Ta'a Chume

Ta'a Chume was the former Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium, the mother of Isolder, and the grandmother of current Queen Mother Tenel Ka. "Ta'a Chume" is the Hapan phrase for "Queen Mother", and not her actual name.

Ta'a Chume was a ruthless woman who will do anything, even commit murder, to achieve her goals. She had her older son Kalen murdered, because she felt he was too weak to rule. She had arranged the death of her second son Isolder's fiancée Lady Ellian on similar grounds.

Four years after the Battle of Endor, Ta'a Chume ended the isolationist stance Hapes had adopted, and opened talks with representatives from the New Republic. Among these was Leia Organa, whom Isolder fell in love with. He told his mother he wanted to marry Leia, and at a reception on Coruscant, Isolder was presented to Leia as a gift from Hapes.

However, Ta'a Chume thought Leia a mealy mouthed pacifist, and arranged to have her murdered. Her first attempt was foiled by Isolder, but before she could try again, Han Solo abducted Leia. Using underground connections, she found out where they were going: to Dathomir.

After Hapan and New Republic forces defeated Warlord Zsinj at Dathomir, Isolder introduced his mother to a Dathomiri Witch he fell in love with. Ta'a Chume, who loathed the idea that a Jedi or other Force sensitive would someday succeed her, was not impressed by Teneniel Djo. After hearing her son voice his suspicions about the murders of his brother and his fiancée, as well as a threat by Teneniel Djo using a display of the Force, Ta'a Chume backed down, and the two were wed. They soon had a daughter named Tenel Ka.

After Ta'a Chume grudgingly stepped down amid accusations of sending assassins to kill Tenel Ka, Teneniel Djo became Queen Mother. Although no longer in control of the political side of the Hapan government (at least not directly), she was still a force to be reckoned with, with her own spy network and underworld contacts she could put to use at any time.

During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, she planned to have Teneniel Djo, whom she never liked much, murdered and replaced with Jaina Solo. She had some of her hired assassins poison Teneniel Djo, with the intent that Isolder would place the crown on Jaina's head. However, it was Tenel Ka who unexpectedly took up her mother's crown.

The new Queen Mother then had her grandmother arrested for her part in Teneniel Djo's murder. It is unknown if Ta'a Chume was imprisoned for the crime(s) she committed.

Appearances

 * The Courtship of Princess Leia
 * Young Jedi Knights series
 * New Jedi Order: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * New Jedi Order: Dark Journey