Mission to Jabba's Palace (War of the Ring)

|prev=Battle of TethThe Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring film
|conc=Battle of AkoshissssThe Clone Wars: Decide Your Destiny: The Way of the Jedi
*Raid on Ziro's palace
|next=Battle of AngmarStar Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
|name=Mission to Jabba's Palace
|image=
|conflict=War of the Ring
|objective=To return Rotta the Huttlet to his father, Jabba Desilijic Tiure, and gain Jabba's favor for access to hyperspace lanes through Hutt Space
|date=June 10-11, 1981The Essential Reader's Companion
|place=Jabba's Palace on Tatooine
|result=*Rotta returned to his father
*Access to hyperspace lanes granted to the Galactic Republic by Jabba
*Saruman the White escapes
|side1=*Galactic Republic
*Jedi Order
*Jabba Desilijic Tiure's criminal empire
|side2=*Confederacy of Independent Systems
*Order of the Sith Lords
*Jabba Desilijic Tiure's criminal empire
|commanders1=General Frodo Baggins
|commanders2=Saruman the White
|ppl1=*1 Hobbit
**Frodo Baggins
*1 Lady of Rohan
**Eowyn
*Rotta
*G9 Rigger freighter Twilight
*R2-D2
|ppl2=*1 Dark Lord of the Sith
**Saruman the White
*3 IG-100 MagnaGuards†
*5 Nazgul
*2 Rogue-class starfighters†
*1 Flitknot speeder
|casual1=None
|casual2=*Both Rogue-class starfighters
*All MagnaGuards
*2 Nazguls
}}
A mission occurred in 1981 when Jedi Knight Frodo Baggins and his Padawan, Eowyn, sought to return Rotta the Huttlet to his father, crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure, in his palace on the planet Tatooine.
==Prelude==
In 1981 during the War of the Ring, the galaxy-wide conflict between the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems, both the Republic and the Confederacy sought access to hyperspace lanes through Hutt-controlled space, and therein sought to gain Hutt crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure's favor, leader of the Hutt clans.
However, the Confederacy devised a plan to capture Jabba's son, Rotta, and frame the Republic and the Jedi Order for the crime. Confederacy Head of State and Sith Lord Saruman the White also formed an alliance with Hutt crime lord Ziro Desilijic Tiure, Jabba's own uncle, as Ziro sought to take Jabba's place as leader of the Hutt clans. The Jedi would be framed for the supposed killing of Rotta, and Jabba would take action against the Jedi and be arrested by the Republic, allowing Ziro to assume his position.
Confederacy-affiliated Dark Witch Jinx captured the Huttlet in her ship, and Jabba enlisted the help of the Republic and the Jedi. While Jedi Master Sam Gamgee entered negotiations with Jabba in his palace on the crime lord's home planet of Tatooine, Jedi Knight Frodo Baggins and his recently-apprenticed Padawan, Eowyn, managed to rescue Rotta on Teth. After they stole an old freighter, Frodo and Eowyn approached Tatooine.
Saruman had already arrived on Tatooine, and had entered negotiations with Jabba. The Sith Lord succeeded in deceiving the Hutt crime lord, and Jabba believed that the Jedi had killed his son—and that Baggins was also heading to Tatooine to kill the crime lord himself and the rest of the Hutt clans. Saruman stated that he would deal with Baggins personally, and sent five Nazgul to pilot Rogue-class starfighters, and await Frodo's arrival and shoot the Jedi down. Saruman also dispatched three MagnaGuards to wait outside of Jabba's Palace to halt any attempts that Frodo might make to return Rotta to his father.
==The mission==
===Dogfight over Tatooine===
Upon arriving in the Tatooine system out of hyperspace, Frodo and Eowyn were in the process of making repairs to their freighter, as it was in rather poor condition. Frodo ordered astromech droid R2-D2 to divert power to the front shields instead of the rear. Suddenly, the MagnaGuard-piloted fighters appeared, ironically attacking from the now-unprotected rear. Frodo and Eowyn managed to destroy the fighters, but were shot down over the planet. As they headed toward Jabba's palace, Frodo sensed the presence of the dark side on the planet. Electing to split up, Baggins went to confront and distract whomever he had sensed, while Eowyn continued toward the palace with Rotta.
