The Shocking Meaning Behind the Name of Fan-Favorite Star Wars Character

For this explainer to make sense, we need to briefly touch on who and what Mara Jada is. When we are first introduced to the character, she is an extremely talented smuggler working for smuggling boss Talon Karrde. Eventually, we discover that she has a dark past, which involved her personally working for Palpatine as The Emperor’s Hand.

Palpatine helped train Mara Jade in the ways of the Force and used her to commit many dirty deeds throughout the galaxy in the name of the Empire. Their Force connection allows her to receive commands from him from far away, and when Palpatine dies, he sends Mara a last command to kill Luke Skywalker.

Palpatine helped train Mara Jade in the ways of the Force and used her to commit many dirty deeds throughout the galaxy in the name of the Empire. Their Force connection allows her to receive commands from him from far away, and when Palpatine dies, he sends Mara a last command to kill Luke Skywalker.

In one of his final acts, Palpatine made her think that he was murdered by Luke, leaving her with fading Force powers and a deep resentment toward the Jedi Knight who, in her eyes, took away her entire world, forcing her to become a lowly smuggler rather than someone connected to the most powerful man in the Empire.

With that background out, how did Mara Jade creator Timothy Zahn use her name to secretly explain her whole deal? In an old interview with Star Wars Insider, the writer revealed that he chose the name “Mara” because this is the Hebrew word for “bitterness.” While her attitude improves over time (especially after a battle with a cloned Luke Skywalker allows her to fulfill that last command and get Palpatine’s voice out of her head), “bitter” is certainly the most appropriate description for the young woman we meet at the beginning of Heir to the Empire.

In that same interview, Zahn revealed that he read in a dictionary that one possible meaning of the word “jade” is “discarded woman,” fitting because the character felt discarded by the Empire after the death of Palpatine (this was mostly due to the fact that she couldn’t prove to surviving top brass she was secretly the Emperor’s Hand).

Put it together, and Mara Jade’s name literally translates to “bitter, discarded woman,” and as Zahn declared, “it was deliberately set up to be her history in her name,” though he also liked the name because “it’s got a ring to it.”

Interestingly, giving this new character special meaning behind her name certainly fits the vibe of Star Wars. George Lucas maintained for years that he named “Darth Vader” because “Darth” sounded like “Dark” and “Vader” is a Dutch word for “father,” so Luke’s evil space dad has a name that basically means “Dark Father.”

In reality, though, Lucas created that name before deciding Vader was Luke’s dad, so you could say that the name “Mara Jade” had more thought put into it than the name of the most famous villain in all of Star Wars.

As longtime fans, one of our bigger regrets is that Mara Jade never appeared in the Sequel Trilogy…she could have married Luke onscreen, giving him a better outcome than becoming a milk-guzzling hermit.

In a weird bit of irony, The Last Jedi presented Luke Skywalker as Mara Jade was once presented: a bitter person who felt discarded by everything and everyone he cared about. Fortunately, Mara got better…something we most certainly can’t say about the wretched hive known as the Sequel Trilogy.