Tal Merrik

Tal Merrik was a human male senator from Kalevala, and was an aide to Duchess Satine Kryze during the Clone Wars.

The Mandalore Plot
Though he appeared to be loyal to her, he really worked for the Death Watch, acting as a double agent. Merrik appeared to be a calm and soft-hearted man, and used these qualities to throw people off. Tal was on the Coronet with the Council of Neutral Systems, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Duchess Satine as they traveled to Coruscant to plead its case of neutrality before the Senate. Pre Viszla working with Count Dooku, planned to have Satine eliminated. Merrik managed to smuggle a box of assassin probes onto the ship, and secretly activated them.

When all the assassin probes and the probe killers which were in them were supposedly destroyed, Kenobi and Skywalker discovered a senate stamp which allowed the box to be brought onto the hold. The two Jedi knew one of the senators was a traitor. Kenobi and Skywalker found a surviving assassin probe, cased it, and brought it to the dinner table with the senators. Realizing that the probe would not attempt to kill the individual who had it was programmed to work for, the person who had allowed the probes on to the ship, it became clear that Merrik was the guilty party based on the probe not trying to kill him. They all realized that Merrik was a traitor.

In the confusion following, Merrik knocked the case down, releasing the probe. While it started to attack all the senators, he took the opportunity to take Satine hostage. He killed the pilots, and contacted Vizsla, informing him of his success.

Merrik requested backup, and then rigged the ship to explode if anything happened. Kenobi followed closely behind, but could not do anything for fear of the Duchess's life. Finally, Merrik told Satine Kryze she had to say good-bye to Kenobi. They said farewell and confessed their love for each other. Merrik was disgusted by the ceremony, and Satine used that to distract him. She stepped on his foot and grabbed hold of his blaster. He claimed that she couldn't stop him. He taunted her and Kenobi, telling them that if Satine killed him, she would be seen as a hypocrite to her pacifist views, and if Kenobi struck him down, Satine would look down upon him for his actions. He goaded them, asking who would kill him and be branded a "cold-blooded killer". However, it didn't matter in the end, because he was struck down by Skywalker.

Appearances

 * The Mandalore Plot  (First appearance)
 * Voyage of Temptation
 * Duchess of Mandalore  (Appears in flashback(s))
 * Corruption  (Appears in flashback(s))