Darth Caedus

"He thinks I've paid too much attention to the Force as a power, at the expense of understanding a more unifying Force. He's young, but he's a deep thinker."

- Luke Skywalker

Jacen Solo was the eldest son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, the younger twin of Jaina and the brother of Anakin. Even before he and his sister were born, their uncle Luke Skywalker could sense their strong presence in the Force and the two shared an inseparable mental bond. Jacen had always been an empathetic person, forming close bonds with humans and animals alike. Later in his life he became the Jedi Master to his cousin, Ben Skywalker and fathered a baby girl, Allana, with Tenel Ka.

Jacen showed immaculate Force powers as an infant when he helped his uncle and his uncle's students defeat the spirit of Exar Kun. He started his formal Jedi training years later at the Jedi Temple on Yavin 4. He excelled as one of the best students, getting into many adventures with his friends Lowbacca, Tenel Ka and his sister Jaina. Later, during the Yuuzhan Vong War, he often didn't see eye to eye with the Jedi view of the Force, despite being one of the more powerful Jedi Knights of the New Order. After being captured by the Vong, he became associated with Vergere, who molded many of his ways of thinking.

Childhood (9 ABY–22 ABY)
Just prior to the end of the Thrawn Crisis, Jacen was born to Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo. Because Grand Admiral Thrawn had promised to apprehend the twins and their mother in exchange for Joruus C'baoth's help, Jacen was the target of two kidnapping attempts&mdash;before and after he was born. Had either attempt succeeded, the deranged Dark Jedi Master likely would have indoctrinated Jacen and his sister into becoming Dark Jedi as well.

Because Jacen's uncle Luke Skywalker had determined that any contact with the dark side could warp the minds of the twins for the rest of their lives, it was decided that Jacen and Jaina would be sequestered on safe worlds&mdash;such as New Alderaan and Anoth&mdash;with Winter Retrac to protect them from this threat. However, during the Second Battle of New Alderaan Jacen and his sister were nearly kidnapped by Xecr Nist and Gthull.

Following the battle, Jacen and Jaina were brought to the ancient space city of Nespis VIII, where it was discovered that the Alliance had survived the destruction of Da Soocha V. After the birth of their younger brother, Anakin, Jacen and Jaina would live with their mother and father while on the run with the Rebel fleet until after an incident involving a warhead that was fired from the Galaxy Gun. The twins and their younger brother would visit Onderon, a planet that had been presumed to be safe from Palpatine.

This proved not to be the case when Palpatine arrived on Onderon, hoping to spiritually enter Anakin. Jacen and Jaina could do little but look on as their parents and uncle, as well as Empatajayos Brand battled Palpatine's last known clone. Palpatine was unsuccessful, but the incident led to Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin being sent to the world of Anoth with Winter.

Some time later, when they reached the age of two, Jacen and Jaina would come back to Coruscant to live with their parents. Even before the tender age of three, Jacen and his sister managed to toddle into adventure. Sneaking away from Chewbacca and C-3PO, the twins took a decommissioned turbolift into the scary depths of Coruscant. Luckily, they were rescued before any harm befell them.

A short time later, Jacen came to the defense of his uncle Luke Skywalker who had been rendered unconscious by the actions of the dark spirit of Exar Kun. None of Luke's students could see the disembodied spirit of their Master, but the young Jacen could. Luke guided Jacen to defend his uncle's body from attacking predators, and the two-year old even wielded Luke's lightsaber.

During the Empire Reborn movement of 14 ABY, a five-year old Jacen and his siblings were kidnapped by Lord Hethrir, the Imperial Procurator of Justice, who attempted to use them as part of a fiendish plot to take advantage of their Force powers. During their imprisonment at Hethrir's mobile Worldcraft, he and Jaina were kept in individual cells while Hethrir attempted to sacrifice their younger brother Anakin to a mysterious alien known as Waru at Crseih Station. He and Jaina also met the female Chironian Lusa. Later, Jacen and Jaina managed to escape their captors and freed the other captives. Jacen then used his Force powers to calm Hethrir's giant guardian sand dragon. All of the captive children then set off across the surface of the worldcraft on the sand dragon's broad back. Soon, their mother arrived on her star yacht Alderaan and then loaded all the children aboard the ship before leaving for Crseih Station to rescue Anakin Solo. In the end, Waru destroyed Hethrir before vanishing from the known galaxy following a confrontation with Luke Skywalker, Han and Leia Solo.

