Maketh Tua, a human female native to the planet Lothal, was an alumna of the Imperial Academy. Entering the service of the Galactic Empire, she started as an assistant minister under the leadership of Governor Ryder Azadi, and subsequently, under Arihnda Pryce when she took over as the new governor of Lothal representing the Empire. While Governor Pryce was away, the responsibility of supervising Lothal's industries fell to Tua, with the expectation that she would ensure they functioned at their optimal level for the Empire. However, following a series of unsuccessful attempts to suppress a burgeoning insurgency on her home planet, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, the Imperial Governor overseeing the entire Outer Rim, paid a visit to Lothal. He harshly criticized her and the other Imperial leaders for their failures, even going as far as executing Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko and Taskmaster Myles Grint for their incompetence, before assuming direct command of the situation.
Ultimately, Tarkin's actions led to the rebels destroying his own flagship, the Sovereign, and the death of the Grand Inquisitor. In response, Tarkin tasked Tua with locating the rebels. Despite intensifying patrols, establishing security checkpoints, and enforcing curfews, she failed to uncover the rebel cell's location. Consequently, the Emperor dispatched his primary enforcer and apprentice, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, to manage the predicament. Having failed the Grand Moff, she was ordered to meet with him personally the following day to answer for her shortcomings.
Fearing for her own safety, she reached out to the rebel cell and negotiated safe passage off Lothal in exchange for providing a list of rebel sympathizers within Lothal and adjacent systems, along with details about the Empire's true objective on Lothal. However, Vader anticipated her escape attempt and decided to exploit her to lure out the rebels and expose the larger rebellion. Kallus, an agent working for the Imperial Security Bureau, programmed a spy droid to monitor the minister's movements and then personally escorted her to her shuttle for the arranged meeting. However, the rebel cell launched an attack on the shuttle that day, and a rebel instructed Tua to board the vessel, assuring her that they would follow shortly. As she entered the troop compartment, the shuttle detonated, resulting in the minister's death.
Born in 37 BBY on Lothal, a relatively insignificant planet situated in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy, Maketh Tua attended the prestigious Imperial Academy during her formative years. Her motivation was to transcend the limitations of her homeworld and pursue a more significant and fulfilling life. She demonstrated exceptional learning abilities and reached the level of a level-five Academy student. Upon completing her education and graduating, she promptly enlisted in the Galactic Empire.
During the final two months of Governor Ryder Azadi's tenure, Maketh Tua held the position of assistant minister within his administration. Following Azadi's removal and arrest on charges of treason, Tua continued her service under his successor, Governor Arihnda Pryce, who governed Lothal on behalf of Emperor Sheev Palpatine. Under Pryce's leadership, Tua was appointed as the minister responsible for overseeing Lothal's industrial output. A year after Pryce's appointment as Governor of Lothal, Tua welcomed Governor Pryce upon her return to their shared homeworld.
Following the exchange of greetings, Pryce inquired with Tua about the twenty percent reduction in refinery production over the preceding four months. Tua explained that the mines were nearing depletion. She also mentioned the difficulties in recruiting miners due to Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko's successful recruitment of numerous young individuals into the Lothal Academy. Pryce instructed her to enlist foreign miners. Upon being informed that the doonium vein at Pryce Mining had been exhausted, Pryce instructed Tua to immediately close down her family's former enterprise. At Pryce's request, Tua arranged a meeting with Senator Domus Renking.
Several months later, Tua convened with Governor Pryce to deliberate on the competitive bidding between Lothal and Kintoni to secure landing and maintenance facilities for the Imperial Navy. While Tua expressed contentment with the existing Imperial Navy presence on Lothal, Pryce reiterated her ambition to establish their homeworld as the epicenter of Imperial influence and industry within this sector of the Outer Rim. Subsequently, Pryce delegated responsibility for Lothal to Tua while she traveled to Coruscant to attend to the bidding war between Lothal and Kintoni, which Lothal ultimately won due to Pryce's political acumen.
As a minister of Lothal, Tua was instrumental in the planet's alignment with the Empire. One of her initial actions as minister was to introduce new government-sponsored housing to Lothal. These residences were reasonably priced and contributed to the growing population. Later, she attended the farewell celebration for Dhara Leonis, who had gained acceptance to the Academy for Young Imperials on Lothal, during which they engaged in conversation.
During her time as minister, Maketh journeyed to the planet Garel aboard the Star Commuter 2000 shuttle ST-45, accompanied by Amda Wabo, a representative from the neighboring world of Ando, along with two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. Her mission was to collect a shipment of T-7 ion disruptor rifles, which, following their involvement in the attack on Lasan, had been prohibited throughout the galaxy by the Imperial Senate.
Given Tua's limited proficiency in Aqualish, she brought C-3PO along due to his extensive knowledge of languages. When another passenger, Ezra Bridger, and his astromech began causing a disturbance, and Kanan Jarrus lodged a complaint with the shuttle's pilot, R-3X, the pilot, following Imperial regulations, relegated all droid passengers, including C-3PO, to the rear of the shuttle. Without her [protocol droid](/article/protocol_droid] to provide translation, Tua was unable to communicate with her business associate. It was at this point that Sabine Wren, disguised as a "level five Imperial Academy student," persuaded Tua to allow her to translate for Wabo. In a manner typical of rebels, Sabine utilized Wabo's information to pilfer the weapons while deceiving Tua, leading her to Bay 17 instead of Bay 7.
Upon Tua and her companions' arrival at Bay 17, Tua realized that Sabine had mistranslated Wabo's words and that the disruptors were actually located in Bay 7. As Tua, Wabo, and their stormtrooper escort proceeded there, they were confronted by Chopper. Recognizing the orange astromech, Tua promptly understood that she had been deceived and commanded all her men to proceed to Bay 7 as quickly as possible. There, they discovered the rebels loading the weapons onto their ship. A firefight ensued between the two factions, and the rebels managed to escape aboard the Ghost with the T-7s.
Shortly thereafter, Tua contacted Agent Kallus. It was eventually confirmed that the rebels were the same ones that Kallus had faced on the planet Kessel not long ago.
Minister Tua was in attendance at the Empire Day parade, where she substituted for Governor Pryce, who had been summoned to Coruscant by the Emperor. During the celebration, Tua stood on stage alongside Commandant Aresko, who remarked on Pryce's decision to appoint him to organize what he considered a "spectacle," which offended the minister. Tua then turned to address the crowd and introduce the citizens to the new TIE Advanced v1 prototype, which was to be piloted by Baron Valen Rudor. As she was speaking, the TIE was destroyed by the Spectres, with the resulting explosion throwing Tua and the other Imperials into the air as the stage collapsed. After being assisted by a stormtrooper, an enraged Tua demanded that the party responsible be identified and punished. Agent Kallus assured her that they would handle the rebels but that their priority was locating the Rodian Tseebo, who had absconded with Imperial secrets. Unfortunately for the Empire, both the rebels and the Rodian successfully fled the planet.
Tua later issued a broadcast across Lothal, labeling the rebels as insurgents, before her transmission was interrupted by Senator-in-exile Gall Trayvis, who urged the Spectres to meet with him. In reality, Trayvis was secretly an Imperial agent tasked with enticing dissidents to their "accidental" demise. Tua subsequently met with Agent Kallus, seeking his assurance that the trap they were setting for the rebels at the Lothal City Capitol Building would be effective. She then attempted to emphasize the Grand Inquisitor's desire to see the Jedi captured. Kallus stated that the Inquisitor was overly focused on capturing the Jedi and asserted that by targeting the rebels as a group, they would be able to secure the Jedi for him.
When the rebels arrived to meet Trayvis, Kallus and his stormtroopers encircled them. Tua entered the building shortly thereafter, noting the absence of Zeb and Sabine. The two rebels then revealed themselves in the rafters, deploying smoke bombs to create sufficient confusion to allow the rebels to escape with Trayvis. Tua sought refuge beneath a desk during the commotion. Once the smoke had cleared, she began shouting at Kallus to pursue the rebels. However, the rebels once again evaded them after uncovering Trayvis' true allegiances.
Following the most recent unsuccessful attempt to thwart the rebel cell, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin arrived on Lothal to assume command. Tua greeted the governor in the hangar of the Imperial Headquarters, nervously expressing her pleasure and surprise at his presence on Lothal. Tarkin promptly rebuked her for failing to safeguard the Empire's industrial interests and allowing the rebels to thrive under her watch. Tua merely managed an awkward cough in agreement with Tarkin's assessment of her. She was not alone in this humiliation, as Tarkin proceeded to mock Kallus and the Grand Inquisitor as well.
Some time later, she, Kallus, and the Grand Inquisitor were summoned to Tarkin's office and stood at attention behind him as Commandant Aresko and Taskmaster Grint arrived. Tarkin questioned the two regarding their ineffective methods and consistent lack of results, even suggesting that their failures could inspire hope in the public and undermine the security of the entire Empire. Tarkin had the two men executed to serve as a warning to Tua and the others that failure would now have deadly consequences. While Kallus was only somewhat disturbed by the execution, Tua was utterly horrified by this act, as Aresko and Grint, despite their incompetence, were loyal and respectful members of the Empire, barely suppressing a scream of horror.
The most recent attack by the rebels above Mustafar prompted Tarkin to initiate an all-out search. Tua exhausted every resource to gather information on the rebels and issued every conceivable order—doubling patrols, establishing checkpoints, and enforcing curfews—but to no avail. Following the arrival of Darth Vader, the Sith Lord used Tua as a pawn in his scheme to implicate the rebels.
As Tua explained herself to Agent Kallus, Vader unexpectedly entered her office and criticized her for her lack of imagination. The frightened minister, attempting to avoid angering the Dark Lord, countered his accusation by claiming that he and Tarkin were expecting miracles. Vader announced his plans to employ more brutal tactics, which shocked Tua, and she objected to participating, as she was merely a public official. Vader informed her that she had been summoned off-world to account for her failures to Tarkin in person, implying that she would be executed. Kallus sarcastically assured her that he and Vader would manage in her absence.
Tua apparently uncovered the Emperor's true intentions for Lothal, which led her to realize that her beloved Empire was not the flawless and benevolent government she had believed it to be. Now both repulsed by Vader and Tarkin's intentions and fearing for her life, she resolved to defect from the Empire. She sought assistance from Old Jho, who connected her with the rebels. In exchange for safely transporting her off Lothal, she offered secret Imperial information, including a list of Rebel sympathizers on Lothal and other nearby systems, with influential allies in the senate. She also claimed to know the real reason for the Empire's interest in Lothal. Faced with skepticism and hostility from most of the crew, Ezra Bridger sensed her sincerity and convinced the others to assist her.
Unfortunately for Tua, Vader had threatened her life, anticipating that she would defect and contact the rebels in an attempt to escape the planet. As she attempted to covertly leave Imperial headquarters, Kallus followed her as her escort. Kanan Jarrus disguised himself as a Stormtrooper Commander to bypass security but was apprehended by Kallus. With their cover compromised, Tua fled to her escape shuttle with several of the rebels, unaware that it had been rigged to explode. Tua was killed in the blast, and the Empire blamed the rebels for her death, utilizing several cam droids to capture the event and use it against the "insurgents."
Following her assassination, the Empire utilized footage of the attack recorded on the spy droid to incriminate the rebels as her killers, turning the citizens of Lothal against them. Shortly thereafter, journalist Alton Kastle covered the fabricated account of her demise on the HoloNet News.
The rebels fled Lothal aboard an Imperial shuttle, which had been secretly equipped with a transceiver, leading Lord Vader and two Imperial-class Star Destroyers to the location of the Phoenix Cell.
