Lone Wolf: A Tale of Obi-Wan and Luke Footnotes/Endnotes—Before Baby Yoda ... There Was Baby Luke!

Do you even homage, bruh?

 

With the release of the Obi-Wan Kenobi series on Disney+, I figured there was no better time to write a little retrospective on my own Ewan McGregor-era Obi-Wan story.

 

Lone Wolf: A Tale of Obi-Wan and Luke takes place during the denouement of Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith. That is, right in that space during the end of the film after Obi-Wan takes responsibility for baby Luke Skywalker and right before he delivers the boy to his aunt and uncle on Tatooine. 

 

You thought that handoff went smoothly?!? Oh, no no no no no no no….

 

You can actually read all the breathtaking action beginning on page 180 of the SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story ebook. Based on feedback I’ve received over the years, the casual Star Wars fan actually seems to prefer this shorter tale of the two in the book. That’s not entirely surprising, in retrospect. As opposed to the highly personal, baroque Dantesque allegorical metanarrative that is SkyeWalkers, I designed Lone Wolf as a streamlined ripping adventure in a galaxy far, far away—a “true” piece of commercial fiction, if you will. And as an homage to one of my favorite stories of all time, Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s masterpiece Lone Wolf and Cub. 

 

I’d pedaled the adaptation of the classic manga concept of a warrior and young child into the Star Wars universe for a long time. It’s nice to see that the idea was adopted with such enthusiasm over the years.

 

But, make no mistake: the Lone Wolf and Cub theme started in Star Wars with yours truly.

Of course, it wasn’t the first time a Star Wars creator cribbed a Japanese story and gave it a sci-fi twist. Indeed, Star Wars itself might not even exist if young Uncle George hadn’t stumbled upon Akira Kurosawa's The Hidden Fortress. 

 

I first created daylight for an official Obi-Wan and baby Luke adventure when I wrote the following paragraph for The Story of General Grievous II: Lord of War:

 

After Obi-Wan defeated the Separatist general on the landing platform where his starfighter was docked, the Jedi Master used it to escape when his clone troopers turned against him. Aboard the Soulless One, Obi-Wan rendezvoused with the House of Alderaan’s consular ship Tantive IV. The ship remained in the Tantive IV’s hold until Kenobi flew the fighter to Nar Shaddaa with his newborn passenger, Luke Skywalker. Once there, Obi-Wan sold the ship in order to book himself and the infant Skywalker passage to Tatooine, and to provide credits to the child’s new caretakers.

 

After that, I pitched the story to Star Wars Insider in 2007 for the 30^th anniversary of the original Star Wars film. I thought, “This is the only other possible time that Obi-Wan and Luke could go on an adventure together other than the original movie itself!” To my elation, the story received the green light, and my old pal and collaborator, artist Joe Corroney, even delivered an incredible frontispiece for it.

 

Unfortunately, dark forces intervened and there was a last-minute change of publisher, management and policy at the publication! The new folks wanted to go in a different direction. The stars had aligned, apparently—just in time to get sucked into a black hole! The short story was now without a home. What was I going to do?

 

Thankfully, about a year later, I received the green light to work on SkyeWalkers, and we were able to offer Lone Wolf as a bonus story at the end of the book, serendipitously bookending the Clone Wars conflict between the the yin and yang of these respectively ultra-dark and ultra-hopeful tales.

 

One hiccup along the way was when my friend and fellow Star Wars scribe Ryder Windham was tapped to write Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi, a kind of blow-by-blow young adult prose biography for the Jedi Knight. Thankfully, Ryder reached out while writing the book to get some facts straight and made sure to leave breathing room for Obi-Wan and Luke’s Nar Shaddaa detour to exist.

