Grand Master Yoda of the Jedi Order formed many friendships in his long life, but perhaps
his strongest and most cherished bond was with King Alaric who ruled over the Sephi
planet named Thustra.
The two centuries old beings both shared very similar worldviews and philosophical beliefs,
in which they would commonly discuss in the calm gardens of the Thustran palace during
times of peace.
Just as Yoda was widely respected within the Jedi Order, King Alaric was equally renowned
to the people he ruled, so much so, that even neighboring planetary systems looked up to
him and his guidance.
Which is why it came as a major shock to Yoda when news came that King Alaric had decided
to succeed from the Republic during the Clone Wars and join the Separatists.
Through the orders of Palpatine himself, the Republic sent a task force to Thustra to demonstrate
a small show of force to make King Alaric reconsider.
But all it did was harden the resolve of the Thustran people, who went as far as use kamikaze
tactics to destroy the Republic sent soldiers and Jedi.
This news came back to the Chancellor’s as a great cause of concern, as Republic leadership
was fully aware the great sway King Alaric had to neighboring systems that would likely
also leave as a result.
During this meeting, Yoda was able to convince everyone there that due to his relationship
with the King, he would be able to change his mind and have Thrusta return to the Republic,
and that sending a larger attack group was not necessary.
When Yoda arrived to the planet, he was met with two Padawans who had just lost their
masters during a recent native suicide attack.
Both were quite eager to take the fight back to the natives, which greatly saddened Yoda
as he was beginning to witness the corrupting effects of war on the Jedi.
Hoping to teach a lesson in diplomacy over war, Yoda ordered one of the padawans to occupy
him with his meeting with the King.
At the palace, Yoda finally got to meet with his long time close friend King Alaric.
While both Yoda and Alaric were quite friendly to one another during their first meeting,
it was very clear from the start that no ones mind was going to be changed.
King Alaric declared his mind to be made on his decision to leave the Republic, going
as far to say that it was he himself who contacted Dooku to join the Separatists, not the other
way around.
And that every person who he ruled over was willing to die for his cause.
As in the King’s eyes, the Republic’s corruption had gotten so bad that even his
young nephew who served as a Senator had been corrupted and turned into another greedy politician
who only sought personal gain over the well being of the people they served.
Despite hearing all of this, Yoda again tried to convince to King to change his mind, even
stating not to force the Jedi Master to return back to the palace with an army.
Hearing this subtle threat, the King decided to imprison Yoda and the other padawan within
the palace, to which the Jedi Master fully obliged to, as he still believed diplomacy
would prevail.
Behind the scenes, the nephew senator began to plot a coup against his uncle, in which
he hoped in deceiving the Republic in attacking and murdering the King so that he could take
his place.
As time went by, Yoda was eventually called by the King to join him at his sacred garden.
The two met there as long time friends, no longer trying to convince each other of their
choices in politics, but rather converse on their friendship, and how they both wished
they could have seen each other more in the past.
The King also tried to make some positivity come out of the situation they were in, suggesting
that if it were not for this moment of conflict, how much more time would have past until they
would have seen each other again.
The King then went about his reasoning for leaving the Republic by using his garden as
a metaphor ground, explaining how he had arranged all his plants to where they could prosper
in their own corners, without interfering with other plants.
Just how the Republic used to be in his mind, but instead of plants in a garden, it was
planets in a galaxy.
But that had all changed due to the corruption in the Senate, in how recently planets began
to interfere with one another and disrupt prosperity.
While hearing his friend out, Yoda still remained with his old opinion, in that while yes the
Republic had weakened over the decades, he still believed in the foundational principles
of it and that leaving it to join an enemy state was unacceptable to him.
Seeing that not much else can be said to change the Jedi Master’s mind, the King returned
him the lightsabers that he confiscated earlier back to Yoda, warning him that he may need
to defend himself against his nephew.
Speaking of which, the nephew went on to make his coup against the King.
He arrived to the Republic forces stationed on the planet and lied about how the King
had killed both Yoda and the other Jedi padawan, and that he was not reasonable enough to rejoin
the Republic.
The nephew then gave the Republic commanders leaked intel on potential native suicide bombing
attacks as well as a secret pathway straight to the capital city of the planet and the
palace of the king.
Back at the palace, the nephew had his guards attack Yoda and the Jedi padawan, forcing
the two to defend themselves in the hallways.
As the Republic made its way toward the palace, the Jedi padawan with Yoda was shot down by
the guards, forcing the Grand Master to unleash his full power of the force to knock all the
guards back and allow him time to comfort the dying padawan.
As the padawan was dying, he blamed his death on Yoda due to his inaction in forcibly taking
out the King and taking control of the planet.
Which of course hit the grandmaster hard.
With Republic forces now bombing the capital city and making its way toward the palace,
Yoda confronted the King who was watching the chaos from his garden.
Yoda began to beg the King to end this madness by surrendering, to ensure the survival of
his people who were likely going to fight to the death.
Despite all of this, the King still refused, stating that they both do what they must to
ensure the survival of their beliefs.
Realizing what was about to happen, Yoda desperately continued to beg his old friend to stop this
all and surrender, but the King had made up his mind long ago.
Cemented in his beliefs in freeing his people from the corrupt Republic no matter the cost,
the King pulled out a blaster from his robes and aimed to kill at Yoda.
The Grandmaster was of course able to swiftly deflect the blaster bolt, fatly into his friend
who he had known for centuries.
Yoda comforted his dying friend as the King spoke his final words, telling Yoda that when
he thought of him, to remember their long friendship and not what had happened here.
And with that the King died, with Yoda losing perhaps his closest friend.
The nephew who helped cause all the chaos the erupted on the planet, was later arrested
in the Senate for crimes against the Republic and conspiracy to commit murder.
Afterwards, Yoda went on to keep one of the King’s sacred plants in his personal quarters,
as a token to his close friend.