As part of the five-year commemoration of my first official Star Wars project, The Emperor's Pawns, I'm putting together a special series of endnotes. While this series retains the obsessive detailing of sources used in the Droids and the Force and Story of General Grievous notes, I figured I'd spread my wings a little and get into some of the behind the scenes action that went into writing and getting the piece published.

I suppose it makes sense to start with the credits in this case. The article is said to be written by myself and Juan Schwartz with Pablo Hidalgo, and illustrated by Joe Corroney. Besides Joe's name, this was a surprise to me when I received my copy, because I'd actually written the article alone. However, due to various reasons, my original write-up for the character Blackhole was completely supplanted (save for the fact that he held the station of Emperor's Hand) with another written more or less simultaneously by Pablo for the Rebellion Era Sourcebook (2001, Wizards of the Coast). Meanwhile, I believe Juan Schwartz wrote the roleplaying "adventure seeds" for the characters Sarcev Quest and Maarek Stele, which, for eclectic reasons, I did not provide in my originally submitted manuscript.

There's also an additional "Special Thanks" given to the Star Wars Fanboy Association in recognition of all the conversations we had in the years prior to this publication, influencing my thoughts and confidence.


Introduction

"Mara Jade could barely contain her rage... He said I was the only one, the extension of his will." So begins the opening vignette for "The Emperor's Pawns." Originally titled, "Jaded Perceptions," here appears the first reference to the, at the time, second most famous Emperor's Hand, Roganda Ismaren, who was introduced in the novel Children of the Jedi (1995, Bantam), with which this vignette shares its chronological placement. Mara's recollection of Grand Admiral Thrawn's taunt about additional Emperor's Hands not known to her is from Dark Force Rising (1992, Bantam). The character Lumiya, original appearing as Shira Brie in the Star Wars comic Star Wars #56, "Coffin in the Clouds" (1982, Marvel Comics) and reprinted in Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago Vol. 4 (2003, Dark Horse Comics) reappears here in the Star Wars universe for the first time in many years. Both this confrontation and the second future one alluded to between these two women are new. Mara's residence at the site of the second encounter, however, the planet Caprioril, comes from Dark Force Rising (1992, Bantam).

The "disaffected Jedi" Jerec and Adalric Brandl are characters from the video game Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II (1997, LucasArts) and the short story "The Final Exit" from Adventure Journal #4 (1994, West End Games), respectively. The reference to Palpatine's dark side adepts as "beings of great intelligence" is a slightly modified quotation from the essay "From a Time of Peace... to a Time of Darkness," included in the first and second editions of the Dark Empire trade papberback (1993-1995, Dark Horse Comics).


Blackhole

Making his first appearance in twenty-three years is the character Blackhole, originally from the storyline Gambler's World published as a newspaper comic serial (1978, LA Times Syndicate) and reprinted in Classic Star Wars: The Early Adventures (1997, Dark Horse Comics). Most of the information on Blackhole here is newly created, including the fact that this is his code-name and that his shadowy image is a holographic projection. This later led to the revelation of his true identity in The Dark Forces Saga Part 5 (2005, Wizards of the Coast) as the darksider Lord Cronal.

The appropriation of the HoloNet from the public by the Imperial government is explained in the first edition of the Imperial Sourcebook (1989, West End Games). The organization known as the Prophets of the Dark Side, of which Blackhole is said to have once been a part, was introduced in the children's book The Lost City of the Jedi (1992, Bantam).

Palpatine is said to have installed Blackhole as the "head of Imperial Intelligence" in this section, a position that is seemingly already filled by the Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard according to the novella "Interlude at Darkknell" in Tales From the New Republic (1999, Bantam). One solution is that Blackhole may have served in the interim before Ysanne Isard; also, Blackhole's bio states that few in Imperial Intelligence "ever noted [Blackhole's] addition to their ranks," and presumably even Isard may have been none the wiser.

Blackhole's Imperial Star Destroyer The Singularity and its TIE wing the 123rd Nightstalker Group are revealed here for the first time, as is his Neimoidian mechano-assembly, bearing a certain similarity to John Paul II's so-called "Pope-mobile." Blackhole's stormtroopers in black armor debuted alongside the character in Gambler's World (1978, LA Times Syndicate), though their tongue-twisting stygian-triprismatic polymer armor is a new creation. Because similar-looking stormtroopers are seen under the command of the darksider Carnor Jax in the comic Crimson Empire #4 (1998, Dark Horse Comics), the soldiers were here retconned as remnants of Blackhole's stormtroopers.