Tua's warning to the rebels regarding the Emperor's true intentions for Lothal would later be echoed by the Loth-wolves. Ultimately, her warning became a reality after Ezra Bridger discovered a portal to a place between time and space.
Maketh Tua could be characterized as a product of Imperial indoctrination, genuinely believing that the Empire and her own actions were in the best interests of the populace. Having pursued studies abroad in more cosmopolitan environments than her native Lothal, Tua considered herself superior to the inhabitants of a "barely civilized Outer Rim world." She relished the sophisticated discourse of fellow intellectuals and resented having to interact with unsavory individuals such as Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko in the course of her duties as an Imperial public servant. Minister Tua was a devoted servant of the Empire and a graduate of the Imperial Academy. She adhered to the directives of Emperor Palpatine, which led her into contact with Agent Kallus and established her as a recurring adversary of the Spectres.
Her service to the Empire stemmed from a conviction in its ideals and a desire to promote law and order, rather than personal ambition, distinguishing her from other Imperial servants such as Agent Kallus, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, and the Grand Inquisitor. Unlike her Imperial counterparts, Tua was not known to exploit her position as Minister to indulge in sadistic or sycophantic tendencies, but she was nonetheless an ineffective leader. Despite her proficiency in managing Lothal's industrial infrastructure, Tua lacked political acumen and did not perceive the governor of Kintoni's endeavor to expand Imperial Naval facilities as a threat to Lothal's standing within the Empire. Pryce disparaged Tua's shortcomings and resented her inclination to revert to a native mindset despite her offworld education.
In contrast to other Imperial officials, Maketh Tua appeared to genuinely care for the common people, utilizing her position to introduce government-sponsored housing. Tua organized a celebration on Empire Day to garner support for the Empire's objectives on Lothal and reassure the citizens of their significance to the Empire. While she often presented a cold and authoritative demeanor, she was also approachable, as demonstrated during an encounter with Sabine Wren, a rebel posing as a "level five Imperial Academy student." However, she was willing to circumvent laws and engage in underhanded tactics if it served the Empire's interests. For instance, she was prepared to mass-produce T-7 ion disruptor rifles on the Empire's orders, despite knowing that they had been outlawed by the Imperial Senate. Furthermore, Tua was self-absorbed and possessed a short temper.
Maketh Tua seldom exhibited any signs of vulnerability, even in the intimidating presence of the Inquisitor. Her confident bravado was only diminished by Grand Moff Tarkin, who publicly criticized her failures and threatened her career in the Empire's service. Tua was also visibly horrified and shaken by the summary execution of Aresko and Grint at the hands of the Grand Inquisitor. If Tarkin's actions that day weren't severe enough, Darth Vader's presence on Lothal—inside her own office—frightened Tua more than ever.
Tua revealed her true character when her superiors shattered her belief in the Empire's supposed benevolent intentions. Witnessing the execution of Aresko and Grint and subsequently being ordered by Vader to employ brutal tactics against her own people caused her to morally object to the Emperor's true plans for Lothal, which ultimately led to her decision to aid the rebels. However, much of her motivation stemmed from fear of Vader's wrath, which she made clear by informing the rebels that she felt her life was in danger.
Maketh Tua was conceived for the 2014 animated series Star Wars Rebels, in which she was voiced by Kath Soucie. Tua made her debut in the episode "Droids in Distress," the third installment of season one. Extras featured in the episodes "Spark of Rebellion," "Call to Action," "The Future of the Force," and "Legacy" incorporate recolored and repurposed versions of her character model. The "Call to Action" extra was identified as Angmi Lihosh in the mobile game Star Wars Rebels: Recon Missions.
In the story outline for "Fighter Flight," Maketh Tua was originally intended to be the primary Imperial involved in the plot but was ultimately replaced by Supply Master Yogar Lyste in the first draft of the script.
In an initial outline for Star Wars Rebels: The Siege of Lothal, the original plan was for Governor Pryce to perish in the shuttle explosion, with Minister Tua subsequently being promoted to governor.