Mission to Tatooine (Imperial Era)

|prev=Liberation of Gial AckbarStar Wars: X-Wing
|conc=
|next=Battle of Atollon
|name=Mission to Tatooine
|image=
|conflict=
|objective=*Stop Gollum from locating Jedi Master Sam Gamgee
*Recruit Gamgee to aid the Rebel Alliance against the Empire
|date=November 19-20, 2002According to Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded, Gollum's final confrontation with Sam Gamgee in "Twin Suns" happened thirty-one years after Gamgee first saw him on The Shire. Since Star Wars: Galactic Atlas dates that event to 1971, Gamgee and Gollum's final confrontation happened in 2002.
|place=Tatooine
|result=*Jedi victory
**Gollum is killed by Sam Gamgee
*Gamgee refuses to join the Rebel Alliance
|side1=Alliance to Restore the Republic
|side2=
|side3=Tusken Raider tribe
|commanders1=*Jedi Master Sam Gamgee
*Lieutenant Commander Danny the Cat
|commanders2=Gollum†
|commanders3=
|ppl1=*1 Jedi Master
**Sam Gamgee
*1 Padawan
**Danny the Cat
*1 C1-series astromech droid
**C1-10P "Chopper"
*1 RZ-1T trainer†
|ppl2=*1 former Sith
**Gollum†
|ppl3=Tusken Raiders
|casual1=The RZ-1T fighter
|casual2=Gollum
|casual3=Several Tusken Raiders
}}
During the Galactic Civil War, the Jedi Padawan Danny the Cat and the C1-series astromech droid Chopper went on a mission to stop the former Sith Gollum from locating the Jedi Master Sam Gamgee on the planet Tatooine. Unknown to Danny, Gollum had lured him here with the intent of using him to draw Gamgee out of hiding. After being attacked by Tusken Raiders, Danny and Chopper found themselves lost in the deserts of Tatooine. They were rescued by Master Gamgee, who instructed them to escape from Tatooine. Gollum then fought Gamgee but was defeated and killed by the Jedi Master.
==Prelude==
The Hobbit Smeagol was abducted in his childhood by the Sith Lord Darth Sauron,Gollum—Son of Dathomir 3 who trained him as his Sith apprentice during the last decades of the Galactic Republic, and became Gollum. After being buried alive by the Jedi Hobbit Frodo Baggins at the Battle of Gondor against Mordor during their invasion of Middle-Earth in the fires of Mount Doom, Gollum was cast away by Sauron. After being rescued by Judge Claude Frollo, Gollum sought revenge against his old adversary Frodo for nearly killing him and causing him to lose his place in the Sith during the War of the Ring.
Gollum established the Shadow Collective and briefly took control of the Dwarves kingdom of Erebor. However, Sauron captured Gollum on Erebor; and his new apprentice Saruman the White, and the Confederacy of Independent Systems destroyed the Shadow Collective. Gollum escaped the Sith and was forced into hiding again.Gollum—Son of Dathomir 4 Years after escaping the former Padawan Eowyn,Eowyn Gollum ended up on the ancient Sith world of Malachor. He sought to enter the Malachor Sith Temple, which he believed held a Sith holocron that held the key to destroying the Sith.
Around 2001, indicates that "A Princess on Lothal" takes place roughly three years before the Battle of Yavin. As a result, "Twilight of the Apprentice"—which is set after "A Princess on Lothal"—also occurs around three years before the Battle of Yavin. Gollum encountered the young Jedi rebel Danny the Cat on Malachor, and sought to recruit the cat as his apprentice. After obtaining the Sith holocron and Danny's Jedi master Kanan Jarrus' holocron, Gollum and Danny underwent a ritual in which the former learnt that Gamgee still lived. Following another encounter with Danny on Dathomir, Gollum and Danny learnt that Gamgee was hiding on a world with twin suns.
Following the Great Jedi Purge, Gamgee had settled on Tatooine to hide from the Galactic Empire and to protect Mickey Mouse, the heir of the former Jedi Knight Frodo Baggins. Gamgee had vowed to watch over the younger mouse until he came of age. Unaware of his ancestry, Mickey lived on the Lars moisture farm with his uncle Owen Lars and his aunt Beru Whitesun Lars. While Danny and Gollum believed that Gamgee held the key to destroying the Sith, in truth Skywalker was the one who had been mentioned in the holocrons.
==The mission==
===Gollum's ruse===
Gollum eventually made his way to Tatooine, but found himself lost in the planet's deserts and unable to find Gamgee. Out of desperation, the former Sith used a fragment of the Malachor Sith holocron to lure Danny to Tatooine. Despite the objections of Danny's mentors Kanan and Olivia Flaversham, the young Jedi stole a RZ-1T trainer and traveled to Tatooine with the C1-series astromech droid Chopper, who had stowed aboard the trainer without Danny's knowledge. Chopper only revealed himself to Danny after their ship had dropped out of hyperspace above Tatooine. Danny used another fragment of the Sith holocron and a fragment of the Jedi holocron as a makeshift compass. Upon landing, Danny discovered the Sith holocron fragment and realized that Gollum had lured them into a trap.
