Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the

Glove of Darth Vader, but Were Afraid to Ask


The Glove of Darth Vader, Chapter One
 

By

 Adrick Tolliver

 

Has there ever been an in-continuity story that has been so hotly contested as the Glove of Darth Vader series?  A six book series by authors Paul and Hollace Davids, Glove of Darth Vader is notorious among fans of the literature for being absurd, corny, and just plain silly.  Large groups of fans refuse to accept it into their personal versions of continuity, and even highly respected fan chronologies have sometimes been reluctant to include the stories.

    However, Lucasfilm Licensing has made it increasingly clear that it does include the books in continuity, as evidenced by the innumerable references to the events, species, planets, and characters from the books.  This has had many fans scratching their heads; "Just how does Glove of Darth Vader fit in with the books and comics I know and love?"  Most fans are too squeamish to read the books after reading the bad press they've received (heck, after the weird looks I got reading them in the back of Barnes and Noble, I can't blame them) so they wouldn't catch references made in other parts of the Expanded Universe.

    With that in mind, I decided to undertake a project (like I don't have enough of these things going anyway) that only a die-hard fanboy who takes this sort of thing way too seriously but knows it and can laugh at himself could do.  This project has been over a year in the making on the Jedi Council Forums, but it appears here at the SWFA in completed form for the first time.  It is a tongue-in-cheek look at Glove of Darth Vader, which I hope will be both entertaining and educational.  I'll take you through the events of the series, while breaking to explain the important continuity links, political situations, and historical factoids.  So, buckle up your crashwebbing, and get set for a Moff'n good time!

 

 

Introduction: What Came Before

In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, the Empire shattered into countless warring factions.  Moffs and admirals broke away from the Empire proper, and began establishing their own little kingdoms.  Some held only a single system, others, entire sectors. Warlords such as Darcc, Lumiya, and Harrsk began dominating the galactic scene.  Some, like Warlord Zsinj, built empires that would rival in power what remained of the Empire. 

    On Coruscant, Intelligence Director Ysanne Isard eliminated the more legitimate heirs to the Empire in the
Ruling Circle, and within six months after the Battle of Endor had taken control of what remained of the Empire.  Officers such as Captain Gilad Pellaeon and Grand Admiral Afsheen Makati pleged their loyalty to Isard, but many refused to accept her as their ruler.

 

    The Imperial Advisors proposed that they be allowed to choose a successor from their own ranks to lead the Empire.  The governors of the Empire agreed to meet with the Advisors, but also demanded to be allowed to vote for a new emperor.  The advisors backed down, but the Moffs persisted.  Under the leadership of Grand Moff Hissa, a group of Moffs and Grand Moffs banded together as the Central Committee of Grand Moffs, forming a respectable opposition to Isard's regime.  And while previous attempts to find a direct genealogical heir of Palpatine's had failed, the Committee knew where to find Palpatine's true heir...

 

    In the eyes of many, the Central Committee was the Empire. During the Glove of Darth Vader series, the New Republic is focusing most of its attention on this part of the Empire.

    The New Republic (known in these books as the Rebel Alliance--the two names are used interchangeably in the post-ROTJ literature up through the X-Wing novels) itself has relocated its base since the Battle of Endor; the Rebels now operate once again out of the Massassi Temples on Yavin IV…

 

 

Chapter 1: Droids on a Mission

The book opens on Yavin IV, one year after the Battle of EndorArtoo Deetoo and See Threepio are being outfitted for a spy mission to the planet Kessel.  Luke chooses some new head plates, and presto-changeo, after a session with a Droid Modification Team (what a cushy job—all you have to do is change headplates and slap new paint jobs on droids all day) Artoo and Threepio look just like Kessel droids, which apparently differ substantially from all the droid crowds that these guys usually blend into. 

 

    The three of them then head off to an important meeting of the new Senate.  It hasn't been made exactly clear as to whether or not this Senate is the same group as the Provisional Council from the X-Wing series and other books, but the New Republic clearly has a Senate established at this point.  The Senate meets in, of all places, the Palace of the Woolamander.

Spotlight: Palace of the Woolamander

This ruin was discovered years ago by Rebel scout Dr'uun UnnhUnnh chose this name simply because he had found a huge pack of arboreal Woolamanders nesting in the palace.  Dr'uun also deemed the structure unsafe for habitation, so the New Republic probably repaired some of the damage before the Senate started meeting there (either that, or someone on the New Republic Structure Utilization Board has it in for Mon Mothma.)  The building is also haunted by the ghost of one of Exar Kun's Sith followers. Years later, when Anakin Solo and Tahiri Veila entered the palace, this spirit gave them a bit of trouble, but it doesn't seem to bother the Senate.  It's likely that the presence of so many politicians gives the evil ghost some comfort.

 

    In a secret room deep within the palace lies Exar Kun's Golden Globe, and the slumbering Jedi Master Ikrit (shh! Don't wake the Kushiban!)  The building is also home to SPIN.  SPIN stands for Senate Planetary Intelligence Network, and it is an interim organization founded by Mon Mothma.  Admiral Ackbar, Leia Organa, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, and the Droids are all key members.

    Luke and the droids arrive at the meeting on time.  Present are the aforementioned key members of SPIN, along with Chief Councilor Mon Mothma. Han then makes a comment that leads to one of my favorite lines in the series:

    "'Well, kid,' Han said to Luke, 'you sure did a great job on these droids. If I didn't know what was going on, I'd swear I was on Kessel.'
'Thanks, Han. Coming from you, that really means a lot.'"

    Sheesh.  Here is Luke, the “humble” Jedi Knight, taking credit for the toils of the brave and fearless Droid Modification Team back at the
Great Temple when all he did was pick out the headgear. Tsk tsk.

