Characters Mara Jade Skywalker Character Discussion * NEW - Quote Challenge! *

It would be nice to see "Arica" in ROTJ. Talk about a Mara Fangirl's dream come true.

*sighs longingly* I watch, and rewatch all the scenes where Luke is with the Emperer or Vader on their turf to see if Mara is there, but I haven't had any luck yet. Though I once mistook Sate Pestage for her.

I'm not the biggest fan of Mara, but I'm glad to see there's a thread for her. She's such a complex character and I don't like how she wasn't used so much in NJO. But my first encounter with her actually, was Vector Prime, and I sort of took her for granted and that she was like that. It wasn't until I started reading Zahn's stuff a few weeks ago that I realized how great a character she was, and how much potential she had.

My favorite version of Mara? All of them except for disease!Mara, and mother!Mara.

*blinks* Who invited the plotbunnies here? Because I certainly didn't. *swats away images of multiple personality!Mara*

 

What a huge list of fics, lazy!!!
We have been needing one of those...

Looks like Mara Jade Strikes back! Now, we have a character discussion and a fanfic index!!!

*Looks at Trace's post*
I really don't like this "There-we-several-hands" thing... However, I think that if there were many Hands, Mara would probably be "Big Mama". After all, Palps sent her to kill Luke.

It would have been so cool if the Hands hadn't known about each others and suddenly found out... ...Plot Bunny!

 

A Mara Jade Fanfic index! Now I don't have to search long to find new Mara stories. Great idea lazy

 

Wow lazy! That's an awesome list you got there!

It's going to make my job a whole lot easier!

Sorry! We can't reference outside websites here. Thanks!

 

Great thread! Thanks, Gabri, for pointing me this direction.

I like the Jedi/wife/mother-era Mara, and of course, any pre-marriage sexual-tension-with-Luke stories. But I'm still looking forward to Zahn's upcoming Emperor's Hand story. I'm think I'm still in shock that I got to sit and visit with him at CIII, and he talked a bit about this story.

The NJO ran the spectrum from great to horrendous on portrayls of Mara. I liked Denning's take in TJK.

And thanks, lazy, for that new Mara Index. As someone said, you are definitely not 'lazy.'

 

lazy, once again you defy your name!

 

More new folks! Welcome!


lazy: Duuuuuddde... Awesome! I've added the link to the first post. I also added the L/M Index link - I think there might be a few older fics in that one that you don't have yet.


?MaraJadeFanFiction?: Oh, you won?t get away that easy. I?m not sure if I can link your site as a resource since it will have adult content, but I?ll ask.


Jadie: I think they're retconning the original idea that Mara was the only Hand. Quoting from In His Image:

There had been many Emperor's Hands - under less Imperial titles and even no titles at all - during Palpatine's time in office, and none of them seemed content with that necessity. It was the nature of assassins, Palpatine decided. They were not team players.

That story is set not too long after ROTS - when suited Vader probably still had that new leather smell. However, it seems that there was only one Hand at a time and - you're right - if HTTE is any indication, they didn't know about each other. Palpy probably fed them all the same you're-my-special-assassin party line.

 

We can't link outside sources on the forums. But you can PM them to those who express an interest.

 

I didn't expect that you would link as a resource which is why I "shamelessly plugged" it.

The adult content is allowed on the site (marked as such) but so far I've been mostly uploading fiction that is acceptable by TFN standards.

Right now the fictions aren't accessable as I'm still uploading them so there is no content to worry about. I was just trying to get writers attentions to send in their stuff because I know I've missed a lot. If you like you can delete the plug in the above post once the fiction is up if you feel it against the JC's content regulations, I won't take offence or anything.


EDIT: grammer, um, grmmor, argh!

 

MaraJadeFanFiction: It's an awesome site and Wicktone's art is just amazing! I know you've been working on it for a while and I'm looking forward to seeing it up and running.

