Throughout Star Wars Episodes 1-3 and the Clone Wars television show, we were fortunate enough to meet all kinds of Jedi, right up until Order 66 and the Galactic Purge. Among them, Quinlan Vos stood out for his maverick attitude towards the rules and unorthodox ways. However, don't just take our word for it, as General Kenobi states in The Clones Wars season 3's "The Hunt for Ziro": "Let’s just say he’s crazy.”
The Origins Of Quinlan Vos
Quinlan Vos is a male Kiffar from the planet Kiffu, who joined the Jedi Order and became the apprentice of Jedi Master Tholme. Tholme was later killed in a duel with Asajj Ventress, whom Vos would later fall in love with, unaware of their tragic connection.
Vos was a rebel from the beginning, as he often picked fights in the Jedi temple and napped in the library. However, he still displayed skill and was disciplined enough to reach the rank of Jedi Knight.
Although Vos was an adequate fighter with a lightsaber, his talents in retrocognition allowed him to change the perception of others' memories simply by coming into contact with an object touched by another. This skill has also been shown in the upcoming game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
As a result, his skills were put to use as an expert tracker, which often took him into the criminal underworld. It was during one of these missions that Vos encountered a young Aayla Secura. Upon seeing her sensitivity to the force, Vos took her in as his Padawan. The two were exceptionally close, and she looked to him as a father figure, eventually achieving the rank of Jedi Knight herself.
His Turn To the Dark Side During The Clone Wars
Some of Quinlan Vos' most important work occurred during the Clone Wars. In 22 BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin, which marks the destruction of the first Death Star in Episode IV), at the same time that the Clone Wars began during the Battle of Geonosis, crime lord Ziro the Hutt was imprisoned by the Republic Judiciary Central Detention Center on Coruscant.
Ziro was charged with conspiring with Count Dooku, who by this point was revealed to be a Sith Lord and the leader of the Separatist Alliance. The two planned to kidnap the infant child of Ziro's nephew Jabba the Hutt, named Rotta, all with the aim of framing the Jedi Order to sow seeds of discontent among the enemy.
To avoid Ziro from revealing damaging information about the Grand Hutt Council, the Hutt Clan contracted bounty hunter Cad Bane to break Ziro out of prison.
It was at this point that Vos became involved along with General Obi-Wan Kenobi, as both were assigned by the Jedi Council to find Ziro and bring him back. The pair arrived at Nal Hutta at the palace of Gardulla the Hutt. Ziro was secretly being held there, and Vos used his powers of retrocognition to sense his memories.
The Jedi tracked Ziro and his lover, the musician Sy Snootles, through the swamps of Nal Hutta. Ultimately, she would betray Ziro and murder him in order to retrieve the Hutt Council records, leaving Bane to fight and escape from the two Jedi. Because of this, the mission was a failure on all fronts.
Later on, the Jedi Council asked Vos to engage in a top-secret mission to find and assassinate Count Dooku. Jedi Master Yoda recommended that Vos partner with Asajj Ventress, who had been a dark side acolyte and an assassin in the past.
Vos sought her out by traveling to Level 1313 of Coruscant and speaking with bounty hunter Boba Fett, who informed him that Ventress was hunting a Volpai named Moregi on Pantora. This was their first meeting, and Vos was unaware that Ventress had been the one to murder his former master.
Eventually, Ventress trained Vos in the ways of the dark side on the planet Dathomir, her homeworld, at the same place where the Nightsisters were massacred by General Grievous only a year before.
Ventress lied and told Vos that Dooku was the one who killed his former master in an effort to force Vos to give in to his hatred, which was successful. Despite months of training in the dark side thereafter, the assassination attempt failed, leaving Vos in the hands of Dooku.
After Vos suffered an ordeal of psychological torture, Dooku shattered the love that had developed between the Jedi and Ventress, revealing the truth about Tholme. Eventually, Ventress gave her life to save Vos, and he was eventually reinstated into the Jedi Order.
Not long after, Vos lead military forces at the end of the Clone Wars. However, when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine activated Order 66. Vos was thought to be killed by tank fire.
Non-Canon Appearances
Fans may have read about a character in the Star Wars universe described as either part of canon or Legends. On April 25, 2014, Lucasfilm announced that "the Expanded Universe was being reorganized under the new non-canon Star Wars Legends banner to make way for a new line of continuity, led by principal projects Star Wars Rebels and the Star Wars sequel trilogy, to take shape."
This means that the following is now canon:
- Episodes I-VI of the Star Wars movies
- The Clone Wars movie
- The Clone Wars television show
- The novelizations of every movie, including the novelization of The Clone Wars movie
- The Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic book mini-series
- Any Star Wars material that has been released after Son of Dathomir, unless it has been explicitly dubbed Legends
The Legends line of continuity is thus made up of any Star Wars material that pre-dates the Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir comic book mini-series, which isn't already listed in the category above. The Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO tie-in material that is yet to come out is also considered to be considered Legends since it ties in directly to Legends material unless stated otherwise.
For a comprehensive list of events within the Legends line, click here.
Planned And Canceled Appearances
The aforementioned "Hunt for Ziro" was Vos' only appearance in The Clone Wars, and technically his the only official appearance in any type of movie or TV media. Vos was initially written into Episode III, but before he was cast, the scene was cut. All that remains is this initial rendering of what the scene would have looked like:
We also catch a brief glimpse of a man who looks strikingly like Vos in Episode I, which takes place in 32 BBY. This, however, is little more than an Easter egg for viewers, as the character is not formally credited and therefore may not be Vos, despite the fact that he fits in the timeline.
Did Quinlan Vos Survive Order 66?
For now, we assume that Vos did not survive within the canon line of continuity. This is not supported by an absolute certainty of death, but little evidence suggests that he is still alive. However, he did survive in the Legends continuity.