Golden One

The Golden One was a deity worshipped on the moon of Endor by the Ewok species. According to Ewok legend, in the years before the coming of the Golden One, the population of Endor lived difficult lives in a darkness without balance. In this time, Ewok elders saw in visions that a light would come to banish the darkness. To this end, they encouraged the Ewoks to live with tolerance and kindness, uniting the tribes together. Their virtue was rewarded a being so bright came to Endor that he lit up the entire moon. The Ewoks named the being the Golden One, because his presence was so bright that none could look directly at him. After the Golden One's coming, trees grew on Endor and the Ewoks left the caves that they resided in to construct towns in the new forest. Their civilization flourished and developed art and discourse.

However, the Golden One knew that there must be balance, and darkness in places he could not reach would seek to reassert its power. To preserve balance and avoid the war that would result, the Golden One made a pact to share the moon with the darkness, so that Ewoks would know both it and the light in equal parts. Although the Ewoks wept, he withdrew to the sky, and the moon experienced a constant cycle of day and night. They came to understand that the balance in this cycle was good and, although the Golden One no longer walked among them, they continued to give thanks to the Golden One daily. In later generations, Ewoks used the Golden One's name in the exclamation "By the Golden One."

Thousands of years after coming of the Golden One in legend, in 4 ABY, the 3PO-series protocol droid C-3PO came to Endor as part of an Alliance to Restore the Republic mission to destroy the Galactic Empire's second Death Star, which was being built above the moon. During the mission, the droid and his companions, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and R2-D2, encountered a group of Ewoks of the Bright Tree Village, who believed he was the Golden One returned to Endor due to the color of his plating. Rejoicing his arrival, the Ewoks resolved to sacrifice C-3PO's companions and placed him on a throne. Although reluctant to impersonate a deity, he attempted to persuade the Ewoks to free his friends at the urging of Solo and Princess Leia Organa, who had befriended the village. When C-3PO's attempts failed, the Jedi Knight Skywalker used the Force to levitate the protocol droid in his throne. Fearing the anger of their deity, the Ewoks quickly released the prisoners. That evening, C-3PO persuaded them to join him in the fight against the Empire and, with the aid of the Ewok warriors, the rebels triumphed in the battle and the Imperial invaders left Endor.

The exploits of C-3PO on Endor were eventually incorporated into the Ewok's legends about the Golden One. In the legends, when the Imperial "agents of darkness" came to Endor, the Ewoks called for the Golden One to return and help combat the darkness that had reneged on their pact. He again descended to Endor, accompanied by companions, and his return restored their faith and, after performing feats of magic, the Golden One explained to the Ewoks the true extent of the danger their enemy posed. Returning to arms for the first time in generations, the Ewoks joined with the Golden One and his companions to go to war against the agents of darkness. After a valiant battle, the darkness was driven away and balance was restored. The Golden One retreated again to the sky, and the Ewoks returned to their life in the forest with the knowledge that he would return to protect them whenever he was truly needed.

In 35 ABY, during an uprising against the forces of the First Order inspired by the victory of the Resistance at the planet Exegol, the young Ewok Pommet Warrick asked his father, Wicket W. Warrick, if the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer falling from the sky was an arrowhead from the Golden One. The elder Warrick, who encountered C-3PO years before and fought alongside his friends against the Empire, told his son that the ruined Star Destroyer was a blessed sign of the Golden One.

The Golden One was first mentioned, albeit indirectly, in the 1983 film Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. In the Star Wars Legends continuity, the name of the deity was first mentioned in the novelization of the film by James Kahn, released ahead of the film on May 12, 1983. The name of the Golden One was first identified in canon in the 2018 comic Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader's Castle 4, written by Cavan Scott. He first appeared, in flashblacks, in the 2020 short story "The Golden One," written by George Mann and published in the Target-exclusive edition of Myths & Fables. "The Golden One" confirmed the connection between the Golden One and C-3PO.