Mara Jade Skywalker Analysis Blog

Background

Mara Jade Skywalker

Aliases: The Emperor’s Hand, Countess Claria, Lianna, Litassa Colay, Arica Pradeux, Agent Green, Chiara Lorn, Karrinna Jansih, Baroness Paltonae, Merellis, Celina Marniss, Jade Skywalker, Baroness Muehling

Nicknames: Green Eyes, Jaded of Mara

Height: 1.6 meters (5’2.99)

Occupation: Jedi Knight, spy, infiltrator, assassin, smuggler

First appearance: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire (May 1991)

Likes: Luke Skywalker, Ben Skywalker, Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian, Jaina Solo, chocolate

Dislikes: Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Jacen Solo, C-3PO, condescension

Backstory

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away the first Galactic Empire reigned supreme. Founded by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, this all-powerful dictatorship was the culmination of a millennia-long war between the idealistic, peacekeeping Jedi and the corrupt, power-hungry Sith, a war the Sith had seemingly won. With the Empire under his rule, Palpatine hunted the Jedi to near extinction, whether through his troops or his own personal agents. Among them, the highest ranking belonged to his handpicked spies and assassins, a group so inconspicuous that even its own members were unaware of each other’s existence: the Emperor’s Hand. And the deadliest of these Hands was a woman known only by a few in the Empire: Mara Jade.

Born on the planet Coruscant in 17 BBY, Mara was discovered by Palpatine at a young age and taken from her parents. Under his guidance Mara was trained in the ways of the Force and taught to be the perfect spy and assassin. She received training in CQC, infiltration, thievery, marksmanship, and many other skills, which she’d put to the test during her teenage years by officially being bestowed the title of Emperor’s Hand. Though many in the Empire believed her to be nothing more than a dancer or one of Palpatine’s many concubines, Mara’s true career lied in exposing traitors, assassinating enemies, and maintaining his hold over the bureaucracies. No matter the assignment, each mission was carried out flawlessly, but that would change when she was assigned to kill Luke Skywalker.

Following the death of the Emperor, Mara’s life was destroyed, everything she knew was lost. Too stubborn to let herself fall apart, she never gave up. Her mission would remain, going from an unfulfilled destiny to a voice screaming in her brain, endlessly: YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER. Whether an independent bounty hunter or second-in-command to the infamous yet honorable smuggler Talon Karrde, Mara never lost sight of her revenge. Within Karrde’s organization, Mara would have her loyalties to past and present tested with the return of the formerly exiled Grand Admiral Thrawn and his plan to destroy the New Republic in its infancy with a single master stroke. Said stroke involved the rogue Jedi, Joruus C’baoth, and his desire to have the last remaining Jedi as his apprentice(s). And then…Luke fell right into Karrde’s lap, without even knowing it.

Caught between the heir to the empire, the man who killed his predecessor, and her potential new lease on life, Mara took her shot, only to end up stranded and powerless with the one person she was meant to kill. Mara and Luke became allies to survive the dangers of a secret planet, save one another from C’baoth’s wrath, and do what they could to thwart the dark force rising under Thrawn’s control. With Luke’s sister Leia pregnant with two Force-sensitive children, Mara found herself protecting the Skywalker/Organa/Solo family despite herself, and using her knowledge to expose Thrawn’s secrets. As Thrawn attempted his master stroke in space, C’baoth was still to be dealt with, which Mara and Luke faced together. Between creatures that defuse the Force, the mad power of a Dark Jedi’s psychotic clone, and the clone of her mortal enemy, Mara stood her ground, aiding Luke when he needed it the most. In killing the clone of her sworn enemy, the last command of Sheev Palpatine was no more. Mara was finally free.

Spending the next decade working with Karrde or following her own interests, Mara remained an ally of Luke’s, since she no longer wanted to kill him. Against uprisings here, superweapons there, the odd interaction with Luke’s failed romantic pursuits somewhere along the line…until one day it seemed that Thrawn, killed in his moment of triumph, had returned. Meeting with Luke and sharing all she knew, the two set out in pursuit of a powerful weapon only known as the Hand of Thrawn. Not wanting her past mistakes or anything else the Emperor’s would-be successor had done to hurt anyone any longer, Mara took initiative and placed herself on Luke’s mission.

Realizing it or not, the two had grown closer to one another, to the point where even being stranded and injured only led to them realizing it more. With a little Jedi training from Luke and persistence from Mara, the Hand of Thrawn was discovered: a new Empire, one of Thrawn’s loyalists and own kind, which she was welcomed to be a part of. Considering the offer, Mara declined, deciding that her destiny was with Luke, the man she… loved? From the primal destiny of killing him from ruining her life, Mara’s life had so changed to the point where he was now the man she wished to marry. The spectre of her past was gone…the vision of her future was as wife to the master of the New Jedi Order.

Unfortunately, these times of peace would come to an end with the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong, a species from outside the galaxy that was seemingly cut off from the Force. During the start of the Yuuzhan Vong war, Mara would end up among the many infected by the coomb spore. This bio-engineered pathogen killed many of its victims within days, some within weeks, but through the power of the Force, Mara persevered for two years even while pregnant!

Despite her stubborn insistence that she could handle the infection on her own, as childbirth drew closer, the disease became stronger than ever. With her body on the verge of dying, Mara combined her strength with Luke’s and her child‘s, using it to fully purge the virus from her system and give birth to a son named Ben. While she initially tried to minimize her role in the war to protect her son, Mara was soon left with no other choice but to join the front lines. She battled the Vong’s forces, aided the Jedi against the Sith cyborg Lord Nyax, and eventually tracked down and defeated Nom Anor, the Vong heretic responsible for her infection.

Following the war’s end, Mara would become more involved in the Jedi Order as one of its more prominent members, yet at the same time struggled with raising Ben. Thanks to the constant deaths and traumas of war he’d witnessed from infancy, Ben had lost any sense of childhood innocence and developed a habit of removing himself from the Force, something that left Mara troubled and saddened but unable to fix. Fortunately, her nephew Jacen Solo would help mend Ben’s relationship with the Force by taking the young Skywalker on as his student, allowing him to slowly move past his traumas. Mara would begin bonding with Jacen as a show of thanks, but this growing relationship would color her perception, leaving her blind to a change she never could’ve expected.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the Order, Jacen was having an internal struggle. Plagued by visions of the galaxy on fire and the discovery of an illegitimate daughter, he became desperate to save the galaxy from this approaching threat and ensure no child would have to experience the horrors of war like he had. This desperation would be discovered by Lumiya, a former Emperor’s Hand and old enemy of both Luke and Mara. Sensing his potential, Lumiya gradually coerced Jacen from the shadows, tempting him into joining the dark side and sculpting him to become a greater leader than even Palpatine.