As I mentioned previously, there was some hullabaloo surrounding my original write-up for Blackhole. My original idea was that the character, who originally appeared in a sort of insubstantial form, was not merely employing a holographic-style disguise but that Blackhole was literally a ghostly apparition, a dark side spirit from beyond death. Though the idea was rejected, it was recently repackaged in a more ambiguous form for my project Evil Never Dies: The Sith Dynasties (2006, StarWars.com) as the background for the Sith known as the Dark Underlord.

But the drama doesn't stop there. In my usual way, my original take on Blackhole had merged this concept of a Sith spirit with a little-known background character named Lord Shadowspawn from the Dark Empire Sourcebook (1993, West End Games), who had never been visually depicted. Artist Joe Corroney went ahead and did his take on a more detailed Blackhole holding a Sith sword in true conqueror fashion. He called the sketch "Blackhole a.k.a. Lord Shadowspawn," reflecting the combining of the two characters in the article. Of course, when my text for Blackhole was dropped, Joe had to alter his image accordingly, removing the weapon and quasi-physical details. More recently, however, when describing a scene of Luke Skywalker battling Lord Shadowspawn for the New Essential Chronology (2005, Del Rey), author Daniel Wallace resurrected the sketch Joe had done for our article and gave it to artist Tommy Lee Edwards for reference in his depiction of the character.

Blackhole's story has continued to develop in the years since, revealing that his alter ego is Lord Cronal, a minor character introduced in a roleplaying "adventure idea" in the book Gamemaster Screen for Second Edition (1992, West End Games). As such, I personally do not consider Blackhole and Lord Shadowspawn to be the same character any longer. In fact, in an ill-fated collaboration with Dan for Dungeon/Polyhedron magazine in 2004, I fully developed a new background for the Shadowspawn character. Time will tell if this is ever published.


Roganda Ismaren

Most of the particulars from Roganda Ismaren's bio come directly from the novel Children of the Jedi (1995, Bantam), including the fact that she once had a brother named Lagan. The Inquisitor Ameesa Darys is newly created, as are the details of her murder of Lagan and the trauma it caused Roganda.

Already established as one of the Emperor's concubines, Roganda's backstory is rather lascivious. I wasn't sure how blatant Lucasfilm would let me get, so I was forced to get creative with my descriptions. Some of the more subtle rhetoric includes references to Roganda's "endowments," "mastery of carnal intrigue," and "seductive faculties." The text also reveals that Roganda earned her position of Emperor's Hand "through great resolve and persuasion." I'll let folks figure that one out.

Roganda's son Irek Ismaren and his posturing as Palpatine's son is also from Children of the Jedi (1995, Bantam), though his pre-adolescent age at the time of the Emperor's death in Return of the Jedi is newly established. Reference to Palpatine's other fake illegitimate child Emperor Trioculus is a nod to children's book The Glove of Darth Vader (1992, Bantam), while Roganda's retreat to the planet Belsavis sets up the character's debut in Children of the Jedi (1995, Bantam).

In Roganda's accompanying adventure seed "The Lost Art," intended for roleplaying gamemasters, reference is made to the Sith technique of "mechanical manipulation of the Force," and given the name mechu-deru. A version of this concept is first seen used by Jedi Master Arca Jeth in Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith #3 (1994, Dark Horse Comics). The name, however, was borrowed from Daniel Wallace's ill-fated Essential Guide to Episode I.

The Eye of Palpatine battlemoon as well as the subelectronic converter device are plot elements from the novel Children of the Jedi (1995, Bantam). Finally, the allusion to "mythological half-being/half-mechanical" monsters is a modified quotation from the Tales of the Jedi Companion (1996, West End Games), and ultimately served as the jumping off point for the creation of the Sith Technobeasts in Droids, Technology, and the Force: A Clash of Phenomena (2005, StarWars.com). ~ Abel G. Peņa

Continue to The Emperor's Pawns Endnotes, Part 2: Dark Lady of the Sith

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