Mara Jade in Sacrifice (spoilers, obviously)

I'm curious re: everyone's views; how was Mara's characterisation in Sacrifice? How do you feel it related to her development since TTT, was she in-character or not? What do we all think?

(Well, I do note that Sacrifice spoilers are now allowed, and I figured this would be one of the main topics lol...)

 

I thought Sacrifice had her best characterization since the early NJO. After Ben was born, she sort of fell into a rut as Luke's wife. She didn't seem like her own character anymore. Exile set the scenario up perfectly with Luke and Lumiya holding hands. Mara began to doubt Luke's ability to get past his compassion to take Lumiya out. I'm very happy she was essentially allowed to star in her final book. I'm hoping her death will invigorate Luke.

 

aye, she showed the part of her which has been missing since she had Ben, and Luke made himself grand master. She chose what she was going to do, and wasn't going to veer from the course until she reached her destination. She showed balls, which Luke needs now more than ever.

 

I never liked the Mara Jade character. She seemed to me to be a hottie butt-kicking spacebabe for the sake of having a hottie butt-kicking spacebabe. She's Mary-Jane Watson to Luke's Peter Parker. Her and Luke's marriage seemed incredibly forced. Few of the writers could write her character consistantly enough for my liking. One novel she's the former Emperor's Hand, the next the's a Han-witted scoundrel, the next a doting and utterly devout wife and mother. The writer's inability to keep her consistant as they've (arguably at times) been able to do with EVERY other chatacter never helped me really embrace her. I would really have liked to see her get squashed by that moon in VP, the only reason i'm happy she didn't was because if it weren't for her, Ben wouldn't have happened to carry on the Skywalker Legacy. I have yet to finish Sacrifice, but so far it's just another example of how she's inconsistantly portrayed. Back to the Emperor's Hand is it? I don't expect most to agree with me. Mara has become revered like another Katarn in some circles. And i won't doubt the character's background and abilities, I just got tired of never having the same Mara one book to the next.


Master Luc


EDIT - Did you notice btw, Mara Jade/Mary Jane? Come on now that's just TOO similar to be cool.

 

J_K_DART
I'm curious re: everyone's views; how was Mara's characterisation in Sacrifice? How do you feel it related to her development since TTT, was she in-character or not? What do we all think?

I didn't think she was in character. It was like she lost 30 years of development and went back to being just an assassin, and an ANGRY assassin at that. And she was reckless and over-confident, which was also not in-character. Though she had told Luke earlier in the series that if Jacen truly went dark that they would BOTH need to go to take him on because he was getting too powerful, Mara went alone; without backup; without a plan B, and without telling anyone about Jacen or leaving a message. That's stupid, and Mara was never stupid.

She was overconfident when she faced Lumiya as well. As it turned out, she lost both fights as well as her life.

I didn't like the way she died either. Mara died by poison dart after spending years fighting a poison that she finally beat. Worst of all, she didn't die trying to save someone like Ben or Luke. Her death was worthless. She wanted to make Ben safer, and now things are worse. Now he doesn't have his mother around to try to protect him anymore. And the galaxy is now a darker place since Jacen is a Sith Lord.

 

I disagree. Her death DID have worth: allowing Jacen to become a full Sith Lord. What more could anyone ask for?

 

Win.

 

Did I ever say that I e-love you?

 

Get a room you two!

 

Don't like the way Mara died? Fair enough.

Died by poison? She sure did. A fast-acting poison that we can be sure Jacen chose specifically for it's ability to completely overwhelm most species, and in enough dose to overwhelm a Jedi. What she got would probably have killed a Rancor in less time.

Spending years fighting a poison that she finally beat? No. No, no, and no. Coomb spore was not a poison. It was a micro-organism that took days to weeks to kill non-Jedi. Mara could fight it because she was Jedi. There is a distinct difference here between micro-organisms and poison. It's like saying someone survived Ebola, so they should handle a black mamba bite just fine. In addition, Mara did not beat the coomb spore on her own. It took Vergere's tears and later the combined efforts of herself, Luke, and Ben to cure her of the disease.

And, you contradict yourself here. You say Mara didn't die trying to save someone like Ben or Luke, but then you say she wanted to make Ben safer. I point out that her reason for going after Lumiya and then Jacen was all about trying to save Ben, trying to make Ben safe. She died for a purpose and a reason. I believe it will be proven out that her very death fulfills the purpose and reason she went to face Lumiya and Jacen to accomplish.

 

I disagree. Her death DID have worth: allowing Jacen to become a full Sith Lord. What more could anyone ask for?

a new sports car!!!



Mara'a death had to be one of the most random sacrfices for Jacen to achieve his DS powers.

 

Council members give good XP.

 

LOL


on a more serious note, i'd like to point out that from a certain POV, Mara did save Ben: Ben was quickly becoming Jacen's first choice as a sacrifice until Mara took that role. once he visited Hapes and got no indications that Tenal Ka or Allana should die, Ben would almost certainly have been a dead man walking in Jacen's eyes. but then Mara showed up so he killed her out of need, and that ended up being his Sacrifice so Ben is safe. obviously OOU we know Ben was relatively safe, but in-universe Ben was in alot of danger until Mara died. i'm sure that's no help to those of you mad/sad about her death, but i just thought i'd point that out.

 

In case anyone hasn't pointed it out, you just won the argument via overwhelming logic.

 

^QFT

 

The reason that the coom spores were a threat was that they were unable to be directly dealt with in the Force. Mara had to treat the symptoms in the infected cells, and was unable to cleanse out the poison - well, not until doing the Force Light display with Ben and Luke in Rebirth, the implications of which for the Force and the Yuuzhan Vong everyone seems to have missed...

Moreover, when we have seen neurotoxins and other advanced poisons (Star by Star, Path of Destruction), Force-sensitives have had a measure of protection against them.

In continuity terms, we can regard whatever was in Jacen's darts as a super-advanced neurotoxin, far nastier than what we've seen before.

However, for long-term readers, those aware - even if only vaguely - of the canon-established concept that the Force offers an ability to handle neurotoxins, etc., I'd argue that the choice of poison as the means of achieving the plot-device was misjudged...

You're entitled to believe that. ChildOfWinds is entitled to believe that the price wasn't worth paying, for either Ben or Mara - or for Luke; and I'm entiteld to believe that it smacks of somewhat mechanical plot-planning, and thus feels like Mara was removed from the story simply to make an authorial point or manipulate the audience.

It's an interesting suggestion. It makes a twisted sort of sense - but I'm not entirely sure I like the nuance that, on an unconscious level, Mara might have deliberately thrown herself into the path of Jacen's metaphorical lightsaber...



Hmm....

- The Imperial Ewok

 

Weren' coomb spores a disease, BTW? Not a poison?

If so, there's a fundamental difference between the speed at which a disease affects you and the speed in which a toxin (specifically a neurotoxin) affects you...

 

http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/marajadeskywalker/

Coomb spore is described as a bio-engineered pathogen. In later paragraphs, coomb spore is referred to as a disease which Mara was exhausting herself fighting off. This implies that coomb spore reproduced itself in her system and acted much as a virus.