Beon Beonel

Beon Beonel
Biographical information
Homeworld	Espirion
Descriptive information
Species	Alder-Espirion
Gender	Male
Pronouns	He/him
Hair color	Gray
Eye color	Green and yellow
Skin color	Red and black
Chronological & political information
Affiliation(s)	Alliance to Restore the Republic Alderaan Flotilla

"If they want to beat us, they're going to have to come at us with something big enough. Good luck with that."

―Beon Beonel declares he and Espirion are unafraid of the Empire

Beon Beonel was an Alder-Espirion hybrid male who lived on the planet Espirion. He acted as chief of the Alder-Espirion population when the Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa sent representatives to the planet in 0 ABY to urge them to join her in rescuing all Alderaanians who had survived the Galactic Empire's destruction of their homeworld.

Upon meeting the Alderaanian representatives, Jora Astane and Uwa Pareece, Beonel immediately rejected the offer after seeing that Astane was disgusted by his hybrid heritage. Although he rejected a second attempt by Pareece to set up talks, Beonel was swayed by a message from Organa to the many Alderaanians who had joined her cause when they were attacked by an Imperial Star Destroyer. Beonel then sent the starship Espirion Multi to aid the Alderaanians and destroy the Star Destroyer, joining their group after the battle.

Beonel remained with the fleet, which became reserves of the Alliance to Restore the Republic and laid low during the Galactic Civil War against the Empire. Between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, the former Imperial Ellian Zahra and a group of raiders she was working with attacked the fleet, but Beonel was among those who got away safely. The fleet then voted to split up and, after Organa defeated Zahara, Beonel spoke with the princess over hologram and explained his and the other survivors' decision to go their separate ways.

Biography

Bigotry, as expected

"Look at this one, Rill. Unable to conceal her bigoted disgust."

―Beon Beonel, angered by Jora Astane's disgust at his ancestry

Beon Beonel refused to continue talks with the Alderaanians after seeing Jora Astane's disgust.

Beon Beonel was the chief of the Alder-Espirions, a species of hybrids between human immigrants from the planet Alderaan and the Espirions native to the Alder-Espirion homeworld Espirion. In 0 ABY, shortly after Alderaan was destroyed by the Galactic Empire, Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa set off on a mission to rescue all Alderaanians who had survived the incident by being off-world, as they were being hunted by the Empire. The Alder-Espirion population was one of the groups she intended to visit and recruit to her cause; however, she was forced to cancel her plans to visit the planet after Imperial forces pursuing her demanded she exchange herself for an Alderaanian hostage on the planet Skaradosh.

In her place, Organa instead sent two representatives to meet with the Alder-Espirion: Jora Astane and Uwa Pareece. As chief of his species, Beonel attended a meeting with the pair set up by the Espirion Consul Rill. He immediately recognized that Astane was disgusted by his mixed ancestry and abandoned the talks, unwilling to tolerate such bigotry despite Pareece's attempts to persuade him that Astane did not represent the rest of the Alderaanian survivors' opinions.

Swayed by the princess

"If one life with a single drop of Alderaanian blood survives, Alderaan survives."

―A part of Leia Organa's speech, which swayed Beon Beonel to help the Alderaanians

Beon Beonel sent the Espirion Multi to aid the Alderaanian fleet.

Pareece then had Rill contact Beonel and promise that Organa would meet him in person, but the chief was still not interested in working with the Alderaanians and told the representatives as much when they ran into him boarding a vessel in one of Espirion's spaceports. The pair then returned to the Alderaanian fleet that had gathered above Espirion to meet with Organa after she returned from Skaradosh. Organa's return was followed by the arrival of an Imperial Star Destroyer that had also been at Skaradosh, and the princess was forced to greet the Alderaanian fleet with a speech warning of the impending danger and inspiring it to fight.

Organa's astromech droid, R2-D2, transmitted the speech to the surface of Espirion without Organa knowing, and Beonel was among those who saw the transmission. Moved by what he heard, Beonel sent the starship Espirion Multi to aid the Alderaanian fleet, and with the vessel's aid, the Alderaanians destroyed the Star Destroyer. Beonel then joined the ensuing celebrations and met with Organa, claiming that Espirion did not fear the Empire's wrath for what it had done, as the planet was strongly defended. He and his people then joined the Alderaanian survivors, who soon began voting for a new leader after Organa left to return to the Rebel Alliance. Beonel and the Alderaanians ultimately left Espirion to travel to a new world.