===Intervention and Deception===
As night fell over the desert, Saruman intercepted Frodo. As Saruman dismounted his speeder bike, Frodo ignited his Elder Sword. Saruman quickly demanded Rotta's surrender before unleashing a barrage of Cruciatus lightning at Baggins. Frodo absorbed the attack with his lightsaber. Seeing the futility of his assault, Saruman stopped the barrage. Pulling off his white hood and brandishing his staff and lightsaber, Saruman quickly saluted Frodo before the two charged each other.
As the combatants met, Saruman opened the battle with a rapid overhand, Frodo parrying before countering. Dodging, Saruman quickly lunged forwards, though Baggins batted aside the attack. Frodo remained defensive until he dodged a slash at his neck, at which point he seized the offense. However, Saruman easily evaded and held off Frodo's wild attacks, and unleashed another overhand, forcing his opponent into a bladelock. In the momentary lull, Saruman tauntingly complemented Frodo, stating that his training had come a long way. Angered, Frodo broke the lock and hacked at Saruman's waist. As their bout resumed, Saruman momentarily shifted to a one-handed hold of his blade. After a series of power-struggles, the two disengaged. Using the second pause, Saruman again taunted, this time about the feelings of pain and loss he felt from Frodo.
Saruman's taunts confused Frodo, who in a fit of anger, unleashed a massive Force push. Saruman was momentarily thrown off balance and driven back by the sudden blast. Crouching for a moment to protect himself from the flurry of sand kicked up by Baggins's push, Saruman flourished his blade and countered with his own push. With Frodo knocked off his feet and disarmed by Saruman's counter-attack, the wizard seized the moment and leapt at the Hobbit, blade raised for the kill. However, Frodo managed to summon his weapon back to his hand in time to block Saruman's staff. However, as Baggins pushed Saruman's blade aside and regained his feet, the white wizard managed to slash the Jedi across the back, cutting Baggins's backpack in half and supposedly killing Rotta.
However, Frodo revealed that the backpack was full of rocks, and that Rotta himself was with Eowyn, safely at Jabba's palace by now. Saruman was not surprised, stating that he expected such a deception and that his "web was strong enough to catch your insignificant handmaiden of Rohan". As Frodo retorted that Eowyn was more skillful than Saruman believed, a seemingly enraged Saruman countered that Frodo was simply deceiving himself.
With that, Saruman charged, and the two continued their battle. However, after another long and vicious bout of swordplay, Saruman blasted Frodo aside with a Force push. Stating that he had a message from Frodo's Padawan, Saruman produced a hologram of the IG-100 MagnaGuards Saruman had left in wait at the palace attacking Eowyn. A powered-up Frodo attacked Saruman with the power of the One Ring, managing to kick him in the face, knocking him down the dune side.
As Frodo looked down at the seemingly defeated Saruman, the wizard stated that after his ringwraiths killed Rotta, Eowyn would be delivered to Jabba for "punishment for the Huttlet's murder". As Saruman taunted that he couldn't imagine Jabba being merciful, Frodo left to save Eowyn, departing on Saruman's own speeder.
As Frodo vanished into the distance, Saruman mounted the dune and observed his departure, engaging in a fit of laughter.
===Entrapment and Escape===
As night fell, Eowyn approached the cliffs leading up to Jabba's Palace. As she followed the roadway up to the palace, she suddenly sensed danger. Quickly brandishing her lightsaber and a whip, she found herself faced by three IG-100 MagnaGuards and three Nazguls, who sprang up from concealment under the sand. As she engaged them, they managed to drive her back and knock her down one of the cliffs, an event witnessed by Frodo Baggins via hologram during his duel with Saruman out on the Dune Sea.