 

I scattered several 30^th-anniversary-style Easter eggs throughout Lone Wolf. Subtle things like making reference to the Whills (a mystical species from the original movie novelization), some wheeling and dealing in the Bocce language, and having Obi-Wan at one point refer to his former pupil simply as “Darth,” as he does in their duel in A New Hope. I thought the most effective way to do the heavy lifting of invoking nostalgia was with a light touch. To this end, the setting of Nar Shaddaa itself, a.k.a. “The Smuggler’s Moon,” was intended as an echo of the first cinematic encounter we have with that “wretched hive” Mos Eisley Spaceport, while Obi-Wan’s negotiation over the sale of Soulless One was meant to “rhyme” with the bargain the old Jedi strikes with the captain of the Millennium Falcon to Alderaan. In fact, Lone Wolf even contains nods to apocryphal rumors from those early Star Wars days, such as that the Jedi Knights (or even Obi-Wan himself) originally owned the Millennium Falcon. Indeed, in an earlier outline of the story, I actually had Obi-Wan and baby Luke catching a ride to Tatooine aboard the Millennium Falcon; ultimately, I decided this was too on the nose—but for continuity hounds, the intimation that “Bammy [one of the Falcon’s previous owners] just got a hold of a stellar YT-1300,” offered in trade for Grievous’ ship, preserves the spirit of this ironic possibility in a way that I hope is worthy of Alec Guinness’ worldly-wise half-smile.

 

 

Besides the title itself, there are also nods within the story to the creators of the original manga series, and to the writer of the radio dramatization of A New Hope, Brian Daley, which I consider his best Star Wars work. And, of course, in Lone Wolf, we see Obi-Wan flipping the switch to permanently adopt his alias of “Ben” for the duration of his Tatooine exile. I tried to supply as plausible a reason for this as possible, leaning into the Lone Wolf’s theme of what it means for a Jedi, those masters of emotional detachment, to have a family.

 

What follows below is just a curious artifact, my original footnotes for the story, included with its submission. (If you’re interested, you can see the previous series of footnotes I wrote about for SkyeWalkers: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.) Enjoy Obi-Wan and Luke's very first adventure! :)

 

1 (page 181) The noise frazzled the nerves of both of the stolen ship’s occupants: “Obi-Wan’s flight with Luke to Nar Shaddaa, in order to throw off pursuers and sell Grievous[’] ship, is established in ‘General Grievous: Lord of War’ on StarWars.com and the novel Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

2 (page 182) [N]o way to contact Luke’s living relatives, Beru and Owen Lars…. Not without endangering their lives: “The Life and Legend of Obi-Wan Kenobi establishes that Obi-Wan obtained the coordinates for the Lars Homestead from Artoo-Detoo. This detail is reserved until the end of the story for dramatic purposes.”

3 (page 183) But Jedi had often reported such “memories” of their progenitors, somehow preserved by the Force: “For instance, Princess Leia’s recollection in Return of the Jedi. Obi-Wan’s “memories” referred to here are from Jedi Apprentice: The Hidden Past.” 

4 (page 186) “Bazi batza Bocce?” she asked. Do you speak Bocce?: “The vast majority of Bocce phrases and vocabulary here are taken from Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide.”

 

5 (page 187) He knew that Jedi Masters Tholme and T’ra Saa had been here: “As seen in the comic Star Wars: Republic #83.”

6 (page 189) A very personal patronymic namesake. “Ben,” he answered: “As seen in the Clone Wars TV episode ‘Friends and Enemies.’” [Dissatisfied with the lack of meaningful existing explanations, I tried to imply with this wording that the origin of Obi-Wan’s famous alias “Ben” might have been the name of his own, little-known father—ed.]

7 (page 193) Obi-Wan couldn’t keep his mind from summoning happier times cantina-hopping with Anakin on Naos III: “As depicted in Labyrinth of Evil.”

 

8 (page 193) It was something Obi-Wan had suspected for some time, given his phantasmal encounters on Zonama Sekot and Mortis: “These events are established in the Revenge of the Sith screenplay, the novels Rogue Planet and The Last of the Jedi: The Desperate Mission, and the Clone Wars TV episode ‘Overlords.’”

9 (page 197) Old Vima knows. Before she was crazy, Vima-Da-Boda was a Jedi: “The character Vima-Da-Boda, her residence in Nar Shaddaa and her history were introduced in the comic series Dark Empire and the Dark Empire Sourcebook.”

10 (page 202) A more … severe version of the so-called Jedi mind trick: “This power was introduced in the Jedi Academy Trilogy novel Dark Apprentice. More recently, a version of it was seen in the Clone Wars TV episode ‘Ghosts of Mortis.’”

