Sabotage of Grievous' shuttle

Prelude

During the Republic Era, Count Dooku and his Sith Master, Darth Sidious saw potential in the Kaleesh warlord Grievous, who led his people, the Kaleesh in a merciless war against their planetary neighbors, the Yam'rii of Huk. Dooku needed to recruit someone to lead the Droid Army. After the Jedi and the Republic had sided with his enemies and left hundreds of thousands of his people to starve to death, Grievous began working as an enforcer for the InterGalactic Banking Clan.

Over time, Grievous introduced profound modifications to his cybernetic body to increase his combat skills, with strength and speed to rival even Jedi Master making him an even more threatening and fearsome warrior.

History

At some point, Count Dooku and San Hill conspired to assassinate Grievous. Dooku arranged a sabotage to Grievous' shuttle and he was nearly killed as a result. Nearly all that remained of Grievous's body after his work at replacing his body with cybernetics was destroyed in the crash.

Reconstruction

General Grievous joined the Separatist Movement and led its military on a march to conquer and break Republic worlds.

General Grievous joined the Separatist Movement and led its military on a march to conquer and break Republic worlds.

After the horrific shuttle crash almost ended his life, the Kaleesh warrior accepted the offer by Count Dooku to undergo a life-saving surgery, as the Sith were interested in experimenting with technologically advanced beings. Under Dooku's direction, Separatist cybernetic experts and Geonosian , with assistance from medical droids, including the FX-9 surgical assistant FX-6, nearly reconstructed Grievous to save his life. Initially Dooku falsely told Grievous into believing that a Jedi was responsible for the sabotage, instilling in the General a deep and violent hatred for the Jedi. In addition, Dooku instructed him in the Jedi art of lightsaber combat, with one military expert instructing another.

In time, the ancient Kaleesh warrior joined the Separatist Movement and allied himself with other members of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He was bestowed upon the title of Supreme Martial Commander of the Separatist Droid Armies, which he gladly accepted, becoming a key Separatist leader and the absolute leader of the galaxy's largest Separatist Droid Army.

Historical perspective

Historical work doubted the accuracy of the shuttle crash story. While it was speculated at one time that Grievous was turned into a cyborg against his will, with rumors spreading that Dooku ordered the crash and was, in turn, ordered by Sidious to save Grievous's life with a reconstructive surgery carried out by medical droids, Grievous had wanted to become a cyborg already. By the time of the crash, if it happened at all, Grievous had accepted mechanical upgrades over a period of time. Indeed, a major source to Grievous's history—the statues he maintained in his personal fortress on the moon Vassek 3—indicated as such, depicting a slow descent into a mechanical form. In the end, one account concluded there was no evidence Grievous was the victim of someone's secret designs when it came to how he got his cybernetic body.

Behind the scenes

In Star Wars canon, the shuttle crash was first mentioned in the hardcover reference book Star Wars: A Galaxy at War published by Dorling Kindersley. In Stars Wars Legends, the shuttle crash first appeared in The Eyes of Revolution, a comic story written and illustrated by Warren Fu, published in the Dark Horse Comics anthology Star Wars: Visionaries, released on April 2, 2005.

A San Hill card from Star Wars: Card Trader stated that San Hill, Poggle the Lesser, and Dooku worked together as part of a conspiracy to transform Grievous into their cyborg servant. Pablo Hidalgo stated that this was an outdated reference to Grievous's Legends backstory, but subsequent canon sources have brought in similar details.

Sources

Appearances