By Chris Snellgrove | Published
If you asked the average jaded Star Wars fan what was wrong with the Sequel Trilogy, they’d probably respond with a screed longer than every opening exploration of the franchise combined. If you asked them what worse The problem was, however, that they would probably point out that Luke Skywalker was reduced to a grumpy old man who gave up his life and the protection of the galaxy from evil. It’s difficult to explain how or why Luke was able to fall so far from the heights of heroism, but Disney could provide a simple explanation and retroactively correct its mistake with a bold move: officially adding Mara Jade to the canon.
Mara Jade is the key to it all
Mara Jade was, of course, the Hand of the Emperor, someone trained to carry out Palpatine’s orders from a young age. She lost her Imperial job and became a smuggler after the Emperor’s death, something she blamed on Luke Skywalker. Eventually, she learns the truth, becoming Luke’s ally and later his wife, the two having a child before being tragically killed by Jacen Solo, the fallen Jedi son of Han Solo and Leia Organa.
Now, all of these details about Mara Jade come from the Star Wars expanded universe, and Disney has decreed that all of these stories (now reprinted under the Legends banner) are no longer canon. However, Jade was introduced in prolific author Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy, and Grand Admiral Thrawn himself was reintroduced into canon thanks to Star Wars Rebels And Ahsoka. Mara Jade could also be reintroduced, but how on earth would that solve the problem with Luke Skywalker’s portrayal in The Last Jedi?
How Mara Jade Fixes Luke
In the old EU stories, Mara Jade was the love of Luke Skywalker’s life, and he was understandably traumatized by her death…so traumatized that he set out on a quest for revenge and ultimately killed the bad person. As for the Luke Skywalker of The Last Jedithese actions (mainly the whole stalking and brutal killing of someone in revenge) seemed out of character for the Luke we know and loved, but they were motivated by grief and loss. And if Disney was willing to integrate Mara Jade into the current canon and reflect primarily its European storyline, then her eventual death would help explain why Luke later becomes a grumpy sad sack.
This would require a bit of finesse. Mara Jade should be introduced in the postReturn of the Jedi era of The Mandalorian and other shows to reasonably explain how she would have time to meet Luke, fall in love, and die before the events of The Last Jedi. And Disney should either recast a younger actor for Luke for a live-action show, or create an animated series for Mark Hamill to simply voice Luke. Finally, they should (like European writers before them) accept that the Jedi of this new era can fall in love and marry without falling to the dark side.
Disney obviously has plenty of conditions to meet to do justice to Mara Jade’s story, but at this point, the studio giant has almost nothing to lose. A show centered around Mara Jade would appeal to old-school fans turned off by shows like The Acolyte although it softens the much-hated portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Sequel Trilogy. And given that Disney is canceling projects left and right and dropping the ball with the projects that finally see the light of day, bringing back Mara Jade may be the only thing that can bring back something else: our collective passion for Star Wars.
