The Jedi Academy trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Jedi Academy trilogy is a trilogy of novel
s set in the Star Wars
galaxy
. The series was written by Star Wars author Kevin J. Anderson
. The books are a part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe
, and occur around seven years after the events of Return of the Jedi
, in 11 ABY. The series chronicles Luke Skywalker
's early attempts to rebuild the Jedi Order after the defeat of the Emperor
. Some of the events in the trilogy are retold from a different perspective in I, Jedi
by Michael A. Stackpole.
Expanded Universe
, who first appeared in the Jedi Academy Trilogy.
Natasi Daala's first canonical appearance is in Jedi Search
, in which she is already in charge of the Maw Installation. Jedi Search also relates her backstory: she is one of the very few high-ranking females in the Imperial Navy. Though she is a talented student and officer at the Imperial Academy, she believes she is continually passed over for promotion simply because of her gender
.
To take out her frustrations toward the male-dominated military, she makes herself a false computer identity. Daala defeats many a high level officer and more than a few of her own instructors. This wins her the attention of Grand Moff Tarkin
. He investigates the talented young officer and is pleasantly surprised to discover that she is female. Tarkin, with whom she begins an affair despite the fact he is married and is her commander, takes her on as his protégé, helping her to ascend to the rank of Admiral. Many of her fellow officers quietly complain that she is sleeping her way to the top. When one of those remarks makes its way back to Tarkin, he searches out the offending officer and ejects him into space over Carida, with his suit intercom on so that all of Tarkin's subordinates are forced to listen to his slow demise.
As Tarkin's most trusted officer, Daala is tasked with overseeing and protecting the Maw Installation, birthplace of the Death Star
, World Devastators and the Sun Crusher. This facility is hidden away even from the rest of the Empire, and no less than four Imperial Star Destroyers
are stationed there. Tarkin orders Daala never to abandon her post or to break communication silence unless he returns. After Tarkin's death aboard the first Death Star, Daala stays isolated in the Maw with no news of the galaxy
outside and no one in the Empire aware of her existence.
When Han Solo
, Chewbacca
, and Kyp Durron escape from the mining planet of Kessel in Jedi Search and accidentally discover the Maw Installation, Daala captures and interrogates them, learning for the first time about the destruction of the Empire and the death of Tarkin. Daala knows that her orders are obsolete and it is time to strike back at the Rebel Alliance
, who have now taken control of the galaxy as the New Republic
.
When Han, Chewie, and Kyp escape, they destroy one of Daala's Star Destroyers by ramming it with their vehicle, the Sun Crusher; this loss greatly decreases her firepower.
Furious, she wrathfully attacks the proving grounds of Dantooine, slaying a colony of civilians. The AT-ST and Imperial walkers commanded by Commander Kratas destroys the colonists easily.
Eventually, she unleashes her hatred against the Mon Calamari for their fleet support and troops to the Alliance. Her campaign is foiled, however, and one of her highest-ranking officers is killed by Admiral Ackbar.
At the end of Dark Apprentice, after planning a kamikaze
attack on Coruscant
using the Basilisk, Daala's final mission is foiled when Kyp Durron (now a Sith
apprentice to Exar Kun) using the Sun Crusher, causes the Cauldron Nebula, which two of her ships, the Basilisk and the Gorgon, are resting in to go nova
; this destroys the Basilisk and cripples the Gorgon.
Daala and the Gorgon spend most of the following novel, Champions of the Force
, limping back to the Maw Installation to protect it against the Rebels who would no doubt eventually try to seize it. They arrive after the Rebels have already captured the Installation. Daala immediately attacks the Rebel fleet, but is outmatched; the Installation is indefensible, and Daala is forced to destroy it after making backups of the data stored within. The explosion of the Installation's reactors conceals her escape from the Maw, convincing the Rebels that she has finally died.
When next Daala resurfaces in Darksaber
, she has joined Supreme Warlord Harrsk's forces. Under his incompetent command, Daala realizes what shambles the Empire is in. Feuding over what was left of a formerly galaxy-spanning government, the various warlords are destroying everything they have left. Daala forces the most powerful warlords to meet, finding only Warlord Teradoc's subordinate, Vice Admiral Pellaeon, a worthy enough commander among them to live. Together they murder the warlords, sealing them in a room and poisoning their air, the two conspirators wearing the only rebreathers.
Daala takes command of all their forces, consolidating the scattered fleets of Victory-Star Destroyers, Skipray Blastboats, and even a single Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, the Knight Hammer. Her glorious fleet lasts just long enough for an attack against the New Republic and Luke Skywalker
's Jedi Academy. Her old nemeses Kyp Durron and Admiral Ackbar defeat her once again, with the assistance of another: on the Knight Hammer, Daala confronted the former Jedi Knight Callista, who has effectively sabotage
d the vessel. Callista intends to kill Daala as well, but she hadn't reckoned on Daala's skill with a blaster - instead of firing a normal bolt (blockable with a lightsaber
), Daala instead fires a stun bolt, consisting of unblockable rings, rendering Callista unconscious. Despite the damage Callista has done to her plans, Daala lets her live, impressed by her aggressiveness. Defeated for good, Daala promotes Pellaeon to the rank of Admiral, handing her rank insignia and remaining fleet to him, and resigns from Imperial service.
Daala returns in Planet of Twilight
, when she learns of and stops Moff Getelles' plan to use the Death Seed plague to take over the Meridian sector.
Afterwards, she returns once more to the Deep Core looking to establish another fleet. Though she makes an attack against the Republic a short time later, General Garm Bel Iblis defeats her soundly and she makes a blind hyperspace jump; though she is presumed dead, New Republic Intelligence refuses to take her off the threat list.
She reappears in Karen Traviss' Revelation, which is the 8th book in the series Legacy of the Force commanding the Maw Irregular Fleet; this is where her first name is given. She has a son and a granddaughter, possibly with Liegeus Vorn. In Invincible, she becomes the Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, promising to create a just and stable government that will no longer need to rely on the Jedi for security.
In the follow-up series of Legacy of the Force, Fate of the Jedi, as Daala leads the Galactic Alliance back into stability, a psychosis breaks out among several Jedi Knights. She has two of these Knights, the Horn siblings, Valin and Jysella, put in carbonite, but all of the other victims of this psychosis are harbored for treatment by the Jedi Order. Meanwhile, Daala had Luke Skywalker, leader of the Order, exiled from Coruscant, blaming him for Jacen Solo's actions throughout the course of Legacy of the Force; so Luke and his son, Ben, search the more obscure regions of the galaxy in order to follow the trail that Jacen took in his five-year Force-searching sojourn following the Yuuzhan Vong War. Meanwhile, as Daala's conflict with the Jedi escalates thanks to the Force psychosis, a conspiracy circle consisting of Imperial Moff Drikl Lecersen and several other Galactic Alliance officials begin plotting against Daala so that she could be replaced. One of the tipping points in this conflict for Daala is when slave revolutions throughout the galaxy break out, coercing her to use Mandalorians to put these riots down. Because of this, the Jedi openly turn against Daala, send a fleet to help Luke fight against the dark side entity known as Abeloth and the Lost Tribe of the Sith, and then overthrow in a coup before the Imperial-Alliance conspiracy could figuratively pounce on her. For her crimes, Daala is imprisoned, but is shortly after busted out by Boba Fett, who reveals to her that the slave revolutions were thanks to Moff Lecersen in his plan to overthrow Daala. So she returns to Imperial space, gathers up the support of all the Moffs, including Lecersen, on threat of exposing him to the galaxy and killing him, and she prepares to overthrow Imperial Head of State Jagged Fel so that she could rule the Imperial Remnant; and, subsequently, the galaxy. However, thanks to the treachery of Moff Tol Getelles, Fel manages to round up his own loyal forces and go into war against Daala.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s set in the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
galaxy
Star Wars Galaxy
Star Wars Galaxy may mean:* Star Wars Galaxies, a Star Wars themed MMORPG platform for Microsoft Windows* Star Wars galaxy, the fictional galaxy where the setting of the Star Wars saga occurs...
. The series was written by Star Wars author Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
. The books are a part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe
Star Wars Expanded Universe
The Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
, and occur around seven years after the events of Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
, in 11 ABY. The series chronicles Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
's early attempts to rebuild the Jedi Order after the defeat of the Emperor
Palpatine
Palpatine is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Star Wars saga, portrayed by Ian McDiarmid in the feature films.Palpatine first appeared as the unnamed Emperor of the Galactic Empire in the 1980 film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back...
. Some of the events in the trilogy are retold from a different perspective in I, Jedi
I, Jedi
I, Jedi is a novel, written by Michael A. Stackpole that is set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was the first Star Wars novel written in the first-person perspective of a character never seen in the movies....
by Michael A. Stackpole.
Admiral Natasi Daala
Admiral Natasi Daala is a fictional character in the Star WarsStar Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
Expanded Universe
Star Wars Expanded Universe
The Star Wars Expanded Universe encompasses all of the officially licensed, fictional background of the Star Wars universe, outside of the six feature films produced by George Lucas. The expanded universe includes books, comic books, video games, spin-off films like Star Wars: The Clone Wars,...
, who first appeared in the Jedi Academy Trilogy.
Natasi Daala's first canonical appearance is in Jedi Search
Jedi Search
-Description:While Luke Skywalker takes the first step toward setting up an academy to train a new order of Jedi Knights, Han Solo and Chewbacca are taken prisoner on the planet Kessel and forced to work in the fathomless depths of a spice mine...
, in which she is already in charge of the Maw Installation. Jedi Search also relates her backstory: she is one of the very few high-ranking females in the Imperial Navy. Though she is a talented student and officer at the Imperial Academy, she believes she is continually passed over for promotion simply because of her gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
.
To take out her frustrations toward the male-dominated military, she makes herself a false computer identity. Daala defeats many a high level officer and more than a few of her own instructors. This wins her the attention of Grand Moff Tarkin
Grand Moff Tarkin
Governor Wilhuff Tarkin or Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing as the main antagonist of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, played by British actor Peter Cushing. A younger version of the character makes a brief cameo in the prequel film Star Wars...
. He investigates the talented young officer and is pleasantly surprised to discover that she is female. Tarkin, with whom she begins an affair despite the fact he is married and is her commander, takes her on as his protégé, helping her to ascend to the rank of Admiral. Many of her fellow officers quietly complain that she is sleeping her way to the top. When one of those remarks makes its way back to Tarkin, he searches out the offending officer and ejects him into space over Carida, with his suit intercom on so that all of Tarkin's subordinates are forced to listen to his slow demise.
As Tarkin's most trusted officer, Daala is tasked with overseeing and protecting the Maw Installation, birthplace of the Death Star
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
, World Devastators and the Sun Crusher. This facility is hidden away even from the rest of the Empire, and no less than four Imperial Star Destroyers
Star Destroyer
Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. The Imperial Star Destroyer, which first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , is "the signature vessel of the Imperial fleet"...
are stationed there. Tarkin orders Daala never to abandon her post or to break communication silence unless he returns. After Tarkin's death aboard the first Death Star, Daala stays isolated in the Maw with no news of the galaxy
Star Wars Galaxy
Star Wars Galaxy may mean:* Star Wars Galaxies, a Star Wars themed MMORPG platform for Microsoft Windows* Star Wars galaxy, the fictional galaxy where the setting of the Star Wars saga occurs...
outside and no one in the Empire aware of her existence.
When Han Solo
Han Solo
Han Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise played by Harrison Ford. Introduced in the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , Solo and his Wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca , become involved in the Rebel Alliance against the Galactic Empire...
, Chewbacca
Chewbacca
Chewbacca, also known as Chewie, is a character in the Star Wars franchise, portrayed by Peter Mayhew. In the series' narrative chronology, he appears in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi...
, and Kyp Durron escape from the mining planet of Kessel in Jedi Search and accidentally discover the Maw Installation, Daala captures and interrogates them, learning for the first time about the destruction of the Empire and the death of Tarkin. Daala knows that her orders are obsolete and it is time to strike back at the Rebel Alliance
Rebel Alliance
The Alliance to Restore the Republic is an interstellar faction of the fictional universe of Star Wars....
, who have now taken control of the galaxy as the New Republic
New Republic (Star Wars)
The New Republic is a government in the fictional Star Wars universe.When the Rebel Alliance re-established the Old Galactic Republic after the downfall of the Galactic Empire, it became known as the New Republic, just as the original Galactic Republic had become known as the Old Republic by that...
.
When Han, Chewie, and Kyp escape, they destroy one of Daala's Star Destroyers by ramming it with their vehicle, the Sun Crusher; this loss greatly decreases her firepower.
Furious, she wrathfully attacks the proving grounds of Dantooine, slaying a colony of civilians. The AT-ST and Imperial walkers commanded by Commander Kratas destroys the colonists easily.
Eventually, she unleashes her hatred against the Mon Calamari for their fleet support and troops to the Alliance. Her campaign is foiled, however, and one of her highest-ranking officers is killed by Admiral Ackbar.
At the end of Dark Apprentice, after planning a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
attack on Coruscant
Coruscant
Coruscant is a planet in the fictional Star Wars universe. It first appeared onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, but was first mentioned in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire...
using the Basilisk, Daala's final mission is foiled when Kyp Durron (now a Sith
Sith
-Sith:The Sith is a name applied to certain characters in the Star Wars universe. In the films they are the central antagonists. They are capable of using the dark side of the Force.-The Invention of the Sith:...
apprentice to Exar Kun) using the Sun Crusher, causes the Cauldron Nebula, which two of her ships, the Basilisk and the Gorgon, are resting in to go nova
Nova
A nova is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion in a star caused by the accretion of hydrogen on to the surface of a white dwarf star, which ignites and starts nuclear fusion in a runaway manner...
; this destroys the Basilisk and cripples the Gorgon.
Daala and the Gorgon spend most of the following novel, Champions of the Force
Champions of the Force
Champions of the Force is the third novel in the Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson.-Summary:Kyp Durron continued his rampage to destroy the Galactic Empire with the Sun Crusher to avenge his brother...
, limping back to the Maw Installation to protect it against the Rebels who would no doubt eventually try to seize it. They arrive after the Rebels have already captured the Installation. Daala immediately attacks the Rebel fleet, but is outmatched; the Installation is indefensible, and Daala is forced to destroy it after making backups of the data stored within. The explosion of the Installation's reactors conceals her escape from the Maw, convincing the Rebels that she has finally died.
When next Daala resurfaces in Darksaber
Darksaber (novel)
Darksaber is a 1995 bestselling Star Wars novel written by Kevin J. Anderson. The novel is set immediately after Children of the Jedi and one year before Planet of Twilight in the Star Wars Expanded Universe timeline.-Background and setting:...
, she has joined Supreme Warlord Harrsk's forces. Under his incompetent command, Daala realizes what shambles the Empire is in. Feuding over what was left of a formerly galaxy-spanning government, the various warlords are destroying everything they have left. Daala forces the most powerful warlords to meet, finding only Warlord Teradoc's subordinate, Vice Admiral Pellaeon, a worthy enough commander among them to live. Together they murder the warlords, sealing them in a room and poisoning their air, the two conspirators wearing the only rebreathers.
Daala takes command of all their forces, consolidating the scattered fleets of Victory-Star Destroyers, Skipray Blastboats, and even a single Executor-class Super Star Destroyer, the Knight Hammer. Her glorious fleet lasts just long enough for an attack against the New Republic and Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise, where he is portrayed by Mark Hamill. He is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which he is forced to leave home, and finds himself apprenticed to the Jedi master...
's Jedi Academy. Her old nemeses Kyp Durron and Admiral Ackbar defeat her once again, with the assistance of another: on the Knight Hammer, Daala confronted the former Jedi Knight Callista, who has effectively sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
d the vessel. Callista intends to kill Daala as well, but she hadn't reckoned on Daala's skill with a blaster - instead of firing a normal bolt (blockable with a lightsaber
Lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional weapon in the Star Wars universe, a "laser sword." It consists of a polished metal hilt which projects a blade of light about 1.33 metres long. The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts, both of whom can use them for close...
), Daala instead fires a stun bolt, consisting of unblockable rings, rendering Callista unconscious. Despite the damage Callista has done to her plans, Daala lets her live, impressed by her aggressiveness. Defeated for good, Daala promotes Pellaeon to the rank of Admiral, handing her rank insignia and remaining fleet to him, and resigns from Imperial service.
Daala returns in Planet of Twilight
Planet of Twilight
Planet of Twilight is a 1997 novel by Barbara Hambly, set in the Star Wars galaxy.-Story:The story takes place on Nam Chorios, a backwater world in the Outer Rim which infamously was the center of the Death Seed Plague centuries ago...
, when she learns of and stops Moff Getelles' plan to use the Death Seed plague to take over the Meridian sector.
Afterwards, she returns once more to the Deep Core looking to establish another fleet. Though she makes an attack against the Republic a short time later, General Garm Bel Iblis defeats her soundly and she makes a blind hyperspace jump; though she is presumed dead, New Republic Intelligence refuses to take her off the threat list.
She reappears in Karen Traviss' Revelation, which is the 8th book in the series Legacy of the Force commanding the Maw Irregular Fleet; this is where her first name is given. She has a son and a granddaughter, possibly with Liegeus Vorn. In Invincible, she becomes the Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance, promising to create a just and stable government that will no longer need to rely on the Jedi for security.
In the follow-up series of Legacy of the Force, Fate of the Jedi, as Daala leads the Galactic Alliance back into stability, a psychosis breaks out among several Jedi Knights. She has two of these Knights, the Horn siblings, Valin and Jysella, put in carbonite, but all of the other victims of this psychosis are harbored for treatment by the Jedi Order. Meanwhile, Daala had Luke Skywalker, leader of the Order, exiled from Coruscant, blaming him for Jacen Solo's actions throughout the course of Legacy of the Force; so Luke and his son, Ben, search the more obscure regions of the galaxy in order to follow the trail that Jacen took in his five-year Force-searching sojourn following the Yuuzhan Vong War. Meanwhile, as Daala's conflict with the Jedi escalates thanks to the Force psychosis, a conspiracy circle consisting of Imperial Moff Drikl Lecersen and several other Galactic Alliance officials begin plotting against Daala so that she could be replaced. One of the tipping points in this conflict for Daala is when slave revolutions throughout the galaxy break out, coercing her to use Mandalorians to put these riots down. Because of this, the Jedi openly turn against Daala, send a fleet to help Luke fight against the dark side entity known as Abeloth and the Lost Tribe of the Sith, and then overthrow in a coup before the Imperial-Alliance conspiracy could figuratively pounce on her. For her crimes, Daala is imprisoned, but is shortly after busted out by Boba Fett, who reveals to her that the slave revolutions were thanks to Moff Lecersen in his plan to overthrow Daala. So she returns to Imperial space, gathers up the support of all the Moffs, including Lecersen, on threat of exposing him to the galaxy and killing him, and she prepares to overthrow Imperial Head of State Jagged Fel so that she could rule the Imperial Remnant; and, subsequently, the galaxy. However, thanks to the treachery of Moff Tol Getelles, Fel manages to round up his own loyal forces and go into war against Daala.
Entries
- Jedi SearchJedi Search-Description:While Luke Skywalker takes the first step toward setting up an academy to train a new order of Jedi Knights, Han Solo and Chewbacca are taken prisoner on the planet Kessel and forced to work in the fathomless depths of a spice mine...
by Kevin J. AndersonKevin J. AndersonKevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels... - Dark ApprenticeDark ApprenticeDark Apprentice is the second novel in the The Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson; many of the events of this novel are also described from the perspective of Corran Horn in I, Jedi.-Summary:...
by Kevin J. AndersonKevin J. AndersonKevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels... - Champions of the ForceChampions of the ForceChampions of the Force is the third novel in the Jedi Academy Trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson.-Summary:Kyp Durron continued his rampage to destroy the Galactic Empire with the Sun Crusher to avenge his brother...
by Kevin J. AndersonKevin J. AndersonKevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...