Mara Jade Skywalker

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Mara Jade Skywalker
Biographical information
Homeworld	Coruscant
Born	18 BBY (17)[1]
Died	40 ABY (75), Kavan[2]
Physical description
Species	Human[3]
Gender	Female[3]
Height	1.6 meters[4]
Hair color	Red-gold[5], graying[2]
Eye color	Green[5]
Chronological and political information
Era(s)	Rise of the Empire era[6] Rebellion era[5] New Republic era[5] New Jedi Order era[5] Legacy era[7]
Affiliation	Galactic Empire[3] Emperor's Hand[5] Smugglers' Alliance[5] New Republic[8] New Jedi Order[5] Galactic Federation of Free Alliances[2]
Known masters	Palpatine[5] Kyle Katarn[5] Luke Skywalker[5]
Known apprentices	Jaina Solo[5] Anakin Solo[5]

[Source]

Mara Jade Skywalker was, during different times in her life, an Emperor's Hand, a smuggler, and later a Jedi Master. As an Emperor's Hand, Mara carried out the Emperor's bidding, killing Rebels and corrupt Imperials alike with cold professionalism even as a young woman. After Palpatine's death, she received his last command (to kill Luke Skywalker), but the death of her Master caused her to go rogue. Eventually she joined Talon Karrde, becoming one of his best smugglers and his second-in-command. During the predations of Grand Admiral Thrawn, she was forced to work with Skywalker, and developed a grudging respect for him. Over the years, she would continue working for Karrde and interacting with Luke intermittently, until the two finally realized in 19 ABY that they were in love and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

After marrying Luke, Mara devoted her life to the New Jedi Order, becoming a Master in her own right. Shortly before the Yuuzhan Vong War, she fell ill due to deadly coomb spores. Using the Force to slow its progress, the disease was only purged from her system after the birth of her son Ben in 26 ABY. After becoming a Master, Mara took her niece Jaina Solo as an apprentice until she reached Knighthood. During this time, Mara participated in Jedi offensives against the Yuuzhan Vong where she aided in the destruction of Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane. Mara was active during the Dark Nest Crisis and the subsequent Swarm War, where she helped to thwart the plans of Raynar Thul and the Killiks, and continued to serve by the side of her husband as a Jedi Master during the Second Galactic Civil War. During that war, Mara was killed by her nephew, Jacen Solo, whom she had learned was a Sith and therefore saw as a threat to her family personally, to the Jedi Order, and to the galaxy at large.

Mara was skilled in a variety of fields, being a good pilot and mechanic and trained in the use of both a blaster and hand-to-hand combat even without relying on the Force. Her cool demeanor was matched by her quick wit and both helped her stay calm, survive, and emerge victorious even in dangerous situations. As Palpatine's assassin, she received top-notch training from experts in a variety of fields as well as training in the Force, which would be continued by Luke Skywalker years later.

Biography

Early life (18 BBY–4 ABY)

Mara Jade impersonating a dancer.

Mara Jade was born in 18 BBY on an unknown planet during a time of great instability as Emperor Palpatine and his apprentice, Darth Vader, were eliminating the remnants of the Jedi Order. Emperor Palpatine took the infant Mara from her parents and brought her to Coruscant , where he began to train her in the Force, although officially she was one of the Imperial Palace's dancers. She did not remember much about her early life besides her parents' reluctance to let her go and her own certainty that she was going to leave with the Emperor. Her master trained her in the ways of the Force and she was made into an agent of the Empire.^[6] Some of the Imperial court assumed her to simply be a dancer or one of Palpatine's concubines.^[5]

Emperor's Hand

Throughout Mara's youth, she was pushed through an intensive training regimen (this involved training alongside the Imperial Royal Guard^[9] and learning covert espionage and assassination skills, which she was adept at by the age of fourteen^[2]) and became an "Emperor's Hand," one of Palpatine's personal assassins,^[10] after a final test in which she successfully broke into Wilhuff Tarkin's private quarters.^[5] In order to accomplish this mission, Mara, posing as a guest at a formal event at Tarkin's residence, feigned illness in order to get away from the other guests. She then retrieved a sack of equipment and descended down the side of the building to the room containing Tarkin's private safe. While she was breaking in, a group of guards came in (actually droids) and she engaged them with her blaster and lightsaber. However, upon sensing that one of the guards was living, she knocked him out rather than kill a soldier willing to give his life in a training exercise. Vader and Palpatine were pleased with her skills and she was pronounced the Emperor's Hand.^[11]

Despite there being several Emperor's Hands, she, like the others, was unaware of the existence of any other Hands.^[12] Due to her deep connection with the Force, she could hear Palpatine's voice anywhere in the galaxy via a telepathic link.^[13] Mara carried out Palpatine's will on numerous worlds, eliminating corrupt Imperial officials, traitors, and others who he deemed deserving of death or judgment. His esteem for her was such that he actually allowed her to get some time for relaxation, atypical of Palpatine's usual style.^[6] She also received a personal starship and a protocol droid named Kaythree to aid her in her duties as Hand.^[5]

Mara Jade, Emperor's Hand.

Before the Battle of Yavin, she was tasked with gathering intelligence in order to help Darth Vader hunt down any Jedi she found that had survived Order 66—one such Jedi was An'ya Kuro.^[14] During the years following the Battle of Yavin and preceding the Battle of Hoth, Mara spied on Darth Vader and delivered reports on his actions to the Emperor, even going so far as watching, from afar, his assault on the Massassi Temples, some six months after Yavin, which resulted in the capture of Rebel Commander Jan Dodonna. In later missions where she was assigned to discreetly observe him, Mara soon became envious of Vader and sensed a division in him, specifically because she didn't understand the basis of his obsession concerning Luke Skywalker. Mara began to hope that Vader would betray the Emperor so that she could kill him and take his place as the Emperor's apprentice.^[15]

Mara Jade on Naboo.

