The Apprentice Tournament was an event sponsored by the Jedi Order in which its youngest members, the Initiates, could demonstrate their skills in order to attract the attention of a potential master. Each year, Knights and Masters alike would flock to the Temple in search of a worthy apprentice to accompany them on missions for the next decade of their life. Students at the Temple prepared for this test, and were often fearful that failure would result in reassignment to the Jedi Service Corps, a worthy yet undesired alternative to taking on missions as a Knight.
Pitting thirty-two apprentices against each other in a series of one-on-one lightsaber duels, each round ended when a student scored three burns on their opponent with a training lightsaber. Before each round began, all of the apprentices would gather around the dueling area while pre-selected members from different classes would face off head-to-head. The final round would consist of the upper class as a group, fighting to the last man standing. The Tournament's first two matches had traditionally taken place in the Combat Training Chamber, until moving onto less artificial environments during the final free-for-all round.
During the Clone Wars, the Tournament took place in 20 BBY, before the Battle of Honoghr and the Rendili Fleet Crisis. During the Tournament, Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy had gone down in the first round to a twelve-year-old boy with a broken leg.
Later that same year, Master Ilena "Iron-Hand" Xan was in charge of the Tournament, observing the preparations before the match and the actual combat.
During the first round of the Tournament, Atresh Pikil was pit against Gumbrak Hoxz, Flerp against Zrim, Horororibb against Boofer, Page against Gilp, and Pax Chizzik against Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy. Enwandung-Esterhazy beat out Chizzik using deception and her knowledge of pressure points; although Hanna Ding contested this, Master Xan allowed it.
In the next round, Ding was pitted against Enwandung-Esterhazy, in the dark. Ding refused to give into her frustration when her opponent attempted to deceive her, taking a whip kick to the chest. When Ding thought she had beaten Scout, Esterhazy grabbed her lightsaber blade, which was set at a low setting, and managed to get her in a strangle hold, forcing the Arkanian to surrender.
In other combat sessions, Sisseri Deo beat out Forzi Ghul with a roundhouse kick, Whie Malreaux preformed exceptionally, as did Lena Missa.
The Final round was set in one of the refectories during a meal. Enwandung-Esterhazy engaged Deo from behind, throwing a glass of muja juice in his face before ending the fight in a strangle hold. Pirt Neer and Enver Hoxha's duel took most of the attention, while Malreaux and Hera Tuix fought hand-to-hand, ending in Whie defeating Hera with a wrist-lock. Lena Missa defeated Bargu, who was seen clutching her arm in defeat; Missa than engaged Malreaux, along with, who took Hoxha's lightsaber, forcing him to surrender to Neer. Neer was about to attack Enwandung-Esterhazy, but Missa put her in an arm bar, forcing her to yield also.
As the last three contestants, Missa, Scout, and Malreaux set to defeat each other. Malreaux defeated Missa in a thumb lock, before setting in at Scout. After succeeding in overcoming a thumb lock, Scout defeated Whie with a shoulder thrust, sending him to the floor.
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
- The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force