Garindan ezz Zavor

Biography

The Reluctant Informant

Born on the planet Kubindi, Garindan ezz Zavor hailed from a respected Kubaz clan celebrated for cultivating a highly sought-after variety of succulent picolet beetles. He had a wife and several offspring who were well-known senators, speakers, and artists. Garindan also had at least one daughter. Furthermore, he had several grandchildren who were enrolled in schools and academies.

During the Imperial Era, the Galactic Empire employed refined protocol droids to sway the Kubaz elders and entice the people into the clutches of their massive vessel. Garindan was among the select students chosen from his academy to study under the Empire as a diplomat and return to his partner and community bearing new honors. However, Garindan and his peers were instead enslaved and forcibly trained as spies. The Empire aimed to exploit the Kubaz for their skill in interpreting body languages, detecting pheromones and weapons, and perceiving sounds from great distances. Garindan and the other students were shackled and subjected to propaganda, indoctrination, and brainwashing.

Having lost faith in the Empire, Garindan managed to slip away during an assignment and attempted to return to Kubindi, only to discover its orbit guarded by Imperial warships. Unable to return to his homeworld, Garindan spent the subsequent years working as a spy to amass the necessary credits to charter a ship to travel back to Kubindi. Garindan also obtained a datapad containing the most up-to-date information, schematics, and manuals on advanced technology and hyperspace travel. Garindan was resolved to expose the truth of the Empire's "exploitation" to his people and equip them with the technology required to assert their right to self-determination.

Stationed on Tatooine

In the initial phases of the Galactic Civil War, Garindan was positioned in the port city of Mos Eisley on the desert world of Tatooine. Garindan resided in a shack that had previously served as a stable for animals. He detested Tatooine, viewing the planet as an infertile world devoid of art, etiquette, and learning. Garindan encountered xenophobic animosity from the local human population, who regarded him as an unethical spy. On one occasion, Garindan pilfered a leather bag of credits belonging to a human male who had insulted him.

Around the time of Princess Leia Organa's secret mission to Tatooine, Garindan received a distorted communication from Kubindi. Having not heard his own language in many years, Garindan paid the robed female emissary all the money in his account. Garindan discovered from his daughter that his wife was dead and that the family was in trouble. With his family in danger, Garindan decided to accept a job and earn sufficient money to hire a ship to return to Kubindi.

Utilizing his intelligence network, Garindan arranged for his human informant to provide the codes he needed to return home. The informant informed Garindan that the codes would be valid for a few days and advised him against hiring a rebel ship. Embarking on his mission to get home, Garindan accepted a job from the Empire to search for two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, who had escaped from Imperial forces during a battle in orbit. The primary objective of the search was to locate the stolen plans for the Death Star, which R2-D2 was carrying for the Rebel Alliance. The droids were under the protection of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker.

Garindan waited in Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina listening for any conversation related to the fugitive droids. He detected the scent of Skywalker's X-34 landspeeder. Garindan overheard Ponda Baba and Cornelius Evazan arguing with Kenobi, with the former losing his arm to Kenobi's lightsaber. Garindan also overheard Kenobi and Skywalker negotiating passage to Alderaan with the ship's captain, Han Solo, and its co-pilot, Chewbacca. While lurking in the shadowed area between the cantina and Solo's starship, the Millennium Falcon, in Docking Bay 94, Garindan spotted the men walking with the two fugitive droids.

The Kubaz immediately informed Imperial stormtroopers that the droids were at Docking Bay 94 in Mos Eisley's spaceport. Confident that he would be compensated for his work, Garindan ordered another beverage at Chalmn's Cantina and chatted with the Devaronian Labria. Garindan was disheartened when he received a message on his datapad that the bounty had been forfeited because the droids had escaped. However, Labria then offered Garindan a job on behalf of Derrida the Ketton, who needed a companion for a job that night. Labria explained that this job was against the Alliance. Determined to assist his family and liberate the Kubaz from Imperial rule, Garindan accepted the job. When Labria praised Garindan's skills as a spy and inquired about his motivations, Garindan simply replied that he was "very far from home."

Personality and characteristics

Garindan ezz Zavor was a male Kubaz. While employed as a spy on Tatooine, he donned a long black robe and hood. Goggles obscured Garindan's eyes, and a metallic apparatus concealed Garindan's elongated snout. During the Imperial Era, Garindan initially held an optimistic view of the Galactic Empire and aspired to train a diplomat. However, Garindan grew disillusioned with the Empire when he and his fellow Kubaz were compelled to work as spies. Consequently, Garindan harbored a profound hatred of the Empire and sought to free his people from Imperial control.

Garindan was a member of a respected clan and had a wife, several children, and grandchildren. Garindan loved and deeply missed his family. He loathed his assignment on Tatooine, which he considered a desolate location lacking art, decorum, and education. Garindan endured considerable animosity from the local human population, who viewed him as an unscrupulous spy and alien outsider. Garindan in return held a negative view of humans, the galaxy's dominant species. He regarded them as an arrogant species who had inflated view of their place in the galaxy. Garindan's love for his family led him to accept any job including spying on the Alliance.

Skills and proficiencies

As a Kubaz, Garindan possessed the ability to interpret body languages, detect pheromones and weapons, and perceive conversations from great distances. Garindan was also attuned to the pheromones secreted by people and animals, enabling him to discern their thoughts and emotions. Garindan was fluent in both his native language, Kubazian, and Galactic Basic Standard. He managed a vast intelligence network and was proficient in his field of work, functioning as a spy, once assuring a client that he could locate their target as long as they paid.

Behind the scenes

Garindan was portrayed by Sadie Eddon in A New Hope. According to Star Wars Insider 110, his voice was a processed version of John Wayne's voice.

Garindan appeared in several Star Wars Legends works including Daniel Keys Moran's 1995 short story "Empire Blues: The Devaronian's Tale," which was published as part of the volume Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina. Garindan's backstory was further developed in Delilah S. Dawson's "The Secrets of Long Snoot," which was published as part of the 2017 anthology From a Certain Point of View. Dawson gave a more sympathetic appraisal of the character's motives, depicting him as a victim of the Empire as opposed to an opportunistic spy. However, this contradicts the digital card game Star Wars: Force Collection, in which Garindan's card stated that he was greedy and was hired by the Empire to spy on Solo's friends rather than being forced to do it.