Despite these spy activities, she still performed tasks for Vader himself. Around 1.5 ABY, Jade was responsible for uncovering information about C-3PO and R2-D2 for Vader, though Vader was either unwilling or unable to collect the information from her himself. Instead, he sent a spacer who had been doing work for the Empire to pick up the information from Jade on Naboo before returning it to him for a reward of 2,100 credits.^[16] Around the time of the Battle of Hoth she visited Belsavis.^[12]

Mara had also investigated Moff Glovstoak, posing as "Countess Claria" and discovered that he had been skimming the top off tax returns to the Imperial Center. Faking intoxication, she retired to a private room during a formal party Glovstoak was throwing, only to leave an inflatable dummy behind and, having exchanged her formal wear for a combat suit, quickly infiltrated his office and found six stolen paintings worth millions of credits in his palace. Mara returned to Imperial Center and reported her findings to Palpatine, but also saved General Deerian, whom she believed to be honest, from the fallout of Glovstoak's destruction.^[10]

Upon Glovstoak's arrest, Mara also took the job of discovering who had delivered the paintings, as well as those who had aided the Moff. First, she went to the auction house where the paintings had been sold, but gleaned little information. Next, she investigated secure storage sites and found a good match in the Birtraub Brothers Storage and Reclamation Center, within which she sensed criminal connections. Observing the facility from a nearby tapcafe, the owners of the storage facility attempted to drug her, but her Force-senses alerted her to the attempt. She confronted the owner, Pirtonna Birtraub, who attempted to kill her. She easily subdued him and he admitted the involvement of a pirate group identified as the BloodScars, a ruthless gang that wanted to combine several gangs to dominate the Shelsha Sector.^[10]

Mara Jade, Emperor's Hand.

Mara stowed away on one of the pirate ships that she had been pointed to, choosing a HT-2200 medium freighter that was being sent to attack a transport carrying Imperial military equipment. About the time the craft launched an attack on the Happer's Way, Mara was also discovered and attacked by a group of pirates. Undaunted, she quickly took over the ship, captured Tannis, and signaled the Reprisal via the Happer's Way's communications relay to assist her and the freighter.^[10]

Boarding the Reprisal, Mara was coldly greeted by Captain Kendal Ozzel, who believed she was onto him for five stormtroopers that had deserted earlier after killing Major Drelfin over Daric LaRone's refusal to kill civilians on Teardrop. Mara requested a pair of crewers for the ship, and Colonel Vak Somoril gave her a pair of ISB men to accompany her. Taking the two ISB men and Tannis with her on the Happer's Way, Mara went to infiltrate the pirate base at Gepparin, pretending to be an independent ship thief who wanted to join the BloodScars.^[10]

Mara arrived on Gepparin and was brought to meet the Commodore, who was suspicious of her. That evening, Mara was attacked by the two ISB men, who had been ordered to eliminate her, and their attack attracted the pirates' attention. She attempted to deal with the commodore, who ignored her and had his pirate accomplice Caaldra kill her. His attempt was unsuccessful, but Mara was interrupted before she could stop him and the commodore. Aboard the Reprisal, Ozzel and Somoril, wanting to be sure she was slain, arrived over Gepparin and launched TIE fighters and an orbital bombardment to kill Mara and the pirates. Mara quickly raced to the command center and found the commodore's body next to a HoloNet message he was about to send to Shelkonwa. Mara shot down the TIE fighters, and the Reprisal left in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon and their rogue stormtroopers who had appeared in-system, allowing Mara to escape in a Z-10 Seeker.^[10]

Journeying to Shelkonwa, she found Vader and the Executor already there in search of Leia Organa. Mara believed that Governor Barshnis Choard was a traitor, and informed Vader of her findings. The dark lord brooked no interference in his search, but he did allow Mara to investigate and deal with Choard. Upon landing, Caaldra attacked her with a purloined All Terrain Scout Transport, but she was aided by the group of rogue stormtroopers, dubbed the Hand of Judgment. Taking them under her command, she defeated the AT-ST, unknowingly with the help of Chewbacca in a freighter, but Caaldra had escaped. With her newly drafted stormtroopers, she advanced on the Governor's Palace, where once again Caaldra tried to kill her. This time, she put an end to him when he tried to shoot her and she redirected the bolt into him with her lightsaber. In the mean time, the Hand of Judgment had penetrated the governor's security. Linking back up with the Hand of Judgment, Mara arrested Governor Choard and vouched for the rogue stormtroopers, even in front of Vader. Later, she learned their true story. She let them go, but warned them to lie low and lose their Hand of Judgment name, saying she was the only Hand in the Empire.^[10] A few months prior to the Battle of Endor, Mara was in Palpatine's chamber when Darth Vader brought the Force-sensitive cyborg Lumiya to Palpatine to serve as another Emperor's Hand. Jade was dismissed from Palpatine's presence before he accepted Lumiya's service, maintaining her illusion that she was the only Hand, but Jade nevertheless sensed immediate hostility from Lumiya.^[7]

Hunting Skywalker

Mara as "Arica" in Jabba's Palace.

Following the Battle of Hoth, Mara became aware of Palpatine's worries about the Rebel Luke Skywalker; she was sent to infiltrate Jabba Desilijic Tiure's Palace on Tatooine, disguised as the dancing girl Arica, in order to await Skywalker. Melina Carniss, a member of Jabba's secret security detail, suspected her of being out to assassinate the Hutt, and attempted to arrest her; Jade turned the tables on Carniss, however, taking her into custody and then using the Force to cause Melina to shoot one of Jabba's Gamorrean guards. Jade fled down a tunnel and came to a ventilation shaft of the rancor pit. After fighting through three rows of guards, she was able to watch Luke kill the rancor. She then entered the ventilation shaft of the Rancor pit using a vibroax, and used the Force to open the trapdoor and follow the crowd out to the sail barge. Though she begged Jabba to let her join him and others at the Dune Sea, a suspicious Jabba instead provided her with a landspeeder and told her to leave and never come back after she tried to use the Force on him. Thus stymied in this attempt to fulfill her mission, she made her way back to Imperial Center—and a displeased Palpatine.^[17] Years later, a Force vision revealed to Luke that, had she been present at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Jade would have succeeded in preventing his escape.^[13]

The search for Black Nebula

Mara's career as Emperor's Hand comes to an end.