During the Corellian Crisis, he and his siblings were captured by Thrackan Sal-Solo, his father's cousin and leader of the Human League. However they managed to escape thanks to his sister Jaina.

Jedi training (22 ABY–25 ABY)
"Hey, I heard two droids talking the other day. The first said, 'Well, did you beat the Wookiee at sabacc?' and the second said, 'Yes, but it cost me an arm and a leg!'"

- Jacen, with another one of his jokes



At the age of thirteen in 22 ABY, Jacen went with his sister to begin their Jedi training at his uncle Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. He eventually developed an affinity and sensitivity towards nature and the Living Force which is why his father, Han couldn't possibly understand his son and why he had gotten along better with his mother. He could instinctively communicate with animals, and kept a large menagerie of small critters in his quarters in the Massassi temple. One was a rock lizard that, after a few weeks, would always try to escape. Jacen brought this problem to his uncle, Luke Skywalker, who told him of his adventures with a Huey, a dewback from Tatooine that shared the same problem. In all, Huey was released to find a mate and came back a few weeks later. Jacen tried it and released his rock lizard into the wild, and it came back later with an egg sack. He and his sister befriended Lowbacca, Chewbacca's nephew, and the Dathomiri warrior princess Tenel Ka, learning Jedi techniques quickly and going through many trials even as young teenagers. They would be joined a few months later by their younger brother Anakin.

Second Imperium
In 23 ABY, during their exploration of the surrounding jungle, Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka and Lowbacca discovered a crashed TIE fighter from the Battle of Yavin. Jaina decided to install a hyperdrive in the downed starfighter and begin fixing it to fly again. Jacen, Lowbacca, and Tenel Ka would help her to practice their Force skills. Unfortunately, Jacen and Jaina were captured by the TIE's original pilot, Qorl, who had been living in the jungle for 19 years. However, Tenel Ka and Lowie managed to escape to the Jedi Praxeum. Meanwhile, Qorl got his captives to repair his vehicle. During this time, he learned what had happened during those long years. Qorl later escaped into hyperspace where he began searching for any remnants of the Empire.

Qorl would discover the Shadow Academy, a training ground for Dark Jedi under the command of one of Luke Skywalker's fallen students, the Imperial agent Brakiss and the remains of the Nightsister Tamith Kai. The Shadow Academy was aligned with an Imperial insurgency group known as the Second Imperium which refused to acknowledge the peace treaty signed between the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic. Eventually, they managed to kidnap Jacen, Jaina and Lowbacca during a raid on Lando Calrissian's GemDiver Station in Yavin. The three young Jedi trainees were brought to the Shadow Academy though they resisted efforts by Brakiss and Tamith Kai to indoctrinate them into Dark Jedi. There, all three captives were each imprisoned in tiny cells.

During his imprisonment at the Shadow Academy, Jacen learned a valuable lesson. In a training exercise that pitted an unknowing brother and sister against each other, Jacen realized that he was not as powerful in the Force or as wise as he had thought. The young Jedi had wished to construct a lightsaber, but discovered how dangerous they were and how much knowledge and maturity were required to wield one. On another exercise, he and his sister were injured when hardballs, rocks and knives were thrown at them. Having survived this exercise, a pleased Brakiss announced to them that he had been so pleased with their potential that he had decided to kidnap more Jedi trainees.

Later, Jacen managed to free himself from his cell through the use of a Corusca gem from Calrissian's GemDiver Station. He then proceeded to free his sister and Lowbacca. Exploiting Lowbacca's computer expertise, they sabotaged the Shadow Academy's security systems and attempted to flee just as Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka arrived. However, they were blocked by Brakiss and Tamith Kai. During a confrontation, Luke defeated his former student while Tenel Ka injured Tamith Kai's knee, defeating her temporarily. They then escaped the Academy in a stolen Imperial ship. However, the Academy managed to escape into hyperspace.

The Solo twins, Lowbacca and Tenel Ka then returned to Coruscant for a short vacation, and were reunited with the twins' childhood friend Zekk. They were happy to see the young man, but the boy was soon recruited by the Shadow Academy, who discovered before the twins that the boy had Force potential. Zekk eventually became their Darkest Knight and would be forced to fight Jacen and Jaina several times, and the twins and their friends finally progressed far enough to be tasked with building their first lightsabers.