11 (page 205) He remembered this from his time guarding Padmé’s ship on the planet and from a foray into Tusken territory … all so long ago: “During the events of The Phantom Menace, of course (and a reference to the concurrent events of the video game Star Wars: Obi-Wan).”

 

12 (page 206) Between suppings of Krayt milk: “Krayt milk’s availability on Nar Shaddaa was established in Dark Empire II.”

13 (page 207) Obi-Wan could feel his own features lose distinctness, his face reforming into another … someone unrecognizable: “In the novel The Crystal Star, Luke demonstrates his ability for this unique facial camouflaging.”

14 (page 207) But it was that desiccated face, the angrily angled eyebrows … and the pair of tusks jutting downward from leathery cheeks that gave Obi-Wan pause: “Unmasked Kaleesh features were depicted in The Clone Wars Campaign Guide.”

15 (page 217) Because what he didn’t see—what only Luke’s crystal-pure gaze could see—were the Chiggnash: “The scorpion-like Chiggnash were introduced in Brian Daley’s ‘Predators of the Empire,’ Star Wars Galaxy Magazine #6.”

 

 

16 (page 226) The larger one, the one he’d taken for Master Tholme, was completely unfamiliar; but his dark hair, cultish facial markings and pigmentation were not: “The Bpfasshi were introduced in the novel Heir to the Empire while their depiction and backgrounds are established in Jedi Vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force. The Jensaarai were introduced in the novel I, Jedi and depicted in ‘I, Jensaarai’ in Polyhedron #157. Finally, the connection between the two Force sects during the Clone Wars was established in The Official Star Wars Fact File #116.”

17 (page 234) The Jedi Master ran over one hundred and sixty-five meters per second: “In the novel Crosscurrent, the Jedi Master Relin Druur is said to employ Force-assisted speed to run at 100 meters per second. Obi-Wan, with the heir to the Jedi Order in his charge, should be able to edge him.” ~Abel G. Peña

SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story Footnotes/Endnotes, Part 4—Claustrophobic Clones, Imperial Vs. Metric, and Xenu’s Paradox

 

 

Greetings, good travelers! Rejoice! We’ve made it to the end of these endnotes at last.

 

It only took ten years.

 

(What is this all about? You can catch up with that by viewing Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this series.)

Yes, indeed. I realized just as this year was closing out that I actually finished writing SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story a full decade ago! Where did the time go? Well, the pandemic stole two years from us, and much else that’s good. The rest was all just sneaky Father Time.

 

I look back on this novella now, and I think about what an outlandish venture it was. Truly, something that could only have been born out of youthful exuberance and naïveté. I remember when, around the age of 18, I once told my father (in Spanish), “My plan is to write a Star Wars book.” Ten years went by, and I was doing exactly that. But I never imagined the complexity of the impossible opportunity that would befall me. Because it ended up being not just a chance to fulfill that plan (in fact, I’d already done that in some form prior), but to write an official Star Wars story where I would literally be in the story. Well, my official Star Wars alter ego Halagad Ventor would, at any rate, starring side by side with those larger-than-life characters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. I’d once proclaimed in an interview, “I eat, breathe, and am Star Wars.” And, lo and behold, I now was.

 

But how in the galaxy was I supposed to write a science-fiction quasi-roman á clef? I’d seen it done badly before, and the specter of Gary Stu hung over me. What’s more, how was I going to write a literary story—in the vein of my belletristic heroes Borges and Dante—in a commercial fiction space? I still recalled when my university mentor, convinced I would become a Dantista, scoffed (lightly, sympathetically), “Star Wars? You’re too good for that.” But, for reasons beyond my ken, I was compelled to show that this galaxy far, far away, as it had evolved over decades from contributions by hundreds of different storytellers, and which I had for the greater part of my life lovingly memorized, was no mere dismissive diversion.

 

At last, only a work of art can honor a work of art.

 

 

 

I had my storytelling models within the Star Wars family, too. Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. Dark Empire by Tom Veitch and Cam Kennedy. The Last One Standing: The Tale of Boba Fett by Daniel Keys Moran. New Jedi Order: Traitor by Matthew Woodring Stover.