Following her mission on Tatooine, Mara was given another task by the Emperor—to kill Dequc, a Jeodu who sought to revive Black Sun by incorporating its remnants into his own empire, that of the Black Nebula.^[11]

Mara arrived on the planet Svivren where she began laying the ground work for her new mission. She reconnoitered the crime lord's base, but realized that she would need a distraction to allow her to sneak in unnoticed. She went to the local Imperial garrison commander, General Touno, and requested two squads of stormtroopers and an officer. The officer assigned to her was Captain Strok, and together, he and Mara planned a raid on the building next to Dequc's, but Strok was unaware that this was all a distraction planned by Mara. The following day, however, saw the raid utterly fail and the majority of the Imperials killed. Mara, though, was still able to use the distraction provided by the firefight to sneak in and assassinate a Jeodu she believed to be Dequc.^[11]

After the assassination, Mara reported to the Emperor that the mission had been successful. Palpatine, as a reward for her efficiency, provided Mara with a vacation. Mara did her best to enjoy the time that was provided to her, but she found herself mulling over the events which had transpired on Svivren. She came to the conclusion that the assassination was too easy and that any number of the guards present during her attack should have easily been able to stop her. Mara decided to test her theory by setting up a simulation of the assassination. Only two out of five times was she able to successfully kill "Dequc" and withdraw unharmed. She concluded that the person she killed was not the real Dequc, but a cleverly placed decoy. Mara resolved that it was still her duty to hunt down and assassinate the real leader of Black Nebula.^[11]

Mara uses a holdout blaster to execute a member of Black Nebula.

Mara used her Force link with the Emperor to advise him of her findings, but before she could, he allowed her to witness his destruction by both Vader and Luke Skywalker.^[11] His last command reverberated through the Force to her: YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER and she hated Skywalker for killing her master and destroying her life.^[13] Mara was overcome by his death agonies and rendered unconscious. She remained in a dream-like state for several days, until she was apprehended by two of Ysanne Isard's henchmen. They took Mara to Isard, who imprisoned her and used intelligence tactics to try and force Mara to aid her in her bid for power. Mara, though, was able to escape from captivity and find passage to the backwater world of Phorliss. Mara intended to lay low for the time being until she could raise enough funds to relocate. To better blend into her temporary surroundings, she found work as a waitress at a local cantina owned by Gorb Drig. For several weeks she worked for Drig under the alias Chiara Lorn, until members of Black Nebula arrived to collect a debt owed by Drig. Mara could not believe her luck in discovering that Black Nebula had a presence on Phorliss—not wanting Drig to be harmed, Mara did her best to fight the more numerous gang members. Mara managed to get a hold of her lightsaber and quickly kill the remaining Nebula members, though not before they killed Drig and Jorshmin, a patron whom Mara had befriended.^[11]

Mara set out to find the Black Nebula base on Phorliss, and discovered that the real Dequc was based on Qiaax. Mara infiltrated a casino owned by Dequc and administered by a lieutenant in Black Nebula. She disguised herself as Baroness Paltonae and claimed to represent a mysterious corporate interest that had developed reliable and undetectable ways to cheat at gambling and detect lock combinations—Mara, however, simply used the Force to create both illusions in an effort to be brought before Dequc. She managed to succeed and was taken to Black Nebula's hidden base in the Bubble Cliffs of Nezmi, where Dequc was waiting for her to discuss the corporate interest she "represented." However, once inside the Nebula's base, Mara unknowingly ran into Strok, the Imperial officer she had worked with on Svivren. She learned that he was actually a Black Nebula agent who had been inserted into the Imperial officer corps to feed Dequc information. Mara was furious about this discovery of an Imperial traitor, but decided to deal with him later. However, she again ran into him in the base's barracks, and when he realized who she was, Mara was forced to kill him to keep her secret safe. His death, though, was soon discovered by Black Nebula and Mara was forced onto the offensive. Mara eventually managed to make her way to Dequc's safe house, deep within the Bubble Cliffs. Once there, she used her lightsaber and a small explosive to kill Dequc and his guards; Mara then was able to escape through one of Dequc's secret passageways. Once she had successfully withdrawn, Mara stole a private yacht of Dequc's, one which was filled with all of his private information regarding the inner workings of Black Nebula, and left it at an Imperial spaceport where it could be discovered by the authorities.^[11]

On the run (4 ABY–6 ABY)

Mara while being hunted by Ysanne Isard.

