Lolo Purs

Lolo Purs was a female Rodian politician and senatorial aide who assassinated Senators Onaconda Farr and Mee Deechi during the Clone Wars. A protégé of Farr's, Purs served under him as the planet Rodia’s Junior Representative in the Galactic Republic Senate during the Clone Wars, where they worked alongside a faction that included Bail Organa of Alderaan, Padmé Amidala of Naboo, and Mon Mothma of Chandrila. Like Farr, Purs called for a peaceful resolution to the Clone Wars, fought between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Though a peace advocate, Purs would gain infamy as the perpetrator of a series of high-profile political murders and attempted killings.
Early in the war, Farr signed a trade contract with the Separatists out of desperation as Rodia faced mass famine but cut these ties after realizing his errors. Believing Farr was too weak to remain in leadership and had betrayed Rodia's honor, Purs conspired to kill him. Though she successfully poisoned him, criminal investigations began to hone in on Purs. Trying to cover her tracks, she attempted to kill Organa and Amidala and later stabbed militarist senator Mee Deechi to death. Though Purs was close to redirecting the blame onto Senator Halle Burtoni, one of the late Farr's ideological and political opponents, her ruse was discovered, and she was promptly arrested.
==Biography==
===Career beginnings===
Lolo Purs hailed from the Outer Rim planet Rodia, the ancient homeworld of the Rodian species. Because Rodia had been a member world of the Galactic Republic for nearly fifteen millennia, the Rodian people had a long tradition of passionate support for the Republic and its democratic governance. From a young age, Purs loved the Republic and the benefits it had brought her people, and soon, the only ambition she had in life was politics. She found a sponsor for her fledgling political career in Onaconda Farr, the influential senator who represented Rodia and the greater Savareen sector in the Republic Senate on Coruscant.Rise of the Separatists Purs joined her mentor on Coruscant as an assistant, sharing duties with the likes of Pa Dua, Tox Don, and Silood. With Senator Farr's tutelage, Purs eventually ascended to the role of Junior Representative, a nonvoting position in the delegation where she represented the people of Rodia while continuing to aide Farr.
In 22 BBY, following several years of a Secessionist Crisis, the Republic engaged in open warfare against its splinter state, the Confederacy of Independent Systems.Star Wars: Timelines Soon after the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Rodia faced widespread famine when the Confederacy-aligned Trade Federation withdrew from the system. Separatist-backed pirate raids and the resulting supply shortage left Rodian leadership in disarray. Though Senator Farr hoped to acquire Republic aid, Republic officials failed to deliver relief for the Rodians, and efforts by another of Farr's mentees, Senator Padmé Amidala of the Chommell sector,Queen's Shadow to secure aid through the Senate stalled. Representative Purs, a staunch defender of the Republic's democracy despite its errant flaws, was dismayed when Senator Farr desperately signed a contract with Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, agreeing to Gunray's conditions, including siding Rodia with the Separatist cause in return for much-needed supplies.
Farr's contract with the Confederacy did not last long, and he soon realized his errors and later arrested Viceroy Gunray with Amidala's help. Despite his return to the Republic, Farr's political support on Rodia began to diminish, and among those still dubious about him was Purs. Purs believed that Farr had betrayed her people and had brought the Clone Wars to Rodia. Although she was privately critical of Farr's continued role in Rodian leadership, Purs publicly stood by him when he returned to the Senate. Working alongside Farr's longtime allies, including Senators Amidala, Bail Organa of Alderaan, and Mon Mothma of Chandrila, Purs joined the faction's efforts to resolve the war through peaceful, diplomatic means. Though Rodian support for Farr faltered, he maintained his influence and became a leading anti-war advocate in the Senate alongside his faction. Despite still agreeing with his positions, however, Purs became determined to see her mentor step aside from his leadership role.
===Murders in the Senate===
====Killing Onaconda Farr====
Near the end of 21 BBY, Lolo Purs still worked alongside Senator Farr, all the while plotting ways to retire him from his position as an anti-war leader. At that time, Farr was involved with efforts led by Amidala and Organa to organize a Confederate–Republic peace initiative with Separatist senator Mina Bonteri. The proposal fell through, however, when a Confederate strike team detonated Coruscant's central power distribution grid, and Bonteri was allegedly killed in a Republic attack. In the aftermath of these events, the Senate voted to deregulate the InterGalactic Banking Clan to facilitate new lines of credits, and a new bill sponsored by Senator Halle Burtoni of Kamino to order five million additional clone soldiers for the Republic Military was brought to the floor. Despite her ulterior motives, Purs supported Farr and his allies' opposition to the bill, stances that made Farr, Amidala, and Organa targets of threats. Farr was the first to be physically assaulted for his opposition, resulting in an arm injury.
