Mothma, Mon

• Appeared in:
  
  I
  II
  III
  IV
  V
  VI
  CW

• Homeworld:
  Chandrila

• Species:
  Human

• Gender:
  Female

• Size:
  1.5 meters

• Affiliation:
  Galactic Senate, Rebel Alliance

• 

From the Movies

A stern, stately woman, Mon Mothma was the Supreme Commander of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Mothma was an influential loyalist Senator in the final days of the Galactic Republic. She was one of the first to be wary of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's policies during the Clone Wars. When Palpatine created a system of territorial governors to report to him directly, Mothma realized that the Senate was quickly losing its last vestiges of political influence.

She worked closely with Bail Organa of Alderaan to organize fellow Senators who shared similar ideals and outrage. The original cabal that tentatively explored what few options remained included Senators Chi Eekway, Terr Taneel, Padmé Amidala, Fang Zar and Giddean Danu, but it was her and Organa who remained at the core of this nascent Rebellion.

Mothma remained a Senator until the end, despite her opposition to Palpatine's policies. When the outrages became too difficult to ignore, and the debate moved from the Senate floor to the battlefields of distant worlds, Mothma helped forge the Alliance that eventually toppled the Empire and restored freedom to the galaxy.

From the Expanded Universe

Mon Mothma was born into political life. Her father was an arbiter-general in the Old Republic, and her mother was a governor on her native Chandrila. When she was old enough, Mothma joined the Galactic Senate, becoming the youngest Senator in the council to date.

In opposition to Palpatine's ascendancy, Mothma organized intelligence cells -- pockets of resistance to challenge the Empire -- each one unaware of the other cells' existence. When the Republic finally crumbled, Mothma went underground, joining the political cells, forming what was to become the Rebel Alliance.

Although her role in unifying the separate resistance groups into the Rebel Alliance is unquestioned, Mothma credits Bail Organa for envisioning the structure of the organization. The two Senators were often opponents on the Senate floor, as Mothma's youthful idealism clashed with Organa's realism and cynicism. The two did agree that Palpatine had to be stopped. In a series of meetings at Cantham House, Organa and Mothma devised and developed a plan for the Rebel Alliance. While Organa helped secretly supply the Alliance, he still played the role of political opponent to Mon Mothma. When the Emperor decided to arrest Mothma, Organa informed her, and she managed to escape just minutes before the Imperial Security Bureau arrived.

Mon Mothma then spent the next several years on the run from the Empire. As a fugitive, she made contact with various resistance groups, expounding the virtues of Alliance. Mothma's life was threatened not only by Imperial agents, but by overly-suspicious resistance groups as well.

The true birth of the Rebellion was the signing of the Corellian Treaty, where three main resistance groups swore on their lives to join the Alliance, and answer to Mothma. Mothma, and her Advisory Council became supreme rulers of the Alliance. Critics, such as former Corellian Senator Garm Bel Iblis, pointed out that Mothma was assuming dictatorial powers on the level of her enemy Palpatine. Mothma realized that a separate, impartial authority was needed to make the big decisions of the Alliance, and she was that person. Mothma instated a policy in that every two years members of the Alliance would vote on her continued command. She was never challenged in all the years of Rebellion.

Once the Alliance was truly formed, Mothma wrote the "Declaration of Rebellion." This document, personally addressed to Palpatine, indicted the Emperor on a number of crimes. The declaration served to undo the damage of Imperial propaganda that painted the Rebels as terrorists. As a result of the declaration, many worlds decided to ally themselves with the Rebellion. During the Galactic Civil War, Mon Mothma served as Chief-of-State of the Alliance Civil Government, as well as Commander-in-Chief of the Alliance Military. At this time, Mon Mothma was number one on the Empire's Most Wanted List.

After the Rebel victory at Endor, Mothma was faced with the challenge of transforming a militarized Rebellion into a fully functional government. She organized a Galactic Congress, a series of diplomatic conferences that helped establish how the New Republic would govern. Mothma became Chief of State of the new government that emerged, and helped guide it through the numerous growing pains and threats that plagued it during its formative years.

When attempting to forge peace with remnants of the former Empire at a diplomatic reception for Imperial Ambassador Furgan of Carida, Mothma was secretly poisoned. Furgan introduced a nano-engineered virus that was dismantling her cell structure one by one. Slowly she wasted away while New Republic medics were helpless to save her. Lying on her deathbed, Mothma tendered her resignation as Chief of State, and passed on the leadership to Leia Organa Solo.

Eventually, the true nature of her illness was revealed. A Mon Calamari Jedi healer named Cilghal was able to cleanse Mothma's body of the artificial contagion, and Mothma soon recovered. Content with Leia as her replacement, Mothma retired from political life.

She died peacefully, in her sleep, years after a final peace accord was reached between the New Republic and the remnants of the Galactic Empire.

Behind the Scenes

Mon Mothma had a very brief appearance in Return of the Jedi, during the Alliance briefing room sequence. She was played by actress Caroline Blakiston. Blakiston had to return to re-record her dialog when it was discovered that pigeons that had been roosting in the set were audible in the original recordings.

For her small role in Episode III, Mothma was played by Genevieve O'Reilly, who was cast for her resemblance to Blakiston. O'Reilly carefully studied Blakiston's performance to capture Mothma's voice and mannerisms.

Though Mothma's role in the films was minor, the expanded universe of publishing added much more to her character as the Rebel Alliance moved from a military organization to a functioning government.