## Chapter 26

1 Killing off a character, or even just lopping off one of his or her major body parts, can be highly traumatic, not only for the character but for the audience. Just ask Luke.

That’s one of the handy things about droids. You can rip off any component you need to, and after a quick visit to the body shop everything will be fine.

Gilbert Gottfried, who voiced the parrot Iago in Disney’s Aladdin, once commented that the screenwriters’ philosophy seemed to be, “When in doubt, hurt the bird.”

Not that I would ever deliberately think that way about R2. Of course not.

—TZ

2 Mara Jade’s creation began with a simple idea and plan: to tie the opening section of Return of the Jedi more closely to the main story presented by the Star Wars movies.

To elaborate a bit. Han’s rescue was, of course, a vital part of Jedi. But to me, it always felt a little disconnected from the main Rebellion plot line. (Which it was, of course. Rescuing Han was strictly personal, on everyone’s part.)

As I mulled it over, it occurred to me that, after Vader’s attempt to persuade Luke to join him in The Empire Strikes Back, the Emperor might very well have decided that Luke was more liability than potential asset and sent someone to take him out when he turned up at Jabba’s palace.

What kind of person might Palpatine send? It would have to be someone competent, naturally. It would also have to be someone who could meet Luke’s Jedi power head-on. Finally, it would have to be someone who was out of the normal chain of command, lest Vader get wind of the plan.

From all that came the idea of the Emperor’s Hand, a shadowy agent under Palpatine’s sole command. And from that, ultimately, came Mara Jade.

And although her early history still remains mysterious, I’ve now had a chance to tell a few of the stories of her life as the Emperor’s Hand, in Star Wars: Allegiance and the upcoming Star Wars: Choices of One.

—TZ