Orn Free Taa is a corpulent senator from the Republic homeworld of Ryloth. He is a well-known power broker on Coruscant and a symbol to the Separatists of everything they see as rotten about the Republic.
ORN can be a crippling complication of head and neck radiation therapy, often necessitating free flap reconstruction. ORN recurrence is reported in 10%-14% of patients[3,4].
Character
As a senator for his homeworld of Ryloth, Orn Free Taa was wealthy and corrupt. He enjoyed his wealth and indulged his impulses in politics, which made him a target of reformers and a symbol of all that the Separatists saw as rotten about the Republic. Even after the formation of the Empire he retained his position and his wealth, putting his own interests first before those of the people of Ryloth.
When he is seen in the episode “Devil’s Deal,” he is working with the Empire to ensure peace for the planet, though his motivations are self-serving. He is worried about his reputation as a corrupt politician and is not at all happy that the freedom fighter Cham Syndulla is hunting him.
One interesting detail about Free Taa is that he has three fingers and a thumb while all other Twi’leks, from the original trilogy and prequel trilogies as well as other Star Wars media have four fingers. He also has two Lekku instead of the typical one, but it is never explained why this is. Similarly, his pointed humanoid ears are smaller than all other male Twi’leks in the movies and television. It is possible that this was due to elective surgery or a birth defect, but it is not certain.
Background
A corpulent Twi’lek senator, free orn represented Ryloth in both the Senate of the Galactic Republic and its successor state, the Empire. An outwardly jovial character, the senator cast a large shadow over Coruscant politics and was a powerful backer of the Republic’s military. But his greed and cowardice made him a target of reformers and the Separatists, who saw him as a symbol of all that was corrupt on the Republic’s capital planet.
Despite this, free orn was still one of the leading Loyalists when the Empire was founded. He continued to put his own ambitions first and regarded Cham Syndulla as a threat to his own position. Thus, he worked with the Empire in hopes of ensuring peace for his homeworld. But the sniper was not to be fooled.
Development
As a senator from Ryloth, free orn was present when the duchess Satine called for a vote of no confidence in chancellor Valorum. He endorsed the motion, but later joined a group of senators travelling aboard the duchess’s ship to Coruscant. During the trip, he was seen eating a nuna leg and enjoying it immensely.
An indulgent twilek who placed his own wealth ahead of the good of his people, the fat senator from Ryloth was disliked by reformers and by the Separatists as a symbol of everything the Republic was not. He retained his Senate seat when the Galactic Empire was formed and continued to place his own whims above those of his homeworld.
Episodes
The first time that free orn was seen in the Star Wars canon, it was in the episode “The Bad Batch.” This is set very close to Revenge of the Sith and the events on Ryloth. However, fans who pay attention to the canon know that this episode takes place prior to the 2015 canon novel Lords of the Sith written by Paul Kemp. This book centers around Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader, and features them being hunted by Syndulla and the freedom fighters on Ryloth. So, in order for the canon to work, free orn had to have survived this episode.