Speculation reg. Ysanne Isard's mother/family of origin

What can we know/conclude about Ysanne Isard's mother, from what is given in the books?

1) She must have been tall; because Ysanne was tall, and must have inherited that trait from her mother, since her father was of small stature (on pg. 31 of Tales from the New Republic, Armand Isard is described as "a little man").

2) On quote that always made me wonder (same book/pg. # as the one above): "Bel Iblis has only ever met her [Ysanne Isard] once, at an Imperial reception. She had been on her father's arm."

Now why would Armand Isard let his daughter, rather than his wife, accompany him to an Imperial reception? My speculation is that Mrs. Isard (Ysanne's mother) was already "out of the picture" at that point in time, either because she was dead, or because the Isards were estranged/divorced.

The latter possibility (divorce) has been assumed in fanfic, but personally, I don't consider it very plausible. Armand Isard strikes me as the kind of guy who would discreetly kill his wife if she would want a divorce.

Therefore, I tend to go with the assumption that when Garm Bel Iblis first met Ysanne Isard (see above), whenever that was, the elder Madam Isard was already dead for whatever reason, and Ysanne (who most probably was the oldest or only daughter - her psychological makeup points towards her being the firstborn IMHO) had basically taken her position as the "Lady of the house", which included the duty to accompany her father to official functions like the one mentioned above.

Also, the assumption that Ysanne lost a parent early fits in well with Corran Horn's impression of her - that she was someone who hadn't gotten much love in her life (ref. what he said to her in the weight room scene in IR).


Any thoughts or comments?

 

1) She must have been tall; because Ysanne was tall, and must have inherited that trait from her mother, since her father was of small stature (on pg. 31 of Tales from the New Republic, Armand Isard is described as "a little man").

Couldn't both her mother AND father have been short with regressive tall genes that Ysanne happened to inherit?

 

IIRC in one of the x-wing books didn't they say lara notsil was rumored to be an illegimant child of armamd isard,or could i verywell be wrong. ?

 

Now that's an interesting thought, exar-tull. It didn't say so literally in the X-Wing books, but there is this story how Edalia Monotheer (the mother of Gara/Lara/Kirney), who was originally an actress, caught the interest of Armand Isard (which is how she ended up working for Imperial Intelligence). Now I always wondered whether her catching his interest also included an interest in her as a woman , I mean, whether she was his mistress or so. Could be (IMHO).

 

thats probably all i heard as a i recall it been three years since i read the book,so lara mother probaly just caught his eye.

 

Now why would Armand Isard let his daughter, rather than his wife, accompany him to an Imperial reception?

I can think of a few reasons:

1. her mother was sick at the time bel Iblis first met her, causing her father to take her instead.


2. This was Isard's "coming out party" so to speak. Isard could have been a young debutante and this could have been the time she was being introduced to Imperial society at this time.


3. Her mother could actually have been at the reception as well, but bel Iblis saw her father leading Isard around, intruducing her to folks. Perhaps her mother was busy speaking to some rather important people and couldn't get away.


4. Her mother might not have been intrested in attending the reception, or she might have had a more pressing engagement that she had to make.


5. Her mother might not have been on planet at the time the reception took place, perhaps visiting family.


6. Perhaps she too was an Imp intelligence agent and was on an undercover assignment at the reception.

 

Height is about both nature and nurture. All of my father's brothers were tall, but he was not, yet I'm as tall as all of his brothers. As far as I remember, genes put humans into a range within 4 inches or so, and the rest is how well nourished you are while growing up.