 

But this was only the stylistic side of things. I also had a reputation to uphold. Whatever my personal literary aspirations, what had made me a fan favorite was a brand as the most continuity-smithingest Star Wars writer that ever was (pace SWFAers). I realized, with a hint of dread, that I needed to go to the gravity well one more time. To reach into my magic hat and pull out one more labyrinthine cross-section of references to hundreds of different Star Wars stories: bizarre stuff no one remembered, impossible contradictions no one else could resolve, and to make it all seem like no big thing—just another day at the space office.

 

 

 

That was, after all, what led to the idea for SkyeWalkers in the first place.

 

So, enjoy this little glimpse behind the curtain into the web of allusions I had to give a heads-up to Lucasfilm about during the approvals process for this story.

40 (page 75) He had read reports that some clone troopers displayed symptoms of claustrophobia in cramped quarters: “In the novel Republic Commando: Hard Contact, clone commandos are deliberately depicted as susceptible to claustrophobia, and attribute the phenomenon to Jango’s genetics. However, the novel Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor explicitly states, ‘No clone spawned in Kaminoan pods and raised in crèche school could even comprehend the concept of claustrophobia, much less suffer from it,’ pg. 38. So some clone troopers suffer from claustrophobia (possibly exclusively clone commandos) and some don’t.”

 

41 (page 75) Something in Jango Fett’s DNA: “DNA is an ‘earthy’ term, but it appears in many Star Wars sources, including Medstar: Battle Surgeons and Crosscurrent.”

 

42 (page 81) Blood eaters: “The Oskan blood eater was introduced in the rpg supplement Creatures of the Galaxy.” [That’s those red monsters on the SkyeWalkers cover above by talented artist David Rabbitte—ed.]

43 (page 81) ….like the Galactic Standard letter “o”—Osk, Obi-Wan thought absently: “The aurebesh font for the letter ‘osk’ (i.e. ‘o’) is meant to be seen here, hence the monster’s full proper name.” [Osk | Wookieepedia—ed.]

 

44 (page 94) Kharys sealed her mind shut form the possibility of all thought: “That is, in fact, meant to be ‘seel,’ as in the falconry practice, and not ‘seal.’” [This suggestion did not take.—ed.]

 

45 (page 102) The Accelerated Transgenic Heuristic Abhorers: savant abominations synthesized to seek in lust and destroy with relish: “Information on the Arkanian Revolution from the Essential Guide to Droids is here expanded upon, adding the element of the Abhorers.”

 

46 (page 103) The Arkanian techno-lords, perverse experimenters all, are the ones that elevated my intelligence quotient to obscene heights with their noological implants: “Arkanian techno-lords are first mentioned in the Dark Nest series.”

 

47 (page 106) Surely, I could then flash-pump my memories into this creature: “Flash pumping is described in the Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook.”

 

48 (page 107) And so, I have aided his Confederate stooges in contriving the corrosive stone mite and blue virus plagues: “The New Essential Chronology states that the Separatists created the stone mites with the help of the Arkanians.  Zeta Magnus technically qualifies, as he was created by them and has their genetic material.”

 

49 (page 107) …provided his cyborg supreme commander with samples of my mutagenic 3L4U1H7 serum: “As seen in the Clone Wars micro-series, and elaborated upon in Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous, Grievous uses a mutational serum to transform the warriors of Nelvaan into monsters.” [Overt THX-1138 Easter eggs had been done to death in Star Wars stories by this time, so this was my undercover version, using his sweetheart LUH-3417 instead—ed.]

 

 

50 (page 107) …and granted Count Dooku access to my Wayland facility for his dashta tissues and shadow army: “The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook suggests that the cloning facility in Mount Tantiss on Wayland predated the Clone Wars ‘and the Emperor merely expanded the facility … the control components and fragments of the various computer systems have shown that the cloning facility was considerably older than the technology present in other areas of the mountain.’ The origins of the cloned Morgukai Shadow Army, which features in the Republic comics, and the dashta eel cloning experiments, mentioned in The Cestus Deception, have never been explained, hence their inclusion here.”

 

51 (page 107) After all, I still control my accelerated GeNode chamber, safely secreted within the Dantooine ruins: “A cloning facility of indeterminate origin appears on Dantooine in Galaxy of Fear: Clones.”

