Amid the chaos following Emperor Palpatine's death in Return of the Jedi, his personal assassin Mara Jade goes on the run to lick her wounds and complete her final assignment: infiltrate and destroy the mysterious head of a galaxy-wide criminal empire.
Written by Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, with art by the late Carlos Ezquerra (co-creator of Judge Dredd), By The Emperor's Hand is a miniseries from the 'expanded universe' of stories that came out between 1991 and Disney's acquisition of the property in 2012.
Zahn is one of the big names of this period. Back in 1991, his novel Heir to the Empire, which picked up after the events of Return of the Jedi, was so successful that it effectively re-started interest in Star Wars, and played a part in George Lucas deciding to make his prequel trilogy - Lucas even took the step of adding Coruscant, the Imperial capital to live-action at the end of the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi in 1997.
Zahn wrote two sequels to Heir to the Empire, and the trilogy remains popular, even though it is technically not part of canon. The series also introduced two characters who became extremely popular with the fanbase, the villainous Admiral Thrawn, and the former Imperial assassin Mara Jade.
Trained by and loyal to Emperor Palpatine, she blames herself for his death and a running subplot of the series was her conflicted relationship with Luke Skywalker. By the end of the trilogy, Jade has saved Luke and rid herself of her older loyalties.
A standalone prequel to Zahn's Heir to the Empire trilogy, Mara Jade: By the Emperor's Hand is based around Jade's final mission for the Emperor. Midway through the second issue, Palpatine meets his end, and the remainder of the series concerns Jade's attempts to find her feet as the Empire collapses into in-fighting around her.
I picked up the first issue when I was living in the US. I had not read Heir to the Empire and was only vaguely familiar of Star Wars stories outside of the movies. That first issue hooked me and I waited every month to pick up every issue. It is the one time I followed a comic book story beginning to end, waiting for each new instalment to drop.
Reading that series really set a fire under me and I went looking for other books featuring these characters. I eventually read the Thrawn trilogy and a couple of others. I did not have the resources to read everything, but I became a big fan of Star Wars outside of the movies for a couple years after that. I went a bit too hard and burned out on the old wars, and I have not really taken a gander into the stories that have come out since the turn of the Willenium.
A couple weeks ago I got into a rambling conversation about Star Wars and I brought up Mara Jade. Remembering the series, I went looking and found the issues hiding at the back of my bookshelf.
I have not read them in around 20 years. Cracking them open now felt odd, familiar but with some distance. I cannot say it reignited my interest in Star Wars, but I really enjoyed re-reading the story.
For one thing, I enjoyed how straightforward it was. The book is really mission-focused, and the creators do not waste time on side stories or callbacks to the wider mythology.
Jade is treated as an anti-hero, but Zahn gives her an inner monologue and moments of doubt that make her feel more vulnerable and human. The first couple of issues, based around Jade's initial attack on the villain feature plenty of action and Jade as an unstoppable killer.
But Palpatine's death provides a great opportunity to humanise Jade, stripping her of all her assets and weapons, forcing her to figure out who she is without the person who she defined herself by.
Jade is a morally compromised figure, and her hard-bitten tone reminded me of the Quarry series I read last year. In the book, Jade is described as the more subtle version of Darth Vader - where Vader is highly visible and blunt in action, Jade is more covert and nuanced.
Genre-wise, Zahn and his collaborators exploit this quality to throw Jade into a variety of different contexts. There are plenty of action sequences, but Zahn spends an almost equal number of pages on Jade improvising her way to break into or out of facilities, and evading capture from Imperial forces.
Before I go further, I want to clarify that this miniseries is not concerned with a great deal of inner conflict. This miniseries is broadly about completing a task. Mara does not undergo any major ideological shifts, although she is shown displaying far more empathy for the people she encounters. I wonder if this is a weakness - a tacit acknowledgement by the creators that any readers will be familiar with Jade's character arc in the Thrawn books.
The first three issues are a collaboration with Michael Stackpole. From my limited experience, he wrote a series of books about Rogue Squadron, a group of X-Wing pilots led by Wedge Antilles, a minor character from the original movies.
That series featured Imperial Intelligence director Ysanne Isard as the primary antagonist, who features her as a secondary villain for Jade. In tone, the Rogue Squadron books felt closer to the techno and political thrillers of the eighties and nineties, with the Rogues caught in Isard machinations to maintain/restore the Empire.
While the issues tell a continuous story, one of the things I liked was how distinct they were to another - she meets a new set of characters, performs a mini-mission or overcomes an obstacle.While the issues tell a continuous story, one of the things I liked was how distinct Each issue is. It feels like a set of short stories, with Mara wandering from one environment to another - she meets a new set of characters, performs a mini-mission or overcomes an obstacle.
Issue 3 is a prison break, as Mara escapes her cell and flees through the Imperial palace pursued by Isard’s security forces. This issue might be the most unique, as it is the most overtly comic - there is some great business involving a technician’s rapid promotions as he solves Isard’s problems. It also marks a real shift as Mara ends the issue free but at complete zero.
Issue 4 is a riff on the old ‘getting back in the game’ scenario, as Mara finds her new life upended by the organisation she believed she had destroyed. It is a familiar story, but it is a testament to Zahn’s scripting and Ezquarra’s art that Mara’s attempt at a normal life feels natural. It is a nice downshift from the action of the previous issues, but packs a sting in the tail.
The final two issues play like a Bond movie, as Mara Jade goes to a casino, engages in some espionage and small con tricks to get into the bad guys’ base.
Within just six issues, the world-building in By The Emperor’s Hand is pretty expansive, and filled with a variety of different characters for Mara to interact with. This element of the series really highlighted how insular the franchise has become - I was reading this series around the time that Luke’s CG return in The Mandalorian dropped online and it was a little depressing to compare how insular the franchise has become.
What I found interesting about the series is how well it could fit into the current stage of Star Wars, with all the streaming shows and other spin-offs in the running. Mara Jade does not have to return, but it would be cool to see some different kinds of stories in Star Wars. Every issue of By The Emperor’s Hand managed to feel like a distinct chapter, with its own antagonists and environments - Star Wars aside, I was really impressed by how much the series was able to pack in.
By The Emperor’s Hand did not hold any revelations, and it did not reignite my love of Star Wars. But on its own terms, it is an enjoyable piece of escapism, and worth checking out, if you can find it.
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