Jacen's hard-learned lesson became hit home once again when Tenel Ka rushed to complete her lightsaber to keep up with her friends. She used an imperfect crystal and her blade shorted out in a sparring match with Jacen. His lightsaber passed through thin air where her weapon had been seconds before and severed the young woman's left arm. Though the girl bore him no ill will, Jacen took it hard, and it became another event that would help shape him into the Jedi he was becoming.

Following that, Tenel Ka returned to her homeworld of Hapes to recover. She refused to be fitted with a prosthetic arm. Later on Hapes, Tenel Ka and her companions help defeat a revolution to overthrow Tenel Ka's grandmother Ta'a Chume.

Later, the Jedi companions traveled to Kashyyyk, the homeworld of Lowbacca where his younger sister Sirrakuk was about to undergo a Wookiee ritual. Since the ritual was dangerous, Lowie wanted to assist his sibling. Unfortunately, a Second Imperium strike force led by Zekk himself attacked the city of Thikkiiana, a major exporter of computer technology. The four Jedi trainees defeated most of the Imperium soldiers. During the confrontation, his sister Jaina confronted their former friend Zekk in the dangerous lower levels of the world-spanning jungle. However, Zekk did not have it in him to harm his former friends and instead warned them to stay away from the Imperium's next target: the Jedi Praxeum itself!

In response, the four Jedi raced back to the Jedi Praxeum and alerted the Jedi there. Sure enough, the Shadow Academy and a fleet of reclaimed Imperial warships appeared. Legions of Stormtroopers and Dark Jedi were then unleashed, thus starting the battle. The twins, with the help of their peers at the Jedi Academy, Luke, and Zekk would bring down the Shadow Academy and the Second Imperium forever.

Diversity Alliance
Following the defeat of the Second Imperium, the Solo twins helped rebuilt the Academy and also continued their Jedi training. While the reformed Zekk recovered from his injuries, he was harassed by nightmares as a result of his involvement with the Dark Jedi. As a result, Zekk refused to use the Force again and left the Academy on Peckhum's freighter Lightning Rod to become a bounty hunter.

However, trouble would soon come when Raynar Thul received word that his father Bornan Thul&mdash;a wealthy merchant and shipping baron&mdash;had disappeared while en route to an important trade conference with Nolaa Tarkona, the Twi'lek leader of the Diversity Alliance, a fanatical all-alien group which sought to punish Humans for the cruelty inflicted by the humanocentric Galactic Empire. Noola Tarkona was the sister of Oola, Jabba the Hutt's murdered dancer slave. Since she was a Twi'lek, the organization was based on the species' homeworld of Ryloth. When Nolaa learnt that Bornan had disappeared, she placed a huge bounty on him and the mysterious cargo he was hiding.

Jacen and Jaina also traveled to the Alderaan system to search through the asteroid field that had once been Alderaan. The twins landed on a barren asteroid and secured a shard from what used to be the planet's core. However, they were ambushed by Ailyn Vel, disguised as the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett. Luckily for them, Zekk came to the rescue and drove the Fett impersonator away. Despite having rescued them, Zekk refused to return with them to the Academy though he decided to search for Bornan Thul later.

During their hunt for Bornan Thul, the Solo twins would be joined by Raynar Thul, Tenel Ka and Lowbacca. They searched his last known locations stretching from ancient ruined worlds to the droid foundry world of Mechis III. Meanwhile, Nolaa Tarkona went on a crusade to whip up support among the alien species of the galaxy, particularly the Chromans of Chroma Zed. Things went bad for the Jedi when Lowbacca misguidedly joined the Diversity Alliance under the influence of fellow Wookiee Raaba and traveled to their headquarters on Ryloth to learn more about them.

Meanwhile, Zekk rescued Bornan from bounty hunters and learned the reason he had disappeared. Bornan had stumbled upon the location of a top-secret Imperial plague warehouse on an uncharted asteroid in the Deep Core. Hidden there was a supply of deadly diseases created by General Evir Derricote almost two decades ago. Though the Galactic Empire had been defeated, this plague warehouse still remained with its supplies of deadly diseases. Bornan also revealed that Boba Fett (actually Ailyn Vel) had sliced into his ship's navicomputer and gotten a hold of the coordinates of the plague warehouse. Having learned about it, Nolaa Tarkona wished to unleash a plague against all Humans.