 

52 (page 107) …my orbital mines, cloaked with primitive N’Gai technology, merely a means to an end: “According to ‘The Forgotten War’ on StarWars.com, the Nagai (and their ‘primitive cloaking technology’) were hiding in the Unknown Regions at this time. The species is referred to as ‘N’Gai’ in the Essential Guide to Characters and ‘Evil Never Dies’ on StarWars.com.”

 

53 (page 108) Inch by inch: “Even though metric measurements are the standard in the Star Wars universe, reference to English measurements such as ‘Inches’ and ‘miles’ have appeared in various sources, such as the Marvel comics and Dark Empire, and more recently in the Clone Wars TV show, in episodes such as ‘Jedi Crash’ and ‘The Deserter.’ I think their use here for dramatic effect is, especially as an idiomatic phrase, forgivable.”

 

54 (page 135) …my expertise in genetic replication standards, even the Jedis’ own abandoned techniques, allow me to generate a fully viable drone within days: “The idea that clones can be grown within days was first introduced in the novel The Last Command, where Spaarti cloning technology is said to be able to grow a clone in as little as 20 days. Any faster tends to lead to a mental instability called ‘clone madness.’ Galaxy of Fear: Clones introduces an unknown process called ‘rapid cloning’ that is even faster:  ‘some sort of quick cloning method that allowed him to grow clones not in years, or even months or days, but hours!’ pg. 95.”

 

55 (page 142) Blue-Tark: “The tactical droid’s full alphanumeric designation is TB-1U4.”

 

56 (page 143) Tark Squad! This is Commander Skywalker! The Chosen One. The Son of the S—: “Anakin is playing on a Thyrsian belief here. According to the recently published Galaxy at War sourcebook, ‘More than a century before the rise of the Empire, Thyrsian culture became fixated on Force lore, particularly the prophecy that the galaxy’s savior would be known as “the son of suns.” The Sith Order, still in hiding after the Battle of Ruusan, played on the Thyrsian belief that they were the subjects of this prophecy, and encouraged the Sun Guards to follow twisted Sith readings of Jedi orthodoxy.’”

 

57 (page 145) But just like a nightmare, or the object of Xenu’s paradox: “A paronomasia on the philosopher Zeno’s paradox, of course, in which swift-footed Achilles can never overcome the mathematically infinitely divisible distance to catch a dawdling tortoise ahead of him.” [Some sexy rhetorical gymnastics here. Hubba hubba.—ed.]

 

58 (page 151) …Anakin rolled away from the concentric rings bearing down on him … slashing his lightsaber two-handed through the paralyzing waves: “This sequence takes its inspiration from a similar scene in the novel Darksaber, where A New Hope-style stun rings and a lightsaber interact in a similar fashion. The military-grade distinction is meant to explain why other works occasionally depict Jedis’ lightsabers deflecting stun blasts generally resembling regular blaster bolts in illustration or description.”

 

59 (page 151) The Senate Bureau of Intelligence insisted the Confederacy was developing scores of superweapons, including a battle droid answer to the Republic’s covert-ops commandos: “Droid commandos are introduced in the Clone Wars TV episode, ‘Rookies.’”

 

60 (page 151) …but some believed the Separatists had plans to grow their own clone army: “Later in the war, the Separatists would clone their own Morgukai Shadow Army from Nikto warriors in the Republic comics.”

 

61 (page 151) Dooku’s uncanny omnipresence and elusiveness since the war began had spawned murmurs of the existence of a “Clone Dooku”: “This is a reference to a comment about a clone of Dooku in Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, referring back to the events of the videogame New Droid Army. Between the Battle of Geonosis but before The Clone Wars film, Dooku engages the Jedi on multiple occasions. Just counting his encounters with Obi-Wan and/or Anakin, there is the duel on Geonosis (Attack of the Clones), and encounters on Raxus Prime (Clone Wars videogame) and Null (Legacy of the Jedi), while he also fights Tholme and Sora Bulq on Bakura shortly after the war starts.”