Her hatred of Skywalker for destroying her master burned deep within her, and she vowed to kill the Jedi Knight. She was unaware that the Emperor's telepathic command lay at the core of this rage, making it stronger than any normal wish for vengeance would be. Meanwhile, her life was in shambles: the resources she had once had access to were all dependent on the Emperor, and her life of luxury, privilege and purpose was over. Still hunted by Isard, she made her way through the galaxy, doing odd jobs and manual labor to make ends meet. Her Force abilities faded, returning in ill-timed bursts. All the while, she was still haunted by the Emperor's last command: "You will kill Luke Skywalker."^[13]

During her travels, she landed on Kintoni, where she spotted the Rebel general Crix Madine. Mara followed him and infiltrated the building to see Madine interrogating former Imperial Governor Barkale. Mara made her way towards the imprisoned governor and found a datapad showing the Executor along the way. However, she was stopped in Madine's quarters by the general, who pulled a blaster on her and called for reinforcements. Mara shot his gun and used the datapad to display the image of the Executor on the sensor screens, tricking the Rebels into thinking the ship was after them. Mara stunned the guards and made a deal with Madine to let her and Barkale escape.^[18]

Barkale took her back to his home, but Mara noticed a sculpture that he had reported stolen or destroyed years ago, along with many other pieces of artwork. When she accused him of treasonous embezzlement, Barkale threw a vase at her. Mara, undaunted, executed him, and then informed Madine of her discovery while she got off the planet, figuring that the Rebels would have found the artwork anyway and executing Barkale was worth it.^[18]

Smuggler (6 ABY–9 ABY)

Mara Jade

Mara was on Chibias to see the Coruscant Full Symphony when she encountered a young Zakarisz Ghent, who had just had a datacard planted on him without his knowledge. Mara took interest in the young slicer and, posing as a member of the concert hall staff, helped him escape from Raines, a member of Governor Egron's staff, who was trying to capture Ghent. Mara took the startled Ghent back to her hotel room, informing him that his trip to the hall had been a set-up. When Mara failed to slice into records to find out why Ghent was being pursued, Ghent took over and easily sliced through it, revealing the motive behind the attempted kidnapping.^[19]

Mara then went to the Governor's Palace, where she confronted Raines about the absence of any record of him in the Governor's personnel files. Raines told her that he was a special aide to the governor and his name was Markko. She also was able to reveal that he had been hired by the governor for computer work, rather than that the governor needed Ghent's services, which was what Markko had originally told her. Mara, acting as Ghent's broker, agreed to bring him to the palace to slice the computer, which Markko had informed her was captured from the Rebel Alliance, after charging him an exorbitant fee.^[19]

However, she was followed on her way back to the hotel. Deciding to turn the tables, she lost her pursuit and followed them back to their hideout. Markko confronted her, and then led her at gunpoint to the rest of the group, revealing that they were actually part of the Rebel Alliance. Mara agreed to bring Ghent to the palace as planned, seeing an opportunity to sell out Markko and earn some credits. Upon arriving at the palace, Ghent learned that the captured computer was not a Rebel machine, but actually a Star Destroyer's control node—Mara quickly ascertained that Egron was planning on selling the information. Mara stalled for time while using her lightsaber to cut an exit out of the wall with a Paparak cross-cut that would only be revealed when she kicked the wall in. After creating a diversion, she kicked the wall in and escaped with Ghent. However, Egron and Markko managed to intercept her before she could escape the palace. While she executed Egron, Markko took Ghent hostage. However, the two agreed to part ways, despite their ideological differences, with Markko returning Ghent. Outside, Mara told Ghent to go back to his home of Sibisime, while she went to find work on a freighter. Little did she know that Ghent was hired by the smuggler Talon Karrde shortly after she and Ghent parted ways.^[19]

Mara Jade during the Thrawn campaign.

For the next few years, Mara drifted from one odd job to another under a variety of aliases. Under the alias Marellis, she was a come-up flector for a Caprioril swoop gang.^[20] It was during this occupation that she lost the violet-colored lightsaber she had been given by Palpatine^[5] in an encounter with Lumiya.^[21]Lumiya, sent by Ysanne Isard, found her and tried to bring her back to Isard, but Mara refused. The two dueled and Mara escaped, though she lost her lightsaber in the process.^[7]. After her run-in with Lumiya, she later worked as a hyperdrive mechanic on Varonat under the name Celina Marniss.^[20] She also encountered the severed head of droid 8t88 on Rathalay in the hideout of smuggler Kaerobani and noted that the droid was planning vengeance on whomever had decapitated it.^[22] Fortune finally struck when Mara managed to save the smuggler baron Talon Karrde from an ambush on Varonat that took the life of Karrde's second-in-command, Quelev Tapper, and almost killed Karrde as well. Mara had originally been working as a hyperdrive mechanic at the spaceport, and her efficiency and striking appearance impressed Karrde, who was operating under the alias of Hart while Tapper was known as Seoul. While out on a safari for Morodins, Karrde discovered both that the Morodins were sentient and that the safari leader, Gamgalon, was responsible for smuggling a catalyst for Tibanna gas grown in the jungle. Gamgalon found out what Karrde knew though and planned on executing him, having already killed Tapper when he tried to resist. Fortunately for them, Mara remembered hearing about a smuggler who enjoyed wordplay in his aliases and ships (Hart and Seoul), and decided to help them out in hopes of finding a position with them. She followed them out to the jungle, killed Gamgalon and his guard and rescued Karrde. Karrde was so impressed with Mara that he offered her a job on the spot.^[23]

The two of them are said to have been already working together as early as 6 ABY, when Mara sold a Rodian statuette to New Republic Senator Baron Jonas Stern on Sluis Van. She and Karrde were later on Nkllon, with Jade again operating under the pseudonym Celina Marniss.^[24][25]

Meeting Skywalker

Mara entered Karrde's organization in c. 8.5 ABY.^[13] During her first six months of working with Karrde, Mara swiftly rose through the ranks of his smuggling organization. Her Force-sensitivity, lying largely dormant since the death of Palpatine, reasserted itself when she brought Karrde's freighter, the Wild Karrde out of hyperspace for a routine check right where Luke Skywalker's damaged X-wing was floating in space. Grand Admiral Thrawn, the leader of the resurgent Empire, had posted a significant bounty on Skywalker and Karrde considered the possibility of selling him to Thrawn for the bounty or extorting money from the New Republic to ensure his return.^[13]

Mara during the Thrawn campaign.