 

A Mara Jade Index -

I agree. Mara was probably more important to Palpatine because of her Force sensitivity, and he would be willing to train her in the Sith arts if anything ever happened to Vader. Although I don't think he would have been too concerned if anything ever happened to her. If she failed him and proved herself incapable, I don't think he would have a problem disposing of her.

Nasty old man.

 

Did Zahn have the concept of multiple Hands in mind when he wrote TTT? I always thought that it was something that a later author threw into the mix for story. I could have swore that it was a plot device in... oh crud, um, Planet of Twilight? It's about Roganda Ismaren and her son, Irek. When they ask Mara about Roganda, she becomes seething mad that Palpatine lied to her about being the only one.

Maybe I'm bonkers.

Anyway, from there, the backstories of several Hand characters came about. Another one I've heard of off the top of my head is Arden Lyn. I don't know much about the others, I just know that Mara has always had the appearence of the most important, top ranking Hand because she was the first one created, the first to introduce the concept.

Edit: *waves and smooches to Gabri*

... despite the thwack.

 

Shira Brie was one, but I don't know if she was pre- or post-Mara. She originially came from the Marvel comics in the eighties and nineties, I believe.

The Hand from the Vader guide is a guy.



I read somewhere in Lit that Arden Lyn is Boba Fett's daughter. Of course, in the GFFA, everyone is related to either a Skywalker, a Solo or a Fett.

 

I think the lack of love in Mara's life is one reason she has such a hard time accepting that she loves Luke. It's hard to believe in love if you've never been shown love.

 

I don't know if Shira Brie is considered a Hand... She was trained by Vader. And remember, he only found out about Mara in her early twenties (?) (I just hate dates...).

 

I won't even begin to pretend to know specifics of the EU. I'm only familiar with the books written following the popularity of TTT that span post-ROTJ. I've heard of Shira Brie, but I've never heard of her being a Hand. She was pre-Mara, though. That I know. That comic was written and published before TTT.

I LOVE watching Mara come to slowly but surely find her way through her emotions to finally allowing herself to love and be loved in return. So very Moulin Rouge. Seriously, though, I think it's one of the hardest aspects to capture about her, it's so different to the apathetic, caustic visage that many see her to have. There's more there than meets the eye.

 

The Official Site Databank states that Shira Brie a.k.a. Dark Lady Lumiya was an Imperial operative chosen by Vader; but the CUSWE also lists her as one of the Emperor?s Hands. No reason she couldn't be both, I s'pose.

And I love that scene where Mara finds out about Roganda and goes OFF about Palpatine.

Or find out that what you thought was some semblance of love/affection was actually nothing more than manipulation.

VERY well said, Bri!

 

Or find out that what you thought was some semblance of love/affection was actually nothing more than manipulation.

Yes, excellent point. It would have made her afraid to love, fearing that it would turn into manipulation at some point. Also, she would doubt her ability to recognize real love. Poor Mara! But look who she got! The farm boy!

 

So, when can we talk about Ben Skywalker being Anakin Solo's kid?

*Waits for McEwok*

 

What could Mara want from a boy, when she has a man?

 

The index looks great!

*waves to Michele and Bri*

I definitely agree that if Mara had ever seriously failed, Palpatine would have gotten rid of her without a second thought. The very essence of Palpatine is selfishness - he'd use anyone and anything if meant power for him.

Well, you are bonkers, darling , but not about this. At least I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that Zahn had intended Mara to be the only Emperor's Hand, and that the idea of others was introduced in PoT, as you said. I much prefer the original concept of Mara being the only one - not necessarily the only assassin or high-ranking aid, but the only one with the rank of Emperor's Hand.

As far as Shira Brie, she was really never called an Emperor's Hand until after the concept of such was introduced with Mara, right? (By all means, correct me if I'm wrong. ) She may have been a Hand, but it seems to me that after Mara came along, it became fashionable to say, "Oh, look, here's another Hand. And another. And Shira - remember her? Let's say she was one too."

