At first glance a lot of people don’t care for Children of the Jedi by Barbara Hambly. They don’t like her style or her grammar. Newcomers also think it’s evidence that the Expanded Universe isn’t canon because the Jedi mentioned don’t follow their prequel themes. (It was written long before.) However, the story actually has more to offer on a second glance. Luke’s greatest challenge here shows just how much like his Father is and mirrors what he faces in Revenge of the Sith. The movies themselves offer insights how this story can fit without contradiction. This is surprising given the little the author had to go on.
Warning: Some spoilers!
Summary:
The story begins with a crazed smuggler and former pal of Han Solo showing up and babbling a warning. This leads Han, Leia, R2 and Chewbacca to the mysterious world of Belsavis with it’s glaciers and volcanic rifts. Most of all it sets them on the trail of the “Children of the Jedi” that once lived there. Luke meanwhile senses great danger and along with C-3PO and his students, Cray and Nichos on a hunt for the unknown cause in an asteroid field.
Their paths will merge, as Luke finds a Battlestation called the Eye of Palpatine, long lost due to sabotage. Reawakened it has set out on it’s original mission to destroy the Jedi hiding on Belsavis. Facing overwhelming adversaries and his own injuries, he also faces a test of character that reveal just how much like Anakin he really is.
Main Characters:
- Luke Skywalker (Jedi Master)
- Cray Mingla (Jedi student, expert in droid and computer systems)
- Nichos (former Jedi student, now a droid as his organic body succumbed to a fatal illness)
- C-3P0 (protocol droid)
- R2D2 (astromech)
- Leia Organa Solo (Chief of State of the New Republic, Mother, partially trained Jedi, wife)
- Han Solo (former General, Father, husband)
- Chewbacca (Han’s best friend and co-pilot)
- Callista (Jedi, a force spirit attached to the Eye of Palptine gunnery computers)
- Roganda Ismaren (Former child of the Jedi, believes herself an Emperor’s Hand)
- Irek Ismaren (Roganda’s son, strong in the Force and implanted with a chip to enable him to control machines with his mind and the Force)
The Original Trilogy this Story is Based on.
In the Original Trilogy Luke is an adult, son of a Jedi, Anakin Skywalker. Nowhere in this is it said what Yoda’s definition of “too old” is (but he knew they couldn’t raise them from birth in Revenge of the Sith). Nowhere does it suggest a married Jedi with child is out of the ordinary. Luke is told “The Force is strong in your family, pass on what you have learned.” One can assume that means Leia and possibly the future children. The end of Return of the Jedi does set up her getting together with Han. And indeed, in Children of the Jedi, her three children are mentioned.
When Tales of the Jedi was released, the Jedi in it were based on this as well as questions and answers to George Lucas. It’s confirmed that he did read the comics after the fact and never challenged Jedi having families (such as Nomi) or training as adults, or even multiple students. Likely that decision wasn’t made until after The Phantom Menace, as even the first comics based on the upcoming movies came out, we still had at least one Jedi Master married. (This was later explained as due to the low male birthrate of his species). Tales of the Jedi was set millennia before for this very reason, to smooth out inconsistencies with later stories. Following the Expanded Universe timeline we see that in Knights of the Old Republic it’s still done (but rarely) and by Star Wars the Old Republic (the game) it’s frowned upon. In Jedi VS Sith comics, it’s revealed that the war with the Sith has so devastated the Jedi that they are now taking younger and younger kids as recruits.
The Prequels Allow the Expanded Universe
Surprisingly the prequel movies themselves allow room for the events of Children of the Jedi. The key is that just because the Jedi Council and their code forbade something, did not mean all Jedi agreed. Qui-Gon was willing to ignore it to train Anakin. Until the Council challenged him, he showed no sign he minded the idea of having 2 padawan either. Dooku was a Jedi for years and then left and ended up becoming a Sith Lord. In between there is plenty of room for those like Qui-Gon who are willing to make exceptions regarding marriage, children, and age of apprentices. As scattered as they were it would’ve been easy to hide it. Easier than it was for Anakin and Padme who were in sight of each other on Coruscant!
