The Constrainer was an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer in service to the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War. Equipped with gravity well projectors, it was capable of generating an interdiction field, an artificial gravity well that allowed the Interdictor to prevent other vessels from entering hyperspace. During the campaign against the rebel Phoenix Cell, the Star Destroyer was attached to the 7th Fleet under Grand Admiral Thrawn. In 2 BBY, the Constrainer formed part of an Imperial squadron sent to the planet Atollon, where the Phoenix Cell had set up their base.
During Thrawn's ensuing assault on the rebels, the Constrainer, as well as another Interdictor Star Destroyer, prevented enemy ships from bypassing the Imperial blockade. However, the other Interdictor was destroyed, allowing rebel Lieutenant Commander Ezra Bridger to escape the fray. Bridger subsequently enlisted several Mandalorian warriors to aid the rebels. These warriors, led by Bridger and Sabine Wren, landed on the Constrainers hull and fired on one of its gravity well projectors. Although engaged by Imperial jet troopers, the strike team nonetheless managed to rupture the generator. This caused it to explode, obliterating the ship and allowing the rebels to flee.
The Constrainer above the Chimaera
Belonging to the Interdictor line's Interdictor-class Star Destroyer, the Constrainer was classed as both a Star Destroyer and cruiser. Measuring 1,129 meters in length, the vessel was equipped with deflector shields, laser cannons, five sublight engines, and a hyperdrive. Its dorsal hull housed an open bay, the aft wall of which contained an otherwise enclosed hangar. An Interdictor vessel, the Constrainer possessed four gravity well projectors, which were capable of generating an interdiction field. The artificial gravity well generated by this field enabled the Star Destroyer to pull other starships out of hyperspace.
The Constrainer served in the Imperial Navy during the Galactic Civil War and formed part of the 7th Fleet of Grand Admiral Thrawn during his campaign against the Rebel Alliance's Phoenix Cell. In the year 2 BBY, Thrawn discovered that Chopper Base—headquarters of the Phoenix Cell—was located on the Lothal sector planet Atollon. Subsequently, he ordered Admiral Kassius Konstantine to dispatch a squadron of Imperial vessels to engage the rebels at Atollon. The squadron included a total of five Imperial-class Star Destroyers, including the Dark Omen as the lead destroyer; two Interdictor-class Star Destroyers that included the Constrainer and another commanded by Admiral Konstantine; and two Arquitens-class command cruisers.
The Constrainer (far background) was deployed at the Battle of Atollon alongside Konstantine's Interdictor vessel (foreground).
The squadron exited hyperspace in the Atollon system in a line formation, with the Constrainer positioned to the left side, and the Imperial forces immediately blocked the rebels' long-range transmissions. Rebel General Jan Dodonna, whose forces were assisting the Phoenix Cell, ordered all rebel ships to flee, with an EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigate subsequently jumping to hyperspace. However, the frigate was then pulled out of hyperspace by the interdiction field generated by the Constrainer and the other Interdictor. Upon realizing the Empire had brought Interdictor vessels, rebel Commander Jun Sato lamented that there would be no escape for the rebel fleet. Konstantine's Star Destroyer then opened fire on the Nebulon-B, at which time the Imperial forces were joined by Grand Admiral Thrawn from his flagship, the Imperial I-class Star Destroyer Chimaera.
The rebels subsequently charged the Imperial blockade, with Commander Sato employing Danaan tactics. The Imperial vessels held their positions and waited for the enemy vessels to come to them, per Thrawn's orders, leading to the rebels being overrun. At this point, the Constrainer fired several laser blasts at the rebels. However, Commander Sato managed to goad Konstantine's Star Destroyer out of formation, then maneuvered the Quasar Fire-class cruiser-carrier Phoenix Nest to ram the Interdictor, destroying both ships. This allowed Lieutenant Commander Ezra Bridger to escape to hyperspace in his Gauntlet starfighter, Nightbrother.
