depa billaba

depa billaba was a female human jedi master who served on the jedi high council during the final years of the jedi order. she was born on chalacta and became a member of the order at a young age, where she was trained by jedi master mace windu. she was later appointed to the council alongside her former teacher, and was present when jedi master qui-gon jinn presented anakin skywalker, the chosen one to the governing body. she later attended jinn’s funeral after the jedi master was killed during the battle of naboo. she retained her seat on the jedi council in the political crisis that led to the clone wars.

during the war, billaba took on a padawan named caleb dume. after the conquest of kaller, the two were attacked by billaba’s battalion of clone troopers after the execution of order 66, which branded the jedi as traitors against the galactic republic. billaba sacrificed herself so dume could escape, and he survived and took on a new name—kanan jarrus. initially traveling low and taking odd jobs, he eventually became a rebel fighting against the galactic empire, and he remembered his master fondly. he would use some of her teachings while instructing his own padawan, ezra bridger.
depa billaba was based on an early design of a jedi council member for star wars: episode i the phantom menace that had a spiritually inspired design. billaba was portrayed by actress dipika o’neill joti in the 1999 film.

the character appeared again in the 2002 film star wars: episode ii attack of the clones, but joti did not film any new footage. instead, stock footage from the phantom menace was used for her appearance as a jedi council member in attack of the clones. the character was slated to appear in the “crystal crisis on utapau” arc in the animated television series star wars: the clone wars, which was revealed in concept art released on starwars.com as part of the clone wars legacy. ultimately the character did not appear in the episodes, which were released in story reel form on starwars.com.

despite effectively being a background character, with no lines in either the phantom menace or attack of the clones, billaba was the focus of a number of now-non-canon star wars legends stories. these stories included the 2004 novel shatterpoint by matthew stover, which revealed she was the former padawan of mace windu and chronicled her fall to the dark side of the force. some elements of her backstory, such as her species, homeworld, and tutelage under mace windu, have since become part of official canon.