We also know that Jedi escaped: why else would Obi-Wan and Yoda alter the beacon to warn Jedi away? As for the children, its only an assumption of our heroes that they were all offspring of Jedi, as opposed to those who had been accepted as infants for training. We know the Jedi had satellite temples where apprentices were trained (ie Dantooine in Knights of the Old Republic was once one). The Dark Times comics even tell of Master K’kruhk being at one while it was attacked and helping the younglings to safety.
“He is more machine now, than man, twisted and evil”
The Adversaries
The Eye of Palpatine is no super weapon like the Death Star. It has more like the power of a destroyer, though it may have used some of the Death Star tech in a kind of trial run. It’s AI was brilliant but no match for the Force.
It did not expect to use clone troops judging from the brainwashing tech. But it did expect to use humans or people with similar brain patterns. Possibly even those already in the Republic navy – hence a need for additional anti-Jedi brainwashing.
Other stories establish that the Empire gradually moved away from a purely Clone army. The original clone template (Jango) was dead and you could only get so much from his genetic material. Besides, if anyone could join the military it gave the young adults (such as Luke and Biggs Darklighter) hope of using it to find a way off a dead end world. Before that hope was placed in the Jedi finding some of them Force sensitive (see Darth Vader’s Purge comics for examples of this.)
By brainwashing the non humans it made them less themselves, more human machine hybrid in thinking. It wiped out individuality as much as possible. It worked on all the humans, though Jedi and strong minded individuals are may be able to break it (having injuries, as Luke did, doesn’t help.)
It doesn’t work so well on the assorted other species it picked up to account for the missing long departed troops. The Affytechans were in a dream world. The Gamorreans became more organized with their internal clan battle, each thinking the other a traitor.
How the organics react to the brainwashing is a contrast to R2 and 3PO who being purely droid, are more human and individual than you expect. Nichos is part of the main plotline. A droid built to be a man. But is he? It’s a critical point in the story. What makes a life form alive? The old Jedi Order insist it is organic life. But there have been exceptions. (But that is another story!)
Foreshadowing Anakin’s trial.
In Children of the Jedi, Luke’s real test is Callista. When Luke falls in love with this Jedi, a contemporary of his Father, she’s already a ghost in the machine.
Tempted for Love
Consider: Anakin, convinced his wife will die without help has exhausted all options. He tries to tell himself that he can use Palpatine’s dark power. The man will help him even if arrested.
Luke has fallen for the Jedi ghost Callista and knows she will die (or become one with the Force) on the ship’s destruction. He tries to tell himself he keep the battle platform from falling to enemy hands long enough to save Callista. It’s the same choice. The difference is there is no living Sith breathing in Luke’s ear and Luke has friends with him. Anakin didn’t have that. Padme didn’t know about this temptation. Obi-Wan was off world. Mace Windu may have been a Jedi Master but he was definitely not someone Anakin considered a friend.
[su_spoiler title=” SPOILERS.”]Cray decides she doesn’t want to live without Nichos and offers Callista her body. Callista accepts. No doubt this is done with the best of motives but the cost is, she has lost her powers. In future stories we find she can access the Dark Side. This brings to mind the prequels again. “Finding him is the will of the Force” – the Force has a will of it’s own. And most important: “The dark side is a pathway to what others might think of as unnatural.” It may not have been a knowingly dark side choice. But it was an unnatural act, to take another’s body. This may be why she can’t feel the Force without the dark side.[/su_spoiler]
Barbara Hambly may not be the most polished writer of the English language. But she clearly hit the target in the dark when aiming at a very ‘Skywalker’ kind of test for Luke. The plot twist of the end comes as a surprise. But then, it isn’t really the end either. The fall out from this story is continued in Darksaber by Kevin J. Anderson and Planet of Twilight, the wrap up which is also by her.
Continuity
This is the first of three main stories featuring Callista. The second is Darksaber and the third is Planet of Twilight. There is also a short story in one of the old West End Games ‘Murder in Slushtime.” Callista is mentioned in the Fate of the Jedi series as well.
The world of Belsavis is a main story world in Star Wars the Old Republic. Just as described it has ice, snow on the surface as well as volcanic rift valley. The setting of several millennia before explains why the world may have been lost to the Republic and the few changes.
Before The Clone Wars TV series revealed itself to be diverging drastically from the Expanded Universe, one author tried to bridge it. That story, No Prisoners, includes Callista and her Master, Djinn Altis.
