Saesee Tiin was an Iktotchi Jedi Master and a member of the Jedi Council. During his career Tiin only trained one Padawan Carilia Conrose. He fought in the Clone Wars and was the best pilot in the Jedi Order with the possible exception of Anakin Skywalker.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Saesee Tiin was discovered on Iktotch at a young age and brought to the Jedi Temple to be trained. Tiin was older than most people allowed into the Order. His exact age at the time of him being found by the Jedi is unconfirmed, but he was already talented at flying, but not as old as Anakin Skywalker was when he joined the Order, so it is presumed he was about six or seven. Either way the Jedi that found him thought his Force connection was too strong to be ignored so the Council allowed him to join the Order.
Saesee grew into a dedicated Jedi and skilled warrior and he was eventually selected as a member of the Jedi Council, despite the fact that he had not trained a Padawan. Saesee continued to be a member of the Council for the rest of his life.
Jedi Council member[]
One year after becoming a Jedi Council member Saesee fought in the Stark Hyperspace War. A Jedi team had been sent to settle the dispute, but had been caught up in the fighting. With his telepathic abilities, Saesee was able to channel the Force of the rest of the Council and so communicate with the away team over vast distances. When it came to be a fighter attack against Iaco Stark's forces, Saesee, with his astonishing flying skills and firm leadership, was an obvious choice to command the fighter squadron. He led Red and Blue Squadrons to victory in the Fifth Battle of Qotile.
On numerous occasions, Master Tiin's flying skills saved the lives of his fellow Jedi. During the highly dangerous mission to Yinchorr, Saesee was the pilot of one of the Republic cruisers delivering Mace Windu, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi to the trouble spot. On arrival at their destination, the Jedi were ambushed by Yinchorri fighters. The Republic cruisers were unarmed and so Saesee was forced to take evasive action. However, his ship was caught between the planet and the ambushers. Saesee flew directly at the planet and then engaged the hyperdrive engine for a split second, which took them to the other side of the planet. It was a highly dangerous maneuver, and one that only a pilot with the skills of Saesee could have performed successfully. On the same mission, Saesee also demonstrated his skill and bravery in ground combat. In the middle of battle with the Yinchorri, Saesee single-handedly defeated a battle tank with his lightsaber.
Saesee's personal starfighter, the Sharp Spiral.
Of all of Saesee's acts of bravery and skill, none surpassed those he achieved in his own specialized starfighter, Sharp Spiral. Saesee had been awarded the SoroSuub Cutlass-9 patrol fighter by a group of grateful Duros diplomats after the Jedi had saved them from space pirates. Due to his skills as a pilot, Saesee was permitted to keep the gift and immediately set about modifying it. The already superb performance of the ship was improved to levels that matched Saesee's skills. He saw about the removal of electronic sensor systems and map systems, since these have little use to one attuned to the Force. With the removal of these systems, it made the SoroSuub even more nimble than it was, making it a very formidable dogfighting starship.
It was in Sharp Spiral that Master Tiin, performed one of his most famous deeds. For some years, Saesee had established close links with a group of independent conscience-fighters called Sons and Daughters of Freedom. The group fought for the cause of liberty and were usually allies of the Republic. However, when a faction within the Freedom's Sons became corrupt, Saesee set out to apprehend them. It was an unbalanced fight—Saesee in Sharp Spiral and the rogue Freedom's Sons in three battleships. Despite outgunning Saesee many times over, the renegades could not land a single shot on Sharp Spiral. With cool calm, Saesee went about destroying the shields, engines, and weapons systems of all three ships. He then left the ships stranded for the Republic forces to pick up.
Training a Padawan[]
Carilia Conrose, Saesee's first and only Padawan.
Saesee was one of the few Jedi who didn't train a Padawan before becoming a member of the Council. However at some point before the Clone Wars the Iktotchi finally decided to take a student and took a sixteen year old Twi'lek called Carilia Conrose as his Padawan. This decision softened Tiin's gruff nature considerably, making him more compassionate and understanding and he created a Force bond with the young Twi'lek during their time together, enhancing his telepathy to such a level that they could contact each other from several systems away without the need for communication devices.
As some point, Tiin, proud of Carilia's progress in her training, gave her a ship of her own so that she wouldn't have to buy or hire one to get from place to place.
Clone Wars[]
Battle of Geonosis[]
Prior to the Battle of Geonosis, Master Tiin helped Adi Gallia flight-test a Delta-7 Aethersprite prototype over Coruscant. Thanks to this trial, Saesee Tiin made several modifications to the starfighters for increased performance. He participated in the Battle of Geonosis, where he took part in the rescue attempt of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Senator Padmé Amidala in the execution arena, and was one of the few survivors of the task force. When Yoda arrived with the Grand Army of the Republic, Saesee followed Luminara Unduli onto a Republic gunship with fellow Jedi Roth-Del Masona and Shaak Ti. After being dropped off, he took off in his starfighter, Sharp Spiral, to aid Adi Gallia in the battle above Geonosis. As the Clone Wars spread, Tiin and many of his fellow Jedi took the mantle of Jedi General, commanding both ground and air or space forces.
Shortly after the Battle of Geonosis, he both comforted and reprimanded Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy for attacking Hanna Ding in a fit of rage after Hanna insulted her dead Master, who perished on Geonosis.
