Mara Jade

• 1. Introduction

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  Mara Jade carried a dead man's orders. Timothy Zahn introduced her in "Heir to the Empire" in 1991. The novel placed her inside Talon Karrde's smuggling operation as his second-in-command. She had previously served Emperor Palpatine as an Emperor's Hand, a special agent who answered only to him. Palpatine's dying telepathic command ordered her to assassinate Luke Skywalker. That order plagued her thoughts from the moment of his death. Zahn imagined her as strong, complex, and flawed. She was exactly the kind of female character he believed was missing from the Star Wars universe. What would it take for someone trained entirely in service to evil to become something different? And how does a dead emperor's voice eventually go quiet?

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• 2. The Emperor's Hand

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  Several Legends stories reveal Mara's years before "Heir to the Empire," depicting her training under Palpatine and carrying out his direct orders. Zahn's own short story "Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade" appears in the anthology "Tales from Jabba's Palace." It gives the most detailed account of one such assignment. The mission brought her to Jabba the Hutt's palace, where she posed as a dancing girl. Her target was Luke Skywalker. She positioned herself for the attempt, but Jabba dropped him into the Rancor's lair before she could act. She then escaped, leaving the assignment unfinished. That unfinished business followed her into the opening events of "Heir to the Empire," where she would face Luke Skywalker for the first time.

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• 3. Confronting Luke

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  In "Heir to the Empire," Mara's first meeting with Luke is shaped by a deception. Palpatine had shown her a faked image of Luke and Vader turning on the Emperor together. That lie had structured her rage for years. Luke did not respond to her threat as she expected. He recognized in her an underdeveloped Force sensitivity. He vowed to help her break Palpatine's influence, even knowing she intended to kill him.

  The Thrawn trilogy ended in 1993 with "The Last Command." Toward that novel's conclusion, Mara turned against the Empire and resolved her anger toward Luke. She silenced the embedded command without killing its intended target. Instead, she killed Luke's clone, Luuke Skywalker, a figure the Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth had created to challenge Luke. She used Anakin Skywalker's recovered lightsaber to kill Luuke, then used the same blade to stab C'baoth. Luke gave her that lightsaber at the novel's close. He said he believed she had earned it and truly wanted her to have it. She resisted Jedi training for a time afterward. She eventually achieved the rank of Jedi Master, and her bond with Luke would deepen into something Lucasfilm had once declined to sanction.

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• 4. A Life with the Skywalkers

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  Luke proposed marriage to Mara during "The Hand of Thrawn" duology. Zahn had set two goals for that work: ending the war between the New Republic and the Empire, and bringing Luke and Mara together. Lucasfilm initially resisted the idea of the marriage. They eventually agreed. The wedding appeared in Michael A. Stackpole's graphic novel "Union." Mara delivered a son, Ben, during "The New Jedi Order" series.

  Zahn compared Mara to Princess Leia, noting that both women are strong without sacrificing their femininity. He said some authors find that balance difficult to write. He described Mara as sharper and more sarcastic than Leia. He also noted that Mara had to work through the recognition that her years of service had been in support of an evil cause. Leia was among the first in the New Republic to decide Mara could be trusted, a dynamic Zahn said perhaps reflected each woman's understanding of the other.

  In the Legacy of the Force series, Mara grew suspicious of her nephew Jacen Solo. Jacen had sent her son Ben on several missions she considered ethically questionable. When she confirmed Jacen was a Sith apprentice, she moved to kill him. Jacen killed her first, in the novel "Sacrifice." She returned as a Force ghost in "Revelation," appearing first to Ben and then to Luke. In the Legacy comics, she appears as a Force ghost to a descendant named Cade Skywalker. Those comics are set more than a century after the original Star Wars films. In 2006, Zahn named Mara alongside Grand Admiral Thrawn as his two favorite characters of those he had created.

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• 5. Legacy and Canonicity

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  In April 2014, Lucasfilm formally reclassified most Star Wars novels and comics as Legends, declaring them non-canonical. The Walt Disney Company had acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. The reclassification applied to most licensed novels and comics produced since the original 1977 Star Wars film. As early as 2008, George Lucas said Expanded Universe elements were not part of his story, and stated, "Luke doesn't get married." Authors Claudia Gray and Timothy Zahn later confirmed that Lucasfilm has barred any writer from placing Mara Jade in new canon work.

  Zahn retained a form of protective authority over the character despite that barrier. In 2018, he explained that any appearance of Mara in a new work requires his personal approval. He would permit such an appearance only if she plays an important role in the story. He said he would block any cameo. Grand Admiral Thrawn, another Zahn creation, had already crossed from Legends into canon with a slightly reworked backstory. Zahn said he hoped to find a similar organic place for Mara in the current canon. He promised to pitch the idea to the Lucasfilm story group if the right moment emerged, and acknowledged that the decision would then be theirs.

  Shannon McRandle, credited as Shannon Baksa, portrayed Mara on several cards in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. She was a playable character in Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith. She also appeared in Star Wars: Empire at War and the Wii version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Heidi Shannon, Edie Mirman, and Kath Soucie voiced her across various video game releases. The defunct massively multiplayer game Star Wars Galaxies made meeting her a mission objective. She narrates the Imperial campaign in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. Denise Donovan portrayed her in the Team Starkid musical parody "Ani."

  IGN ranked Mara Jade nineteenth among the top Star Wars characters overall. The publication's Jesse Schedeen placed her tenth among Star Wars heroes. Schedeen wrote that she had "entered the Expanded Universe early, and she stuck around for so long because she's just a great character." UGO Networks called her the seventh top Star Wars Expanded Universe character and described her as complex. Zahn wrote that her attitude and Jedi skills make her just plain fun to write. He found this especially true when placing her in opposition or in partnership with Luke.

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