Purs accompanied Farr when he returned to the Senate with his bandaged arm, and they met with Organa and Amidala while the latter two attempted to lobby fellow senators to vote against Burtoni's appropriations bill. Despite Amidala's concern, Farr affirmed that he would remain resolute in his opposition. Later, when Organa was hospitalized due to injuries sustained from an altercation with the same thugs who attacked Farr, Amidala stepped in his place to speak against the bill before the Senate. Purs and Farr watched as Amidala delivered a speech defending the social services that would see further defunding with increased military spending, which the two Rodians readily applauded. Though Amidala's speech was received positively, it was not enough to stop Burtoni's bill from passing. Hoping to stop the bill from ever coming into effect, Amidala and Farr introduced counter-legislation that would decrease the Republic's military budget.
To Purs' consternation, Farr became a leading proponent of the bill and was credited with convincing a not-insignificant number of senators to support the anti-war faction's motion. Believing that Farr's past treason had been largely ignored and concerned that he was too weak to stand against the Clone Wars, Purs decided to take action. The night before Amidala was scheduled to deliver another speech in the Senate chamber, Purs lured Farr into a clandestine meeting at the docks under the derrick major. Purs disguised herself to hide her identity and, in their meeting, tried to frighten Farr into retiring, but this stratagem failed, and Farr was left undeterred. Despite the threat Purs had made against him, Farr did not speak about his meeting at the docks with anyone else, and Purs resolved to remove him from leadership herself. The next day, Representative Purs joined Farr, Mothma, and Amidala in the latter's office as they prepared for the upcoming session.
After meeting with the Mandalorian ruler, Duchess Satine Kryze, an ally of Farr and Amidala, Amidala received a call from Senator Stonk. Though Stonk was open to cuts in military funding, he informed the faction that he would not vote for the bill due to concerns about public opinion. Purs expressed annoyance with Stonk's decision, opining that being "sorry" about not voting for the bill would not gain them any more votes. In contrast, Farr calmly poured himself some wine and stated that Amidala's speech would bring more senators to their cause. Purs remarked in Rodian that Farr was the most influential man on Rodia, a compliment that discomforted her mentor, who replied that his only goal was to achieve peace. Soon after, Senator Organa arrived and informed the group that the Senate had convened and was waiting to hear from Amidala. Purs, Farr, and Organa accompanied Amidala to her repulsorpod before heading to their seats.
Padmé's speech was well-received, and afterward, the anti-war leaders celebrated in her office. Purs had decided to kill Farr that day and had laced Amidala's wine with a poison that would only affect Rodians. While they toasted the success of their bill, however, they were interrupted by Senator Burtoni, who strongly opposed Amidala and Farr's positions. When Burtoni accused the group of engaging in a Separatist conspiracy, Purs angrily retorted her, and Amidala reiterated the faction's commitment to diplomacy, which Burtoni mocked. Burtoni's petulance irked Farr, who stepped in and confronted the Kaminoan, leading her to leave the room, but not before warning that the war would not end soon. After Burtoni left, Farr poured himself more poisoned wine, and Organa finished their toast. Purs refrained from drinking, and mere moments later, Farr complained that his heart was in pain before collapsing to the ground.
Purs watched as Amidala and Organa rushed to help Farr, but he was already dead. Sometime later, a small funeral service was held on a landing platform in Coruscant's atmosphere. Purs stood near Duchess Satine and her Protectors during the memorial, feigning sorrow at her mentor's death. Purs watched as her coworker Silood briefly eulogized the late Farr, after which the casket was loaded onboard a shuttle as a dispatch of Senate Guards performed an arms salute. As the shuttle departed, Purs acted distraught and began crying, which Senator Amidala noticed. Purs remarked to Amidala that she did not know how to carry on without Farr to guide her, and Amidala responded that no one could ever take his place. As Padmé embraced Lolo, a Senate Guard approached the two and informed them that Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, the executive of the Republic, had summoned them to his chambers.
