red, as well as in the television series episode "Downfall of a Droid", while in the episodes "Destroy Malevolence", "Mystery of a Thousand Moons" and "The Lawless", the laser fire is blue.
The War of the Ring film and television series' director, Dave Filoni, describes the Twilight as being taken from some of Erik Tiemens' abandoned designs for a firefighting ship.Commentary for Star Wars: The Clone Wars film
There is an older connection the Twilight holds that dates back all the way to 1977 to the original Star Wars. As a beat-up old spice freighter, the Twilight is the kernel of truth in Uncle Owen Lars's lie to Luke Skywalker about his father: Anakin Skywalker was indeed a navigator on a spice freighter, from a certain point of view.
LEGO made a set of the Twilight called 7680 "The Twilight" released on July 26, 2008.
==Appearances==
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===Non-canon appearances===
*Fierce Twilight
*LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2
*LEGO Star Wars III: The Lord of the Rings
==Sources==
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars: The Visual Guide
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*Star Wars PocketModel TCG: Clone Wars
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*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
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*LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary 
*LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars: Prima Official Game Guide
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*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic UK 6.41
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Episode Guide
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* 
==Notes and references==
==External links==
*Brickset 2008 Star Wars LEGO Releases
*Eurobricks
*sirstevesguide.com
*theforce.net
*Comics Infinity preview
*LEGO Twilight
Category:Captured starships
Category:Hutt Cartel starships
Category:Jedi starships