By the time the Jedi discovered this, it was too late. Having used his experience and natural charisma as a war hero, Jacen had captivated the public by appearing as a rising politician and beloved military commander, all the while growing stronger in the dark side of the Force.

Hoping to prevent the rise of another Empire, Mara confronted Jacen and tried to dissuade him, but upon realizing he was too far gone, she took matters into her own hands. After crashing both of their ships Mara lured him into a cave and ambushed him, engaging in a savage brawl that pushed both of them to their limits. But right as she was about to kill him, Jacen used Mara’s love for her son to distract her with an illusion of Ben, and in her moment of hesitation, stabbed her with a poison dart. With her body convulsing and utterly paralyzed, Mara experienced a slow, painful death, her last thoughts being of Ben.

Though her physical body may have died, Mara’s presence remained after her spirit became one with the Force. Using her limited connection to the living, she was able to comfort her grieving husband and son while also giving them clues to uncover her murderer, planting the seeds for Jacen’s rising Empire to prematurely fall. While she may not have succeeded in her final mission, Mara’s reputation would be passed down through generations, and she- like her husband- would go down in history as one of the greatest Jedi Knights of her time.

Personality

To those who don’t know her, Mara comes off as cold and fierce. Few people are allowed past her emotional walls, and she’s allowed even fewer to love her, with the Official Star Wars Fact File 57 describing her as “self-assured and independent of spirit.” Fact File 139 says she’s “a natural cynic and skeptic” and “quick to anger.” She's usually the first to cut to the heart of the matter, and her instincts remain steady even in situations where the smallest decisions carry unpredictable ramifications.

According to her creator, Timothy Zahn, Mara has an emotional side and an intellectual side where despite wanting to do things emotionally she recognizes they aren’t things she can do, and that the more reasonable course is to put her emotions aside and do what has to be done.

She considers herself a fighter and craves challenges, finding leisure boring. She’s also surprisingly kinky.

She's utilitarian, gaining more empathy after her time with Luke but otherwise only sparing people initially because of her own survival needs or finding use in what they can offer, like with the Hand of Judgment and her initial reaction to the Hand of Thrawn.

After becoming a Jedi Knight she also began sparing enemies if she incapacitated them beforehand, even if they betrayed the Jedi order.

She doesn't like being told what to do. She also doesn't exactly consider herself a 'pretty face', if anyone else finds her that way, that's their problem. And she can get annoyed fairly quickly.

Her expression usually has a look of edginess or dark humor, effectively making her a foil to Luke’s attempts to balm a situation with wisdom rather than cynicism.

In her later years Mara lost some of the edge she once had and began wanting to focus on her family over galactic problems, making her more like Luke… not that she’d ever admit it.

Experience

According to many sources, Mara was trained by Palpatine himself (Allegiance, The Last Command, The Last Command Sourcebook, "Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade," Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand #3, Mysteries of the Sith manual, InQuest Gamer 50, New Jedi Order: Balance Point, You Make The Card - Mara Jade, Star Wars Insider 91, The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, and these trading cards). While some of these describe her as being trained from childhood, Mara‘a personal recollection states she was trained from infancy. Regardless of when she began, this training consisted of Palpatine teaching lightsaber combat and Force abilities, his protectors teaching hand-to-hand combat and marksmanship, professional thieves teaching her how to steal, learning political intrigue from Palpatine’s advisors, infiltration techniques from his spymasters, and how to move and fight in zero gravity.

With all these skills, Mara served as a spy, infiltrator, and assassin, performing dozens of successful missions for the Emperor. She exposed traitors, assassinated his enemies, and helped him maintain control over the bureaucracies he controlled. She became an expert combatant, spy, and assassin, and an excellent blade duelist. Despite only being a teenager she carried out Palpatine’s missions without failure, and by the time she was 14 she learned the most silent and efficient ways to kill Palpatine’s enemies. She’d go on to be a redoubtable and resourceful young woman in her late teens, was assigned to spy on Bail Organa, and killed so many people she eventually lost count.

Her time as the Emperor’s Hand has also led to her having a ton of accolades. She’s considered one of his most capable spies and the perfect spy. She’s been called a highly skilled assassin and operative, an elite agent and assassin, Palpatine’s deadliest assassin and agent, his top assassin, and even the best assassin of her day.

She’s skilled in the use of multiple weapons, including lightsabers, blasters, whips, vibro weapons, rifles, heavy weapons, and simple weapons. She can even dual wield two blades at once or her lightsaber and blaster.

In Luke’s Jedi academy she learned how to use her Jedi powers in a few days and fought enemies like Sith temple statues animated from her own Force energy, a dark copy of herself, and a corrupted Kyle Katarn. During her participation in the Yuuzhan Vong war she fought and killed multiple Yuuzhan Vong warriors, including the false prophet Nom Anor, and aided Luke and Tahiri against the giant cyborg Lord Nyax.

During the Dark Nest Crisis, she was able to defeat a Gorog assassin and multiple Gorogs and Kiliks alike.

She’s defeated the dark Jedi Alema Rar, battled the Dark Lady Lumiya on two occasions, nearly killing her the second time; and did the same against a dark side Jacen Solo. There is a slight asterisk with Jacen since she had to deliberately lure him to a narrow tunnel to limit his ability to fight, and Star Wars Insider 107 says this was because she knew Jacen would triumph in a regular duel. However, even after her death Jacen still acknowledged she would’ve killed him and he was still terrified just recapping it.

She’s also fairly intelligent, having studied psychology, gathered intel on Jedi that survived Order 66, run tests on the Empire’s cells to ensure they couldn’t be escaped, and tricked Darth Vader by exploiting her surroundings as the Emperor’s Hand. During the Yuuzhan Vong war she was able to identify a disguised Yuuzhan Vong based on how he doesn’t appear in the Force, the Vong’s nervous system and why they can’t be stunned, and developed a biotoxin drill to counter amphistaff poison. She could crack Thrackan Solo’s security in three minutes, and even gave yearly seminars teaching young Jedi how to track their quarries through the galaxy’s data banks.

Arsenal

Combat Suit

A skintight, black combat suit equipped with a weapons belt, a BlasTech K-14 blaster, knives hidden in her boots, detachable sleeves, a cloak for added protection, a hip holster for her blaster, and a belt for her lightsaber.

