The Jedi rival of Jedi Order in prequel-era Star Wars material in both continuities, and while her fate remains ambiguous in the modern canon, the franchise’s original continuity ends her story on a violent and tragic note, inspired by a deleted scene in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Moreover, the Legends-era Barriss Offee is a fundamentally different character than her post-2014 canon counterpart.
In the ongoing Star Wars canon, Barriss Offee is a Jedi Padawan and close friend of Ahsoka Tano’s after they meet during the Second Battle of Geonosis. This friendship is horrifically cut short when Offee falls to the dark side as she became aware of the Republic and Jedi Order’s corruption, leading her to bomb the Jedi Temple, murdering numerous Jedi, Clones, and civilians in the process. Offee frames Tano for the atrocious act, and while the truth is eventually uncovered, Offee’s treachery and the Jedi Order’s lack of confidence in Tano lead her to leave the Jedi Order.
Barriss Offee has yet to reappear in the Star Wars canon continuity, but her story ends quite definitively in issue 3 of the Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith comic adaptation, by Miles Lane and Douglas Wheatley. Offee is seen fighting bravely on Felucia when Order 66 is issued, activating the brainwashing protocols of the Clone Troopers surrounding her and leading an AT-TE walker to fire on Offee, disintegrating her. This moment was initially intended to be shown in the film’s Order 66 montage, but its appearance in the comic makes it canonical only to the Legends timeline. Moreover, Barriss Offee never fell to the dark side in Legends, and thus she died as most Jedi did when her Clone Troopers turned on her.
Barriss Offee is drastically different in the Legends continuity, matching Anakin Skywalker’s age and remaining true to the Jedi ways throughout the war, having become a Jedi Knight and taken a Padawan under her wing by the time she dies on Felucia. The Legends-era Offee has a particular talent for using the Force to heal others, using her benevolent abilities to aid wounded Clone Troopers, making her Order 66 death all the more tragic. Offee’s growth from Padawan to Jedi healer is shown throughout Legends-era comics like Clone Wars Adventures and the webcomic Reversal of Fortune, as well as the MedStar novels.
Offee’s irreconcilably different depictions Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series are among the many examples of why the newer Clone Wars series was never meant to fit into the Star Wars Legends continuity, despite premiering before 2014. The Clone Wars, by Dave Filoni’s ission, intentionally told its own version of war, making it only fit in the current canon, where Offee’s story can be finished in a future property, such as the Ahsoka TV series. In Star Wars Legends, Barriss Offee is a completely different character whose essential altruism was, tragically, cut short when Order 66 was activated.
