Star Wars: 10 Things Fans Should Know About Mon Mothma

While there was a lot of talk about what people like Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia did for the Rebellion in the battle to overthrow the Empire, there is no denying how important Mon Mothma was to the battles and victories in the Star Wars franchise.

Mon Mothma was the leader of the Rebellion and one of the smartest people behind-the-scenes. It was her leadership that set the heroes on the course of action to win battles to eventually the war. While everyone loves the warriors in the trenches, here are 10 things fans should know about Mon Mothma to understand her importance to the Rebel Alliance.

10 SHE WAS BORN INTO A POLITICAL FAMILY

It should come as no surprise that Mon Mothma turned into a great political leader for the Rebellion. She was both into a political family. Mon Mothma’s father was an arbiter-general for the Galactic Republic and her mother a governor on Chandrila.

Interestingly, Mon Mothma also chose not to walk in the footsteps of her parents when she fell in love and decided to play the sport smashball. She started work as a historian but then, luckily for the Rebellion, she returned and chose to head into politics anyway due to the pressure of her family.

9 SHE WAS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST SENATORS

Mon Mothma took the experience she gained growing up in a political family and used that to make an immediate mark in the Galactic Senate. She became one of the youngest senators in history when she took on her role at the age of 19.

This came just five years after Senator Sheev Palpatine was elected the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Mothma, a teenage senator, was at that time seen as an ally to the new Chancellor, but that would not last long.

8 SHE BECAME A MEMBER OF THE LOYALIST COMMITTEE

Supreme Chancellor Palpatine assigned Mon Mothma to a position on the Loyalist Committee, which existed to maintain integrity during the political crisis in the Republic. This committee included some very important people that would one day stand and oppose Palpatine.

Outside of Mon Mothma, Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, Padme Amidala of Naboo, Orn Free Taa of Ryloth, Jar Jar Binks of Gungan, and Ask Aak of Malastare were also members. As Palpatine continued to amass more power during the Clone Wars, it was his own Loyalist Committee that began to suspect his true intentions.

7 SHE ADVOCATED FOR A PEACEFUL END TO THE CLONE WARS

During the Clone Wars, Mon Montha, Bail Organa and Padme Amidala worked together to try to find a peaceful end to the battles. Using the Senate floor, they worked hard to try to counter many of the wartime tactics that Palpatine was attempting to undertake. Mothma was one of the loudest voices, warning the Senate that giving Palpatine so much power was a threat to democracy.

Mothma used her charisma and political savvy to help stop many things, including reducing military spending, stopping attacks, and helping those in need. However, things went bad when assassination attempts were made on the outspoken opponents of Palpatine.

6 SHE WAS PRINCESS LEIA’S POLITICAL TUTOR

The Republic fell after Anakin Skywalker helped Palpatine betray the Jedi Order and the Galactic Empire was born, under the leadership of Palpatine — now known as The Emporer. However, this victory also led to the bird of twin children to Amidala and Skywalker. To protect the children, their existence was hidden from their father and they were split up and hidden.

The twin daughter — Leia — was adopted by Bail Organa and hidden in plain sight. Thanks to her friendship with Organa, Mothma became a political tutor to Princess Leia as she grew up, making sure she was properly trained to take her father’s place in the Imperial Senate when the time came.

5 RESIGNED FROM SENATE TO LEAD THE REBEL ALLIANCE

Once the Empire rose up and took control, a number of Senators joined together with Mon Mothma and Beil Organa taking leadership of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and the Empire branded Mothma a traitor, pushing her to the top of the Most Wanted list after she gave a speech condemning the Ghorman Massacre.

Mothma went into hiding but continued to work to build the rebellion. It was at this time that she entered into a battle with Grand-Admiral Thrawn and took complete leadership of the Rebel Alliance as they slowly began to build up their resistance to the Empire.

4 SHE COMMISSIONED JYN ERSO TO STEAL THE DEATH STAR PLANS

Mon Mothma appeared in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as the Chancellor and Commander-in-Chief of the Rebel Alliance. That meant that she was the person in charge of the overarching plans to battle the Empire. One of these plans was to extract and rescue Jyn Erso, the daughter of a scientist with knowledge of the Death Star.

Mothma was clear in her belief that even people with criminal pasts, such as Jyn, deserved a second chance and sent her on a mission to recover the Death Star plans along with Captain Cassian Andor. The group was successful, and while Jyn and Cassian died, they sent out the plans, which helped Luke Skywalker eventually destroy the Death Star.

3 HELPED PLAN THE BATTLE OF ENDOR

While getting the Death Star plans was a huge moment in her career as the Chancellor of the Rebel Alliance, Mon Mothma had one more massive moment. Three years after the Battle of Yavin, Mon Mothma learned a second Death Star was being built. Mothma worked out the plans to destroy the second Death Star before it was operational and chose to attack in small groups instead of as a massive strike.

Mothma tried to convince Leia not to go into battle because she was more valuable as a leader of the Alliance than as a fighter on the ground. Leia went instead to fight and with Mothma remaining in the position of control, the Rebel Alliance won the battle and eventually the war.

2 WAS THE FIRST CHANCELLOR OF THE NEW REPUBLIC

In the months following the Battle of Endor, the New Republic formed. The Galactic Senate reformed once again and many of the leaders looked to Chandrila as a planet that had great ideas that could help the Republic rise to glory again, so the first Chancellor voted in to lead the New Republic was Mon Mothma.

Mon Mothma was not happy with some things, such as the fact that she received the same emergency powers that Palpatine once held, but knowing that she wanted to eliminate those powers to ensure a democracy made it a position she had to take. She also worked hard to set up plans to disarm the military when the Galactic Civil War ended.

1 HER RETIREMENT AS CHANCELLOR CAUSED THE NEW REPUBLIC TO SPLINTER

There was a lot of political intrigue and dishonesty that took place while Mon Mothma worked to rebuild the New Republic. There were rival politicians that tried to undermine her and overthrow her and it seemed that for everything that she tried to do to make the universe better, there were people who seemed to want to take steps backward.

Finally, Mon Mothma grew ill and chose to step down as the Chancellor of the New Republic. It was clear that her charisma and sense of goodness was something that held the Republic strong because after she stepped down, the Republic fell into chaos and two factions arose in the Populists and Centrists, but Mothma remained loyal to Leia and her ideals even when the New Republic faltered.

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