'Star Wars' Is Bringing Back This Huge Legends Character
With the release of Crimson Reign #1 written by Charles Soule and art by Steven Cumming, the notorious legends character, Prince Xizor, seems to be returning to canon. In the comic, Prince Xizor is only mentioned during a conversation between Lady Qi’ra and Lord Gyuti, the boss of Black Sun, as Lady Qi’ra reintroduces Crimson Dawn to the crime syndicate. While the name Prince Xizor may not ring a bell for any of the newer Star Wars fans, for the older Star Wars fans they know that in the world of Legends he was as influential to the galaxy as Emperor Palpatine himself.
When Disney bought Lucasfilm back in 2012, they took Prince Xizor out of canon and moved him into the newly branded Legends. Disney has made a serious attempt to reintroduce certain fan favorite characters such as Grand Admiral Thrawn, Beilert Valance, and now, it appears, Prince Xizor. In Legends, Prince Xizor is a Falleen Prince of House Zizhran and was the leader of the powerful crime organization, Black Sun. His headquarters sat in the city of Coruscant, east of the Imperial Palace. Prince Xizor was a wealthy man that considered himself to be above others, much as someone would expect a crime lord. He considered himself an excellent judge of character, with the aid of being able to influence others by releasing pheromones. Though he underestimated the Force, letting both Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker get the best of him, he also considered himself a cultured man that enjoyed the finer things in life by dining in exclusive restaurants around the Coruscant elite. But don’t let his taste in fine dining fool you. He was known for not exacting revenge immediately, but would wait and plan his vengeance accordingly, only further proving his capabilities in leading the Black Sun.
While some fans may not recognize Prince Xizor, they definitely will recognize Black Sun. Black Sun was the first crime family that Darth Maul would reach out to towards the end of the Clone Wars alongside Death Watch in the Clone Wars animated series. With the aid of other crime syndicates, such as the Pykes, they aided in fooling Mandalore into creating a puppet Death Watch-run government with Darth Maul at the helm. While Darth Maul used his power and influence to unite individual syndicates into a vast criminal empire, Lady Qi’ra uses her control to realize Maul’s original end game. To seize the power that presents itself in chaos.
Lady Qi’ra begins by presenting Black Sun the opportunity to become the premier crime syndicate following the betrayal from the Hutts. After an attempt to capture a carbonite frozen Han Solo, the Hutt’s attacked an Imperial war ship in Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters. Qi'ra then goes on to imply that this made the Emperor furious and that he is now reconsidering his alliance with the Hutts and looking for a new partner. This message is shared with other crime lords, such as Papa Toren and the infamous Pykes. But planting the idea of working for the Emperor wasn’t the only plan Lady Qi’ra had for these crime families. She then sends out Chanath Cha and her Orphans to destroy a spice lab run by the Black Sun. After destroying the lab and leaving little to no survivors, they would go on to do the same to all crime organizations but leaving no clue as to who did it. This would incite the conflict between the Black Sun and other crime families.
While not much is said about Prince Xizor in current canon, many fans are excited to see his return. It begs the question if he will return to become as influential as he was in Legends, rivaling Palpatine and Vader, and what this could mean for the Black Sun.
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Sources: Screen Rant, Wookieepedia