Feeling that Lowbacca only knew the public face of the Diversity Alliance, the Solo twins along with Raynar and Tenel Ka traveled to Ryloth only to get arrested by the local authorities and put to work in the dangerous ryll mines of Ryloth. However, Lowbacca soon learned what had befallen of his Human companions through Raaba. The enraged Wookiee turned against the Diversity Alliance and helped them escape the harsh terrain of the planet and zealous Diversity Alliance troops. The Jedi also discovered that the Diversity Alliance was stockpiling weapons for its war against Humans. They were also rescued by Zekk, Luke Skywalker and Lusa.

Back at the New Republic Senate on Coruscant, Luke requested that an inspection team be sent to Ryloth to investigate reports of Diversity Alliance aggression. After recording an encrypted message to his wife explaining their plan, Bornan, Raynar, Zekk, Jacen and Jaina Solo, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca gathered up some explosives and went to the warehouse with the intention of destroying it. They were almost finished wiring the explosives when Diversity Alliance ships showed up. In the ensuing confrontation with Tarkona in the warehouse, some of the plague canisters were busted open, including the Human killing one. Bornan sacrificed himself so the plague would not spread, and told Raynar to get himself and his friends off the asteroid.

Meanwhile, in space, a New Republic fleet under Han Solo defeated the Diversity Alliance fleet. However, Nolaa Tarkona managed to escape, though she would later die on a distant asteroid from a Twi'lek-specific disease. Meanwhile on Ryloth, fighting took place when the New Republic inspection team discovered stockpiles of weapons. However, the fighting was stopped by the Twi'lek Kur who convinced the Alliance soldiers that they had been misguided and that both Humans and Aliens should work together.

This ended the Diversity Alliance, thus removing a threat to the New Jedi Order and the New Republic. Following that, Zekk also joined the Jedi Praxeum.

Black Sun


Following that, Jacen and Jaina went on a trip with their father Han and Zekk to Ord Mantell to watch the Blockade Runners Derby. Zekk later won the race. However, they encountered Czethros, a bounty hunter who had hunted Han Solo years ago, though he now claimed to be an honest businessman. Later at a hangar bay, they were ambushed by several Chameleon creatures though they were rescued by Anja Gallandro, a young woman who wielded a lightsaber but was not a Jedi. Instead, Anja relied on doses of spice to enhance her senses.

Although attracted to Tenel Ka, Jacen found a small infatuation growing for the older woman, and this probably led to the cooling of Jacen and Tenel Ka's relationship. Anja had blamed Han Solo for killing her father, but Solo denied it because her father died in a trap while finding treasure. However, Anja was actually an undercover agent for Czethros, who actually was a leader of Black Sun. The galactic-wide crime syndicate had been keeping a low profile for years ever since the death of Prince Xizor during a skirmish on Coruscant in 3 ABY. However, they had been attempting to gain power by planting cells in positions of power throughout the New Republic, including political, economical and military. Czethros also controlled Anja by keeping her addicted to spice.

Han managed to convince Anja that he was good by stopping a 25 year-long civil war on her backwater homeworld of Anobis. There, Solo met with the two rival factions and brokered a truce between them. This made Anja wonder whether her hatred for Solo had been misplaced and she agreed to join the Solo twins and their companions at the Jedi Praxeum to discover her abilities.

Later, Lando Calrissian invited the twins and their friends to Cloud City where he wanted them to be the first try out the new SkyCenter Galleria amusement park which he had invested in through the use of repurchased interests from the spice mining world of Kessel and shares from a mining operation on Varn. However, things went bad when a business associate of Calrissian named Cojahn was found dead. Worse, the Jedi discovered whom Czethros actually was and his plot for galactic domination. Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowie were also ambushed by several Ugnaught Black Sun mercenaries in the lower levels of Cloud City and Jacen was almost killed.

As a result, Czethros was targeted by the New Republic and arrests for him were issued on many worlds. However, he had managed to evade capture and went underground. Unfortunately for Anja, she had realized that without Czethros there would be no supplier for the spice that fueled her addiction. Anja then stole Zekk's ship Lightning Rod and travelled to the ocean world of Dac, better known as Mon Calamari, where she hoped to retrieve a hidden stash of spice beneath the planet's frozen ice cap.

Meanwhile on Kessel, Calrissian's longtime Sullustan mate Nien Nunb had been nearly killed during a suspicious accident in the carbon-freezing sections of the processing facility. Black Sun had planted cells even there and the Sullustan knew he was in danger. Worse for him, his workers were turning against him. Jacen, Tenel Ka and Zekk pursued Anja to Dac while Jaina and Lowbacca went to Kessel to help protect Nieun Nunb. On Dac, at the resort city of Crystal Reef, Jacen confronted Anja while she tried to lease a Mini-Sub to hunt for the hidden spice stash. He managed to help Anja confront her spice addiction and and she accepted her father's real fate. They also succeeded in destroying Czethros's stash of spice on Dac. Jacen thought Anja had Jedi potential, but it turned out she didn't, and his infatuation disappeared when Anja went to work for Lando.