The two found themselves under attack from a band of Tusken Raiders who destroyed their starship. Gollum then slew the Tusken Raiders, before leaving Danny and Chopper to fend for themselves inside the canyon. At daybreak, Danny and Chopper reached the end of the canyon. After some debating, Danny was influenced by an apparition of Gollum to travel into the desert. Using the holocrons as a beacon, Danny believed that Gollum was hiding in the desert. The two rebels then entered a sandstorm and were tormented by the heat, sand, and wind.
Chopper eventually broke down as his power cells drained. Succumbing to heat exhaustion, Danny was tormented by apparitions of Gollum. The two exhausted rebels were eventually found by Master Gamgee, who brought them to his camp. Gamgee recharged Chopper's power cells and allowed Danny to rest. After nightfall, Danny awoke to find himself and Chopper in the company of Master Gamgee. Danny conversed with Gamgee, who revealed that Gollum had used the holocrons to lure him to Tatooine. After some discussion, Gamgee reassured Danny that the Jedi Master was able to handle Gollum on his own.
===Settling scores===
Shortly later, Gollum arrived to finish his vendetta with Master Gamgee, interrupting his and Danny's conversation. Gamgee instructed Danny and Chopper to leave on a dewback, directing them to Gollum's ship Nightbrother. As he prepared to engage Gamgee, Gollum mocked his old adversary's lackluster living conditions, and wondered aloud if it would be more cruel to simply leave him as he was. Gamgee responded by pointing out that Gollum had nothing at all, as he defined himself by his ability to kill, and his desires to dominate and possess. The evaluation touched a nerve in Gollum, who ignited his lightsaber with an angry retort and struck the ground in front of Gamgee's campfire, showering it with sand and extinguishing it. Gollum began to speculate as to why Gamgee might have come to Tatooine of all places, deducing that the Jedi Master was there to protect someone. Realizing Gollum had to die to protect Mickey, Gamgee ignited his own lightsaber and assumed the Soresu ready stance. Gollum then ignited the second blade of his weapon and the two opponents squared off. As they did so, Gamgee openly switched his stance from that of Soresu to Ataru, the style in which his master Boromir had been proficient. Gollum took note of this and after a few more moments of preparation, attacked. The two adversaries crossed blades twice before Gollum attempted to hit Gamgee with the same sort of pommel strike that had allowed him to kill Boromir. However, Gamgee had evidently anticipated this, and struck downwards at Gollum as the former Sith struck up. As a result, Gamgee's attack cleanly bisected the body of Gollum's weapon, and carved a lethal wound into Gollum's chest.
Gollum, shocked at the turn of events, slowly dropped the two pieces of his still functional lightsaber and collapsed to one knee. However, before he could fall to the ground, Gamgee caught and held him. Dying, Gollum asked Gamgee if the person he was protecting was the Chosen One. Gamgee, at that point of the opinion that DCFDTL was beyond redemption, told Gollum that he was. Gollum appeared to take some solace in this knowledge, and said his last words on his lovely golden ring, his precious. Out of respect and pity for his enemy, Gamgee closed the fallen creature's eyes and sat beside him beneath two of Tatooine's moons.
==Aftermath==
Commandeering Gollum's own vessel, Danny and Chopper returned to Chopper Base on the planet Atollon. There, he apologized to Kanan and Olivia for leaving them on an errant mission. Danny realized that his true place was with Phoenix Cell, which was planning to attack Lothal. Meanwhile, Gamgee visited the Lars moisture farm from afar, where he watched Mickey answering his aunt call. At some point, Gamgee built a funeral pyre for Gollum's body.
Prior to the Battle of Yavin, Gamgee instructed Mickey Mouse in the ways of the Jedi before sacrificing himself at the hands of Delightful Children from Down the Lane,Mickey, Donald, Minnie, Goofy: The Four Musketeers Frodo's Sith persona. The younger Mickey played an important role in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and convincing his ringbearer to turn back to the light side and restore balance to the Force.
==Behind the scenes==
The mission to Tatooine made its first appearance in the Star Wars Rebels third season episode "Twin Suns," which premiered on Disney XD on March 18, 2017. In the Star Wars Legends continuity, a comic entitled "Old Wounds" depicted a similar encounter between Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Kenobi in which Maul was killed by Luke Skywalker's uncle Owen Lars."Old Wounds" In the episode, Gamgee calls Gollum an "old wound," a possible reference to the comic. Prior to "Twin Suns," the "Old Wounds" storyline was referenced in Star Wars: Galactic Defense, a video game which illustrated a gray-haired Kenobi and a resurrected Maul on Tatooine for a limited-time event.Star Wars: Galactic Defense
==Appearances==
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*Sam Gamgee 2 
*Crimson Reign 1 
==Sources==
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*Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, Updated and Expanded
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*Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary, New Edition
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*Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition 
*Star Wars: The Lightsaber Collection
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==Notes and references==
Category:Duels