TENEL KA

'Tenel Ka Djo' is a fictional character in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. She starred as one of the main characters in the ''Young Jedi Knights'', ''Dark Nest'' and ''Legacy of the Force'' series.

Contents

History

Jedi training

Claiming the Throne

References

External links

History

Jedi training

Tenel Ka is the daughter of Prince Isolder, Chume'da of the Hapes Consortium, and the Dathomiri witch Teneniel Djo. She is raised in the traditions of both her parents, learning the ways of politics on Hapes, physical training, and the ways of the Force on Dathomir. Her full name is 'Tenel Ka Chume Ta'Djo'.
In the ''Young Jedi Knights'' series, Tenel Ka goes to Yavin 4 to train at the titular school, headed by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. She becomes fast friends with Luke's niece and nephew, Jaina and Jacen Solo, as well as the Wookiee Jedi, Lowbacca.
In the Young Jedi Knights novel Lightsabers, Tenel Ka's newly constructed lightsaber shorts out due to a flaw resulting from her careless construction. This occurs during a training exercise with Jacen, and his blade slips through the space it had previously occupied, cutting off the Hapan princess's left arm. In the ensuing period, a distraught Jacen Solo makes his feeling for her clear, paving the way for a future together. In a display of personal strength and confidence, Tenel Ka refuses to have a prosthetic replacement attached, and seeks to enhance her physical abilities along with her Jedi talents to make up for the disability.^[1]

Claiming the Throne

In the New Jedi Order novel ''Dark Journey'', set during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Tenel Ka is crowned Queen Mother of Hapes after her mother's death. Her coronation enrages her scheming grandmother, former Queen Mother Ta'a Chume. Tenel Ka pledges the support of the Hapan government and military to the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong and begins working to change the corruption in the Hapan government and her family from the inside.^[2]
In ''The Unseen Queen'', Tenel Ka gives birth to Jacen's daughter, Allana. When the child is a week old, Tenel Ka's grandmother attempts to have her killed because she knows Jacen is the father. Fortunately, the assassination attempt occurs on the same day Ben Skywalker visits Jacen and learns he had fathered the child. Jacen repels the attack. In order to ensure safety for his child, he sneaks into Ta'a Chume's residence and interrogates her using the Force as a tool of psychological torture to find out her motives behind attempting to kill his child. Shortly before security forces burst through the door, he blasts her mind with Force energy, wiping it completely and leaving her in a coma. Shortly thereafter, when Luke Skywalker takes drastic meaures to unite the Jedi, Tenel Ka is forced to choose between serving the Jedi Order whole-heartedly or relinquishing her position in it. She chooses the latter, feeling that her own people need her more than the do the Jedi. Luke, however, refuses to accept her lightsaber, and expressed his hopes that she will return to the Order someday.
In the years between the ''Dark Nest'' and ''Legacy of the Force'' series, Tenel Ka and Jacen carry on a secret love affair. Although not stated directly, it is implied that they are married; Jacen muses that he "also had a secret wife" like his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker.
Her thoughts on Jacen's turn towards the dark side have not yet been documented in the ''Legacy of the Force'' series. While she initially believes the evidence that Leia and Han are trying to have her assassinated, she believes their version of the story — that Gejjen and the Corellians set them up. She even sends them aid during a fierce battle. Han takes this to be the sign that Tenel Ka believes them and has forgiven them. Jacen, however, believes his parents are the ones who want his lover killed.
Recently, she has realized that Jacen was no longer the same person she knew when she was younger, especially after his attack on the Wookies. When she meets Han and Leia again, she follow their advice and withdraws her support from Jacen and even tries to fire on him.

References

1. Lightsabers, , Kevin J., Anderson, Scholastic Press, ,
2. Dark Journey, , Elaine, Cunningham, Del Rey Books, ,

External links

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