Heir to the Empire

Talon Karrde and Mara Jade form important secondary roles in Heir to the Empire, and their arcs hint at future importance to the narrative of the trilogy. Talon Karrde is a smuggler boss, and many smugglers presume that he has gained enough power to take over the role left open by Jabba the Hutt’s death in Return of the Jedi. Karrde uses knowledge and secrets to gain power, observing people and events wherever he can to glean information. In the beginning of the novel, he has the potential to become a secondary antagonist to support Thrawn’s endeavors, but he chooses to help Han, Lando, and Luke instead. He knows he should hand Luke over to Thrawn to protect himself and his business, but he struggles to decide between his own best interest and his honor, ultimately choosing the latter. He highly values hospitality and debts of honor, refusing to harm anyone who is a guest of his or to whom he or one of his employees owes a debt.

Mara Jade is Karrde’s second-in-command. Karrde knows she hates Luke violently and that she wants Luke dead, but he does not know why. Mara struggles with her desire to kill Luke, but she honors her word to Karrde. After being stuck together in the forest for several days, Mara admits to Luke that she hates him because she lost everything when he killed the Emperor. She was the Emperor’s Hand, someone with whom he could communicate over great distances, and in this role, she completed jobs for him that no one else could do. One such job was to kill Luke. She had positioned herself as a dancer for Jabba the Hutt to do so, but she was unable to convince Jabba to allow her on the speeder that would take Luke to execution. Because of this, Luke was able to complete his escape plan and rescue Han, and Mara failed in her mission. Few people knew her true role, so when the Emperor was killed, she had to take any job she could until she found her way to Karrde. Mara’s character arc in Heir to the Empire moves her from a place of vengeance and continued loyalty to a deceased Emperor toward personal autonomy, admitting the truth of her hatred to Luke and choosing to save his life in the forest. It is clear she will continue to play an important role in the future.