Star Wars: The Emperor’s Most Deadly Agent– The Mara Jade Skywalker Breakdown
Assassin, smuggler, Jedi Master, and Emperor Palpatine’s hand, Mara Jade probably has the most impressive resume in the entire galaxy.
Mara Jade is easily one of the most popular Star Wars characters to not be considered part of Star Wars canon. Both friend and foe depending on the year, Jade is a character with one of the richest stories and character growth.
We’re still waiting for Disney to bring her back into the canon. But in the meantime, let’s breakdown Mara from Legends.
Who is Mara Jade?
From a very young age, Mara Jade was trained to be a personal assassin and servant to Emperor Palatine. With years of training and a connection to the force, she became one of the Empire’s highest level secret operatives.
This made her ideal for taking out enemies of the Empire both in the Rebellion and and within the Empire. Plus, being trained for her entire life for this exact job gave Mara Jade a cold, professional edge other other assassins.
When Emperor Palpatine died, Mara received his last command to kill Luke Skywalker. But she had no master, and the Empire she has built her entire covert life within was gone. So she decided to go down a slightly different career path.
Mara Jade joined Talon Karrde’s crew and became a smuggler. And, similar to her position as the Emperor’s Hand, she was Karrde’s second in command.
Unfortunately for Luke, he and Mara would be forced to work together as the ghost of Palpatine’s voice reminded her to “Kill Luke Skywalker!” repeatedly. They developed a tense respect for one another, and eventually Jade avoided killing Luke by instead striking down his clone, “Luuke”.
To this day, this loophole remains one of my favorite hilarious Star Wars moments. I was hoping that Rey would be a Luuke descendant, but alas.
After not killing Luke, Mara Jade continued working with Karrde. Proving herself to be a skilled pilot, mechanic, more than competent in a fight, and a force user to boot, it’s fair to say that Karrde was lucky to have her on his payroll.
Over the years, she would work with Skywalker from time to time and even trained at his Jedi academy. And of course, eventually the two fell in love and got married.
Mara Jade Skywalker
After marrying Luke, Mara Jade added “Skywalker” to her name and devoted herself to the New Jedi Order. From here, Mara’s relationship with the Force grew exponentially as she became a Jedi Master. When she was able, she took her niece, Jaina Solo, as an apprentice. Eventually Luke and Mara had a son of their own named Ben.
Unfortunately, Leia and Han’s children had a less than stellar falling-to-the-dark-side ratio. Mara Jade found herself battling her nephew, Jacen, who had become a Sith. Mara Jade fell to Jacen, but has a legacy that lives on both within the galaxy and the real world.
Are you hoping Disney will bring Mara Jade back into canon? How would you like to see her characterization and story worked into the current canon? Which Legends book that Mara appears in is your favorite? Let us now in the comments!
May The Force Be With You, Adventurers!