Lightsaber

A blade of pure energy capable of cutting through most materials. While it radiates no heat, the lightsaber is capable of melting through metals, deflecting blaster bolts, evaporating liquids, and illuminating dark areas. Contact with the blade will short circuit any droid, and it still functions perfectly underwater. Lightsabers appear weightless to most outsiders, but their plasma blade creates a strong gyroscopic effect that requires a lifetime to master.

Throughout her years as the Emperor’s Hand and a Jedi, Mara has wielded many lightsabers. These include her original magenta lightsaber as the Emperor’s Hand, a green lightsaber in “Mara Jade: A Night on the Town,” and a violet one during her time under Kyle Katarn, but her most consistent was the blue lightsaber given to her by Luke. Originally belonging to Anakin Skywalker, Mara used this throughout her career as a Jedi Knight all the way up to her death at the hands of Jacen Solo.

Shoto Saber

A half-length lightsaber made to defend against Lumiya’s lightwhip. She used this while fighting Alema and during her final battle with Jacen.

Vibroblade

A fifteen centimeter knife with small ultrasonic generators that produce thousands of microscopic vibrations per second along the blade's edge, allowing it to easily cut through duraplast, ceramic armor, and metal alloys. Even a glancing blow from this blade is capable of amputating a limb or inflicting serious injuries. Mara dual wielded one of these with her shoto while fighting Jacen. According to her, it was the best the Empire could buy.

BlasTech DL-44 Pistol

A powerful sidearm that shoots a concentrated beam of high-energy particles capable of burning through advanced alloys and irreparably damaging organic flesh. It has a maximum range of 50 meters (164 ft) and can fire up to four shots at once. While the blaster can overheat from rapidfire uses, Mara does not tend to rely on it as her primary weapon, let alone rapid firing.

Sleeve Blaster

A tiny blaster hidden in her left sleeve, which she’s made occasional use out of.

E-11 Medium Blaster Rifle

Also called the Stormtrooper Rifle, it’s a heavier form of blaster with an equippable E-11 electroscope crosshair that enhances the speed and accuracy of its shots, potentially resulting in increased damage. It’s also capable of being used in close quarters combat one-handed.

Bowcaster

A heavier form of blaster that can fire a lethal spray of five bolts at once. It’s particularly useful in close quarters.

Imperial Repeater Rifle

A standard spread-shot blaster rifle used by Imperial troops. Can fire three shots at once, either as a single burst or as a triple burst spread.

Rail Detonator/Seeker Rail Detonator

The rail detonator fires explosives that either detonate on impact or stick to any surface/enemy, while the seeker rail detonator is a homing missile that travels to nearby targets.

Auto Sequencers

Explosives that can be timed or proximity based. There’s also a manual variant that can detonate at the press of a button.

Concussion Rifle

Fires compressed bullets of ionized air that explode into shockwaves. It can be fired as a single shot or in a shotgun-like spray.

Carbonite Gun

Fires a spray of carbonite that freezes enemies in seconds. The freezing is only temporary, but Mara can smash them to pieces with the butt of her gun, her lightsaber, or by elbowing it.

Flechette Launcher

A tube-shaped gun that fires canisters and small missiles which explode into hundreds of high velocity, razor sharp flechettes. It possesses a maximum range of 100 meters (328 ft) and the stopping power of a blaster.

Its laser tracking system "paints" the target with an electronic homing signature, allowing the cartridges to follow the target's movements while in flight. Once the cartridge is within three meters of them, it explodes, releasing dozens of tiny flechette darts strong enough to puncture blast vests, ceramic armor, and even stormtroopers’ plasteel armor plate. And since the flechettes spread over a two-meter diameter, even a "near miss" can severely injure the target.

While she never used it on screen, Mara gathered it as one of the many weapons she planned to use against Lumiya.

Datapad

A handheld computer used for organizing information, writing, processing data, and reviewing recordings. Mara used it prior to her fight with Jacen to look up charts and surveys of her surroundings so she could find monuments and tunnels to box him in.

Electrobinoculars

A pair of electrobinoculars that have audio capabilities to let her eavesdrop on conversations. It has up to 500x magnification, can operate in full daylight or near darkness, and reach targets up to 600 km (372 ft) away.

Syntherope

A canister filled with at least 50 meters of quick drying liquid rope.

Stokhli Spray Stick

A canister of liquid that shoots a 200 meter paralyzing mist which can create climbable surfaces or a spray-net that even lightsabers have trouble cutting through. Useful for immobilizing enemies or scaling walls.

Vonduun Crab Armor

While by no means standard equipment, Mara wore this briefly during the Yuuzhan Vong war. The “armor” is actually a living creature called the vonduun crab, a bioengineered lifeform designed to wrap around Yuuzhan Vong for protection. Its hide is composed of an intricately structured crystal that’s further hardened by the protective field generated by the crab’s power glands. As a result, it’s capable of deflecting or tanking blaster bolts, resisting most melee weapons, and stopping a lightsaber or the atomic diameter of an amphistaff.

Additionally, the vonduun crab’s spear-like legs can be used to impale or gore enemies in close quarters, and it secretes a special antiseptic to cleanse any wounds suffered by it or its wearer.

Though this might sound useful, vonduun crab armor is specifically tailored to the Yuuzhan Vong, so if another species tries to wear it, the crab will attempt to kill them. It’s also relatively soft on the inside and can be killed by targeting its nervous system.

Misc. Tools

Ships & Vehicles

Landspeeder

Used while traveling to Praysh's mansion.

Z-95 Headhunter

A common, legendarily durable starfighter equipped with laser cannons and concussion missiles. It was later modified by Kyp Durron to have a center-mounted ion cannon and its triple blasters hardwired for dual firing, and further modifications gave it a hyperdrive, allowing it to travel at faster than light speeds.

Jade Shadow

After her previous ship, the Jade Sabre, was destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong, Mara was gifted this as a replacement by Lando Calrissian. This Horizon-class luxury yacht can reach up to 1000 km/h (621 mph) and is outfitted with enhanced shielding systems, retractable laser cannons, proton torpedoes, a hyperdrive, a tractor beam, and a stronger, stealth-based, Force-guided variant of the proton torpedoes called shadow bombs.

Its interior consists of five staterooms, a passenger bay, a galley, a medbay, and a common area that leads to a corridor connected to the bridge and common room. An airlock hatch with a dummy door is located on the port side. While it doesn’t have a prison cell, its medbay has decent restraints and medical supplies to create an impromptu prison.

While it’s unknown if it has the exact same specifications, Mara’s first ship, the Jade’s Fire, had a beckon call feature that she could use to summon it to her location at any time.