 

62 (page 175) I promise you, when this war’s over … I’ll find a way to have you trained as a Jedi: “This scene between Kharys and Anakin (and the preceding) is based upon information established in ‘Aliens in the Empire II’ on StarWars.com:  ‘Anakin was kind to Kharys during his visit, pointing out her Force potential to Obi-Wan. However, Kenobi and Ventor both agreed she was too old for training. Unconvinced, Anakin promised Kharys he'd find a way to have her trained when the Clone Wars were over.’ As seen in Star Wars Annual #1, Anakin will return after the Clone Wars, as Darth Vader, to train Kharys.” ~ Abel G. Peña

 

SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story Footnotes/Endnotes, Part 3—The Darth Maul Annotation, or How To Commit Editorial Suicide

Welcome back! You hung in there, FOUR AND A HALF whole years of Disney Star Wars! We’re about to have Episode IX dropped on us, then END OF THE SAGA. (Does anyone even understand Roman numerals anymore?) What are you doing reading the footnotes for a LEGENDS story, anyway?!? You, my friend, are clearly a Star Wars SUPERFAN.

Well, first, you should get yourself immediately acquainted with my Star Wars magnum opus SkyeWalkers: A Clone Wars Story. Then, while your facial orifice is salivating for more, you should check out Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.

To recap, this is a series of “endnotes” that actually began their lives as footnotes, specifically, the editorial footnotes I included with the original submission of SkyeWalkers to Lucasfilm during the approvals process of the project. The tenor of these notes is generally one of, “Hey, buddy! This is something that may be setting off your Spidey-sense (or otherwise should!), but please don’t trip! There’s a really good reason why this is here!” It was a practice pioneered by the legendary Star Wars trendsetters at West End Games and which was passed on to me by the likes of that ace, my pal and mentor, Daniel Wallace.

Alas, my penchant for overkill is well established.

Hence, I present you with the coup de grâce among SkyeWalkers footnotes, which is as long alone as any of the previous collections of 20-odd footnotes combined! This one, this ronto-sized mofo, which I refer to as “The Darth Maul Annotation” has as its goal the seemingly laughably simple objective: to justify a direct reference to the name of the Sith Lord in the novella. This is due to the fact that, despite being the principle antagonist of Episode I: The Phantom Menace—Darth Maul’s name is never mentioned around any of the film’s protagonists. That’s right: none of the good guys ever hear his name. This thus led to a confusing practice in Star Wars literature with many stories awkwardly referring to Darth Maul as “the mysterious dark warrior”—or something equally cumbersome—while direct references to his name slipped through in other stories, seemingly arbitrarily.

So I wrote Lucasfilm a short essay disguised as a footnote to clarify it all.

The geek flag flies high on this one—which is maybe why SkyeWalkers took so long to be published. But that’s why you’re here, isn’t it, superfan?

39 (page 74) … Padmé’s advisors had revealed overhearing the Trade Federation Viceroy refer to Qui-Gon’s murderer as Darth Maul: “Some sources suggest that Darth Maul’s identity was perhaps unknown after the Battle of Naboo: in the novel Jedi Quest, pg. 36, Anakin faces a phantom-Maul in the caves of Ilum and refers to the apparition only as ‘Qui-Gon’s murderer,’ and in the Essential Guide to the Force, pg. 29, a report filed by Obi-Wan five days after the Battle of Naboo never refers to Darth Maul by name but instead as the ‘dark warrior.’ However, because Maul’s name is repeatedly referenced by characters in several other prequel-era sources (most recently by Obi-Wan himself in the Clone Wars TV episode ‘Monster’), it’s more reasonable to assume that the name ‘Darth Maul’ wasn’t totally unknown among the Jedi but instead unconfirmed.

For example, in the earliest example of a character having knowledge of the name, on pages 108 and 109 of the first-person novel Episode I Journal: Queen Amidala, Padmé twice refers to Darth Maul directly by name: ‘Qui-Gon is dead. He died bravely. Of course he died bravely. Obi-Wan told me the details. How they fought Darth Maul down into the bowels of the power generator next door to the hanger. How Qui-Gon came back again and again to strike the dark warrior. But it was Qui-Gon who took the killing blow. It was left to Obi-Wan to kill Darth Maul.’ The novel Rogue Planet also suggests that Obi-Wan knows Darth Maul’s identity, stating, on pg. 225, ‘Obi-Wan had seen his Master impaled on the glowing, singing lightsaber of Darth Maul.’ In the post-Revenge of the Sith novels Last of the Jedi: Death on Naboo and Last of the Jedi: Return of the Dark Side, the former Jedi Padawan Ferus Olin also knows Maul’s identity. While in the Theed Generator Complex in Death on Naboo, pg. 123, Ferus states, ‘It was here … This is the place Obi-Wan fought Darth Maul to the death,’ and Return of the Dark Side, pg. 65, states, ‘[Ferus] had assumed Vader had sprung up from nowhere because Palpatine wanted it that way. He had assumed that Vader had been like Darth Maul, an apprentice trained and kept concealed until he was needed.’ The comic Purge, which takes place shortly after Revenge of the Sith, also has the Jedi Shadday Potkin mention Maul by name in relation to both the Sith generally and Darth Vader specifically: ‘Death walking. Palpatine’s mailed fist, Dooku’s successor, Maul’s inheritor, the new Sith – Darth Vader.’ Finally, on page 211 of the post-The Phantom Menace novel Outbound Flight, Palpatine’s advisor Kinman Doriana also demonstrates familiarity with the name Darth Maul.