    Mon Mothma calls the meeting to order, and begins to explain the Kessel mission:

    "Thousands of grand moffs, evil warlords, stormtroopers, Imperial droids, and enemy officers from the Empire are arriving at Kessendra Stadium on Kessel for a big gathering in their capital city."

    Gotta love that speech.  "Evil warlords"... Does this mean that all those "good warlords" can't come?

    Artoo has been collecting information on every important Imperial who might be present at the "big gathering", including those who would like to be the next Emperor (heck, what evil warlord doesn't want to be the next Emperor?)  Mothma explains that there is much controversy about the latest prophecy of the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side, Kadann.


Spotlight: the Prophets of the Dark Side


This group was founded in the early years of the Empire, headed by a Supreme Prophet and fallen Jedi Knight named Kadann.  The group was also called "The Secret Order" and, true to its name, remained unknown to all but Palpatine's closest advisors during the Emperor's reign.  Palpatine consulted the prophecies of this group frequently until after the Battle of Hoth.  Then the Emperor ignored them, laughing in the face of Kadann when he foresaw the Balance of the Force and the destruction of the second Death Star. After the Battle of Endor, and a hearty "Who's laughing NOW?!" from Supreme Prophet Kadann, the Prophets of the Dark Side went into hiding. 

 

    Imperial Intelligence, apparently rebelling against Madame Director Isard, set up a fake set of Prophets to aid the Central Committee.  These Prophets were headed by false versions of the most powerful of the real Prophets, Kadann and Jedgar.  This Kadann was apparently a former member of the Secret Order, and a dark side mage in his own right. The new Prophets started a Church of the Dark Side, which was then sanctioned by Grand Vizier Sate Pestage (the Imperial dictator-of-the-month at the time) as the ONLY legal religion in the Empire.  Because of their prophecies, which included little things like the resurrection of Emperor Palpatine (if only they knew!) and ultimate Imperial victory, the Church filled a gaping hole in the morale of the Imperial forces, and they soon became a household name across what was left of the Empire.  Operating out of Space Station Scardia in the Null Zone, they are a force to be reckoned with in this era, having gained the loyalty of much of the Empire, including the forces of Grand Admiral Peccati Syn.

Kadann's latest prophecy states:

"After Palpatine's fiery death
Another leader soon comes to command the Empire
And on his right hand he does wear
The Glove of Darth Vader!"

    This prophecy provides, as you might imagine, the title for the book, as well as the de-facto title of the entire series.[1]  The Glove of Darth Vader is indestructible, a "symbol of evil that would survive forever" and so it survived the explosion of the Death Star II.

 

    Of course, this isn’t the first time part of Vader’s wardrobe has survived the explosion of a Death Star.  When the original blew, the section containing Vader’s chambers remained mostly intact.  It was brought by scavengers to a remote system, where a group of Rebels would later run into his spare helmet and cape.  It’s also said that Vader’s lightsaber survived the explosion of the Death Star II, and that it’s somewhere on Endor…  Basically, there are bits of Vader all over the place, but it’s the glove that’s special.  After all, Imperials would look pretty silly hunting the galaxy for Vader’s left boot, or the funky little chain on his cape.


    According to rumor, Vader’s indestructible glove is a Mandalorian crushgaunt, a combat glove made of micronized Mandalorian iron.  How it can be “indestructible” when Luke clearly cuts through the glove during their duel in Return of the Jedi has yet to be explained, although Abel Peña has theorized that the glove is built around a Tales of the Jedi-type Sith amulet.  This could explain why the Luke's pure, modern lightsaber, the noble weapon of a Jedi, is able to cut through the evil-infested and vile Sith-augmented crushgaunt that is indestructible otherwise.

 

    Either that, or the authors goofed.  (My friend Zack was a huge fan of this series when he was eight, and was quite disappointed when he noticed Luke cutting through the glove in Return of the Jedi.)

 

    Mothma thinks that someone at the Kessel meeting might have found the glove of Darth Vader, and will claim to be the new Emperor.  To spy on the meeting (another one of SPIN's agents probably went in disguised as a good warlord, but was most likely bounced at the door of the Hotel Kessendra) the droids will go to Kessel's surface in a landing pod disguised as a meteor.  (The pod was built by "Admiral Ackbar and his fellow Calamarians" for this mission.)  Since Han and Lando are going to Bespin by way of Kessel, they plan to eject the pod from the Millennium Falcon as they pass.  But it's not just a pod that looks like a meteor!  Oh no!  When the Droids leave Kessel, it will shed the meteor coating so that it will look like a probe droid!  And then they will be picked up in the upper atmosphere (such as it is) of Kessel by a modified Imperial Command Speeder.  It just gets better and better.

    But they're not leaving just yet.  First, there is a romantic scene with Han and Leia "under the starlit sky".  Han has decided that he's going to stay at Bespin, and start on his lifelong dream—good ol' Lando has offered him a lease (is that the best Lando could do to a guy who he betrayed?!) on a piece of sky, so now Han can build his very own dream SkyhouseWhoo hoo!  (Is it any wonder that Leia was considering dumping him for Isolder?)

In the next edition of "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Glove of Darth Vader But Were Afraid to Ask" we'll go to Kessel, and find out just who is the next Emperor, and why he pays triple for contact lenses.[2]

 



1. The series has also been called The Son of Palpatine.

2. Delpo of the Jedi Council forums says:  “An average contact-lens user would have said ‘why he pays 50% extra for contact lenses’ (unless you only have one eye, of course.)”  What can I say; math was never my strong point.


Continue to Part 2 >>

 


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