Karrde pulled the stranded Jedi aboard and took him back to his base on Myrkr, where the planet's ysalamiri creatures blocked Skywalker's Force abilities. Jade was at first intent on killing Skywalker, but Karrde would not have it. However, Karrde did keep Luke and R2-D2 locked up and hid them from view when Thrawn arrived to collect ysalamiri. Luke, though, managed to escape in a Skipray blastboat. Mara gave chase, but both vehicles ended up crashing in the vornskr-infested forest. To complicate matters, Thrawn himself arrived on Myrkr to harvest ysalamiri, preventing the two from making contact with Karrde, for Thrawn would know that Karrde had been with-holding Skywalker from him. Mara was forced to work with Luke to survive, and she clearly stated her intention to kill him. The two made their way to Hyllyard City after fending off several vornskr attacks, but were caught in a stormtrooper ambush. Thanks to the timely intervention of Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, and some of Karrde's men, they defeated the stormtroopers and Solo, Calrissian, and Skywalker left Myrkr. Karrde and his organization also fled Myrkr soon after due to a massive Imperial bounty placed upon them.^[13]

As the last members of the organization fled Myrkr, Mara remained with Karrde, who decided to surreptitiously observe the Imperial arrival on Myrkr from the Wild Karrde. As expected, Grand Admiral Thrawn arrived in the Star Destroyer Chimaera and quickly took over the abandoned base. However, what Karrde did not anticipate was Thrawn deducing that the Wild Karrde had remained in the system and had called for an Interdictor cruiser, the Constrainer, to trap the smuggler's ship in place. However, Mara received a Force-related warning of the Imperial's arrival and activated the Wild Karrde's engines, preparing them for flight, much to the surprise of her fellow crew members and Karrde. However, as the Constrainer reverted into the system, Mara piloted the ship out of its range and made the jump into hyperspace, her seemingly premature activation of the ship's engines having saved them from an Imperial trap.^[26]

While setting up a new base for Karrde's group on Rishi, Mara was accosted by a bounty hunter, Gunner Groth. She killed him, but Karrde's organization was put to flight yet again. Sent to Abregado-rae to retrieve a ship of Karrde's, the Etherway, that had been impounded, her departure from the system was interrupted by the arrival of the Victory-class Star Destroyer Adamant. Mara realized that Thrawn would not stop hunting them, so she turned herself over to Thrawn, reclaiming her role as the Emperor's Hand and offering him the location of the Katana fleet in exchange for amnesty for Karrde and his men. Thrawn agreed, albeit not without suspicion, but double-crossed Mara by placing a tracking device on her ship. Once she arrived at Karrde's next hideout, Imperial stormtroopers followed shortly afterwards and captured Karrde.^[26]

Mara, disgusted by Thrawn's actions and now feeling more loyalty to Karrde than ever, decided to break Karrde out of the Imperial brig in which he now found himself, but knew she couldn't do it alone. Instead, she journeyed to Jomark with a ysalamiri, where Luke Skywalker was training under Joruus C'baoth. C'boath attempted to knock her out of the sky with a hail of rocks as she landed, but she was able to set her ship down and make her way towards his residence, where Skywalker was located. As she was climbing down a cliff, she was nearly blasted by R2-D2, controlling Luke's X-wing. She managed to convince the droid that C'baoth was working for the Empire and that Skywalker owed Karrde, and was ferried down to Luke's location hanging from the starfighter's landing skid. After a short confrontation with C'baoth had resulted in him stunned from a near-miss from a laser cannon fired by R2-D2, Mara had wanted to finish off the insane Jedi Master, but Luke persuaded her not to. Despite her misgivings, she convinced Luke to go with her to rescue Karrde from Thrawn's ship, the Chimaera, in the Skipray blastboat that she had used to reach Jomark. Using her passwords to slice into the computer, she and Luke reached the detention block and freed Karrde. Thrawn shut down the ship's computer, but the trio was able to make good their escape in the Millennium Falcon, which the Empire had retrieved from Endor after it had been deserted.^[26]

Mara and Karrde's group later returned to aid the New Republic in the Battle for the Katana fleet. Mara flew a Z-95 Headhunter in the battle, but an ion cannon blast left her drifting in space. Fortunately for her, Luke Skywalker was able to rescue her before she died of exposure.^[26]

Luke and Mara confront C'baoth (not pictured) on the planet Jomark.

Taken to Coruscant for a month of nerve-regeneration therapy, Mara found herself almost completely alone in the Imperial Palace. She wanted to leave the planet, but before she could, she detected an Imperial intrusion team headed for the Solo family's quarters. Mara, accompanied by Lando Calrissian and Garm Bel Iblis, chased down the intruders. They were pinned down, but Mara used her knowledge of the Palace's secret passages to get behind the Imperial commando team. Using the Force to relay a plan to Leia Organa Solo, she successfully gunned down the entire Imperial squad. However, Major Molo Himron, the team leader, survived and implicated her in the attack, which led to her imprisonment by the order of Colonel Jak Bremen.^[27]

Wayland

Mara later found out about Thrawn's use of clones while imprisoned, via Leia, and remembered the location of the Emperor's cloning center. Realizing that they might be compromised if they went through normal channels, Luke, Han, Lando, and Chewbacca broke Mara out of prison and took her with them on the Falcon. She gave them the location of Wayland and the cloning center, and the group successfully landed in the forest, along with R2-D2 and C-3PO. Mara was once again forced to work with Luke, who encouraged her to develop her Force skills. Skywalker gradually realized that Jade was acting not so much of her own volition as she was following Palpatine's telepathic command. Jade also came to gradually realize this, that she was being used to inflict a last bit of revenge upon the dead Darth Vader. Skywalker promised to help her remove the command, even though being near her obviously jeopardized his life. They both had premonitions of encountering the insane C'baoth on the planet, which, upon reaching the Mount Tantiss stronghold after an arduous journey through the forest, turned out to be true. Mara asked Luke to kill her rather than let C'baoth take over her mind, but Luke promised that whatever she would face in the stronghold, she wouldn't face it alone.^[27]

Mara kills the Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth.