A hologram of the Imperial blockade above Atollon (Constrainer at bottom left)
Following the destruction of the other Interdictor and Bridger's escape, the Imperial forces pressed their attack, with the Constrainer turning so it was perpendicular to the Imperial line and its port side faced the rebels. Ultimately, the rebels were forced to return to their base on Atollon's surface. Thrawn's blockade subsequently formed into a triangle, with a single Imperial-class Star Destroyer leading the group, followed by two more behind, with the final three at the rear. The Constrainer was then positioned after this sextet, immediately behind the Chimaera. From this position, the blockade commenced an orbital bombardment on Chopper Base, which was repelled by the rebels' deflector shield generator.
Meanwhile, Bridger travelled to the Mandalore sector planet Krownest to recruit Mandalorian rebel Sabine Wren and her clan. At the Wren Stronghold, Bridger presented the family with a hologram representation of the Imperial blockade, including the Constrainer, with Wren commenting that the Interdictor was the main problem facing the rebels. After agreeing to help, she then requested the astromech droid C1-10P bring up schematics of the Constrainer to plan their attack.
One of the Constrainer's gravity well projectors was damaged by the attacking rebels.
While Thrawn led a ground assault on the rebel base, Bridger returned in the Nightbrother, aided by five Fang-class starfighters piloted by Mandalorian warriors. While the Fang fighters engaged the Imperial TIE fighters, the Nightbrother deployed Bridger, Wren, and four other Mandalorian warriors onto the hull of the Constrainer, ready to attack its gravity well projectors. Meanwhile, aboard the Chimaera, Governor Arihnda Pryce was alerted to the rebel boarding by an Imperial technician, to which the governor ordered that the strike team be repelled.
However, the rebels had already begun firing on the dorsal portion of the ship's aft starboard gravity well projectors with their blasters, despite the Constrainers deflector shields. At this point, six Imperial jet troopers flew over the generator and engaged the group. The rebels killed several of the troopers and pressed their attack on the Star Destroyer, the hull of which was cracking and emitting lightning. Rebel Captain Hera Syndulla then contacted Bridger and reported that the remaining rebel forces were heading for the blockade. Two TIE fighters then fired at the Constrainer, aiming for Bridger, but were quickly shot down by the Fang fighters, with one of the Imperial starfighters careening into the hull of the Constrainer and exploding. Bridger's group then intensified their attack, with the Mandalorians also using their jetpack-mounted rockets to damage the gravity well projector.
The Constrainer is destroyed.
Due to the rebel attack, the Constrainers deflector shields were breached. The damaged gravity well projector exploded, allowing the rebels to return to the Nightbrother. The explosion spread across the Interdictor's hull, spewing smoke and lighting, and the Star Destroyer began to shrink. Then, the Constrainer was destroyed as the whole ship was engulfed in blue flame, resulting in a shockwave. As the still-exploding wreckage began to slowly angle towards Atollon, the remaining rebel forces flew over the enflamed vessel to make the unimpeded jump to hyperspace.
In the current Star Wars canon, the Constrainer was first pictured in the midseason trailer for the third season of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, which was uploaded to the official Star Wars YouTube channel on January 4, 2017. The vessel then appeared in "Zero Hour," the season's final episode. The episode was released on March 25, 2017, over two parts, the twenty-first and twenty-second episodes of the season overall.
In "Zero Hour," the Constrainer is notably absent from wide shots of the Imperial blockade, for example, here and here. In the episode's corresponding installment of the Star Wars YouTube channel's series Rebels Recon, Rebelss animation supervisor, Keith Kellogg, explained that due to technical limitations, not all of the ships could be rendered at the same time.
The Constrainer, as it appeared in the Star Wars Legends continuity
The Constrainer was unnamed in the episode but received identification in a preview for the reference book Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy, which was released on StarWars.com on June 17, 2021. The book itself was released on October 28 of the same year. The book erroneously uses an image of another Interdictor-class Star Destroyer, the Interdictor, from the Star Wars Rebels episode "Stealth Strike" to depict the Constrainer.
The name Constrainer originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where the vessel was an Immobilizer 418 cruiser used by Thrawn's fleet. It first appeared in the second novel of Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy, Dark Force Rising, which was released in 1992 and written by Timothy Zahn. The first issue of the novel's comic adaptation then gave the ship its first depiction. The comic was written by Mike Baron, illustrated by Terry Dodson, and released by Dark Horse Comics on May 28, 1997.
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