You know those mind boggling situations when you can't figure out if you're looking at a guy or a girl? This is kind of like that.

Revisiting the subject of Ailyn Vel, in this History of the Mandalorians message board thread I was asked to explain the reasoning behind the decision to make the appearance of Boba Fett in the second story arc of the Young Jedi knights series Fett's daughter, Ailyn, instead of the man himself. The short answer, of course, is that keeping the continuity of the Star Wars universe glued together is often a sticky business. But the full particulars of this continuity necessity (dubbed a "retcon," or retroactive continuity) are detailed below. The explanation is laid out in a fashion similar to that given for Count Dooku's "death" prior to Revenge of the Sith in "The Anatomy of a Ret-Con: or, The False Problem of Clone Dooku."

Folks who are up to date on post-Return of the Jedi continuity would probably agree that the "Last One Standing" story in Tales of the Bounty Hunters was, to say the least, a very reasonable way to wrap up Boba Fett's Han Solo obsession. By the end of the story, both of these old timers (the story takes place approximately 15 years after Return of the Jedi) have guns in each other's faces, and neither wants to die. The author leaves it up to the reader's imagination what happens next as the story ends cliffhanger style. It is clear to most, I think, that this story methodically builds toward the suggestion that, at least in some way, Boba is about to turn a new leaf--at the very least, his ardent animosity toward Han Solo is at an end.

A beautifully handled story. Now, however, we come to the Young Jedi Knights books, specifically the second story arc involving the Diversity Alliance. Here, Boba Fett returns, seemingly, totally unchanged by his experiences in "Last One Standing," even insofar as he still continues to mess with Han or his family. If we are to believe that these two put their differences aside in "Last One Standing," which is to say if "Last One Standing" is to continue to have any significant resonance, this depiction of Boba Fett must be tempered by some explanation, by some story. Why, after the revelations he had in "Last One Standing," is Boba still acting as if that confrontation with Han Solo on Jubilar never happened, or as if it was meaningless? To assume that Boba just changed his mind on a whim after letting each other go works on a practical level, but must be considered a literary offense of the worst kind.

There are other practical problems. Boba Fett in YJK seems to be a strict adherent to the Bounty Hunter's Creed. Yet the guy betrays hunters left and right, and *smashes* the Bounty Hunter's Guild in the Bounty Hunter Wars. What's more, he arguably flaunts the creed even before this (Earth time) while chasing down Jodo Kast in Twin Engines of Destruction. Lastly, Boba does not seem beholden to the Bounty Hunter's Creed in "Last One Standing," the story most responsible for giving the fans a picture of what Boba Fett's psyche is like, which is thus telling. He adheres to his own personal code, a code that runs through the story from its prologue and Boba's days before becoming a master hunter to the story's very end.

Enter New Jedi Order: The Unifying Force. Boba's conversation(s) with Han in that book suggest that, understandably, this is a different Boba from the one we saw in "Last One Standing," and seems to be a natural evolution given Boba's state of mind in that earlier story, to which the reader, though not Han, is privy. This distinction will be significant later.

So what to do about this appearance in the YJK: Diversity Alliance storyline? Maybe it wasn't Boba. But if not, who could satisfactorily, from a reader's perspective, fill Fett's shoes?

This is where knowing your continuity helps. Boba's nameless child, seen in the Star Wars Tales story "Outbid but Never Outgunned," is for all practical purposes genderless, nor does the Gamer article which briefly spotlights the mother of Fett's child, Sintas, give the baby a definitive gender. Combine that factoid with the fact that, in the years before the prequels it had long been speculated, dreaded by chauvinists, that perhaps under all that armor, Boba was in fact a woman. (Incidentally, it's my suspicion that the female bounty hunter Samus Aaron of Metroid fame was inspired by this rumor). Now bring in this quote by Nolaa Tarkona, a strong female character and leader of the Diversity Alliance, in the second book of that story arc in the YJK series:

Nolaa Tarkona: "I have a question--something that intrigues me. I've heard about how Princess Leia Organa once wore a helmet as a disguise, passing herself off as the bounty hunter Boushh to infiltrate Jabba's palace. No one knew her identity until she was caught trying to free Han Solo. Tell me, Boba Fett: under that helmet, and behind your voice synthesizer, are you perhaps...a female yourself?"

Otherwise-out-of-character "Boba" answers ambiguously that he removes his helmet for no one.

And that's the clincher.

Again, there has to be a certain balance to a ret-con for a hardcore fan to buy it, including myself. I think the Ailyn Vel fix had a sufficient confluence of influences, as outlined above, to score higher than average on the believability-meter.

Latent effects of the Ailyn Vel fix: by having Fett's child be a female, we can understand why he might give Rystáll a little love tap on the chin in the Return of the Jedi Special Edition...for a moment, she reminded him of what his daughter might be like. Also, as we said before, that Han Solo should think that it was Boba who was threatening his children in YJK: Shards of Alderaan is no big deal, since it's clear from the ending of "Last One Standing" that he doesn't trust Fett at all. If they came to some kind of agreement in that story to trust one another, as is implied, that "Boba" would afterward threaten the lives of his children would only return Han to his previous opinion that Boba's a no good untrustworthy liar. But, what's important is that the *reader* knows the truth (that this Boba is in fact his daughter Ailyn). And only some amazing act on the part of Boba could possibly cause Han to question his reacquired lowly opinion of Fett.

Like, say, later getting saved by Fett from a horde of alien invaders, maybe--exactly what happens in the The Unifying Force, the the final book of the series that follows the Young Jedi Knights. ~ Abel G. Peña

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