Tsavong Lah

Tsavong Lah was the fanatical Warmaster of the Yuuzhan Vong during the Yuuzhan Vong War. A consummate warrior, he was the embodiment of his caste, over whom he held jurisdiction second only to that of the Supreme Overlord. He succeeded his father as Warmaster at the time of the invasion, although he entered the galaxy somewhat later than the advance forces. This did not prevent him, however, from manipulating events behind the scenes, arranging for the destruction of Ithor and the disgrace of the rival Domain Shai, as well as overseeing several key victories, before finally emerging in 26 ABY as the architect of the Battle of Duro. Lah became infamous among both his own species and the citizens of the New Republic for his vendetta against the Jedi; following a defeat at the hands of Jacen Solo, the Warmaster called for the surrender of all Force-sensitives to the Yuuzhan Vong, prompting a wholesale persecution of the New Jedi Order. Indirectly, this was to contribute towards the beginnings of the Jeedai heresy, an underground movement among the Shamed Ones which, on the moon Yavin 4, Lah was unsuccessful in eradicating.

An obsession soon followed with securing the capture of Solo twins Jacen and Jaina; the Warmaster wished to sacrifice the two Jedi to the Yuuzhan Vong gods in order to bless his advance upon the Core Worlds. The twin sacrifice refused to bear fruit; nonetheless, Lah went on to lead the costly, yet ultimately successful, encirclement and capture of the New Republic capital, Coruscant. Intrigue among the priests and shapers who attended him during this period, however, led to the deliberate sabotage of one of the warmaster's implants, forcing Lah to retreat from the forefront of the invasion. The Warmaster's over-extension of the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, as well as his incapacitation, allowed the New Republic to recover somewhat from the numerous defeats they had sustained at his hands. Lah's eventual return to leadership capacity was thus overshadowed by the deaths of his son and father, both of whom died on campaigns of his design. Even the capture of the prized Jacen Solo proved to be a failure, as the Jedi defected insincerely to the Yuuzhan Vong, destabilized events on the newly terraformed Coruscant, and escaped, all immediately prior to the arrival Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane.

Heavily criticized by the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong for his costly victories and personal vendettas, Lah was ordered to postpone any further attacks upon the remaining defenders of the galaxy until the depleted warrior caste could be replenished. Given ample time to prepare themselves, the New Republic military and its counterparts in intelligence set in motion a trap to lure the Warmaster to his death. Disinformation and the careful subversion of the Yuuzhan Vong spy network encouraged Tsavong Lah's contemporary, the executor Nom Anor, to trust evidence suggesting that the Warmaster could attain a crucial victory at Ebaq 9, a forgotten moon in the Deep Core. Eager to destroy his enemy in a last decisive battle, the Warmaster mobilized a massive armada and descended upon Ebaq 9. Ambushed, outnumbered and defeated by a host of New Republic fleets, Tsavong Lah accepted his fate, choosing to lead his warriors on one final crusade against Jedi present at the battle. In a brief, fierce duel with his long-time adversary, Jaina Solo, Tsavong Lah perished.

Text and facts from the “Tsavong Lah” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.