Maz Kanata

M**az Kanata** is a Force-sensitive humanoid female who was born over a millennium before the brewing war between the Galactic Emipre and the Rebellion

## Biography

### Pirate queen of Takodana

Born over a millennium before the conflict between the Empire and the Rebels, Maz Kanata was a Force-sensitive female who learned to live and thrive in the criminal underworld of the galaxy. Living on her homeworld,the planet Takodana, Kanata resided in a lakeside castle which was home to the ancient protocol droid ME-8D9, nicknamed "Emmie."The castle was a battleground between ancient Jedi and Sith, and with time, Emmie was rumored to have started out with the Jedi Order.[9] Relatively late during Kanata's stay on Takodana, she married, and her husband gifted her a statue in her image. The statue remained at the castle until the time the Castle was destroyed by a Imperial attack, although the marriage did not last

### Age of the Empire

Kanata's connection to the Force acquainted her with members of the Jedi Order and protected her from danger,[12] but following Darth Sidious' rise to power, the formation of the Galactic Empire, and the execution of all Jedi,[16] Kanata kept her abilities a secret.[12] However, the Empire was challenged by the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and nineteen years after the New Order's creation, it suffered a major loss during the Battle of Yavin when Luke Skywalker,[17] son of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker,[16] destroyed the Death Star, a massive Imperial superweapon.

Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Kanata discovered that the Empire had been collecting an unsettling amount of information on her.

In 4 ABY, sometime before the climatic Battle of Endor, Kanata traveled to Ord Mantell where she was reunited with her "boyfriend", the Wookiee Chewbacca, and helped Leia Organa to infiltrate into Jabba's Palace to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt by suggesting she disguise herself as the bounty hunter Boushh.[20]

### New Republic era

After Sidious was killed by former Jedi Anakin Skywalker during the Battle of Endor, Kanata felt again comfortable sharing her Force-sensitivity.[12] Not long after the battle, Kanata once more made the acquaintance of Solo, serving him Parkellan Slings and admonishing him for not bringing Chewbacca. Correctly guessing that he was there for something, she interrogated him and was told that he was meeting an Imperial defector, Ralsius Paldora, regarding information that would help him free the Wookiees on Kashyyyk, who were still suffering under Imperial rule. Warning Solo of dire consequences should he bring the Empire's attention to her doorstep, Kanata pointed him in the direction of the crowd. Unfortunately, the Empire did indeed arrive on Takodana looking for their pilfered information and Kanata immediately assumed Solo was responsible, reminding him of her one absolute rule. She later contacted him for a further tongue-lashing when Imperial air reinforcements, consisting of a light cruiser and multiple TIE fighters, appeared over Nymeve Lake, ordering him to clean up his mess (though assuring Chewbacca that she didn't blame him) and then to leave once the Imperials were dealt with. The Light Crusier destroyed her Castle and herself and only a few of her Customers and employee made it out of alive thanks to the hidden Tunnels below the Castle.

### New Jedi Order Service

Maz eventually went on to help Luke Establish a new Academy and acts as a Recruiter traveling across the Galaxy helping to identify new students to the order.