Back on Kessel, Czethros and an army of Black Sun mercenaries took control of the planet and captured Nien Nunb though Jaina and Lowbacca managed to escape. They also discovered that Black Sun had been planting cells in positions of power throughout the New Republic. From Kessel, Czethros hoped to send a signal that would activate these cells. However, Jaina and Lowbacca sabotaged his operations by destroying the transmitter before Czethros could broadcast his signal. They also freed the prisoners and helped defeat the Black Sun mercenaries. Rather than allow himself to be captured, Czethros threw himself into a vat of carbonite and was flash-frozen instantly. However, he was retrieved and placed in New Republic custody. The Chief of State Leia Organa Solo would supervise his unthawing and interrogation. As a result, the names of Black Sun moles in strategic positions of power were discovered, defeating the crime syndicate.

Following this ordeal, he, along with several other trainees including his sister Jaina, his younger brother Anakin, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca and Zekk were promoted to apprentice Jedi Knights during a ceremony at the Jedi Praxeum. While Jacen learned much from these experiences, they could hardly prepare him for the carnage that would follow shortly thereafter.

Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY–30 ABY)
"I renounce the need to know, now, what I will become later. In looking to my future, I have ignored the present and my role in it. The present is too critical for me to do that anymore."

- Jacen Solo



Luke took on Jacen and Anakin as his apprentices. While Jacen disagreed with Luke on several aspects of the Force, the differences between Anakin and Jacen were far greater.

While Jacen was just as grief stricken at the death of Chewbacca as the rest of the Solo family, it did not haunt him as much as it did his siblings. Jacen joined the effort against the Yuuzhan Vong, but he still held doubts about the Jedi's role in the war. After the disastrous Battle of Fondor, Jacen tried to give up using the Force altogether. That all changed as the Battle of Duro. Leia was captured by Tsavong Lah, the Warmaster of the Yuuzhan Vong, who intended to sacrifice her in a ceremony. Lah was unconcerned when Jacen appeared, for he considered Jacen a coward for being pacifistic. Jacen, however, attacked with unprecedented ferocity, and knocked Lah out a window, which crushed his foot. The act brought Jacen back to the front lines of the War&mdash;and prompted Tsavong Lah to call for the heads of the Jedi.

Jacen was part of the Myrkr Strike Team that attempted to destroy the Voxyn. The team consisted of his old friends Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, Zekk, and others. The mission was one disaster after another, which resulted in the deaths of a number of the force, including Anakin. Jacen managed to kill the voxyn queen, but the team was forced to leave him behind. They then felt a surge through the Force, believing Jacen had been killed.

Only Leia was convinced her son was still alive.

Vergere
"I tell you this: though neither he nor they yet know it, Jacen Solo is the greatest of all the Jedi. Jacen Solo is the living Jedi dream."

- Vergere

In truth, Jacen was alive, but as far as he was concerned, death would have been preferable. Vergere, a Fosh Jedi of the Old Republic who had lived with the Yuuzhan Vong for over fifty years, tortured him, placing him within the Embrace of Pain, forcing Jacen to give into the pain and understand the strength one gains when they fully embrace it. Vergere also challenged his very beliefs, and severed his connection to the Force, which was the surge the others had felt.

Jacen was placed with a group of slaves that were taking orders from a dhuryam, which was a more advanced form of a yammosk. A set of 12 dhuryams was being tested on which would be the World Brain of Yuuzhan'tar, the Yuuzhan Vong name for Coruscant. Jacen helped the slaves in his detail, which helped the dhuryam. And, thanks to the slave seed imbedded in his chest and his Force abilities, he managed to seduce one of the dhuryam's and gained a bit of control over it and the rest of the Nursery.



Shortly before seedfall would occur, and Coruscant would be reborn as Yuuzhan'tar, Jacen led a revolt in the Nursery. Standing in an amphistaff grove, Jacen beckoned the creatures to him, having them wrap around his body to form a suit of armor. After dispatching the guards, Jacen began to kill the dhuryams. Jacen then moved on to destroy the dhuryam he had befriended, but was stopped by a familiar voice; that of his dead brother, Anakin. Hearing that voice woke Jacen up out of the blood haze he had entered, but he suspected that it was Vergere that really stopped him.