Bingo. Bear in mind the way Mara was raised, too. You don't raise a child to be an assassin and kill on order by teaching her to care about or be empathic toward others. Mara was undoubtedly taught to suppress nearly all emotion. The bond with Palpatine was the closest she'd ever come to feeling that someone cared about her, personally, and look what it turned out to be: A betrayal on the most profound level. Palpatine had unrepentantly, deliberately used her for his own gain her entire life, without so much as a thought about her. The more Mara found out, the more she had to have been appalled - and frightened of anyone else using her that way, and less trusting of others, or her own ability to recognize love, as VaderLVR64 said. I remember a line of Mara's from a fanfic way back: "You don't want what I think love is, Luke. Remember the last person I loved?" For a long time, all Mara really knew was that everything she'd ever believed in was a lie. That's bound to take a long time to recover from.

Agreed.

 

I remember reading somewhere an interview with Timothy Zahn he is asked about the other Hands and in TZ's view Mara is the one and only Emperor's Hand. I believe he did plan for her to be the only Hand and other writers just jumped on the bandwagon. Just for the life of me I don't know where this interview was!! argh... *headdesk*


Now, personally, now that the prequels have come out and Lucas has given us a better insight to Palps and the Sith, I'm not sure if Mara really works as the Emperor's Hand any more. I can see her as a top Imperial spy which still gives her the edge and all... but 'there can be only two' and all that new stuff kinda throws everything out of wack.

 

Except that that's the rule of the Sith, and Mara was never a Sith, nor did Palpatine intend for her to be one. In By the Emperor's Hand, he told Vader that Mara was an experiment, neither truly light nor truly dark. Personally, I can see Mara as Emperor's Hand even more in view of the prequels, because RotS in particular expanded on Palpatine's personality so much. Palpatine is a user supreme, and finds - almost joy, it seems, in manipulating and twisting others. There's a certain light in Palpatine's eyes when he's manipulating others and winning, and he plays that game better than anyone else. That's what I see Mara as being: a game on the side, who turned out to have more practical value than Palpatine had at first envisioned. Being the user he is, he used that value that Mara embodied. But he never taught her more than the most basic Force skills that helped her perform as an assassin, much less took her as a Sith apprentice.

 

Yobi: So, when can we talk about Ben Skywalker being Anakin Solo's kid?

*Waits for McEwok*

Well, technically, it's only a hypothesis...

Um, hi? *waves*

Jadie: What could Mara want from a boy, when she has a man?

Genetic diversity?

But seriously, you don't want me to answer that, do you...?

Gabri: Agreed.

Yeah, thought so...

***

And on to safer topics; tempted as I am, I don't want to hijack the thread...

As to what I like about Mara, it's the edges... but that said, I enjoy fluff and stuff, too... I like the combination of deadly and cute!

And I'm pretty sure the Zahn interview RG is thinking of was at Jade Crusades... WEG had already introduced extra Imperial Force-sensitives like Tremayne, but the whole "more than one Hand" thing started as a throwaway comment of Thrawn's designed to rattle Mara, which Zahn says was nothing more...

But that begs a question; is Zahn interviewing as author or narrative POV?

Anyway, the throwaway line was picked up on by Hambly in CotJ (perhaps on KJA's advice?) and treated as fact (but on a total tangent, is it just me that thinks that the Mara holocomm scene in that novel was originally written for Winter?). This then caused much kerfuffle until the Dark Horse Dark Empire Handbook referred to Sedriss and the other Dark Jedi as something like "the Emperor's hands"... later came an article on "The Emperor's Pawns" in Star Wars Gamer #5, which created the "multiple Hands" situation we have now...

All of which was more than you wanted to know...

- The Imperial Ewok

 

'Decorative and competent both; his favorite combination.'

Very interesting info about the Hands! I still think that Mara should have been the only one, but I'm glad to see how the idea of multiple Hands came about.