Finis Valorum

Finis Valorum was a Human male politician who served as the penultimate Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. Born by 87 BBY on the planet Coruscant, Valorum hailed from a highly regarded political family, and after working through several challenging occupations he was elected as senator of the Lytton sector through his family's connections. Valorum advocated against the development of a centralized Republic army, and came into prominence during the Stark Hyperspace War in 44 BBY. The conflict was a result of attacks on bacta transports by the Stark Commercial Combine. It was Valorum who advocated holding a summit with the Combine on the planet Troiken, he also attended the summit along with several Jedi and Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation.

The summit turned into an ambush when Iaco Stark, founder of the combine, revealed that he knew a fleet covertly assembled by Senator Ranulph Tarkin, Valorum's political enemy, was flying to Troiken to destroy the Combine. Stark sabotaged Tarkin's ships with a nanovirus that scrambled their navcomputers, and a firefight broke out in the meeting room. Valorum and the Jedi were able to escape and rendezvous with Tarkin's forces that made it planetside. After surviving attacks from Stark forces, Valorum and Gunray were escorted back to Coruscant by the Jedi Adi Gallia, where Valorum explained the situation to the Galactic Senate and prevented them from giving in to Stark's demands.

With his profile raised during the war, Valorum made a successful bid for Supreme Chancellor in 40 BBY. He won another term four years later, but was considered an ineffectual leader for his insistence on orthodox diplomatic approaches to issues. On the advice of Palpatine, a senator from the planet Naboo and a close confidant of Valorum's, the Chancellor proposed Senate Resolution BR-0371, instituting taxation Free Trade Zones. The resolution severely impacted the Trade Federation's profits, causing the company to blockade Naboo. Valorum sent two Jedi; Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, on a secret mission to diplomatically solve the crisis.

Their attempt failed, but the Jedi managed to rescue Queen Padmé Amidala of Naboo and brought her to Coruscant to present a plea for action to the Senate. Knowing that Valorum would be unable to effect any real progress, Palpatine convinced Amidala to call for a Vote of No Confidence against Valorum, removing him from office. Palpatine was elected Chancellor, as he had orchestrated the entire crisis in a secret plan to restore Sith dominion over the galaxy. In retirement he wrote a biography; Holding Back the Tide, and was visited by Jedi Master Yoda for information about the fate of Jedi Knight Sifo-Dyas during the Clone Wars.

Text and facts from the “Finis Valorum/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.