Jacen soon learned that he could sense the Yuuzhan Vong in the Force, thanks to the slave seed Vergere had implanted in him on the seedship in order to make him obey the Yuuzhan Vong. And he used that to escape onto Coruscant. Vergere foiled his plans at escaping the planet, and Jacen finally succumbed to the months of torture. Vergere led him to the site of the former Jedi Temple, where Jacen told her of his grandfather's fall to the dark side. He was confronted by a squad of Yuuzhan Vong, and found a hot tidal surge of red billow through him as he blanked out. When he came to, Jacen's hands hurt and Vergere asked him how it felt to touch the Force once again. It was then Jacen remembered what had just happened; he had unleashed a wave of Force lightning at Vergere and the Yuuzhan Vong warriors.

Jacen began to panic with the realization that he had tapped into the dreaded dark side of the Force. Vergere then told Jacen the one thing that would alter his outlook of the Force. "What you feel is the Force. This is the shameful secret of the Jedi: There is no dark side." Vergere then told him that the only dark side he need fear is the one in his own heart. Jacen then turned and fled.

Jacen arrived at the Solo's now ruined apartment, where he conversed with what may have been Anakin's ghost. Vergere arrived, once again challenging Jacen's beliefs. They were soon joined by Nom Anor, who confronted Jacen, and offered him Anakin's lightsaber if he would convert to the Yuuzhan Vong religion. Jacen agreed&mdash;and he was lying.

Meanwhile, Ganner Rhysode, who was part of the team at Myrkr, had heard rumors that Jacen was alive. He tried to convince Jaina that her brother might still be alive, but she refused to believe him. Ganner decided to discover the truth on his own. He back tracked the information and found himself face to face with Jacen, but caught in a trap that had been set for Jaina. The trap having failed, Jacen sent word to Nom Anor that they should return home with the prisoner, where he will be killed. Jacen planned to offer up Ganner as a gift to the True Gods, killing him within the Well of the World Brain. But Jacen had something else in mind.

Jacen gave Ganner Anakin's lightsaber, giving him the choice of exactly how to use it. Once inside the Well of the World Brain, formerly the Senate's Grand Convocation chamber, Ganner raised Anakin's blade and defended the door, while Jacen confronted the World Brain. When the door opened and the Yuuzhan Vong found Ganner standing there, they were puzzled as the Jedi stated "None shall pass." Ganner fought an ongoing wave of warriors, taking them each down, building a fortress of corpses around him, becoming one with the Force as he fought on. Meanwhile, Jacen connected with the World Brain, acknowledging his betrayal, sharing everything he knows and all of his experiences and, in the end, made the World Brain realize that they are one. While chaos erupted in the Well, Nom Anor and Vergere made their way towards his hidden escape craft. Upon arrival, Vergere used the force to tie Nom Anor with hydraulic cables and revealed that she took Jacen's lightsaber so that she and Jacen could steal Nom Anor's ship. Jacen finished with the World Brain and sensed the danger Ganner was in. He was just about to join the fight when he was stopped by Vergere who told Jacen that he cannot save him, and would only die with him. She then returned Jacen's lightsaber to him. Ganner then used the Force to rip apart the walk way he was on, plunging to his death, along with his foes. Vergere and Jacen then fled from Coruscant, leaving in Nom Anor's ship. During the flight, Vergere told Jacen of a vision she once had, of an invincible giant called "the Ganner" who guarded the Gate to the Lands of the Dead, with the words "None Shall Pass" engraved upon the gate. Jacen then revealed to Vergere that he had managed to convince the World Brain to join his side, and that it would sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong's efforts to Vongform Yuuzhan'tar.

Jacen and Vergere returned to Mon Calamari, where Jacen was reunited with his family. After a long earned vacation, Jacen joined Jaina in Admiral Traest Kre'fey's battle group. Jacen became Kre'fey's link to the Jedi pilots in his fleet, and Jacen was able to prediect where new elements were needed when they were needed. At the Battle of Ebaq 9, Jacen rushed to Jaina's aid, but soon needed help himself. Vergere sacrificed herself to save Jacen and killed the Yuuzhan Vong warriors on the moon.

The war's end
"I'm more sure than ever that Jacen has a special destiny."