Something more than Alderaan

"After everything that happened in that last attack, we took a vote. We decided it was time to rejoin the galaxy. The fleet split up, and we went our separate ways. We'll find new places to live."
"But what about Alderaan? What about preserving what was lost?"
"We'll always be Alderaan—but we realized that wasn't all we had to be."

―Beon Beonel and Leia Organa

Beonel explained the decision to split up the Survivor Fleet to Organa.

As the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic raged, Beonel remained with the fleet, which was designated as reserves within the Alliance but kept a low profile and avoided major shipping lanes. The survivors regularly checked in with the rebellion, which Organa was part of, but used the pilot Lieutenant Evaan Verlaine as the sole point of contact.

Between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, former Imperial commander Ellian Zahra, now working with a group of raiders, attacked the fleet in order to set a trap for Organa, who had disgraced her in the eyes of the Empire and left her to die. The raiders captured one of the Alderaanians' ships and destroyed a few others, but the rest escaped. Beonel was among those who got away, but Astane was killed. Following the attack, the surviving Alderaanians took a vote and chose to split up the fleet and rejoin the galaxy, as holding on so tightly to their identities as survivors of a tragedy was preventing them from moving on and becoming anything more.

The ships went their separate ways but failed to check in with the Alliance, causing Organa, the Jedi Luke Skywalker, and Verlaine to try and locate the fleet. This led to them falling into Zahara's trap, where the Imperial lied to Organa and claimed she had killed everyone in the fleet. The rebels then defeated and killed Zahara, after which Verlaine kept checking the fleet's emergency channels until she got a hit, which put her in contact with Beonel. The Alder-Espirion then spoke via hologram with Organa, who was thrilled to see him again after such a long time. Beonel explained the fleet's decision to split up to her and reminded her that Alderaan still survived in all of them. He speculated that perhaps things would change when the Empire was defeated, then said goodbye to the princess.

Personality and traits

"Beon Beonel? Why did you come to our aid? I mean I'm glad you did, but—what changed?"
"That speech, your highness. You described the very society I've spent my life wishing for."

―Leia Organa and Beon Beonel

Beon Beonel was deeply moved by Leia Organa's speech above Espirion.

Beon Beonel was an Alder-Espirion male with gray hair, green-and-yellow eyes, and red-and-black skin. Assuming that the Alderaanian representatives sent to meet with him might be prejudiced against his hybrid species, he was unwilling to hear out their offer when this proved true, as he was greatly offended and believed that his people should not have to tolerate any bigotry, even if it only came from a minority of the other Alderaanians.

Within the speech she gave to the Alderaanian fleet, Leia Organa described the peaceful, unprejudiced Alderaanian society she hoped to lead, one that Beonel had dreamed of living in for his entire life. He was so swayed by the speech that he aided and joined the Alderaanian survivors despite the bigots among them and the attention it would bring from the Empire. When later explaining the separation of the fleet to Organa, Beonel claimed that although the Alderaanians had survived, they had not let themselves live while so defined by their tragedy, reassuring her that Alderaan still survived among the now more disparate Alderaanians.

Equipment

Beonel wore gray and tan robes while meeting with the Alderaanians, in a style that matched the clothing of Rill and other Espirions.

Behind the scenes

Beon Beonel first appeared in the fourth issue of the 2015 comic miniseries Star Wars: Princess Leia. The issue was written by Mark Waid, illustrated by Terry Dodson, and published by Marvel Comics on June 3, 2015. In one panel of the fifth issue, which was released on July 1, 2015, Beonel's eyes are mistakenly depicted as white with blue pupils instead of yellow and green.

Appearances

• Princess Leia 4 (First appearance)
• Princess Leia 5
• Star Wars (2020) 49 (Appears in hologram)

Sources

• Star Wars Helmet Collection: Death Star Trooper Highlights of the Saga: Alderaan Survives!
• Star Wars Helmet Collection: Nien Nunb Weapons & Uniforms: The Adventures of Nien Nunb

Notes and references

In other languages

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