While looking for a remote destruct for the facility, Luke and Mara found the crazed Jedi Master, who hit Mara and Luke with Force lightning and pitted Luke against a clone of himself. Despite the aid of Han, Leia, and Karrde, they were unable to defeat the Jedi Master until Mara retrieved Leia Organa Solo's lightsaber and charged C'baoth. Luke injured his clone and strengthened Mara with the Force, and she fulfilled the Emperor's command, slaying the clone. Enraged, C'baoth attacked them with a Force Scream, Force lightning and rocks, but Mara, fulfilling C'baoth's visions of bowing before him, kneeling to avoid his attacks, stabbed him with the lightsaber. Luke's Force powers kept her from being injured by the dark side energy released upon C'baoth's death, and they escaped in the Wild Karrde as Lando and Chewbacca blew up the facility. As a token of friendship, Luke gave her his father's lightsaber, and she would continue to use it in the years ahead.^[27]

Mara was later sent out by Karrde to aid the New Republic after the loss of Coruscant to the Empire. The New Republic had sent couriers out to various parts of the fleet to inform them of their retreat, as their communications had been cut off. One part of the fleet had changed location, so the New Republic paid Mara to meet with the courier ship Messenger to update the crew. As it turned out, the same Colonel Bremen whom she had been detained by on Coruscant was on the ship and Mara enjoyed his discomfort. However, a homing beacon in the Messenger lured a Carrack-class cruiser and Mara shot off some of its TIEs to allow the courier to escape.^[8]

Jedi Knight (9 ABY–19 ABY)

Apprenticeship

Mara during her search for Kyle Katarn.

After fully renouncing the dark side of the Force, Jade sought out Kyle Katarn to train her in the ways of the Jedi.^[28] In 10 ABY, Mara was with Kyle Katarn on the battlefront of Altyr V to aid the New Republic base, which was being bombarded from two artificial asteroids and attacked by the Imperial Remnant. Kyle Katarn managed to repel the attack, and destroyed both asteroids. While there, he got a lead about the planet Dromund Kaas having some importance to the Empire and went to investigate.^[29]

Mara, however, was on her own—her first mission for the Republic was to negotiate with Ka'Pa the Hutt concerning the New Republic's supplies. In order for Ka'Pa to comply, Mara was forced to steal Takara's GCT device for him. While looking for Takara's lieutenant, Abron Mar, in the Katraasii Spaceport, Mara was trapped by Takara. She managed to escape the stronghold by killing a Rancor and stole the device. Ka'Pa was pleased and agreed to help the Republic.^[29]

Mara's second mission was on a Republic Corellian Corvette guarding a Jedi holocron, when they again came under attack from Kaerobani's pirates. Mara repelled the attackers, but the holocron was stolen. To retrieve the holocron, she decided to "board" a cargo crate that was headed for Rathalay, the pirates base. Using her deeply ingrained training, Mara reclaimed the holocron and escaped.^[29]

After that, Mara finally arrived on Dromund Kaas to see what had happened to Katarn. While traveling through the swamps, she encountered and defeated many native creatures, including her own doppelgänger. After crossing the swamp, she reached the Dark Force Temple. Finally she found Kyle totally immersed in the dark side. Master and apprentice fought, but Mara managed to fend him off each time, while Kyle retreated deeper and deeper into the catacombs. On the final encounter, Mara voluntarily turned off her lightsaber and surrendered. Kyle realized that he could not follow this path and was able to turn back to the light side.^[29] The two later participated in the ancient Jedi tradition of the Concordance of Fealty mutual apprenticeship.^[30]

When Palpatine returned in his new cloned body, Mara didn't believe it was really him, spurning any thought of returning to his service. Instead, she aided the New Republic in evacuating Coruscant and ferrying cargo for the government. For his part, Palpatine supplanted her and the other Hands with new Dark Side Adepts, including Sedriss QL.^[5]

However, Palpatine was also not content with merely replacing Mara; to punish her for her treachery, he sent several of his servants to intercept her en route to a Smugglers' Alliance meeting in the Senex Sector, including the mysterious Blackhole. She was captured, though Kyle Katarn and some of his associates later freed her.^[30]

Smuggler's Alliance

After Kyle forsook the Jedi and the Force and returned to his military career, Mara also participated in a mission from Karrde to track down Jorj Car'das, where she pretended to be involved with Lando Calrissian as a cover for the mission.^[31]This quest would at one point take them to the Kathol Rift, where she and Calrissian encountered Crev Bombaasa and helped him out of a tight spot. Karrde would later use this association and owed favor to his advantage.^[32]

In 11 ABY, Mara returned to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 to learn the ways of the Jedi, arriving during the tumultuous time right after Gantoris's death and Kyp Durron's first act of rebellion, both events caused by the spirit of the ancient Sith Exar Kun. At first Mara and Corran Horn, himself a student under the assumed name of Keiran Halcyon, got off to a bad start, but they soon settled their differences and got along quite well. She even allowed Corran to use her Headhunter, though Kyp later stole it in his bid to seize the Sun Crusher. Under Kam Solusar's tutelage, Horn and Mara Jade trained together, enjoying physical exercise such as running expeditions through the jungle, and learned to appreciate their differences—this proved to be a wise choice, as it was not long until the spirit of Exar Kun took control of Kyp and wreaked havoc on the Jedi. She left the academy not long after, but later returned after she heard Kun had put Luke in a coma. While there, she helped Corran defeat Kun's spirit, as the Corellian had attempted to distract Kun by invading his temple. She arrived just in time, as Kun was nearing success with turning Corran's fears against him, and had also severely injured him. She helped Corran trick Kun into returning to the Praxeum to use Streen against Luke, leading to the Sith Lord's destruction from the combined Force power of the students there. With Kun defeated, Mara helped the injured Horn back to the Great Temple. However, she again left the Praxeum after the incident.^[33]