====Attempted coverup====
When Purs and Amidala arrived at the Chancellor's office in the Senate Office Building, they saw that Organa and Mothma had also been summoned, and joining them was Senator Orn Free Taa of Ryloth, Senate Vice Chair Mas Amedda, and Chancellor Palpatine. When Amidala saw a contingent of Coruscant Security Force droid police, she asked what was happening. Palpatine introduced her and Purs to Lieutenant Inspector Tan Divo, who had questions about Farr's death. Divo revealed that a CSF-ordered autopsy of Farr's body had found poison in his bloodstream, and Divo's investigation had led him to suspect foul play. Purs acted shocked by his discovery and insisted that no one wanted Farr dead. Divo countered that Purs' claim was untrue given Farr's death, but Organa interjected with support of Purs and stated that he, Purs, Amidala, and Mothma needed time to deal with the sudden news. Amidala rejected Divo's hypothesis that Farr had been killed for trying to maintain a secret and suggested that his death was related to the bill on the Senate floor.
After his brief inquiry into the late Farr's allies, Divo left the Chancellor's office, and Purs, Amidala, Organa, and Mothma followed suit. As they walked to Amidala's office, Mothma questioned who could have wanted Onaconda dead. Purs reiterated Amidala's earlier claim that it was related to the bill, remarking that the rest of the opposition could also be targeted, but Organa advised her not to speculate. Organa insisted that they double their efforts on the Senate vote, but Amidala disagreed and argued they should delay the vote and investigate Farr's death themselves. Purs nervously watched as Mothma and Organa conceded to Amidala's request despite their concern for Padmé given her close relationship with Farr. Purs briefly attempted to intervene but pulled back and watched as Amidala and Organa departed to confront Senators Burtoni and Mee Deechi, both of whom had been political enemies of Farr and staunch opponents of his anti-war stances.
When Amidala and Organa met with their opposition, Deechi proved to be a willing ally in their investigation because of his cordial relationship with Farr. Deechi revealed that he had secretly had Farr followed and, because of this, knew about the meeting Farr had at the docks the night before he died. When Purs heard that Amidala planned on investigating the docks and that Deechi knew about her clandestine meeting with Farr, even if he was unaware of her involvement, she realized that her presumed innocence was in jeopardy. Later that night, she decided to strike against Deechi and Amidala, beginning with the latter. Purs disguised herself and headed to the docks under the derrick major, where Amidala and Organa had gone to search the area. From a higher platform, she watched the two navigate the shipping crates before taking control of a crane to move a shipping container above them. When Purs released the crate, however, Amidala noticed immediately, saving herself and Organa from becoming her victims.
Armed with a blaster pistol, Purs immediately fired at Amidala, who retaliated. Caught, Purs began to flee, using the high ground to escape the maze of shipping crates. After a failed attempt to ambush Amidala, Purs lured her and Organa to the outer edge of the dockyard, where she released another container in hopes of crushing them. Though the crate nearly knocked Organa over the side, Amidala was able to rescue him, and Purs fled the scene. Since her attempts to stop the two failed, Purs returned to the Senate Office Building to deal with Deechi, who she confronted in his office. Purs plunged a dagger into Deechi's chest, killing him. When Amidala, Organa, and Inspector Divo discovered Deechi's body later, Divo placed the Senate on lockdown and had Purs, Amidala, Organa, and Mothma confined to Amidala's office under his protection. Believing her only option was to frame Senator Burtoni for her actions, Purs protested Divo's orders, arguing that he was making them easy targets, and left the room.
Once outside Padmé's office, Purs located Burtoni in the east corridor, walking to her office. By chance, Divo began suspecting Burtoni when Amidala realized that Burtoni had known she would be at the docks, and his suspicion compounded when his police could not find her in her office. Purs, meanwhile, frantically returned to Amidala's office, pretending to have been attacked by Burtoni. While being comforted by Mothma, Purs accused Burtoni of trying to kill her and said that the Kaminoan was in the east corridor, leading Divo to order Burtoni's arrest. By the next morning, Divo's investigation returned to Chancellor Palpatine's office, where Purs, Amidala, Organa, Mothma, Palpatine, Amedda, and Taa were gathered to witness Burtoni's interrogation. Burtoni strongly denied the accusations against her. She laughed at the idea she would attack someone as unimportant as Purs and shrugged off the notion she would kill Farr of Deechi, but Divo presented the evidence of the poison used against Farr, which was Kaminoan in origin.
Believing his case was settled, Divo formally arrested Burtoni, but Amidala realized that if the poison only affected Rodians, then Purs would be dead, too. When Padmé realized that Purs had not drunk the tainted wine, Purs knew her cover had been blown and pulled a deactivator hold-out pistol. Taking Amidala hostage as "insurance," Purs began backing out of the room. Amidala, distraught at the sudden revelation, demanded to know why Purs would kill Farr, and Purs explained that she believed Farr brought the war to Rodia. Purs was angered when Padmé countered that Farr had atoned for his mistakes and, in her anger, revealed her plans to kill Farr and Deechi. Hearing this, Divo remotely alerted his guards outside the office, who entered just as Purs was preparing to exit. Purs was unprepared for this turn of events, allowing Amidala to knock the blaster out of her hands and punch her in the face, knocking her out. Lieutenant Divo had his droids take Purs into CSF custody, and she was subsequently hauled off to jail for her crimes.