- Luke Skywalker



As the newly formed Galactic Federation of Free Alliance emerged, Jacen accompanied his uncle Luke Skywalker into the Unknown Regions to seek a solution to the Yuuzhan Vong menace. There he helped thwart a Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the Imperial Remnant, visited Csilla (homeworld of the Chiss Ascendancy), and discovered the living planet Zonama Sekot.

In last months of the war, Jacen helped recapture Coruscant. Jacen tried to attack Shimrra, but was knocked out with one hit from the mighty Vong, which forced Luke Skywalker to intervene, and kill Shimrra, saving Jacen's life. Meanwhile, Jacen killed Onimi, who has been manipulating the Supreme Overlord Shimrra of the Yuuzhan Vong, who regained the usage of the Force as a result of extensive shaping and experimentation in Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology, in a battle of strength in the Force. During the battle, Jacen reached a higher level of the Force than ever before, causing him to age physically and dissolve Onimi by using Onimi's own poison against him. It is at this point, where he started believing himself to be beyond corruption, the same belief possessed by the Sith Lord Count Dooku. During this battle, Jacen heard a voice strikingly similar to, yet deeper than, that of Luke Skywalker, which he knew in his heart to be Anakin Skywalker. After the war, Jacen decided to travel the Galaxy and spend time among other Force-users in search of answers, including the Aing-Tii Monks, Fallanassi, Witches of Dathomir, Jensaarai and Theran Listeners

Dark Nest Crisis (35 ABY–36 ABY)
"You think you know him, and then he tries to start a war."

- Han Solo

Five years later, Jacen Solo, along with his sister and a group of fellow Jedi who had survived the Myrkr mission, journeyed to the Unknown Regions after being called by the Force. There they discovered that Raynar Thul had survived, and had been joined to a Killik hive. The Killiks were having a border dispute with the Chiss, and there was no way the Killiks could defend themselves. Jacen convinced Tenel Ka to send a fleet to protect the Killiks. As a result, Tenel Ka and Jacen's relationship once again began to blossom, with Tenel Ka becoming pregnant. Jacen was not aware until he arrived on Hapes with Ben Skywalker and found Tenel Ka with a baby. She gave birth to their daughter Allana in 36 ABY, though the girl was not publicly revealed, for fear that Hapan nobles would try to assassinate her.

The fear proved well founded when the Dark Nest immediately attempted to assassinate the child at the request of Ta'a Chume, Tenel Ka's grandmother. Tenel and the baby were saved, and Jacen, to protect Tenel Ka and his daughter, caused a hemorrhage in Ta'a Chume's brain, rendering her comatose. Jacen went as far as to erase his own cousin Ben's memory to protect his daughter's existence. Jacen then had a vision of endless war, and concluded that there was only one way to preserve his new found family: wipe out the Killiks. In order to do this, Jacen tricked Lowie, Tesar Sebatyne, a still Joined Jaina and Zekk, into instigating a war between the Chiss and the Killiks. Jaina, upon realizing what Jacen had done, was furious with her twin, and vowed never to fly with him again.

When Luke called all of the Jedi to the Temple, Jacen went. He was asked by Han and Leia who was the father of Tenel Ka's baby, but Jacen wouldn't answer.

When Luke was told by Lowie and Tesar that Jacen had tampered with Ben's memory, Luke confronted his nephew. Jacen responded with a coverup story, explaining that on Endor, a group of Ewoks had been captured by a Gorax and killed, and that Ben had felt their deaths in the Force. Jacen said he then erased the traumatic memory from Ben in order to prevent Ben from retreating further from the Force. He was lying, of course, to keep Tenel Ka and his secret.

Jacen had the chance to get to know his maternal grandparents when he was asked to stay and watch holo recordings that R2-D2 was trying to keep secret. He witness Anakin's attack on Padmé on Mustafar, along with the birth of his mother and uncle, and Padmé's own death. Even after he watched the recordings he agreed with his grandfather's handling of the situation.

During the final phases of the Killik expansion, Jacen joined his aunt and uncle on a mission to destroy the Dark Nest. In a saber duel with Lomi Plo, Jacen was stabbed in the gut saving Mara, puncturing three organs and preventing him from aiding Luke in his showdown against Lomi Plo and Raynar Thul. Jacen was responsible for preventing a coup made by the Killiks, and showed Luke how to accept his anger, fear, and doubts to defeat the Swarm's Queen. Luke, however, rejected Jacen and Vergere's views on the dark side, fought both Lomi Plo and Raynar with the combined power of the colony behind them, and successfully defeated and killed Lomi Plo and captured Raynar Thul alive, proving Jacen wrong.

