With the release of the awesome new dogfighting and fleet battle game, Star Wars: Squadrons,
many of you may have noticed the wreckage of a Venator class Star Destroyer in the Zavian Abyss.
The Zavian Abyss happens to be located in the expansion region of the Galaxy, which
is also where the infamous battles of Umbara and Mimban take place. So could this Republic cruiser
wreckage bea left-over remnant from the tragic battle of Umbara or the bloody battle of Mimban?
I’m going to break down both of the major Clone Wars battles that this
massive wreckage may have come from, and why it could connect to future series.
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During the campaign in Star Wars: Squadrons, you join up with the elite Vanguard Squadron,
as Vanguard-5 and are joined by Mimbanese Vanguard Leader, Kierah Koovah, Human,
Grace Sienar, Trandoshan, Frisk and Mirialan, Keo Venzee. As a part of Vanguard squadron,
one of your missions will take you to the extremely hazardous, but beautiful Zavian abyss
in order to defend a new Republic convoy and reach the highly secretive Starhawk-class battleship.
While in the Zavian abyss, the Vanguard Squadron actually come across a massive wreckage of a Clone
Wars Era republic Cruiser, which has been horrifically damaged, mostly likely during
the war. The vessel has probably been dead in space since the final days of the Clone Wars,
all the way up to just past the battle of Endor, when Star Wars Squadrons takes place.
So where exactly is this wreckage and which Clone Wars battle could it be from?
Well the one major hint we have at the potential battle that this Republic Cruiser may have come
from is the location of the Zavian Abyss within the Galaxy. The star wars galaxy is
divided up into 10 major regions, being the deep core, the core, the colonies, the inner rim,
the expansion region, the mid rim, the outer rim, the unknown region, the western reaches
and wild space. The Zavian Abyss, where this republic cruiser is located, is inside of the
expansion region part of the galaxy, which is to the east of the Core Worlds and the Colonies.
In Canon, we know of two major battles that took place inside of the Expansion region, which were
the Battle of Umbara, taking place inside of the Ghost Nebula, and the battle of Mimban,
where the 224th division of the clone Army bravely took on the separatist alliance.
The battle of Umbara quickly escalated and turned into one of the bloodiest and
most tragic battles of the war, with the sheer amount of lives lost on both side,
including the shocking betrayal of Jedi General Pong Krell, who had
turned to the dark side and dedicated himself to Count Dooku, despite never having met him.
In order to gain the attention of his Dark Side idol, General Pong Krell committed his troops,
which were members of Anakin Skywalker’s 501st to disgraceful and unsurvivable tactics,
pushing many of them to turn against their general and his reckless, careless tactics.
Pong Krell even went as far as placing his Republic forces against other Republic forces
from the 212th, telling his Clones that the Umbaran enemies were stealing Clone
Armor and putting it on to disguise themselves. This horrific action eventually led to the
capture of Pong Krell by the 501st, and his eventual execution of Dogma,
the one clone who remained loyal to his General despite all of his atrocious actions.
With the battle of Umbara taking place inside of the Ghost Nebula in the expansion region,
it is certainly a great candidate to be the battle which the long lost Venators
from Star Wars Squadrons came from. At the beginning of the battle of Umbara,
while Jedi Commanders Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee are leading squads in orbit,
we even see three Republic cruisers leading the assault on the shadowy planet. It is very possible
that during the intense fighting on the surface of Umbara, one of the three Venator Class Star
Destroyers was badly damaged and left to drift in space for decades after the bloody battle.
Even assuming that Anakin took one Cruiser back to Coruscant when he was called back at
the beginning of the Battle, and the 501st took another Cruiser after the battle had concluded,
that still leaves at least one ship remaining, which very likely could have been destroyed.
