Mara Jade

''Though I was seen at court, very few thought I was more than a bauble kept about to add something to the cityscape. What my master wished done was what I did. No questions. No regrets. Total devotion to duty. Those who guessed I was more to the Emperor learned to fear that I might be turned on them someday.'' - Mara Jade

Game Info
Mara Jade is the "Emperor's agent" Darth Vader sends the player to meet with at one phase of the Imperial Themepark quest on Naboo. The character has a brief interchange with her, then she sends you back to the Emperor's Retreat. Mara is significant not because of who she is in-game (an almost insignificant NPC), but because of who she is in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Star Wars Lore
Mara Jade (later Skywalker) was a female human of many talents. She was, during different times in her life, an Emperor's Hand, a Smuggler and a Jedi Master. She was also the wife of Luke Skywalker and the mother of Ben Skywalker.

Mara Jade was once known as an "Emperor's Hand," one of the Emperor's personal assassins. Jade was unaware of the existence of the other Hands. She could hear Palpatine's voice anywhere in the Galaxy via a telepathic link.

Emperor Palpatine took her from her parents when she was an infant. Although officially she was one of the Imperial Palace's dancers, Palpatine trained her in the use of The Force.

Before the Battle of Yavin, she gathered intelligence and helped Darth Vader hunt down Jedi that had survived Order 66 like The Dark Woman. Mara was envious of Vader and sensed a division in him, especially when she couldn't understand the reason of his obsession concerning Luke Skywalker. Mara hoped that Vader would betray the Emperor so that she could kill him and take Vader's place next to the Emperor.

During the years following the Battle of Yavin and preceding the Battle of Hoth, Mara spyed on Darth Vader and delivered reports on his actions, even going so far as watching, from afar, his assault on the Massassi Temples, some six months after the Battle of Yavin.

When Palpatine began to worry about the threat of Luke Skywalker, Mara was sent to infiltrate Jabba's Palace disguised as the dancing girl Arica and await Skywalker. Melina Carniss, a member of Jabba's secret security detail, suspected her of being out to assassinate the Hutt, and had her imprisoned. She was thus unable to follow Luke to the execution grounds. She made her way back to Imperial Center and a displeased Palpatine. Had she been present at the Pit of Carkoon, she would have prevented Luke's escape, as revealed to Skywalker in a Force vision years later.

Mara saw the Emperor's death through the Force. Vader and Skywalker were there, and it seemed that they both killed Palpatine together. Anticipating that she might be detained by those jostling to assume control of the Empire, she attempted to flee, but was arrested by Imperial Intelligence on the order of Director Ysanne Isard. She managed to escape, disguised as a refugee.

Her hatred for Skywalker burned deep within her, and she vowed to destroy the Jedi. She was unaware that the Emperor's telepathic command was at the core of this rage, making it stronger than any normal wish for vengeance would be. In the 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. 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."

Fortune finally struck when Mara managed to save the smuggler baron Talon Karrde from an ambush that took the life of Karrde's second-in-command, Quelev Tapper, and almost killed Karrde as well. Karrde was so impressed with Mara that he hired her on the spot. Over the following six months, Jade rose within the ranks of Karrde's smuggling organization at an astonishing rate, on account of her skills, insight, and abilities.

Into this promising future crashed Luke Skywalker, the man she had sworn to kill. They met at Karrde's base on Myrkr, where the planet's Force nullifying Ysalamiri creatures blocked Skywalker's Force abilities. Jade was at first intent on killing Skywalker, but a series of circumstances and some unexplained hesitation resulted in her helping him escape instead. Karrde and his organization fled Myrkr soon after because of a massive Imperial bounty placed upon them.

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. This great altruism made a deep impression.

Eventually, the solution was found when the two confronted Joruus C'baoth, an insane clone of a long dead Jedi Master. Luke was forced to face off against a clone of himself, created using DNA from the hand he lost on Cloud City and armed with the very lightsaber he lost on Bespin. As Luke was overwhelmed by the clone Luuke Skywalker Mara leapt to his aid, striking down the clone. Finally she had fulfilled the Emperor's last command and was left at peace. Alongside Luke she faced the terrifying C'baoth and, as he attempted to bring the roof down on the pair, she leapt forward and impaled C'baoth with Luke's blade. In a twist of fate Luke then saved Mara's life, pulling her away as C'baoth exploded in a spectacular lightning storm. As a token of friendship, Luke gave her the blue lightsaber his clone had used, and she would continue to use it in the years ahead.

Ten years after the fall of the Empire, Mara was found briefly under the Jedi tutelage of Kyle Katarn on the battlefront of Altyr 5 when the New Republic base was receiving bombardment from two artificial asteroids, and an attack from the Imperial Remnant. Kyle Katarn managed to repel the attack, and destroyed both asteroids. While there, he got a lead for the planet Dromund Kaas, having some importance to the Empire and went to investigate.

Mara was now 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 for him Takara's GCT device. While looking for Takara's lieutenants, Abron Mar on the Katraasii spaceport, Mara was trapped by Takara, but managed to escape by killing a Rancor and stole the device.

Ka'Pa was pleased and agreed to help the Republic. 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.

After that, Mara finally arrived on Dromund Kaas to see what had happened to Katarn. After travelling across 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 fight 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 realised that he could not follow this path and returned to the light side.

After Kyle forsook the Jedi and the Force and returned to his military action, 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.

Over the years, Mara and Luke would continue to work together in many important situations in the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War that essentially followed the Battle of Endor. Initially, Mara declined to attend the Jedi Academy on Yavin IV because of her concerns about Luke and the way he structured the academy. On their mission to investigate the Hand of Thrawn, Mara and Luke finally realized that they had fallen deeply in love with each other. They married on Coruscant, soon after the signing of the peace treaty with the Empire. Mara would later continue her training in the Force and even one day become a Jedi Master. She took on young Jedi Jaina Solo as her apprentice and constructed a new lightsaber modelled after Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn.