Legacy of the Force

• 1. Introduction

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  Legacy of the Force is a nine-book Star Wars novel series, published between 2006 and 2008, that charts the fall of one of the most beloved characters in the expanded universe. The series is set roughly 40 years after the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and approximately 11 years after the harrowing New Jedi Order saga. Three authors, Aaron Allston, Troy Denning, and Karen Traviss, rotated through the books in a deliberate cycle. Published by the American imprint Del Rey Books, each novel was released alongside an abridged audio version narrated by Marc Thompson.

  What holds this series together is a single disturbing question: can a good person choose evil for good reasons? The character at the center of that question is Jacen Solo, son of Han and Leia, nephew of Luke Skywalker. By the final volume, Jacen has become Darth Caedus, a Sith Lord who has tortured his own cousin and fired on his parents' ship. The series asks how that transformation happens, one decision at a time. And it ends with Jacen's twin sister Jaina as the one who has to stop him.

• 2. Building the Series

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  Before a single word of the plot was committed to paper, the nine-book series was originally conceived to take place in the Old Republic era, a period set thousands of years before the films. Sue Rostoni, who managed the Star Wars publishing line, confirmed this early concept publicly. Then, within a month, the plan changed entirely. Rostoni announced the story would be moved to a setting 35 years after the original Star Wars film, placing it squarely in the lives of the characters fans already knew.

  The publishing structure itself was carefully engineered. Each of the three authors was assigned one hardcover and two paperbacks. The first book, the fifth book, and the ninth book were designated as hardcovers. The remaining six were paperbacks. This architecture meant the series had a clear sense of escalation built into its physical format, with major turning points arriving in a heavier binding. Marc Thompson recorded abridged audio versions released simultaneously with each print edition, making the series one of the more thoroughly produced multimedia runs in the expanded universe.

• 3. Jacen's Descent

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  Aaron Allston's Betrayal, released on the 30th of May 2006, introduced the mechanism of Jacen Solo's fall with unusual precision. Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith, shows Jacen a series of Force visions. In every future where she is arrested, the galaxy collapses into endless war, and Jacen eventually kills his uncle Luke. Horrified, Jacen spares her. Then, in the same book, he kills a Jedi Knight named Nelani, asking her forgiveness before striking the fatal blow, because he believes letting her live will fulfill the dark vision. Betrayal reached number 10 on The New York Times Best Seller list on the 18th of June 2006.

  Karen Traviss's Bloodlines, released on the 29th of August 2006, accelerated Jacen's institutional power. Fully committed to Lumiya, Jacen takes control of the Galactic Alliance Guard, a secret police force. He begins rounding up Corellians for internment. During an interrogation of a woman who turns out to be Ailyn Vel, the daughter of Boba Fett, Jacen accidentally kills her while attempting a Force extraction. Each act of violence is framed as a calculated cost rather than a loss of control, and that framing is what makes the series unsettling rather than simply dark.

• 4. The Sacrifice

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  Karen Traviss's Sacrifice, the fifth novel and a hardcover released on the 29th of May 2007, is the hinge on which the entire series turns. Lumiya tells Jacen he must complete the Trial of Sacrifice: to kill the thing he loves most. Jacen initially believes this means Tenel Ka, his secret partner, and their daughter Allana. Instead, the sacrifice turns out to be something he did not choose. After Ben Skywalker tells his mother Mara Jade that he overheard Jacen in contact with Lumiya, Mara tracks Jacen to the Hapes Consortium. In the battle that follows, Jacen kills Mara Jade.

  The revelation of what the sacrifice truly meant is the series' most carefully constructed irony. Lumiya had told Jacen the sacrifice would be his own love. But the real sacrifice, as Jacen eventually grasps, was Ben's love for his mother. Jacen then chooses the Sith name Darth Caedus. Ben suspects Jacen almost immediately, encountering him at Mara's body. The name Darth Caedus, chosen after one of the most personal murders in the saga, marks the point where internal rationalizations give way to open identity.

• 5. The Galaxy at War

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  Troy Denning's Inferno, released on the 28th of August 2007, gave Darth Caedus his most brutal act. To test how far Ben Skywalker will go before turning against him, and to punish the Wookies collectively for sheltering Han and Leia Solo, Caedus brings his fleet to the Wookie home system and orders it to fire into the forests. The resulting firestorms kill countless thousands. Ben attempts to assassinate Caedus and fails. Caedus captures him, tortures him using techniques derived from the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and tries to turn him to the dark side. Luke Skywalker mounts a rescue. Inferno reached number 7 on The New York Times Best Seller list on the 16th of September 2007.

  Karen Traviss's Revelation, the eighth book released on the 26th of February 2008, pulled in a web of political factions. Caedus takes Tahiri Veila as a new apprentice to replace Ben. He lures the Imperial Remnant into an attack on the planet Fondor. When Admiral Niathal arranges a unilateral ceasefire, Caedus orders the fleet to bombard Fondor's cities anyway. Tahiri assassinates Imperial Head of State Gilad Pellaeon, shifting the Moffs to Caedus's side. A fleet loyal to Pellaeon, commanded by Admiral Daala and accompanied by one hundred Mandalorian mercenaries, arrives with experimental weapons and forces Caedus to retreat. Aaron Allston's Fury, the seventh novel released on the 27th of November 2007, reached number 3 on The New York Times Best Seller list on the 16th of December 2007, the series' highest chart placement.

• 6. Twin Against Twin

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  Troy Denning's Invincible, the final hardcover released on the 13th of May 2008, resolved the series through the pairing the story had been building toward: Jaina Solo against her brother Jacen. Jaina had trained specifically for this confrontation, seeking instruction from Boba Fett in preparation. In their first engagement, Jaina severs Caedus's arm, then withdraws because of her own wounds. The choreography of their final duel, set aboard Caedus's flagship the Anakin Solo, carried a specific emotional logic. During the fight, Caedus deactivates and holsters his own lightsaber and tries to tell Jaina his intention was to protect Tenel Ka and Allana. Jaina refuses to listen and attacks regardless. Jaina wins by severing Caedus's Achilles tendon and stabbing him through the heart.

  As Jacen dies, he reaches out through the Force to warn Tenel Ka and Allana of an approaching bio-warfare attack designed by the Imperial Remnant. That final act of protection was the signal Jaina needed: she sees in it the person her brother had once been. Invincible reached number 5 on The New York Times Best Seller list on the 1st of June 2008. Following Caedus's death, the Galactic Alliance defeated the Confederation and restored peace to the galaxy, the exact outcome Jacen had seen in his visions years earlier.

• 7. Aftermath and Adaptation

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  The Legacy of the Force series fed directly into further novels set in the same timeline. Follow-up works included Crosscurrent, Riptide, Millennium Falcon, and the nine-novel Fate of the Jedi series, extending the post-Return of the Jedi era well beyond the Caedus storyline.

  In 2015, a short fan film depicting the final duel between Jacen and Jaina Solo from Invincible was released independently. Actor Tye Nelson, who played Jacen Solo in the film, received a nomination for best actor at the fan film awards in 2016. The nomination suggests that the duel Denning wrote had sufficient dramatic weight to sustain a standalone visual adaptation nearly a decade after the book's publication. The Fate of the Jedi series, picking up directly where Legacy of the Force left off, ran to its own nine volumes.