Ven Zallow

Ven Zallow was a human male Jedi Master alive during the Great Galactic War, a conflict begun in 3681 BBY when the forgotten Sith Empire emerged from hiding to combat the Galactic Republic. It was around this time that Zallow trained his apprentice, Aryn Leneer, to Knighthood; when she reached the rank, Zallow gave her a Nautolan tranquillity bracelet. In 3653 BBY, twenty-eight years after the war's beginning, the Sith forces contacted the Republic with their wish to negotiate an end to the conflict. The Jedi Order, sworn defenders of the Republic, were skeptical of the Sith's intentions, but they realized that they had little chance of winning the war and decided to see if peace was really possible. Leneer had been selected as one of the Republic's delegates to the peace conference on the Core World of Alderaan, and Zallow saw her off as she departed Coruscant, capital planet of the Republic. Unknown to the Republic, the Sith planned to use the talks as a diversion as their forces moved in on the Republic capital.

Zallow was present at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant when Darth Malgus and his lover, Eleena Daru—members of a Sith advance force in preparation for their attack—proceeded to kill a squad of Temple security guards that were trying to bar them from entering the Temple. As the pair of intruders strode in, Zallow—accompanied by his lightsaber-wielding allies, who had taken up positions flanking him on numerous levels—positioned himself in front of Malgus without a word, his eyes locked on Malgus's. Before either opponent could act, a captured Republic shuttle crashed through the Temple's main entrance, damaging the surrounding area and skidding to a stop behind Malgus. The Jedi held their ground for a moment as the shuttle came to a halt. The shuttle's hatch opened, revealing a strike force of at least twenty-five Sith warriors who ignited their lightsabers and engaged the assembled Jedi and members of Temple Security in a pitched battle.

After immobilizing the Twi'lek by throwing her against a stone pillar, Zallow was alerted by his droid companion, the astromech droid T7-O1, to an impending strike from Malgus. He and the Sith Lord engaged in combat, and the Jedi held his own against his opponent. He was knocked back by a roundhouse kick, using the opportunity to strike at a pair of Sith before leaping into the air as Malgus threw his lightsaber at his adversary, narrowly missing the blade. However, while he was still airborne, Malgus Force pushed him through a mound of rubble.

Malgus pulled his lightsaber back to his hand as he Force jumped over the rubble and, bringing his weapon in a killing strike, drove it into the floor where Zallow had been only a moment earlier. The Jedi, however, had evaded the strike and once again engaged Malgus in blade-to-blade combat, even landing a blow to his enemy's face with the hilt of his lightsaber. Ultimately, he was no match for Malgus, opening himself up to a fatal thrust through his abdomen. As he lay dying, the Sith Lord told him how the Jedi Order had been deceived, and that the Republic would fall as a result. Zallow's last sight was that of the Temple Precinct in flames, with scores of Sith starfighters, warships, and ground forces continuing the attack on the capital world, a battle that would culminate with the death of the Republic's Supreme Chancellor and the destruction of the Temple itself. Malgus saw to it that the Temple served as Zallow's and the others' final resting place.

On Alderaan, Leneer felt Zallow's death and immediately realized that the negotiations had been a ruse. When the talks concluded, she reflected on Zallow's passing and vowed to face her Master's killer. When Leneer reunited with T7-O1 on Odessen after confronting Malgus, it reminded her of Zallow and how grateful he would have been to know that the droid found a home. Leneer also wondered what Zallow would have wanted Leneer to do after she left the Jedi Order and concluded that he would have wanted her to continue helping others.

Ven Zallow was a wise, composed Jedi Master whose presence in the Force greatly comforted his onetime apprentice, Aryn Leneer. When Darth Malgus and Eleena Daru breached the Temple's defenses, Zallow led his comrades in confronting the two in a standoff. Even as the captured Republic shuttle crashed through the building's main entrance, the Jedi stood his ground while his companions took a few steps back. When the Sith emerged from the craft, Zallow joined his allies in defending the Temple, soon rushing to combat Malgus in an ultimately fruitless attempt.

Ven Zallow was one of the most renowned Jedi of his era, being regarded as Darth Malgus' most famous kill. This made him even more renowned than Kao Cen Darach, the Jedi Battlemaster, who fell to Malgus earlier in his career. Zallow's skill with his lightsaber was such that he was able to cut down several Sith Warriors and Sith troopers with little difficulty. Even Lord Adraas, Malgus' long-time rival, was unable to overcome Zallow during the Sacking of Coruscant. Malgus himself respected Zallow's skill with a blade, and was eager to personally engage him in combat. During a short but fierce duel, Zallow managed to strike Malgus in the face with the hilt of his lightsaber but was ultimately slain by a thrust through the abdomen.

Zallow displayed a wide variety of Force powers during the invasion of the Jedi Temple; namely, telekinetic feats such as Force Jump and Force speed when avoiding the lightsaber attacks of Malgus, who ultimately killed him. He was highly acrobatic, even without the aid of the Force. Furthermore he was proficient in the use of Force Push which he used to incapacitate Malgus' lover, Eleena Daru, during the battle.

Ven Zallow wore Jedi robes and battle armor. He wielded a green-bladed lightsaber in both training and in combat, up until the moment of his death. His lightsaber was of greater heft and length than that of his Padawan, Aryn Leneer, who later acquired and kept the weapon after it was discovered in the rubble of the leveled Jedi Temple on Coruscant by Zallow's T7-O1 astromech droid. Both Master and apprentice—the latter of whom in the Jar'Kai style—used the lightsaber on different occasions against the Sith Lord Darth Malgus, the same man who killed Zallow while Coruscant itself was laid to waste.

Ven Zallow first appeared, albeit unnamed, in the "Deceived" cinematic trailer released on June 1, 2009, to promote the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic Darth Malgus's Holonet entry on The Old Republic website, published on April 30, 2010, introduced a Jedi named Ven Zallow as Malgus's most notable kill. It was confirmed in the novel The Old Republic: Deceived, released on March 22, 2011, that Zallow was indeed the Jedi killed by Malgus during the "Deceived" cinematic.

• The Art and Making of Star Wars: The Old Republic
• The Journal of Master Gnost-Dural
• Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
• The Essential Reader's Companion
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia