| |
| Isolder | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Homeworld | |
| Born |
15:4:17 BBY, Hapes |
| Physical description | |
| Species |
Hapan |
| Gender | |
| Height |
6'2" (1.89 m) |
| Hair Color |
Brown, later Greying |
| Eye Color | |
| Skin Color |
Light |
| Family information | |
| Family |
Earendel (father) |
| Political information | |
| Affiliation | |
- "Remember to serve the light side of the Force. Though you will never wield a lightsaber or heal the sick, you have some light within you. Be true to that light."
- ―Luke Skywalker to Isolder
Isolder was a notable Hapan male, who, at one point served as the heir, or Chume'da, of the Hapes Consortium.
As the second son of Queen Mother Ta'a, Isolder was not expected to rule. However, after his older brother Kalen was murdered, Isolder went on an undercover quest to hunt down the person responsible. Impressed by his finding of the culprit, his mother granted him the rank of Chume'da. In 7 ABY, Isolder fell in love with Leia Organa when she came to Hapes to discuss a possible alliance between the New Republic and the Hapes Consortium. However, she left with Han Solo, former smuggler and New Republic General. With Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, he followed Han and Leia to the planet Dathomir, where they were captured by the Dathomiri Witch Teneniel Djo. Though she was in love with Skywalker at first, she later fell in love with Isolder, and married him after they defeated Zsinj, an Imperial Warlord.
Shortly after his marriage to Teneniel, Ta'a Chume stepped down as Queen Mother, and Isolder and Teneniel ruled over the Consortium. Isolder and Teneniel had a daughter, Tenel Ka, who trained as a Jedi, and was the new Chume'da of the Hapes Cluster. However, Isolder and Teneniel's relationship became rocky, especially when Ta'a Chume became unhappy with Tenel Ka, who refused to take the Hapan crown. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Isolder was pivotal in allowing the Hapan Royal Navy to participate at the ill-fated Battle of Fondor, and later suffered the murder of his wife due to his mother's plotting. Tenel Ka, however, took the throne instead of her friend, Jaina Solo, who had been manipulated by Ta'a Chume into trying to take the throne. After he crowned his daughter as the new Queen Mother, Isolder served as an advisor to her, and helped her deal with the politics of Hapes. He would later become a grandfather to Allana, Tenel Ka's daughter along with the Jedi Jacen Solo; though his identity as the father was kept a secret to many except for a select few, one of them being Isolder.
Biography[]
Early life[]
- "You loved your brother very much. I can hear you, as children, trying to fall asleep in the same large room. Your brother sang to you at night, making you feel safe when you were frightened."
- ―Luke Skywalker to Isolder
Isolder was born into the royal family of Hapes in 17 BBY as the younger son of Ta'a Chume and her consort, although he later had several younger half-brothers from Ta'a Chume's quest to provide a female heir to the throne. Growing up, he had the company of his older brother Kalen, who was the Chume'da of the Hapes Consortium. Kalen and Isolder were close, and Isolder did not envy his brother's status as the heir, mainly because he knew that as the second child he had more options available to him.[1]
When Isolder was nineteen,[1] Kalen was kidnapped and murdered by a pirate near the Terephon system, which left Isolder devastated. In order to track down his brother's murderer, Isolder went undercover as a privateer to get information on who committed the crime. After two years of going so deep undercover that his own mother's spies could not even locate him, Isolder located the perpetrator, a pirate named Harravan, and had him arrested. Unfortunately, Harravan was killed in his jail cell before he could be interrogated further.[2]
Impressed by Isolder's resolve to bring his brother's murderer to justice, Ta'a Chume named him the new Chume'da. However, Isolder suffered further tragedy when his fiancée, Lady Elliar, apparently committed suicide by drowning herself in one of Hapes' reflecting pools. It would later come out that Ta'a Chume had arranged the murders of both Kalen and Lady Elliar on political grounds, as she found them both too weak to rule.[2]
A political marriage proposal[]
- «From Hapes, the queen mother offers her greatest treasure, her son Isolder, the Chume'da, whose wife shall reign as queen.»
- ―The Hapan ambassador presents Isolder to Princess Leia[src]
When Leia Organa came to Hapes in 7 ABY to discuss a possible alliance with the New Republic, Isolder fell in love with her. As was the Hapan custom, Isolder asked his mother for permission to marry Leia, which she pretended to agree to. When the Hapans arrived at Coruscant, they presented Leia with a gift from each of the Hapes Consortium's many planets. Isolder himself was presented as a gift from Hapes, and he proposed marriage to Leia.[2]
Upon seeing Leia's shocked expression, Isolder requested that she spend some time to get to know him and that they take a tour of the Hapes Cluster before she made her final decision. Shortly afterward, Isolder was informed by his chief of security, Astarta, that Leia was the target of an assassination attempt. Isolder assumed that his aunt was behind it, but could not prove it. When the attempt on Leia's life was made a short while later, Isolder and Astarta were able to foil it.[2]
Han Solo, who was threatened by and jealous of Isolder, told Isolder that he was going to ask for Leia's hand in marriage. Isolder responded by bribing Solo with a Hapes Nova battle cruiser if he would fly far away and leave Leia alone. Solo refused, and after he won the deed to the planet Dathomir in a high stakes game of sabacc, he, using the Gun of Command she received as a gift, took Leia to Dathomir for the sole purpose of impressing her. Upon hearing that Leia was "kidnapped" by Solo, Isolder set out to gather leads on the pair's whereabouts, but his mother and her agents acquired the information before he did. Isolder then had a conversation with his mother, and despite her advice regarding putting himself in danger, he resolved to rescue Leia by himself.[2]
The search for Han and Leia[]
- "I will hunt down General Solo, and I will bring home my bride."
- ―Isolder to Ta'a Chume
After Ta'a Chume discovered where Han Solo had fled, she assembled the Hapan fleet and set a course for Dathomir. While aboard his mother's flagship Star Home, Isolder met Luke Skywalker, who was also searching for Leia and Han. After the pair shared a meal with Ta'a Chume, Isolder and Luke set off for Dathomir aboard Isolder's Song of War. Upon arriving in Dathomir space, the Song of War engaged a Super Star Destroyer. While in the midst of battle, Isolder left the ship under the command of Astarta and told her to contact the Hapan Royal Navy to let them know what to expect for when they arrive. Isolder then departed the Battle Dragon in his custom Miy'til starfighter Storm, with Luke accompanying him in an X-wing from Song of War's hangar.[2]
The pair were shot at on the way to Dathomir by Warlord Zsinj's fleet. Isolder managed to land his damaged craft on the planet, but Luke appeared to have been killed. Isolder at first assumed that his mother's agents had rigged the X-wing in an attempt to kill the Jedi, but after Luke floated down from the sky alive and well, it was revealed he had used a Force technique to fool the scanners into thinking he was dead. After a brief discussion between the two about the nature of the Force and despite Isolder's low Force-sensitivity, Isolder became Luke's student in the ways of the Force.[2]
After the pair made their way to a tar pit containing a crashed ship, they were confronted by a Witch of Dathomir named Teneniel Djo. Teneniel quickly captured both men as slaves, but listened to their plight and agreed to take them back to her clan village.[2]
Personality and traits[]
Isolder
- "We breed animals for intelligence, for beauty, for speed. Among social carnivores, the herd leaders often select the strongest and smartest mates. As a result, their offspring usually 'inherit' a dominant position in their pack, if you will."
- ―Isolder opining on royal lineage
Isolder was considered bold and brave, but he was also easily manipulated, especially by his mother. After he discovered that it was she who arranged the deaths of his brother and fiancée, Isolder distanced himself from his mother and defied Hapan tradition by marrying an offworlder instead of the typical Hapan noble.
However, that did not end Ta'a Chume's interference in his life. During the Yuuzhan Vong war, she demanded that he divorce Teneniel, and had her poisoned when he did not comply. For his mother's part in his wife's murder, Isolder helped have her arrested and even contemplated killing her.[3]
Isolder was an accomplished pilot, having been the youngest graduate in Hapan flight school history at age 15.[1] He would use his piloting skills many times throughout the years, from his privateer years to commanding the Song of War.
In addition to his piloting skills, Isolder was also quite proficient in many forms of hand-to-hand combat.[1] He was just as effective at leadership and gave much wise counsel. He was also one of the few Hapans to learn Galactic Basic Standard, which he spoke with a thick Hapan accent.[2]
Isolder was conditioned by his culture, and believed in a hierarchy of being. When he encountered Luke Skywalker, he was astonished and annoyed to find him treating droids and various beasts with the same compassion he gave to the Prince. Initially, he found himself jealous at this behavior, but began to see Skywalker's way of doing things.[2] Isolder was also a firm believer in the right of the nobles to rule, at one point explaining his theories to Princess Leia about how intelligence and leadership were bred into people.
Relationships[]
Leia Organa[]
When Princess Leia Organa came to Hapes to discuss a possible alliance between the Hapes Cluster and the New Republic, Isolder saw her, and became enamoured with her. After she left Hapes, Isolder asked his mother for permission to marry her, and Ta'a Chume agreed to let him, though she did not think Leia was fit to rule Hapes. Isolder was then introduced to Leia in a ceremony at Coruscant where he asked for her hand in marriage. Leia was at first surprised by this offer and despite her relationship with Han Solo, became overwhelmed with political pressure from the New Republic, as well as various threats and crises from warlords and other Imperials. She finally agreed to spend time with Isolder at Hapes when he saved her life from Ta'a Chume's assassins. Before she could leave, a desperate Han Solo took Leia to Dathomir. Together, Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Knight, and Isolder found the pair on Dathomir and a week of adventure ensued, with both Han and Isolder vying for Leia's attention. Near the end of the week, Leia realized that she did not have any feelings for Isolder and loved Han all along. Meanwhile, Teneniel Djo, a Witch from Dathomir, had taken him as a slave, and they fell in love instead. Both of the couples married after they defeated Zsinj on Dathomir.[2]
Teneniel Djo[]
Teneniel Djo and Isolder first met at the wreckage of the Chu'unthor, though it was far from a happy meeting. She had previously gotten a vision telling her that she would find a husband at the wreckage of the Chu'unthor, and had mistakenly thought that Luke Skywalker, a Jedi Knight who was traveling with Isolder to find Princess Leia Organa, would be her husband. She named both of them as slaves, though Luke was set free after saving Djo's life, per Dathomiri tradition. They traveled to the Singing Mountain Clan, where Djo had previously lived, and met Leia and Han Solo. Leia, who had been offered Isolder's hand in marriage, demanded Teneniel to sell Isolder to her, though she refused to. She explained to Isolder that she was in love with Luke still, but she only kept Isolder a slave in name because the other clan sisters would claim him then. Isolder then took a liking to Teneniel after hearing this, and they fell in love after Teneniel found out that Luke did not plan on marrying her. After defeating Zsinj, Teneniel declared to Ta'a Chume, Isolder's mother, that she would marry Isolder, with or without her permission. After standing up to the Queen Mother, who had disagreed with Isolder's decision to marry Teneniel, she reconsidered, and allowed the marriage.[2]
Two years into their marriage, Isolder and Teneniel had their first child, Tenel Ka. They disagreed on how she would be raised; Isolder wanted her to be raised as a princess, and Teneniel wanted her to choose her path. This would be the first part in a downturn in their relationship; Teneniel and Isolder disagreed on many things, especially when Teneniel gained the title of Queen Mother. Ta'a Chume insisted that Tenel Ka should not be trained as a Jedi, though Isolder himself had no objection.[4] Due to this, as well as Tenel Ka's outright refusal to take the throne, they decided to have another child that would become Queen Mother instead. Unfortunately, they would have a son instead. After a third attempt, Teneniel later miscarried as a result of the devastation of the Hapan Fleet at Fondor, and their relationship was torn apart.[5] Ta'a Chume, who was power hungry due to Teneniel's mistakes, tried to convince Isolder to divorce Teneniel and marry Jaina Solo, or give the throne back to her. Teneniel was soon killed by the Ni'Korish, ending their relationship.[6]
Appearances[]
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Notes and references[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Cracken's Threat Dossier
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia
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