Skills

Dancing

As one would expect from someone with a dancer’s figure, Mara is a skilled dancer, having displayed it during her time undercover in the Imperial court and Jabba’s Palace.

Stealth

Thanks to her training from Palpatine’s spymasters, Mara has shown off a wide range of skills when it comes to infiltration and stealth. She’s noted to have an uncanny knack for slipping away unnoticed, remained hidden on a ship for 4 days without being seen, snuck on a ship and monitored security from afar, can eavesdrop on conversations from the shadows or underneath vehicles, pick locks, sneak up on the gargantuan cyborg Lord Nyax and the Yuuzhan Vong without being detected.

She’s regularly donned disguises both during her time as the emperor’s Hand and long after her service ended. These disguises include:

Countess Claria to infiltrate a party and investigate corruption
Palpatine’s court dancer Lianna
A high-ranking Imperial officer to gain information
Litassa Colay, Director of Offworld Special Events, to intercept guards and lead them into a trap, and an informant named Arica Pradeux
A dancer named Arica to go undercover and assassinate Luke
A hunchback to sneak past security
A waitress named Chiara Lorn
Baroness Paltonae, the representative of a company specializing in devices to cheat at gambling
A helpless messenger/slave girl to infiltrate Chay Praysh’s mansion
A hooded cloak, trunked mask, and goggles
Baroness Muehling of Kuat to extract information from a Duros and hack into Bburru's communications bureau

Thanks to her Force abilities, her stealth is particularly deadly. By combining her robes with Force Bubbles, she becomes nearly invisible, unable to be detected by pressure sensors or the air around her. Even her body heat becomes undetectable, to the point where she doesn’t even sweat!

Martial Arts

While she hasn’t shown it often, Mara has a mastery of martial arts thanks to her training from Palpatine’s protectors alongside the Imperial Royal Guard. She’s used them to fight off a group of Duros gunmen, dominated Nom Anor in hand to hand combat, and briefly trained Jaina Solo in them.

Marksmanship

Like with her martial arts abilities, Palpatine’s protectors trained Mara to have an expert marksmanship with both hold-out and full blasters. It’s also possible to enhance her accuracy using the Force.

Piloting

Mara is an accomplished starship pilot who claims she can fly anything. As the Emperor’s Hand she was trained with a basic overview of starship operations mainly focused on military craft.

It’s said that her piloting skills would be an even match for a Chiss squadron.

Strategy

Mara is extremely skilled when it comes to the art of strategy, able to instantly adapt to unusual or unexpected situations. She was trained by Palpatine in a form of layered thinking where she leaves behind trails or diversions her target thinks are trails to trick them.

She’s a skilled manipulator, having tricked two men who’ve known each other for years into distrusting each other.

Her creator, Timothy Zahn, has said that Mara has an alertness and awareness that ensures she’s always two or three steps ahead.

Whenever she starts investigating something, Mara enters a mindset called “sniper mode,” “a calm and rational state close to transcendence” where she reverts back to her Imperial assassin training by focusing only on assessing and planning.

If an opponent feels superior to her in even the smallest way, she’ll nurture it to exploit their overconfidence. She’ll even deliberately leave openings in her stance to bait enemies into getting closer before beating them into submission.

She’s caused distractions using the Force and chemicals, hid her lightsaber in a bust and used it to kill a target, deliberately crashed her ship to destroy a fortress, destroyed a droideka from inside its shield using the lightsaber of a dead Jedi, and relied on speed and precision to kill a Yuuzhan Vong after realizing she couldn’t use the Force on him.

But her best uses of strategy come from her fight with Jacen. She started the fight by ripping the tendons in his leg right off the bat, then goaded him into entering traps and enclosed areas to prevent him from using his full Force abilities.

She’s somewhat ingenious when it comes to using everyday objects, like turning a jacket into a makeshift version of her combat outfit.

Medical Knowledge

Knows how to mend a fractured arm.

Hacking

Distracted a group of rebels by hacking their camera feed to make them think they were being attacked. She’s also managed to disable a safe’s sophisticated alarms, disarmed a boobietrapped datapad, and bypassed security systems and sensors using older technology, frequencies, and relays they’d never spot.

Mechanics

Among the many engineering talents taught to her by Palpatine, Mara knows the Paparak cross-cut, which is designed to weaken a stressed wall in such a way that it holds together long enough for the saboteur to safely escape before it collapses. Her profiles in the RPG handbook describe her as having skills in programming and repairing computers and droids, and the ability ro repair repulsorlifts and starships.

Ataru

Of the seven lightsaber styles that exist, Mara is noted to use Form IV: Ataru. This is an acrobatic style that requires a constant use of offense and relies on a Jedi’s ability to run, jump, and spin using the Force. As such, it’s best practiced by Jedi who rely on enhancing their speed and agility through the Force. But even with this in mind, Form IV should only be used in short, devastating bursts or the user will risk becoming exhausted.

Niman

While never officially acknowledged by any guides or sourcebooks, Mara’s use of dual blades against Alema and Jacen suggests she has training in the art of Jar’Kai, which is founded on the use of Form VI: Niman. Niman draws on all of the other lightsaber styles to create a hybrid style that encourages integrating Force powers with swordplay.

Powers

Force Sensitivity

The ability to use the Force, an energy field that permeates everything in the galaxy. The Force flows through all beings, whether they’re aware or it or not. Those who are sensitive to the Force can freely manipulate this energy field, which is split into a light and dark side.

The light side of the Force embodies peace, love, tranquility, and life, and is obtained through meditation and thought with the intent of doing good and preventing evil. The dark side is the opposite, embodying death, destruction, and anger. To use it, a Force user must give into their own selfish desires or fall victim to anger and fear.

Strangely enough, despite being trained by one of the most powerful dark side users, Mara’s never turned to it or used it even while under Palpatine, though this is contradicted by one-off lines from an earlier sourcebook and a later author. Regardless, she can use Force abilities related to both the light and dark sides.

Force Control

The ability to control one’s inner Force, letting you maintain control over your hunger, thirst, pain, and exhaustion. This allows you to enhance your immune system against diseases and poisons, accelerate your healing abilities, heighten your alertness, and enter a hibernation trance. With enough mastery, a Jedi can even slow their bodily processes to live for up to 200 years.