Legacy of the Force (40 ABY–)
"There are times when the end justifies the means. But when you build an argument based on a whole series of such times, you may find that you’ve constructed an entire philosophy of evil."

- Luke Skywalker



40 years after the Battle of Yavin, Jacen and his cousin Ben Skywalker were sent on a mission to uncover an illegal missile factory on the planet Adumar. The mission ended in a violent ambush, from which the Jedi narrowly escaped with their lives. The incident sparked political unrest that threatened to ignite into total rebellion that could shatter the young Galactic Alliance. In a desperate attempt to avoid such a fate, the Alliance readied a preemptive display of military might in a bid to bring the rogue worlds to heel. In a display of poor decision making, Corellia, the Solo home planet, was chosen as target of this exercise.

Torn between his two families, the Jedi and his genetic one, Jacen chose to stand with his uncle, Luke Skywalker, on the side of the Alliance. But when the Corellians launched a counterstrike, armed conflict was ignited. With a dark shadow looming over everything and the Alliance starting to resemble the Empire in the eyes of galactic denizens, Jacen decided to find the light at the end of this dark tunnel and followed a trail of cryptic clues to a dark rendezvous with the most shocking of revelations. "You will be the man your grandfather wasn't." "We'll see&hellip;"

- Lumiya and Jacen Solo

Along with Ben and Nelani Dinn, a female Jedi who felt an attraction to him, Jacen followed a woman named Brisha Syo to an asteroid lair of Darth Vectivus. There, Syo revealed that she was none other than Lumiya, a Sith who had once known his uncle. Lumiya told Jacen about Vergere's true identity and purpose, and the young Jedi witnessed visions that confirmed what Lumiya told him: only by accepting her Sith teachings and embracing the dark side could he prevent the galaxy from sliding into chaos. After sparring with a dark side vision of Luke, and seeing an apparition of himself as a future Sith Lord, Jacen killed Nelani when she tried to arrest Lumiya, and agreed to the Sith's offer. He left the asteroid to make time for his Sith training and to search for an apprentice of his own, either Ben, who was judged by Lumiya to be too steeped in Jedi ways, or to find another.

Name
Timothy Zahn originally intended "Jacen" to be "Jasen," but his editor at Bantam, Betsy Mitchell, suggested changing the "s" to a "c" to make it less 1980s-like.

"Jacen" is an alternate spelling of the Greek name Jason (Iason), which means 'healer'.

Possible parallels
Jacen's actions during the Dark Nest trilogy have many fans drawing parallels between Jacen and his grandfather Anakin Skywalker during the final days of the Clone Wars. The extreme measures Jacen took to protect Tenel Ka and Allana (such as his torture of Ta'a Chume and his insistence that Raynar Thul be killed) have drawn comparisons to Anakin's actions to protect Padmé Amidala and the unborn Skywalker twins. These actions, coupled with Jacen's denial of the dark side of the Force, led some fans to predict that Jacen would fall to the dark side in the upcoming Legacy series&mdash;predictions which appear to have come true.

Appearances

 * The Last Command
 * Dark Empire
 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * Jedi Search
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * I, Jedi
 * Darksaber
 * Planet of Twilight
 * The Crystal Star
 * The New Rebellion
 * Ambush at Corellia
 * Assault at Selonia
 * Showdown at Centerpoint
 * Star Wars: Union
 * The Golden Globe
 * Lyric's World
 * Promises
 * Anakin's Quest
 * Vader's Fortress
 * Kenobi's Blade
 * Heirs of the Force
 * Shadow Academy
 * The Lost Ones
 * Lightsabers
 * Darkest Knight
 * Jedi Under Siege
 * Shards of Alderaan
 * Diversity Alliance
 * Delusions of Grandeur
 * Jedi Bounty
 * The Emperor's Plague
 * Return to Ord Mantell
 * Trouble on Cloud City
 * Crisis at Crystal Reef
 * Vector Prime
 * Dark Tide I: Onslaught
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Balance Point
 * Edge of Victory I: Conquest
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Recovery
 * Star by Star
 * Traitor
 * Destiny's Way
 * Ylesia
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * Force Heretic II: Refugee
 * Force Heretic III: Reunion
 * The Final Prophecy
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
 * Betrayal
 * Bloodlines
 * Exile