| “ | I am not your hound, I am not your slave. I am not Xesh. I am Tau. | „ |
| ~ Tau embracing his new identity as a Je'daii and free man. |
| “ | This is not betrayal. This is REBELLION. | „ |
| ~ Xesh to his former master. |
Tau, otherwise known as "Xesh" is the main protagonist of Dark Horse 2012 comic series Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi. He was a force hound under the command of Tul'knar who spend his entire childhood until adult knowing only the dark side of the force.
However, his destiny changed after he confront Shae Koda, Tasha Ryo and Sek'nos Rath on Typhon, he become a prisoner who begins to experience the difference in the force for the first time in his life. He adapt to the ways of the Je'daii on the planet Bogan, where he met Daegen Lok, who he assisted in their escape from Typhon to form an army against "the envisioned" Infinite Empire.
Despite helping Daegen, Tau eventually develop his own indepedent ideals after being movitated by Shae to break free from his control, leading to him rebelling against Lok and become a member of the Je'daii Order.
Tau would then become the hero of the Force War, where he leads army of Je'daii into the battle against the forces of the Infinite Empire.
History
Origins
Xesh origins remained vague to himself, he remembered that he was once a slave bought by the Rakatan to be a servant. When he was young, he and another slave named Trill developed a friendship to one another, as they looked out for each other as childrens. However, during a battle to the death to determine whose would become the other Rakattan force hound, he and Trill is forced to battle where he defeats her.
Instead of killing her, he told his master to spare Trill and instead offer her as the hound to the other Rakattan lord, Skal'nas as he agreed. Unbeknown to Xesh, this will lead to a personal vendetta between Trill toward him. Sometimes later as a teenager, Xesh is put into a battle arena and won in a battle against another hound.
Force Storm
Many years later, Xesh has become known as the "Shadow Warrior" who serves loyally to Tulk'nar, assisting him in battle. He lead an invasion on the system of Tatoonie and murdered a prince under his master's order. Xesh sensed a planet with strong Force connection, Typhon, which is where the Infinite Empire plan their next invasion.
Xesh is dispatched on the planet, yet his vehicular failed and he ended up stranded on the planet, while creating the Force Storm as he break the balance of the planet. He later engage three young Je'daii, each named Shae Koda, Tasha Ryo and Sek'nos Rath and defeat one by one respectively, but his forcesaber was taken by Shae.
Right in the duel, a beast emerges and comes to threaten the Je'daii's. They defended one another, with Shae in particular attempt to resist the creature as much as possible for her friends. This puzzled Xesh, whose entire life known only the honor of battle and the conflict of war. He developed a strange interest to Shae, as he then decided to help her and with the help of Quan-Jang, kill the beast.
He is struck down by a lightning strike right after, which made him a prisoner to the Je'daii Order. Yet it was that moment that he learned about care, selflessness and different concepts of the Force. Xesh is then transfered to Bogan to meditate, as he now began to explore a different path ahead of him.
Prisoner of Bogan
Two months after, Xesh has become much more like the Je'daii. He found peace and is treated better than when he was with the Rakattan's, but he encounter Daegen Lok, the imprisoned Je'daii who has become fully consumed by darkness. They worked together and escaped the planet, before arriving on a different system where Daegen recruit bandits to his army to revolt the Je'daii Order.
Xesh help them create the Forcesaber, but is located by Sek'nos who battle him in a duel to the death. Xesh emerges as the victor before leaving with Daegen, only to be found again by Shae, who he wishes not to harm. He defeats her in a duel as Lok put her mind into a state of stasis through Force manipulation, and Xesh continues to follow him to Lord Ryo's palace.
When negotiations fail, Xesh is sent to excute the crime lord. However, Shae break free from her mind control and defended the crime lord. Xesh become conflicted as he tell her that he will not serve the Je'daii as he serve no one, but Shae reveals that all this time he was like a servant to Lok, and he was never truly free as he believed.
Her words further conflict him, as he turned and defend Shae from Lok's wrath. He declare that he is no longer a servant before defeating and capture Daegen, returning to the Je'daii Order once more.
Force War
Years later, Xesh has become a war hero of the Je'daii Order. He leads the Je'daii to battle against the forces of the Infinite Empire, as the war began to turn the tide to the Order. His connection to Shae further even more, yet he does not know how to explain or express it due to his unclear knowledge regarding emotional attachments. They embraced one another as he now learnt about love, before telling Shae his real name, the name he gift himself as "Tau", which meant soul in his native language.
He continues to contribute to the war, as he reveal the Rakattan's true nature before helping the other Je'daiis to break into the main base of the Infinite Empire, along side the death of Skel'nas death as without a dominant Predor, the other will be in chaos and fought themselves. Yet, Tau was betrayed in combat by Trill, who put him into a trap and put him at the sight of Skel'nas, as the dark lord manipulated him into serving the Infinite Empire again.
Despite becoming controlled once again and abandoned by the majority of the Order who believed that he has betrayed them, Shae comes to Tau's aid and told him that he did not betray the Order, he was manipulated and tricked into being a slave again by his old master. Tau was conflicted, he told her that his action's are too horrible, he had killed and invaded lands, but she told him that he is no longer who he was before. He learned to love, he learned the lightside of the Force and now he gets to choose which path he will follow, as Tau embraced her in a moment of weakness.
Epilogue
After the victory against the Infinite Empire, Tau explore the world of Tatoonie in a journey with Shae. Now embracing peace as a free man in the galaxy far far away.
Gallery
Personality
Xesh bear a complicated personality as a person. The boy seemed to be naive and bear little knowledge of anything but loyalty, honor and serve, having only learnt the dark side of the Force. He intially found himself in questions after seeing Shae Koda's selfless action to protect her friends, something that peaked his interest in her.
Eventually, he seems to adapt to the mind of a Jedi and freed himself from oppression, seeking freedom and to follow a different path than his past as "Xesh", instead choose to be the freeman "Tau".
Trivia
- Due to the fact that "Dawn of the Jedi" was created very late in production, particularly during the end of the Legend's era, future storyline arc's are cut short. Is it unclear if had the series continued in this era, Tau would've had make a future appearance or not.
