Star Wars: Who Is Nala Se?

Star Wars

By Joshua Kristian McCoy

Published May 2, 2024

The Star Wars franchise works overtime to ensure that the Empire remains one of the most evil organizations in fictional history. The antagonists leave no back unstabbed in their quest to dominate or destroy the galaxy. As the Republic shifts into the Empire, countless intelligent beings hitch their metaphorical wagon to the new power structure. They almost always pay for their mistakes. Kaminoan scientist Nala Se worked to aid the Republic's cloning efforts but experienced a change of heart in her later life.

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How did Nala Se contribute to the Clone Wars?

Doctor Nala Se is the Chief Medical Scientist on the planet Kamino. Kamino is a remote aquatic world notable for its advances in technological and biological studies. The Kaminoans are isolationist geniuses who mastered genetic engineering over countless quiet generations. Divorced from the comings and goings of the Galactic Republic, Kaminoans dedicated themselves to perfecting the cloning process. Kamino and its exports remained obscure to most, but Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas discovered them. Sifo-Dyas experienced a premonition of nightmarish galactic conflict, prompting him to seek an army that could save the Republic. He approached Kamino in secret and requested their aid in growing clone troopers. This mistake allowed Count Dooku, Sifo-Dyas' old friend who recently fell to the Sith, to assassinate Sifo-Dyas and take over as benefactor. Nala Se oversaw the construction of the clone army under the recently redubbed Darth Tyranus.

Nala Se and Order 66

As the Chief Medical Scientist, Nala Se personally oversaw the installation of an inhibitor chip in every clone soldier. Tyranus pitched the biochip as a contingency plan and ordered it to be highly classified. Nala Se was one of very few people who knew about Order 66 before its activation. Se believed that the project protected her troopers against the potential threat of renegade Jedi. Nala Se could reasonably feign ignorance at this stage, but her actions only became more villainous as she continued her work with Darth Tyranus. During the Battle of Ringo Vinda, a clone trooper nicknamed Tup inexplicably and brutally murdered a Jedi. The soldier's actions threatened to reveal the hidden scheme, presenting Nala Se with a difficult choice. Se put Tup through several intense physical tests, silently certain that his behavior demonstrated a premature activation of his Order 66 chip. Darth Tyranus ordered Se to execute Tup to bury the secret. Before she could move, a fellow trooper nicknamed Fives conducted his own investigation and discovered the chip in Tup's brain.

Fives uncovered the biochip in every clone's skull, prompting Nala Se to start making excuses. She assured him that the chips balanced Jango Fett's difficult personality to create more predictable soldiers. Jedi Shaak Ti arranged an audience with Chancellor Palpatine to discuss Fives' discovery. Nala Se secretly drugged Fives, causing him to behave erratically and provide unreliable testimony. She added another lie, suggesting a viral infection pushed Tup into madness. Lucky for her, Fives lost all credibility after Palpatine framed him as a would-be assassin. Nala Se successfully hid her crimes by defaming, drugging, and eventually executing a dutiful soldier. Her actions remain nightmarish, but the Star Wars franchise provided an unexpected heroic turn for the character.

How did Nala Se slow down Project Necromancer?

Nala Se's change of heart came after she started working with a clone named Omega. The newly-established Empire decided to replace their clone armies with conscripted soldiers. This alerted Nala Se, who knew her people wouldn't be safe in a system that no longer needed them. She was correct, as the Empire quickly destroyed every Kaminoan settlement they could find. Nala Se became a slave under the Empire, forced to work on a new project. Project Necromancer was a secret Imperial initiative intended to perfect midi-chlorian transfer during the cloning process. The long-term goal would involve cloning Darth Sidious to allow him to live forever. Nala Se's discovered a perfect binder in Omega's blood, which may have allowed the project to continue. However, she worked tirelessly to defend Omega, sabotaging attempts to capture or test her former assistant. Finally, after the Empire discovered her subterfuge, Nala Se sacrificed her life by detonating a hand grenade in her laboratory. She died to bury the data, forcing the Empire to abandon Necromancer in favor of their Death Star idea.

Nala Se is a complicated figure in Star Wars history. Oddly enough, her evil actions and her heroic deeds involve making massive sacrifices to hide her own work. Though Nala Se is an inarguable villain during the Clone Wars, her change of heart is admirable. Without her sacrifice, Sidious may have reached his dream of immortality long before he inexplicably returned in Rise of Skywalker. Nala Se demonstrates the fascinating personal narratives that can emerge in a massive galaxy like Star Wars.