Holocron Heist[]
A few months into the Clone Wars, Carilia was promoted to Jedi Knight. When Saesee was meditating, she telepathically contacted him to report that Ord Enisence was behaving strangely, having uncharacteristically threatened a Youngling. As Saesee went to investigate, he noticed security monitors flickering for a second and ordered Carilia to investigate, correctly deducing that there were intruders in the Jedi Temple.
When Saesee arrived at the library, he found a standoff between the Cawdite intruder and Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy. The intruder had taken a Youngling, Katooni, as a hostage in the hopes of using her as leverage to escape the Temple. Saesee threatened the Cawdite's life, vowing that he would kill her if she harmed the Youngling and they released Katooni before being arrested. After the still shaken Katooni reported that she'd seen somebody in Jedi robes with his hood up sneaking out of the library, Saesee went to investigate but Cad Bane escaped with a Jedi Holocron.
Personality and traits[]
Saesee has all the humour of a Bantha.
—Carilia Conrose
Saesee Tiin was a serious person who rarely showed a sense of humor or smiled. Saesee was extremely loyal to the Jedi Order and was a courageous warrior who was willing to risk life and limb for the Order and Republic. He was tough and shrewd and believed that his hard headed nature was his greatest strength. Tiin was usually very cool and calm but was angered when people showed insolence and outright enraged by the betrayals of Jedi like Sora Bulq and Quinlan Vos, calling them "renegades" and even going so far as to refuse to call them by their names.
Saesee Tiin was arrogant as a younger man, initially promising that he would never train a Padawan. However, after ascending to the Jedi High Council, the peak of his career in the Order, he realized that being a Council Member wasn't as fulfilling as he'd hoped. Reneging on his previous promise, the now middle-aged Tiin finally decided to take his first and only Padawan, Carilia Conrose. Although he normally had a no nonsense and serious personality, he also had a softer side which was best shown by his relationship with her. Although initially reluctant to connect with her emotionally due to his concern about becoming attached, spending ten years with Carilia inevitably resulting in Saesee forming a telepathic connection that enabled them to have entire conversations with just their minds. After she became a Jedi Knight, he gave her a personal ship as a gift, though he was aware of Carilia's dislike of flying. Carilia interpreted this as one of Saesee's poor attempts at a joke. Tiin also nicknamed her "Cari" although he only felt comfortable calling her this when they spoke through their Force Bond, rarely actually using the nickname out loud.
Tiin's dismissiveness towards young Jedi in his early life was tempered by his relationship with Carilia. In his later years, he was much more understanding and protective of Padawans and Younglings. He was empathetic towards Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy when she was struggling with the grief and anger of losing Chankar Kim and although he punished her for attacking Hanna Ding in a fit of rage, he also shared the loss of his own Master, Omo Bouri with her, showing an understanding of Tallisibeth's pain. Tiin also stepped in to protect Katooni when she was taken hostage by Cato Parasitti, showing a willingness to use threats of violence and fully intended to actually kill Parasitti if she harmed the girl.
Saesee Tiin also subscribed to an older version of the Jedi Code, one recorded by Je'daii Order of Tython. Though he admitted that Carilia's interest and knowledge of history as a whole surpassed his own, his knowledge of this ancient version showed a willingness to explore the nuances of both the Code itself and the history of the Jedi Order. This helped Enwandung-Esterhazy in her struggle with grief and fury by pointing out a crucial aspect of the oldest version of the Code; its emphasis on the balance between chaos and harmony instead of the erasure of chaos altogether. This nuanced perception also showed in Tiin's own mindset. Though he was generally reserved, showing his interpretation of what the Code meant by harmony, he occasionally showed bursts of anger, showing emotional chaos, but channelled it in a healthy way instead of repressing it.
Saesee loved flying and was known for being a very cool and calm pilot no matter what the situation. He was very confident in his flying skills.
Powers and abilities[]
Saesee Tiin was trained as a Jedi Guardian and was a skilled swordsman. A master of Shii-Cho, Tiin utilised the style's emotionally charged mindset and effectiveness against multiple opponents to keep him in good stead throughout the Clone Wars, being capable of sweeping through countless droids in numerous battles with ease. Kit Fisto was his only rival in terms of Shii-Cho expertise and Tiin also knew how to use the Lus-ma technique.
However, Tiin's devotion to the most simple and raw lightsaber combat style ended up resulting in his death at the hands of Darth Sidious. Although Tiin was extremely effective against multiple opponents, Shii-Cho's inherent weaknesses in lightsaber duelling were still exploitable by a swordsman of Sidious' calibre. Due to the inherent flaws in Shii-Cho, being disorientated by Sidious' Force Scream, and witnessing Agen Kolar - a more skilled swordsman than Tiin himself - perish in a single blow, Tiin mistimed his decapitation strike, missing Sidious' head and leaving himself open to a slash through the waist.
Saesee possessed a strong connection to the Force and was a master of reading other peoples minds and communicating with people telepathically. His mind reading talent had been developed from a young age, and in his youth, before he learned to control his ability, Tiin was sometimes able to read peoples minds without meaning to. His Force Bond with Carilia was particularly notable as they were able to have entire conversations in their minds without needing to say a single word out loud.
Saesee was also the Jedi Order's finest pilot, with the exception of Anakin Skywalker and his incredible flying skills allowed him to get through numerous air and space battles unscathed.