As the Nazguls pursued her, R2-D2 brandished his charge arm and attacked one of the droids. However, his bravery was short-lived, as the MagnaGuard absorbed R2's attack with its electrostaff and quickly disabled the astrometric with a strike from the weapon, knocking the unfortunate droid further down the cliff. With R2-D2 out of the battle, the MagnaGuard quickly rejoined its brothers. As the Nazguls bracketed her, Eowyn managed to hold her own against them. However, they began to drive her further back, and while leaping to evade an attack, Eowyn lost her footing, falling to the bottom of the cliff. Then the Nazgul stealthly disappeared, heading back to their starfighters. As she landed in a dell at the foot of the cliff, Rotta coughed up some sand, leading Eowyn to dryly remark that she thought he liked to play in the sand.
As the MagnaGuards skidded down the cliff into the dell, Eowyn quickly concealed herself on an overlooking ledge. As the droids reached the foot of the cliff and began looking for her, Eowyn quickly leapt from concealment and cleaved one of the droids in two with a powerful overhand as she landed. Turning to face the droids, she suddenly heard the sound of a speeder bike, and looked up to see Frodo Baggins riding past on the roadway above.
Frodo, knowing that his Padawan was in peril, had broken off from his duel with Saruman while the wizard was momentarily disabled and departed to help Eowyn, using Saruman's own speeder. As she blocked an attack, Eowyn began calling out to her master, but was left frustrated when Frodo failed to hear her. Angrily complaining that Frodo never listened, Eowyn regained her focus and turned back to the MagnaGuards. Backed into a corner, Eowyn stated that the 'stick-tinnies' would be going back to Saruman in pieces.
Charging one of the MagnaGuards, Eowyn knocked it to ground and took its electrostaff, ramming it through the second droid's chest. She quickly bisected the impaled MagnaGuard as the other regained its feet, taking up its fallen brother's weapon and attacked Eowyn. Eowyn fell backward as she dodged its attack, landing in a crab-walk position to protect Rotta. As the MagnaGuard resumed its attack, Eowyn regained her feet. Blocking the attacks, she suddenly skirted around and behind the MagnaGuard, quickly slicing it in two.
As Eowyn sit down, exhausted, she remarked that being a Padawan was harder than she thought.
===Near Disaster===
While Eowyn fought the MagnaGuards, Frodo was met at the palace entrance by a group of guards led by Jabba's interpreter droid. Demanding Eowyn's location from them, Frodo was led inside, after being asked to surrender his weapon. Taken before Jabba, Frodo learned that Eowyn wasn't present. Taking Frodo's questions about her to be a flimsy attempt at deception, Jabba ordered Baggins executed. Frodo reclaimed his wand and held it to Jabba's throat.
Before things got even more out of hand, Eowyn, having defeated her foes, arrived in the throne room and returned Jabba's son to him. However, Jabba continued to believe that the Jedi had plotted against him, and ordered both Padawan and Master to be killed immediately.
==Aftermath==
A timely communication from Republic Senator Padmé Amidala revealed Jabba's own uncle, Ziro, to be the culprit behind the kidnapping along with Saruman the White. Jabba, now acknowledging the Jedi had honestly rescued his son, granted the Republic military safe passage through Hutt space. Frodo and his Padawan-learner were then retrieved by Jedi Masters Bilbo Baggins and Sam Gamgee.
As Saruman and the three Nazguls departed Tatooine, he apologized to Darth Sauron for his failure. Sauron, however, was unconcerned, stating that this momentary loss would work in their favor in the long run, damaging the Jedi's reputation.
==Appearances==
*The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring novelization 
*The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring film
*The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring: Lightsaber Duels
*The War of the Ring: Wild Space 
*The War of the Ring: Shipyards of Doom 
* 
*The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Ring: Republic Heroes 
===Non-canon appearances===
*LEGO Star Wars III: The Lord of the Rings
==Sources==
*Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
==Notes and references==
Category:War of the Rings battles
Category:Duels