Of the RPG exclusive abilities she doesn’t show in other media, Mara possesses the following according to various official sourcebooks:

Accelerate Healing: Mara accelerates her body’s natural healing processes
Control Pain: Mara powers through the pain of any injuries she has
Emptiness: Mara empties her mind to let the Force flow through her, putting her in a deep meditation that leaves her oblivious to her surroundings. During this time she’s left immobile and hard to detect or feel in the Force. Upon coming out of Emptiness, her Force abilities are enhanced equal to the time spent in it
Remain Conscious: Lets Mara remain conscious even after suffering injuries that should knock her out

Force Sense

One of the most basic Force powers. Mara can feel the ebb and flow of the Force to gather information on her surroundings, see in total darkness and past barriers, sense emotions, enhance her awareness and reflexes to detect oncoming danger, magnify her senses to see past the range of macrobinoculars, “hear” a person’s thoughts, sense ambient Force energy, or discover how diseased or injured something is. For Mara specifically, she can use this to tell if someone’s lying or sense dark side energy on another person's clothes.

Advice she’s given to other Jedi implies she could use the Force to locate a partially blocked artery in the brain and pinch it off with telekinesis to incapacitate anyone she doesn't like. Other Jedi like Luke have used the Force to perceive concealed weapons.

Force Alter

Mara can use this to move objects with the Force, help others control their own Force, change the perception of others or plant a suggestion in their minds to trick them, and spread the abilities of Force Control to others.

Force Sight

This ability can be used to see in the dark or make walls invisible, allowing the user to find hidden enemies or weapons. It can also see those under Force Persuasion and protect the user from Force Blinding.

Force Hearing

Lets Mara hear other people’s breathing and ensure attackers are dead.

Sensory Enhancement Techniques

In addition to being able to sense emotions through the Force, Mara’s been trained in sensory enhancement techniques that let her detect poison or flammable gas.

Sense Deadening Techniques

Mara can deaden her senses to pass through sense-based lie detection or suppress the pain using the Force.

Precognition/Danger Sense

Also referred to as Farsight, Mara can clear her mind to receive visions from the Force, letting her see events that will happen in the future, including possible deaths she could suffer.

She also has a “danger sense,” where she extends her senses around the area to act as an early warning system for oncoming danger. This lets her detect attacks, the deaths of others, or the arrival of suspicious people before they happen.

Her danger sense is better than Luke’s.

Telepathy

Mara can sense “every nuance of thought and emotion” during an interrogation and communicated telepathically with Palpatine during her time as the Emperor’s Hand. She’s used this to see past Leia’s disguise in Jabba’s palace and determine if someone’s lying to her. Additionally, she possesses projective telepathy that lets her communicate with others and make them feel her emotions.

She has several ways to soothe, confuse, or incapacitate by affecting minds with the Force, though this will fail if the target is too alert. She can also “jab” into an opponent’s mind to incapacitate them near-instantly.

Mind Tricks

By gesturing with her hand and putting the Force into her voice, Mara can alter a person’s perception and memories or get them to change their minds. She’s used this to make a guard release her from a cell and convince two joggers they didn't see a fight.

Mara also possesses other variants of the mind trick such as Force Persuasion, which tricks those around her into thinking she’s invisible, and Force Corrupt, which brainwashes enemies into joining her for the rest of the battle.

Battle Meld

The ability to let Force sensitives join their minds together, letting them lend strength and sense the emotions of others as though they were their own. Mara has created a battle meld with Luke, giving them a mental and emotional bond they can use to send each other strength or refresh each other. This bond runs so deep she gained knowledge of his hopes, fears, successes, failures, strengths, and weaknesses, and could “see to the very core of his being.” There are even times where they’re so in-sync they seem to fight, think, and even breathe as one.

In the presence of enough Jedi, their existing battle meld is magnified to the point that Luke and Mara can hear each other’s subconscious thoughts.

Aside from aiding allies, Battle Melds can also be used on enemies, leaving them seized by confusion and fear.

Telekinetic Kill

Mara exerts her control over the Force to injure or kill her target. The exact method depends on what she desires, but known executions include stirring the brain, squeezing the heart, or collapsing the trachea.

Saber Throw

Mara throws her lightsaber into the air and uses the Force to guide it.

Detoxify Poison

Mara can force her body to eject poisons before they can take effect. Even if they do take effect she can call white blood cells to the affected area and fight them off.

Force Injure

Also called Injure/Kill, this is an ability normally used by Sith. Mara can use this to alter a target’s body, mortally wounding or killing them instantly. This can be applied via touch or done from a distance.

Inflict Pain

Mara causes a target to experience a great agony that prevents them from acting.

Force Push

Mara creates a concussive wave of telekinesis to knock enemies or obstacles back. She used this to slow Lumiya’s lightwhip to let her dodge it, and can use it to push enemies into dangerous situations or off cliffs.

Force Pull

Mara uses the Force to telekinetically drag an object to her. She can use this to disarm her enemies, drag them closer, or reach items that are out of the way.

Force Jump

The ability to jump unnaturally high. Mara can Force Jump up to five meters across, scale up buildings, and use it to escape Force Grip.

Force Speed

Also called Burst of Speed, Mara can traverse her surroundings at a quicker pace and become harder to hit. Though this comes at the cost of draining her energy and metabolism with prolonged use.

Force Choke

Also called Force Grip, this telekinetic choke can hoist others into the air and close off their trachea for a quick death, though the victim can escape by subjecting the user to Force Blindness.

Force Absorb

Also called tutaminis, Mara absorbs an enemy’s projectiles and attacks to heal and empower herself. This can be used on light, heat, radiation, blaster bolts, and even Force Lightning. Mysteries of the Sith also depicts it working on attacks like Force Destruction and Force Grip… somehow.

Force Heal/Healing Trances

Mara’s been taught a dozen Force techniques for self-healing, though none of them work on other people. These include a Force healing trance that can completely heal burns and scrapes at the cost of leaving her hungry and thirsty, or a hibernation trance where her heartbeat slows, her breathing drops to the point of being imperceptible, and she falls unconscious, causing her to appear dead to the outside world. Hibernation trances can be used when food or air is low, and the trance can last up to a week in dry climates and a month in wet climates.

Her healing abilities are potent enough to rebuild damage from coomb spores by cutting off the blood flow to diseased cells and destroying them. It’s also been implied Jedi can use healing trances to cure themselves of a venom that causes permanent paralysis.

Force Barrier

Also called Force Protection, this temporarily creates a rotating Force barrier around Mara, shielding her from both physical and Force attacks.

Force Bubble

A defensive ability where Mara creates a giant sphere of Force energy to protect herself from harm, including rocks or acid. With the help of another Force user she can increase its height to throw off hundreds of boulders.

She can also combine this with her stealth training to make it so her body doesn’t set off any pressure sensors and contain her own body heat so she doesn’t sweat.