Given these numerous discrepancies, I suggest this simple and most logical explanation: Ferus learned Maul’s name from Obi-Wan in the initial Last of the Jedi books (wherein they had frequent interaction), Obi-Wan learned the name from Padmé (possibly only after writing the report in The Essential Guide to the Force), and Padmé learned Maul’s name from her royal advisors, such as Sio Bibble. Bibble and the other advisors were likely to have heard Maul’s name for two reasons. First, they were in close proximity to Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray, who himself knew Darth Maul’s name (Sidious: ‘This is my apprentice, Darth Maul. He will find your lost ship.’) and liked to gloat. Bibble and the others were, therefore, likely to have heard Maul’s name either indirectly while Gunray gloated, or even directly. This leads to the second reason: in The Phantom Menace, Sio Bibble, in hologram form, sends a message to Amidala telling her of the catastrophic death toll the Trade Federation invasion has yielded and beseeching her to contact him. The very next scene, in which Darth Maul tells Sidious he’s traced Amidala to Tatooine, leads us to conclude that Maul (or Gunray) used Bibble to forge the trace. As such, it’s completely plausible Bibble learned Maul’s name while being coerced to send Amidala this message.[***]

Hence, even if the Jedi associate the name ‘Darth Maul’ with the ‘dark warrior’ Obi-Wan killed, the name ultimately comes from an unreliable source—Nute Gunray or the Sith. Since no one can truly corroborate whether the name ‘Darth Maul’ is legitimate, the name remains in circulation but is essentially hearsay.” ~ Abel G. Peña

[***A footnote to my footnote: not even I had the balls to mention that the idea for this Star Wars version of the telephone game has its origins in 10-odd years of meditating on copy from the Star Wars: Episode I Collector’s Edition 20-Month Calendar, specifically from the month of November. It is here that the first explanation for how Darth Sidious tracked down Padmé and her Jedi rescuers in The Phantom Menace was posited: “With the help of the Jedi, Queen Amidala, her handmaidens and key advisors have escaped their Trade Federation captors and managed to board the Royal Starship, her personal vehicle. Through skillful piloting they evade the massive blockading and invading Trade Federation fleet but the ship is heavily damaged in the battle. Consulting with the Jedi and her advisors, the Queen agrees that they should travel to the nearby planet of Tatooine to make repairs. They will then proceed to the planet Coruscant, their ultimate destination, to ask the Galactic Senate for help in stopping the invasion. From the ship, she communicates with Senator Palpatine, Naboo’s Senate representative, informing him of the invasion and their itinerary.” This implies that, very reasonably, Padmé basically ratted herself out to Darth Sidious! But the fragile legitimacy of lore found in a wall calendar being what it was under Lucasfilm’s traditional continuity standards, I remained aware—aided by some of the earliest discussions within the Star Wars Fanboy Association—that the most logical alternative to assume was that Padmé’s advisor Sio Bibble (with whom we see her communicate in the film while en route to Tatooine) was instead the likely source of Darth Sidious’ awareness, whether by coercion or as an outright spy. So this laid the foundation in my mind a decade later for the chain of causality that could serve as justification for knowledge of Darth Maul’s name among the Jedi. (It's possible James Luceno's novel Darth Plagueis suggested yet another explanation, but that was published after I submitted SkyeWalkers to Lucasfilm.—ed.]