During this time, she also became one of the leaders of the Smugglers' Alliance. Lando Calrissian, flush with cash from a recent string of successes, wanted to make a profit from mining glitterstim on Kessel. Mara led a group of Smuggler's Alliance vessels to Kessel to help him chase the present administrator, Moruth Doole, off the planet. However, Mara was not entirely thrilled with Lando, as she was not fond of his constant flirting with her, though she was impressed by him giving the Falcon to Han Solo as a gift even after winning it back in a game of sabacc. Not long after they took the planet, Mara, Han, and Lando were confronted with the prototype Death Star, which destroyed Kessel's moon. Mara and all her ships took off and attacked the prototype, but it fled. Mara and the Falcon pursued the craft into the heart of The Maw, unwilling to let the superweapon escape. In an effort to knock out its superlaser, she and Lando made their way to the core of the prototype in environment suits, planning to plant thermal detonators along the reactor core, but they were attacked by a group of spacetroopers. Mara and Lando escaped, but a spacetrooper was able to remove all but one of their charges, causing less damage than the duo had hoped. Fortunately, Kyp Durron, freed of Kun's influence, managed to lead the prototype into a gravitational well, crushing it and ridding the galaxy of its use forever.^[34]

Mara Jade: Emperor's Hand, Jedi, and smuggler.

While Han and Leia were on Belsavis, they contacted Mara Jade to see if she had information on the planet. Mara did know about the planet—she had broken into its secure file when she was working for the Empire. She told the Solos about a secret mission to attack one of the rifts and how Palpatine and Vader used a combination of drugs and the dark side to create crazed, mindless guards, such as the ones that the Solos had found in the smugglers' tunnels in the valley.^[12]

Later, she called the Solos after they learned of the presence of the Emperor's Hand on the planet and assumed it was her. All she had were some coordinates from a landing pad that Han had asked for, but she was quickly informed of Leia's disappearance and the presence of the Emperor's Hand on Belsavis years before, when she had never been on that mission. It was at that moment that Mara realized that the Emperor had lied to her—there were many Emperor's Hands, she had not been alone. Outraged, she grew angry when Han told her the name of the other Hand: Roganda Ismaren.^[12] Mara was outraged to learn that Palpatine had been lying to her when he said that she was his only Hand, and later deduced that Lumiya was also a member of the Emperor's Hands.^[7] Mara immediately headed for Belsavis and en route, encountered Luke and a group of brainwashed crewers from the recently destroyed Eye of Palpatine. She brought them with her to Belsavis for treatment, after noting the serious injury to Luke's leg. She also pulled in an escape pod from the Dreadnaught, opening it to reveal Callista Ming, a Jedi who had escaped the Eye of Palpatine after helping destroy it, and who had fallen in love with Luke. On Belsavis, Mara helped round up the last of the insane guards, many of whom she had once known, though Roganda Ismaren and her son Irek escaped.^[12]

Some time after taking a large role in the Smuggler's Alliance with Lando Calrissian, Mara's contacts passed on word of a Hutt plot related to Orko SkyMine. Mara journeyed to the Yavin 4 Jedi Praxeum to warn Luke. Taking him on a ride in her ship, she relayed the information to him and told him that she occasionally enjoyed seeing him. He asked her to stay for dinner, where she met Callista Ming and asked her if she was Luke's new lady. Callista affirmed her statement, and asked if Mara was once interested in Luke. Mara replied that she had once wanted nothing more than to kill him, though the incident apparently didn't seem to cause much consternation between the women.^[35]

Mara continued her on-and-off association with Lando during this period. She was recently away from him and aboard the Wild Karrde with Karrde after they had spent a week together on Mon Calamari when he called for information and she told him about the bombing of the Senate Hall. She would also help Karrde deliver a pair of ysalamiri to Han Solo over Almania when he went in search of Kueller, the mastermind behind the bombing who was attempting to kill Luke. She even accompanied him to the planet's surface, partially out of her concern for Luke and partially because she feared what Kueller could do to the galaxy. Helping the Falcon blast its way to the surface through Kueller's forces, Mara accompanied Solo and Chewbacca and they brought the Force-empty bubble of the ysalamir to where Luke and Leia were confronting Kueller just in time to save Luke from certain death.^[36]

On one occasion, while commanding on the Wild Karrde in Karrde's temporary absence, Mara and the rest of the crew were captured by Ja Bardrin, a wealthy industrialist whose daughter Sansia had been captured by the slaver Chay Praysh. At gunpoint, Bardrin forced Mara to go to Torpris to rescue Sansia, who had, like all female Human prisoners of Praysh's, been forced to work in the slime pits. Mara had no choice but to comply, as she had no way of contacting Karrde and Bardrin threatened to execute the rest of the crew if she didn't do as he wished.^[37]

Mara is captured by Drach'nam.