Doppelganger

Also called Force Projection, this distracts enemies by creating a lifelike decoy that’s virtually indistinguishable from the real deal. It lasts longer depending on how many experience points are put into the power.

Force Blindness

The user creates a flash of Force energy that overwhelms the optic nerves, rendering those around them momentarily blind. However, if they aren’t careful, the victims can still track their movements by listening to them.

Force Destruction

A destructive blast of Force energy that can be used to push enemies off cliffs or into walls.

Force Lightning

Mara can convert her Force energy into Force Lightning, creating a wide blast of electric forks that are nearly impossible to deflect and send surges of pain through the target’s internal organs. Those caught by the Force Lightning are subjected to excruciating pain as their life energy is siphoned from their body, which will eventually kill them. Sustained exposure has been noted to roast flesh, calcify the skeleton, and stop the heart.

She also possesses a variant known as Chain Lightning, where the lightning arcs toward up to four targets.

Deadly Sight

One of the few Force abilities forbidden by the Jedi Council, Mara harnesses her fury and hatred through an intense glare toward her enemies. This rare ability can blister skin, vaporize limbs, and quickly kill its victims.

Force Paralysis

By simply flicking a finger, Mara can leave a target unable to move.

Sever Force

As part of her preparation for fighting Jacen Solo, Mara had Ben teach her how to completely cut herself off from the Force, letting her do so for up to two minutes. With this she can freely dip in and out of the Force, and it gets easier by the minute.

Force Ghost

Upon dying, Mara’s body sublimates its organic cells into pure energy, becoming one with the Force and letting her manifest as an intangible spirit. She used this to give Ben clues on her murder and appear to Luke in his sleep.

Galaxy of Heroes abilities

In the game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Mara has several unique skills she can use during combat:

Calculated Shot inflicts Daze for two turns
Ultimate Predator removes enemy buffs and inflicts Stun and Vulnerable for one turn. It deals Special damage and inflicts Tenacity Down on a target for one turn. The damage of this move is doubled against Shocked enemies and Jedi
Infiltrate and Disrupt damages all enemies and inflicts Offense Down, Shock, and Stagger for 2 turns. Mara Jade gains Stealth for 2 turns and 1.25% Turn Meter for each debuff that’s inflicted
The Emperor’s Hand gives +20% Offense and Potency for the entire team when Palpatine’s the party. If Palpatine isn’t the leader, other Dark Side allies gain Useful Pawn until the end of the encounter, which can't be copied or dispelled. Mara has +10% Critical Chance, Critical Damage, and Offense for each ally with Useful Pawn. At the start of Mara's turns, she gains a stack of Loyal Hand (max 20 stacks) until the end of the encounter
Useful Pawn: -5% Critical Chance, Critical Damage, and Offense
Loyal Hand: +10% Max Protection and Offense

Resistances

The Dark Side of the Force:

Because Mara never turned to the dark side or even used it under Palpatine’s training, she can easily resist its effects.

Fear Manipulation:

Her profile in the Jedi Academy Training Manual states that Mara is immune to abilities that induce fear.

Mental Manipulation:

When Lord Nyax attempted to brainwash her and Luke into killing Tahiri, Mara was able to resist his commands using logic and cold calculations. This is notable since Nyax was able to briefly overpower Luke’s mental defenses.

Mara was also trained to resist Alema’s memory manipulation, which is so potent that her Force presence robs others of any memories she was there.

Diseases and Cellular and Molecular Manipulation:

During the events of New Jedi Order, Mara spent most of the series using the Force to resist the effects of the coomb spore, a Yuuzhan Vong disease that alters the cellular and molecular structure to the point of breaking down the molecules. This disease killed targets within days or weeks, yet Mara persisted for two years before she was eventually cured with help from Luke and Ben.

Paralysis Inducement:

Mara is listed in multiple sourcebooks as having Resist Stun, which lets her resist the ability to induce paralysis in a target. She used this during her battle with Jacen to resist and deflect him jolting her spine to paralyze her with the Force.

Strength

When she began training as a Jedi Knight it was said that if Mara ever completes the training, she could become one of the most formidable Jedi in history. When she finally became a Jedi Knight, she was considered among the strongest of them
Shatters a stone triangle with a kick
Knocks out a criminal in two blows
Knocks out an officer with a chop to the neck and later does the same to a stormtrooper
Cuts through a door that couldn’t be blasted open
Slashes and impales members of the Black Nebula with her lightsaber
Defeats Lumiya
Kills Luuke
Fights and kills C’baoth
Severs a wampa’s arm
Duels several Sith statues
Holds her own against a dark side Kyle Katarn
Throws a large stone table
Slashes an Imperial assassin with her lightsaber and beats him, leaving him with a ruptured spleen, bruised liver, broken ribs, and fractured skull.
Cuts Yomin Carr’s legs and stabs him in the heart
Slices a Yuuzhan Vong across the stomach and decapitates him
Severs a Yuuzhan Vong’s leg, breaks his wrist with a heel kick, severs his other hand, and stabs him in the throat. She cuts another through the waist and stabs him in the chest
Cuts through a dozen falling boulders and holds back a cave in with a Force bubble
Hook kicks a Yuuzhan Vong
Stabs a Vong in the face, staggers him with a kick to the jaw, and forces him into a defensive position. Then she stabs through his right arm socket, shears it off, and stabs him in the face
Pulls Gorog to the ground, snaps one of her legs with an elbow strike, does the same to one of her joints, then Force pulls a table into her and dents Gorog’s head
Force pushes an entire wall of Killiks
Cuts through a riflewoman’s gun barrel, severs her hand, and decapitates her
Cuts a gunman from shoulder blade to stomach
Beat up a dark side Force illusion of Ben that was connected to the real Ben
Stabs Lumiya in the chest
Sears Jacen’s cheekbone, cuts him from jaw to hairline, plunges her shoto saber under his collarbone, and stabs him in the chest with her dwindling strength
A week after her death, Luke tells Jacen that if Mara were still here and learned Jacen was sending Ben to carry out assassinations, there’d be pieces of him scattered along the Hydian Way
Even after her death, Jacen is still scared of Mara, admitting she nearly killed him and he was only able to stop her because of the poison darts

Speed

Spins 30 degrees to block a blaster bolt

Blaster fire in Star Wars has multiple statements of being lightspeed

Durability

Scaling

Luke Skywalker

Mara and her husband have regularly fought alongside each other, each contributing their fair share in watching each other’s backs and assisting them. Official sources have described her as being one half of a formidable fighting unit with Luke and his most powerful supporter and ally.