===Legacy===
Both of the assassinations committed by Lolo Purs would have adverse effects than she had hoped.Ultimate Star Wars Ironically, despite being a believer in pursuing a peaceful end to the Clone Wars, her actions helped to draw out the conflict further. The assassinations of Onaconda Farr and Mee Deechi derailed the late Farr's military budget reduction bill, which failed to pass in the Senate, in part due to the delays caused by Farr's murder and safety concerns after the deaths of two senators. In a private conversation with Amidala, Chancellor Palpatine personally cited the murders as one of the reasons why opposition to a budget reduction and support for an increase in clone trooper production, as outlined in Burtoni's earlier appropriations bill, had increased and decreased, respectively.
Purs' actions also influenced the decision to increase security measures in the Senate. In addition, the assassination of Mee Deechi, who had represented the planet Umbara in the Senate, was a driving force behind the subsequent secession of the Umbaran government from the Republic. After his death, the Umbarans committed their militia to the Confederacy, giving way to the devastating Battle of UmbaraStar Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy in 20 BBY, which ended with a solid Republic victory but heavy losses for both the Republic Military and the local Umbaran Militia forces.
==Personality and traits==
Lolo Purs was a female Rodian with green skin, blue eyes, orange cranial spines, and a height of 1.75 meters, or 5 feet and 9 inches. A dedicated servant to her homeworld,Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia Purs had a lifelong devotion to the political world and the Galactic Republic, which she credited with bringing numerous benefits to her people. From a young age, Purs' only ambition was to enter politics, believing strongly in the defense of democracy, freedom, and fairness at a time when those norms were in danger of erosion. During the Clone Wars, she was a staunch proponent of a peaceful resolution to the conflict, beliefs she shared with her mentor and sponsor, Senator Onaconda Farr. Despite her stances and work with the anti-war faction led in part by Farr, the fight to protect democracy was never far from becoming literal to Purs. Rodians were stereotypically prone to violence, and Purs was often unable to escape the violent tendencies ascribed to her species despite her support for pacifism.
When Senator Farr's crisis of faith early in the Clone Wars led him to briefly contract with the Separatists, Purs was outraged by his lapse in judgment. To Purs, Farr's errors had brought Rodia into the war and belied an innate weakness that she believed threatened their faction's attempts to stand against the war. As someone unwilling to forget what Farr had done, Purs was dismayed to see their mutual allies and many others forget and forgive him despite his betrayal. She was unable to calmly accept his actions and remained privately dubious of him. Believing that Farr was a liability to their causes despite his successful leadership during the military funding debate, Purs could not let go of her suspicion and resorted to threats and, eventually, murder to rid the Senate of Farr. Although successful in poisoning her mentor, Purs' clumsy attempts to cover her tracks and inability to take Padmé Amidala's loyalty for her old friend into account led to her arrest.
==Skills and abilities==
With her only ambition in life being politics, Representative Purs was well adept in political knowledge and legislative strategy. Despite her political understanding, Purs was not a talented criminal conspiracist, and her attempts to cover up her murder of Onaconda Farr were clumsy despite her initial success. As a Rodian, Purs had a cultural tendency towards violence. She was relatively skilled with a blaster and displayed agility when escaping the docks under the derrick major after failing to kill Padmé Amidala and Bail Organa.
==Equipment==
During the Clone Wars, Lolo Purs carried a deactivator hold-out pistol, a weapon used to deactivate droid technology. She also had access to another type of blaster more typically associated with underworld criminal groups. As Rodia's Senate representative, Purs wore elegant white and red robes from her homeworld.
==Behind the scenes==
Lolo Purs first appeared in "Senate Murders," the fifteenth episode of The Clone Wars television series season two. The episode was written by Drew Z. Greenberg and directed by Brian Kalin O'Connell, and first aired on March 19, 2010. The character of Lolo Purs was in the design phase of production as far back as April 2008, when concept art of her was created by Randy Bantog. In "Senate Murders," Purs is voiced by Jennifer Hale.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
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*Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia
*Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Character Encyclopedia - Join the Battle!
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==Notes and references==
Category:Clerical workers and assistants
Category:Females
Category:Galactic Republic senators
Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns
Category:Rodians