Another indicator that this Venator Class Star Destroyer was from the battle of Umbara
is that the Zavian Abyss is clearly within a nebula. Because we haven’t seen the Ghost
Nebula on screen in the Clone Wars show, it is very possible that this is the Ghost Nebula,
where the shadowy planet of Umbara is located. Further adding to that is the pale color of the
gas clouds within the Nebula, which may be where it got its name. The only major
Nebula that we’ve seen pictured on screen in Canon is the Kaliida Nebula from The Shadow of
the Malevolence Clone Wars episode, which has an incredibly similar appearance to the Zavian Abyss,
which of course if this theory is right, would be located inside of the Ghost Nebula. Now,
we don’t actually see the planet Umbara near to the Star Destroyer at all during the campaign,
so it's possible that the ship was fatally damaged when trying to escape the Orbit of Umbara,
and was left stranded deep inside of the pale abyss. We’ve seen things like this
happen multiple times throughout the Clone Wars series and other material,
so it’s definitely a possibility. Let me know down below what you think about the Umbara theory,
since there’s probably some points I’ve missed and I always love to hear what you guys think!
After that, the next possibility is that the wrecked Republic cruiser inside of
the Zavian Abyss comes from the Battle of Mimban.
The battle of Mimban was a hellish, prolonged battle where Captain Rex and the 501st fought
alongside a group of Clone Troopers called the Mud jumpers, which you might remember were mentioned
in the Clone Wars episode Rookies. The awesome thing is that the Mud jumpers were part of the
224th Division of the grand army of the Republic, which were eventually transitioned into the 224th
imperial armoured division, which you might remember from Solo: A Star Wars story. So
awesomely, the group Captain Rex fights alongside at the battle of Mimban is the
same division that Han Solo would eventually go on to join the imperial era! How awesome is that!
During the harsh battle, Captain Rex fights alongside these Mudjumper Clones and also,
Representative Jar Jar binks, who who pulls out a bright blue lightsaber during the battle,
ready to take part in the fighting, but clumsily lets it slip out of his hands,
almost impaling himself on the luminous blade. Captain Rex quickly takes away the Jedi weapon
from Representative Binks, but the two do go on to destroy many separatis droid forces on the planet,
bringing the Mimbanese people close to liberation. And if you want to check out the full story of the
Battle of Mimban, make sure you click the link in the description or the card on screen now, because
it really is one of the top clone wars battle stories. Unfortunately, after the fall of the
Republic, the planet was again placed under harsh and aggressive rule, this time by the Empire.
Despite there not being a confirmed Republic cruiser at the battle of Mimban in the comic where
it takes place, it is almost certain that the Republic did send a few cruisers to bolster their
forces, especially in such a key battle. On top of that, there were many LAAT Gunships used in the
battle, which almost certainly would have had to arrive there on a Venator or other similar ship.
The interesting thing about this battle is that it is actually now deeply
connected to the Story of Star Wars Squadrons and the Vanguard squadron.
The leader of the Vanguard Squadron, Kierah Koovah is a member of the Mimbanese species
from the planet mimban, who happened to be present during the Fierce battle on her planet.
Kierah assisted the Mud Jumper Clones of the 224th during the battle, fighting against the
rapid advances of the separatist droid forces on her homeworld. Tragically, Kierah lost one
of her arms in the battle, but eventually, the Clone Brothers of the 224th helped her escape
and fixed her arm up. I’ll play her story for you now, because it really is heartbreaking to hear.
As we heard there Kierah and the Clones were able to drive the droid forces completely off world,
but unfortunately after the Clone Wars came to and end with Order 66,
the Clones were replaced with stormtroopers, enforcing the rule of the empire with an iron
first on her brothers and sisters of Mimban. Really sad to story to hear.
Because of this deep connection with Vanguard-1, the leader of Vanguard Squadron,
I also think there’s a large possibility that one of the Venators used at the Battle of Mimban
was actually left in tatters for years, to eventually be discovered once again.
It would really be amazing if one of the cruisers which once protected the
homeworld of Kierah Koovah was the same one she eventually comes across, all these years later.
But let me know which theory you prefer? Do you think this Republic cruiser came
from the battle of Umbara or the battle of Mimban? Or do you think
it comes from a completely separate and unknown battle? Let me know down below.
Thanks so much for watching, really hope you enjoyed the video.
Cheers guys, hope to see you in the next one!