It should also be known that Mara killed Luuke Skywalker, a clone of Luke created by Thrawn and Joruus C’baoth (the double vowel is how clones used to be indicated a decade before Geoorge Lucas decided what the Clone Wars even were). Luuke had matched Luke blow for blow during their fight initially.

Additionally, Mara was able to directly challenge and nearly kill Lumiya, who in a previous fight pushed Luke to his limits so thoroughly he thought he wouldn’t be able to win and could barely dodge her attacks by the end of it. Both in-universe characters and statements from the author acknowledge Lumiya being a challenge, describing their fight as a standstill and pushing Luke to his limits. Even taking into account that Luke won his later fights with Lumiya, this would still mean Mara and Luke are on a similar level of power.

Defeated Emperor Palpatine, with the Official Star Wars Fact File stating Luke was too strong for him
A post Dark Empire Luke was too powerful in the Force for Exar Kun to battle
Kueller admits an injured Luke would still be a formidable opponent, and he only won their first fight because Luke was already injured, exhausted, and deliberately chose to stop fighting
Manipulated a dovin basal’s black hole with the Force, though it leaves him exhausted and he passes out (9.85 exatons)

The dovin basals are repeatedly described as creating black holes, which show properties of real black holes and are compared to or outright described as such by official guidebooks

A younger, inexperienced Luke blitzed and perceived the droid Guri in slow motion with his first use of Force Speed

Guri can process information and react within 6.1 picoseconds (28.44 - 546.8 c)

The Jedi Order

Mara has been hyped up by official sources as one of the most powerful Jedi of her day, with statements including that she’d become one of the most formidable Jedi in history if she completed her training, would’ve instantly become Luke’s best student if she stayed and trained, being considered among the strongest of the Jedi Knights, and being described as Luke’s most powerful supporter and ally. As such, she should reasonably scale to the feats from her fellow Order members, as well as members of the older Jedi Orders.

Gethel was capable of destroying planets, and its tentacles alone could damage the core of a world
After charging its core for a few minutes, Tyth had enough power to completely destroy lokath, a Dyson Sphere encompassing a small star (4.8 quettatons) (Star Level)

Misc. Sith and Darksiders

Seeing how she’s comparable to Luke, who physically overpowered the most powerful Sith Lord to ever exist in his earlier days, Mara should be at least on the same level as these lesser Sith Lords and Darksiders.

Darth Vader:

Kueller, an extremely talented student of Luke’s, possessed power comparable to Palpatine after leaving the academy
Exar Kun killed the Sith wyrm and destroyed parts of the Great Temple long before reaching the peak of his power, and a prime Kun was considered more powerful than any Jedi of his day, which would include Thon

The Great Temple is larger than the average Mannassi temple, which can withstand full powered turbolaser bombardment from a ship much more powerful than the Acclamator Assault Ship (200 gigatons)

Darth Nihilus lifted his ship, the Ravager, from Malachor V's orbit (21.98 gigatons) and held it together with the Force (1.49 - 2.65 gigatons)
Darth Vitiate wiped out all life on Ziost (16 - 21 teratons) and turned Dromund Kaas’ atmosphere into a giant electrical storm (91 - 728 teratons)
Darth Malak absorbed the Force energies that were refueling the Star Forge (52.1 exatons) and moved in tandem with the Star Forge’s light speed drain (15% the speed of light)
The Nightsister Charal exhausted the energies of the Sunstar, which could move moons (6.28 - 9.15 yottatons)
Jacen could predict actions in microseconds
Count Dooku could swing his lightsaber faster than light

Emperor Palpatine

Mara says twice in LOTF: Sacrifice that she could’ve stopped Palpatine and killed him, so clearly that means she upscales from every feat he’s ever done…

Okay, jokes aside, there actually are a few ways to argue for Mara scaling to Palpatine’s level of power. During Mysteries of the Sith, Mara fights Kyle on Dromund Kaas, which Kyle describes as “a greater source of power than I had ever known.” This would include the previous Jedi Knight game’s Valley of the Jedi, which was described by the developers as making a dark side Kyle a figure of almost Palpatine-like power. Given that Mara fought off a dark side Kyle in an area more powerful than that, she should at least downscale from Sheev’s feats.

You could also use the statements in the Jedi Order section to say she should be above Kueller, a former student said by both Luke and Mara herself to have power comparable to Palpatine.

Or you could use the fight with Lumiya to argue a scaling chain. Luke was well beyond the power he displayed during the Palpatine fight in Dark Empire, and since both he and Mara defeated Lumiya despite her nearly killing post DE Luke prior, it could be argued that Mara should be around that level of power.

Is stated multiple times to be the most powerful Sith Lord to ever exist, which would put him above the Sith and Darksiders listed prior
His dark side energies corrupted the planet Byss over time, completely enveloping it in the dark side and turning it into one of the most powerful dark side sites in the galaxy
According to Jedi Knight’s developers, the Valley of the Jedi gave a dark side Kyle “almost Palpatine-like power,” which means Palpatine would be above it in terms of raw Force power

The Valley of the Jedi allows users to create supernovas with a thought, destroy a star with a whisper, eradicate a solar system with a snap of a finger, or think a planet out of orbit

Blitzed and killed two Jedi Masters
Killed three Jedi Masters in 10 seconds
Matched the speed of Mace Windu for a time during battle
Unharmed by Galen Marek’s dying explosion (10 megatons)

Feats

Carried out numerous successful missions as the Emperor’s Hand
Was considered Palpatine’s top, deadliest assassin
Managed and manipulated many diplomatic situations as an Imperial envoy and spy, as well as a New Republic asset
Sparred with a (relatively) pissed-off Darth Vader at the age of 18, and lived
Became one of Talon Karrde’s top smugglers over the course of six months, eventually becoming his second in command
Fulfilled Palpatine’s final wishes (from a certain point of view) by killing Luuke Skywalker
Helped turn Kyle Katarn back to the light after he was corrupted by the dark side on Dromund Kaas
Became one of the leaders of the Smugglers’ Alliance alongside Lando Calrissian
Married Luke Skywalker
Worked with Luke to destroy a droideka
Solved the fifty-year mystery of Outbound Flight
Defeated Lumiya twice
Killed Dequc, Luuke Skywalker, Joruus C’baoth, and Yomin Carr
Nearly succeeded in killing Jacen Solo after he became a Sith
Gave Ben clues to her murder and encouraged Luke to keep living after becoming a Force Ghost
Ranked 20th in Star Wars Insider 38’s popularity poll, which was the highest ranking from a non-movie character and the only EU character to appear on the list

Weaknesses

Luke has noted that Mara has considerable pride, and she can oftentimes be overly stubborn, refusing to take help from others unless it’s absolutely necessary. She’s also been described as a perfectionist who can’t stand failure. This was very much seen in her early years, being an 18-year-old who could spar with Vader (still not letting that go) but she has matured since then. Still, even as an adult, her pride can get in the way of her priorities.