Mara entered the palace under the pretext of bringing a gift to Praysh, supposedly unaware that she was the gift. However, her lightsaber was discovered at the entrance and was thrown to the nearby scavengers, where it was caught by a Togorian named H'sishi. Upon seeing Jade, Praysh had his guards lash her with neuronic whips and throw her into the slime pits, unaware of her identity or intent. Mara made contact with Sansia, though Sansia told her that her father only wanted an experimental, heavily upgraded SoroSuub 3000 luxury yacht that had also been stolen. Mara then inflicted an injury on herself and was taken to the slave infirmary, where she used the Force to muddy the camera and steal some of the drugs and chemicals stored there. Once she was returned to the slave barracks, Mara used her skills as a saboteur to mix the chemicals into weapons. One combination created a fire that allowed her and Sansia to escape in the confusion. Other guards were dispatched with the acid she had created, but they were overpowered and forced to surrender. Dragged before Praysh to be interrogated, Mara was at a loss for what to do. However, the scavenger H'sishi entered with Mara's lightsaber (which was actually Luke's), claiming that it bore the corporate signature of another weapons syndicate. H'sishi then stunned Praysh and threw the lightsaber to Mara, who easily handled the guards. Mara and H'sishi then fled to the yacht, which Sansia had recovered after she had made her own escape during the fight.^[37]

Returning to Bardrin's mansion, Mara was surprised to find that Karrde, with the aid of some Noghri, had already taken the place and was preparing a mission to rescue her. Mara also got Bardrin to reveal that the entire abduction was a set-up, designed to help him take out Praysh and capture some stolen prototypes. Sansia, outraged, gave Mara the upgraded SoroSuub yacht, which she re-named the Jade's Fire. About this time, Karrde started helping her set up her own small trading company.^[37]

First Corellian Insurrection

Mara during the Corellian Insurrection.

By 18 ABY Mara was temporarily out of Karrde's organization and running a legitimate trading company—which was meant to prepare her to take over Karrde's organization. While in the Talfaglio system, the Jade's Fire intercepted a drone with a message cube bearing an Imperial code and addressed to Leia Organa Solo. Curious, she departed for the Corellian system, discerning that the message was most likely urgent. Arriving over Corellia, she attended the trade summit being held in Coronet City, where she encountered Leia and Han. Mara informed them of the message cube, and Leia escorted Mara to her personal apartment, along with Han, to unlock the message cube, which was coded to Leia's fingerprints. The cube revealed the plans of the Sacorrian Triad and the Human League, headed by Han's cousin Thrackan Sal-Solo, to blackmail the New Republic by destroying a number of stars. Shortly afterwards, the Human League caused riots and began their insurrection, and Mara, having left the Solos' apartment, disappeared.^[38]

Mara Jade was eventually captured by the Human League and imprisoned with Leia on Corellia as the First Corellian Insurrection sparked across the Corellian system. That, and the fact that her crew was missing, was incentive for her to fight against the Human League. Though neither woman trusted the other, the two decided to work together and escaped out of their cells and rappelled down into Leia's former quarters, where they retrieved Leia's lightsaber and blaster. Mara and Leia then departed the planet on Jade's ship, the Jade's Fire, after Mara called it to her with a beckon call. Both injured, they were pleased with just escaping Human League captivity, and eventually decided to head to Selonia. Approaching the world, they detected the Bakuran fleet and a coneship that was carrying Han and a Selonian, both also escaped from the Human League on Corellia. Mara brought the Jade's Fire to dock with the coneship and Leia was reunited with her husband.^[39]

Both craft then continued towards Selonia, but were intercepted by hostile fighters before they could land and the Jade's Fire flew cover for the utterly defenseless coneship until Mara and Leia shot off the rest of the fighters. On Selonia, with Mara, Leia and Han attempted to convince the Selonians to change their mind about turning over a planetary repulsor and aiding them—and they too were imprisoned for a short time. Mara, Leia and Han were freed following Luke Skywalker's arrival, and Mara helped persuade the Selonians to at least sell the operating instructions for the planetary repulsor that was needed to stop the Starbuster plot from destroying an inhabited system. She took part in the final battle at Centerpoint Station in Jade's Fire, fighting with the Falcon and Lando's ship, the Lady Luck, against the Sacorrian Triad fleet, who had been behind the Starbuster plot the entire time. Leia's children, with the aid of the instructions Mara had helped acquire and Bakuran techs, also successfully averted Centerpoint from destroying its next target, diffusing its weapon with a burst from the planetary repulsor on Drall.^[40]

Caamas document crisis

Shortly afterwards, Mara became absorbed into the events surrounding the Caamas Document crisis in 19 ABY when she and Karrde arrived on Wayland to hire some Noghri to work for his organization. Upon receiving a call from Cakhmaim, the Wild Karrde forced down the ship of Lak Jit, a Devaronian who had found information that the Bothans had helped Palpatine destroy Caamas.^[31]

Corran Horn with Mara Jade and Talon Karrde.

Later, after sensing a disturbance in the Force, Mara rescued Luke from the Cavrilhu Pirates while on a mission from Talon Karrde to look up pirate groups who might have been using clones. Luke had been infiltrating the group when he was discovered, and Karrde had sent Mara in the Starry Ice to check on him and the pirates. Only Mara's timely arrival allowed him to survive the pirate base's self-destruct sequence by floating a short distance across vacuum to her ship in a Jedi hibernation trance. As they left the pirate base, a small Chiss ship flew by, investigating them before jumping to hyperspace. It would not be the last time Mara encountered these types of ships, however. After meeting Karrde on the Errant Venture, the Star Destroyer received a fly-by another one of the ships. After the fighter went to hyperspace, Karrde and Mara were able to plot the destination of the ships: the planet Nirauan. Mara decided to investigate the world in the Starry Ice.^[31]

Nirauan

Mara journeyed to the Hand of Thrawn complex on Nirauan, losing contact with Karrde and his organization after setting down on the planet in a Defender starfighter. While exploring the area near the fortress, she fell and knocked herself out on a rock. Her absence and failure to report in caused the second-in-command, Faughn, to head out on the Starry Ice to seek help, leaving her stranded there. Faughn reported to Karrde, who was with Luke Skywalker at the time. Luke had been investigating a vision the Force had given him of Mara lying face-down in water when he met Karrde, and the vision had disturbed both of them. Luke agreed to go to Nirauan to rescue her, bringing her Jade's Fire and his X-wing to the remote planet.^[31]

Fifteen days after she had been stranded on N