And I think she's a changeling

Adam Reynolds · Post by **Adam Reynolds** » 2008-01-18 03:30am

Is there a logical reason for why Zam chose not to change her form to make a getaway when she was in the nightclub hiding from the Obi-Wan and Anakin that. Is it that she could only be in her native form or human?

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2008-01-18 03:51am

from whatr I've read it's a rather painfull prosses for her to alter forms (possibly maintain other form then her natural one also but I'm not sure about that). So it would make sense that she wouldn't alter form unless she absolutly had to (it's rather easy for a human or near human (who make up most of the population) to disapear in Corusant (plus I seem to remember that there's some mistrust towards her species explaining why she wouldn't swich to her natural form either)).

Ritterin Sophia · Post by **Ritterin Sophia** » 2008-01-18 04:18am

I doubt that's it, Zam was one of the few Clawdites that could change her own mass, which would imply that she's better than most Clawdites.No, I would attribute the reason to her armour, she was wearing Mabari armourweave with Mabari markings all over the thing, the Mabari were an order of 'knights' from Zolan. So to a Jedi who know's of the Clawdites and Zolan, she's going to stand out no matter what form she takes.

Darth Tanner · Post by **Darth Tanner** » 2008-01-18 06:21am

I've read it's a rather painfull prosses for her to alter forms

She didn't appear to be in pain when she was shown to change forms briefly in the speeder chase, she simply appeared to lose concentration as a result of Anakin landing on her.

there's some mistrust towards her species explaining why she wouldn't swich to her natural form either

Also if she was witnessed by the bar patrons to change form there could well have been a negative reaction to it, which would reveal her to the Jedi quite quickly or get her into a fight with the bar security teams. I'd imagine that shapeshifters are somewhat frowned upon in betting establishments regardless of their relations with other species in general.

The real question is why she tried to kill a jedi with a blaster when she could have legged it out the door.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2008-01-18 01:50pm

She was trying to eliminate all witnesses. Thats why she didn't make a break for the door.

I think a better question would be how much she really knew about the whole operation. Isn't it logical that Palpatine and Dooku wanted the Jedi to discover the clones to get the war underway? How far down the hierarchy did that information go. At some times it seems like Jango was trying to kill Obi-wan (Kamino, the Geonosis chase) and other times, lead him to the clones (using a Kamino saber dart which could be traced).

Post by **Surlethe** » 2008-01-18 01:51pm

Would being a changeling have helped much against telepathic Jedi?

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2008-01-18 02:00pm

It seems to me that he used the Saber Dart because it couldn't be traced. Obi Wan says to Dexter? that the droids could not tell where it came from. It was obvious that if it wasn't for Obi Wan's unusual source that he would have been stuck with a dead end.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2008-01-18 02:46pm

Isolder74 wrote:It seems to me that he used the Saber Dart because it couldn't be traced. Obi Wan says to Dexter? that the droids could not tell where it came from. It was obvious that if it wasn't for Obi Wan's unusual source that he would have been stuck with a dead end.

I'd think if he didn't want it traced, he wouldn't have used one that would lead straight back to the clones upon tracing. Surely Kamino isn't the only system in the galaxy that makes small assassination weapons.

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2008-01-18 02:49pm

Darth Servo wrote:
Isolder74 wrote:It seems to me that he used the Saber Dart because it couldn't be traced. Obi Wan says to Dexter? that the droids could not tell where it came from. It was obvious that if it wasn't for Obi Wan's unusual source that he would have been stuck with a dead end.
I'd think if he didn't want it traced, he wouldn't have used one that would lead straight back to the clones upon tracing. Surely Kamino isn't the only system in the galaxy that makes small assassination weapons.

that's ofc assuming by both of you that he wasn't simply suplied with those darts by Dooku who said that they can't be traced.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2008-01-18 02:53pm

Thats still a pretty big gamble for Jango to take if we're assuming he doesn't want to be discovered at that point. I have a hard time believing he couldn't pick up a case of poison darts right there on Coruscant.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2008-01-18 03:25pm

Lord Revan wrote:
Darth Servo wrote:
Isolder74 wrote:It seems to me that he used the Saber Dart because it couldn't be traced. Obi Wan says to Dexter? that the droids could not tell where it came from. It was obvious that if it wasn't for Obi Wan's unusual source that he would have been stuck with a dead end.
I'd think if he didn't want it traced, he wouldn't have used one that would lead straight back to the clones upon tracing. Surely Kamino isn't the only system in the galaxy that makes small assassination weapons.
that's ofc assuming by both of you that he wasn't simply suplied with those darts by Dooku who said that they can't be traced.

