Did George Lucas Hate Mara Jade?
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Mara Jade is one of the most popular characters in the Expanded Universe, but is it true that George Lucas heavily disliked the redhead?
Mara Jade first appeared in Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy as an assassin/force user. She was an instant hit among female fans who turned up to comic conventions en mass in cosplay, even though the only guide to what she looked like was vague text descriptions and grainy book cover images. But although Luke Skywalker and the general public (shout out to Club Jade, her unofficial fandom) fell in love with her, it’s been said by many that George Lucas did not.
Timothy Zahn, creator of the Emperor’s Hand, has spoken frankly about the rumors. “I never heard anything from George. I had heard later on from other sources that he didn’t like certain things about the book. He didn’t like Mara, didn’t like Ysalamiri and such.”
But he’s not the only one to have heard George talk on the subject. The former Lucasfilm executive JW Rinzler admitted on the Naboo News Podcast that “George couldn’t stand Mara Jade.”
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George Lucas also participated in a Robot Chicken skit. It might have been a parody, but it also re-enforced that he did not create the Emperor’s Hand.
But George Lucas Had The Final Say In EU Content
Why did George Lucas approve Luke Skywalker’s marriage if he was so seemingly against Mara Jade in the first place? Michael A. Stackpole, author of the X-Wing series, described the development process for the EU. ” I know that as with any of the novels, everything is cleared through Lucasfilm and a hundred percent for anything as major as a love interest being developed for Luke — that's a decision George would've given a yes or no on.”
Her character had been kicking around the Star Wars Expanded Universe for seven years before the proposal in Timothy Zahn’s Hand of Thrawn duology novel, Vision of the Future. There was plenty of time to put a lid on the relationship if George had wanted to. Mara Jade sold books and comics, she made the franchise money. In 1998, Star Wars Insider surveyed fans to find out which were the most popular Star Wars characters, and Mara Jade appeared in the top twenty even though she’s never been on screen.
The truth is that George didn’t class the books and comics as the same Star Wars as the movies. “I don’t read that stuff. I haven’t read any of the novels. I don’t know anything about that world. That’s a different world than my world.” He was happy to give authors free rein if it paid off, but he kept a tight control over live-action.
In a Total Film interview in 2008 (before the sequels), he reiterated that it was only the movies that mattered to him regarding storytelling. “Star Wars' story is really the tragedy of Darth Vader. Once Vader dies, he doesn't come back to life, the Emperor doesn't get cloned and Luke doesn't get married.”
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Was It Just Mara Jade, Or Any Love Interest?
George had full creative control of the prequels, and they are the best example of what he thought a Jedi should be. And central to the Jedi Order is a lack of romantic attachments. Fall in love, fall to the dark side.
Lucas said, “So the issue of love, there’s a line between loving somebody compassionately and caring about them and helping them. But the other line is not to be greedy, or once you are greedy, then you get fearful. You don’t want to lose what it is you have that you are getting. So you have to learn to give up everything. And ultimately for a Jedi Knight, it’s very easy to give up”.
The Jedi in the Expanded Universe are very far removed from the Jedi in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Corran Horn had a wife and children and was also a full-time member of Rogue Squadron. George Lucas clearly envisioned being a Jedi as a more consuming commitment. And while George Lucas had control of Star Wars, Luke Skywalker was never going to have a cutesy romantic plotline, as shown by his drafts of the sequel movies (None of which had Mara or any other partner).
Image Source: Wookieepedia
Disney stuck with the creator’s template when they made Episodes VII- IX. Now that we have seen Luke’s ending, there is not much room for Mara Jade in his story. Although the Emperor’s Hand concept could still be utilized at some point. So, although Disney separated the EU from canon and made it legends, George Lucas always considered the movies on a different plane to all the other content. And he never would have given us the Luke Skywalker in the books, married to Mara Jade (or anyone else) with Ben Skywalker as his son. It was too far away from his original vision.
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Source(s): Screenrant, Popverse, Naboo News, Looper, Bounding Into Comics, Spoiled Blue Milk
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