Lightsabers aren’t able to cut through everything. Materials like cortosis ore, ultrachrome, neuranium, phrik, beskar, and even the bones of certain aliens are resilient enough that lightsabers can’t cut through them (or can only do so with extreme difficulty).

While she can read minds most of the time, she won’t be able to if they’re too clouded by anger, hatred, and insanity, have control over their emotions, or have the mental resistance to shut her out. Her mind tricks have similar problems, as they only work on weak minds and can be resisted by stronger minds or certain species.

Her connection to the Force can be shut off by the ysalamiri, a species of reptillian alien that can cancel the Force for up to 10 meters and only grows stronger the more there are. Even without that, overusing the Force can have devastating effects on the body and potentially kill the user from overexertion.

Despite her ability to heal or force out poisons, this doesn’t make her immune. As shown from her death, a fast enough poison can paralyze or kill her before she can even hope to heal herself.

If she dies… being a Force Ghost doesn’t let her do much to a living opponent. The most she managed was holding Luke above the surface of a lake… which also could’ve just been from Luke’s own emotions and the natural surface tension. It's also unclear whether she’d be able to fight an opponent who’s also some kind of ghost.

Conclusion/Final Thoughts

This blog’s unique since it’s a two-in-one. It’s the first time I’ve researched a Star Wars character and the first extensive collab on a research blog. Thanks to Morkez Marihser for helping out with a lot of this.

No problem, Br3ndan! Happy to help.

For full transparency, my focus and experience comes down to the work of creator Timothy Zahn, especially as it comes to his more famous creation, Grand Admiral Thrawn. (I’m probably the local expert on him in VS, but don’t quote me on that. Yet.) It was still a lot of fun to work on his second-most-famous creation, and my job was to discuss early intentions and formative stories that led to what we know Mara as today.

Seeing through Br3ndan’s eyes where she ended up developing, up to her death which is basically the only thing Zahn protested (in the same way as he protested the death of Chewbacca) has been fascinating. Mara really bucks the trends of a lot of female characters of past and present, instead following the mold of Princess Leia where she’s neither a helpless damsel putting on a tough exterior, nor is she some pure-hearted “milady” with the occasional bite to her. She’s fierce, she’s snarky, she’s not ashamed of what she is, and she will never claim to be anyone’s victim or overcompensate as such. She’s pragmatic, even to a fault sometimes, which makes her all the more endearing and a great companion to Luke.

That’s not to say there’s nothing to criticize about her, even under Zahn’s pen. Her work as the Emperor’s Hand prior to the Battle of Endor has its ups and…well, ridiculous downs. (I will not let that Vader bit go.) And she did seem to be a bit flaky and overemotional when the writers weren’t sure what to do with her between the publishing of Last Command and the Hand of Thrawn duology. But after that, they seemed to have found a great role for her as a kickass wife, mother, aunt, in-law, and of course Jedi on par with her galaxy-saving husband. She has a unique style, if not necessarily technique, that gives her presence on the battlefield its own little flavor. It might be unconventional, but you know you’re in good hands if Mara’s on your side. And if you’re her enemy, things will at minimum be fascinating.

That’s all from me, I’ll let Br3ndan finish up with where things went later in life.

For most of this Star Wars content I was going in blind, so when I went into New Jedi Order I was completely thrown off by the 19 book length, but I decided to power through it anyway. It was intense seeing Mara spend the first seven books infected by a Yuuzhan Vong cancer that could kill her at any second, and throughout it she had some badass moments killing the Vong and plenty of drama revolving around whether or not she and her son would survive. The descriptions of her appearance and symptoms had me cringing from imagining it, and the scene of her finally breaking down and having to accept Luke’s help to get through childbirth was some powerful stuff.

Even in the later NJO books where some of them didn’t give Mara enough to do, she still had some good character writing, only rivaled by the Solo twins (aside from the travesty that was Dark Journey). I’d say these are some of the most consistent aspects of the later EU books. That and some really brutal fight scenes.

Dark Nest was a weird case because I don’t remember much about it. I can remember a lot about New Jedi Order and Legacy of the Force, but with Dark Nest I’m drawing a total blank. Even looking at my notes, I can’t come up with any thoughts on it or Mara’s contributions to the story. The only things that stick out are her using Force Paralysis, some good showings of pain tolerance, and setting up one of the more underrated character arcs in Jacen’s turn to the dark side.

And for her final set of stories, I’ll be blunt and say that Legacy of the Force is extremely underrated and not deserving of all the hate it gets. Mara’s writing is mostly solid and the series provides some impressive displays of her spy training and infiltration. The fight scenes with her are also some of the most brutal in the franchise, with that final fight with Jacen being insanely brutal and visceral. The underhanded strategies they both pull, the way Mara stabs and cuts Jacen’s tendons and face, both of them powering through stuff like getting getting cut on the scalp or being stabbed in the collarbone, having to resort to pulling and ripping out hair, and how insanely close it gets near the end.

But that’s not to say Mara’s story for this series was completely perfect. Even in the context of her being grateful to Jacen for helping Ben as a kid, she comes across as completely blind and overly defensive of Jacen whenever someone- including Luke- suggests that he could be going to the dark side. The ending of her duel with Jacen also feels a bit hackneyed. I always hate whenever someone freezes up after an opponent shapeshifts into a friend or loved one mid-fight, and it was still just as annoying and contrived here.

And while I thought Karen Traviss’ writing for Mara was surprisingly good, her need to shove the Mandalorians in all of her books was a massive detriment to their quality. Sacrifice was nowhere near as bad as Revelation, but like all of Traviss’ books, the Fett family subplots could be cut entirely and you would miss nothing.

Still, the fallout from Mara’s death was written extremely well, and the drama between the Skywalkers, Solos, and Jacen becoming Darth Caedus was a major highlight. It made me appreciate Jacen way more, and he might have one of the best written arcs I’ve seen in later EU material.

Credits

Luke Skywalker vs Saber G1 Prediction Blog and Bang’s Blogs: Revan vs Dark Urge for some of the calcs and links

Morkez Marihser for helping with research

Sharaku Jr for the Scaling images