So then he'd need a fake id in order to not have his name registered to the dart when bought, or do you think that someone buying poison darts on the capital planet of the Republic would not raise red flags. It was the fact that the darts had no manufacturing marks that the droids recognized makes it fairly good bet that no one other then Obi Wan would have even had a clue where to look to even start to figure out where the thing came from. If he was told by someone that they couldn't be traced, a feature that any assassin would look as good, it makes sense he would use it to silence a potential leak.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2008-01-18 03:34pm

Isolder74 wrote:So then he'd need a fake id in order to not have his name registered to the dart when bought, or do you think that someone buying poison darts on the capital planet of the Republic would not raise red flags.

I highly doubt the death stick dealer asked for any IDs. And I highly doubt that any black market darts would have much in the way of manufacturing marks.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-01-18 07:22pm

Zam Wesell impersonated a Dug in her one-shot, so it couldn't have been very hard for her to enter a restroom, remove parts of her clothing so it wouldn't be as noticeable, disguise herself as... I dunno... a Dug, and then walk out the back door. I think bad writing was the reason she didn't use her shapeshifting abilities to escape. In universe, the "She wanted to eliminate all witnesses," makes the most sense.

Cykeisme · Post by **Cykeisme** » 2008-01-19 09:13pm

Anyone have a source on shapeshifting being painful for Clawdites?
If this were the case, the mass-changing ones are probably particularly painful. She'd have to exude material to look and weigh as much as a Dug, and conversely, she'd have to stuff her face for a while to revert to a human-sized form.

Anyway, back on topic, she knew her pursuers were Jedi, so she may have known they would be able to see through her disguises.
Of course, if that's the case, then she should also have known then that you can't sneak up on a Jedi. A bit of a contradiction there.

Also, why didn't Jango just use a blaster shot to kill Zam?

Darth Servo wrote: At some times it seems like Jango was trying to kill Obi-wan (Kamino, the Geonosis chase) and other times, lead him to the clones (using a Kamino saber dart which could be traced).

By the time they fought on Kamino, Obi-Wan had already found the clones. It's ok to kill him (or try to) after that.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-01-20 10:10am

Cykeisme wrote:Also, why didn't Jango just use a blaster shot to kill Zam?

With two Jedi around his target? Jango's fought Jedi before (see Jango Fett: Open Seasons), so he knows Jedi can knock a blaster bolt back at the shooter.

FA Xerrik · Post by **FA Xerrik** » 2008-01-20 10:37am

The EU section of the Clawdite entry on the Databank at starwars.com confirms the shapeshifting process to be "an extremely uncomfortable process." There are, evidently, certain measures that can be taken to help reduce discomfort in this process. I also recall, and I will admit I don't have a specific source for this on-hand, that more experienced or modified Clawdites can undergo more bizarre changes, such as Zam turning into a Dug. That might be material for the SWRPG, in the Alien Species guide.

I had always taken the nightclub scene to simply be overconfidence on Zam's part. After all, Obi-Wan is sitting at the bar sipping his drink calmly. I think she thought an opportunity had arisen and decided to take it, only for the tables to quickly turn. The Clawdite species is reviled for their shapeshifting abilities on their homeworld, and Zam is probably overly protective of her secret because of this. Eliminating possible leaks seems like a prudent precaution, even if it's risky to directly confront two Jedi.

Civil War Man · Post by **Civil War Man** » 2008-01-20 10:57am

Besides wanting to eliminate witnesses, Zam may have decided to take a chance figuring that if they were able to track her that far (even after momentarily "losing" them), then changing form and running would only prolong the inevitable, and killing the Jedi would have been the only way to end it.