Heir to the Empire

“Governments and entire planets are important, Threepio. But when you sift everything down, they’re all just made up of people […] a Jedi can’t get so caught up in matters of galactic importance that it interferes with his concern for individual people.”

Luke continuously struggles with what he “should” do as a Jedi, fearing that he will make the wrong choices. Fighting his fears becomes his primary inner conflict, but he also struggles with questions of morality, particularly when it comes to decisions of collective galactic importance versus the well-being of individuals.

“I’ve found that what most people call luck is often little more than raw talent combined with the ability to make the most of opportunities.”

Karrde’s words reveal that he suspects there is more to Mara Jade’s story than she has revealed to him. The words foreshadow Mara’s revelation to Luke about her role as Emperor’s Hand and the reasons for her hatred of him.

“Thrawn had proved time and again that he knew what he was doing. Still, Pellaeon couldn’t help but wonder uneasily if the Grand Admiral recognized the extent of the power he’d awakened from its sleep on Wayland.”

Pellaeon’s concern foreshadows the instability and anger within Joruus that reveals itself when the first attempt to capture Luke and Leia fails. The moment reads as foreshadowing for the rest of the trilogy, since Joruus’s storyline is not resolved by the end of Heir to the Empire.