Chrysalla

Chrysalla was the near-Human Tieress of the planet Ventooine for a period during the reign of the Galactic Empire. As Tieress, Chrysalla lived a life of luxury as the favored ward of the reigning annual Satab. Despite her high station, Chrysalla languished as a captive, trapped and repulsed by the Satab's cruelty. When the mysterious offworlder Han Solo visited Ventooine and saved her life, Chrysalla fell in love with him, and the two began a brief affair. When the Satab plotted to give the Corellian his Shadeshine stone, which would grant him incredible powers but also doom him to an early death, Chrysalla intervened to stop him. She vanquished the Satab by touching the stone herself and receiving its power. When this was accomplished, she entered a state of suspended animation and never saw Solo again.

Biography

A gilded cage

A female member of the non-Human species native to Ventooine, Chrysalla grew up a peasant on the planet Ventooine, living a hand-to-mouth existence little different from the world's other oppressed inhabitants. That changed when she came to the attention of the reigning Satab. The Satabs held absolute power over the lives of everyone on Ventooine, due to the mental and physical powers derived from the stone called the Shadeshine. So when the Satab chose Chrysalla to be his Tieress, a favored ward of the ruler, she had no choice but to join him in the sprawling palace in the city of Goyoikin.^[1]

The Satab gave Chrysalla a pampered life in exchange for her companionship. She enjoyed every comfort in the palace, a position of honor at court, and the pomp of a royal entourage whenever she traveled about. These luxuries drew the ire of Ventooine's oppressed common folk, but they also made her captivity somewhat tolerable. So did the knowledge that it was temporary: the Shadeshine that gave power to the Satabs also took a toll on their bodies, resulting in an agonizing death known as "burnout." To avoid this, the Satabs ruled for only a single year, after which they would retreat to suspended animation in the Hall of Satabs. Even as Chrysalla did what she could to tolerate or enjoy her year as Tieress, she longed for freedom and for genuine love.^[1]

Star-crossed lovers

On one occasion, Chrysalla and her attendants were traveling through the streets of Goyoikin. Human offworlder Han Solo approached the procession, hoping to use it to escape from an crowd of angry Ventooinians chasing him from a nearby bar. Solo was threatening some of the guards with his blaster, trying to conceal himself among the Chrysalla's entourage, when a pair of local insurgents dropped a bomb from a nearby rooftop hoping to assassinate the Tieress. Solo spotted the bomb as it fell and, reacting quickly, shot it in midair.^[1]

Blasters were unknown on Ventooine and the frightened guards moved to attack Solo, but Chrysalla stopped them. She was immediately smitten by the dashing stranger who had saved her life. She pledged her undying gratitude, invited him to recline beside her in her cart, and brought him back to the Satab's palace to introduce him to the court.^[1]

That night, Chrysalla feigned illness and retired to her personal suite in the palace. She stayed up waiting for Han, hoping that he would slip past the guard outside his own chamber to come find her. Solo did evade the guard, but not to seek Chrysalla - he had come to Vantooine to smuggle the planet's rare sansanna spice and had learned that the Satab monopolized its distribution. He was hoping to find it stored somewhere in the palace. Chrysalla found him sneaking down a corridor as more guards approached. She invited him in. Facing the alternative of certain capture or a night in the Tieress's embraces, Han chose the latter. By the time they watched the sun rise, Chrysalla was thoroughly in love. She told Han her story and explained the system through which the Satab kept the world bent to his power.^[1]

The Satab, through the sense-enhancing power of the Shadeshine, observed all the events of the night. But Chrysalla's unfaithfulness did not provoke his jealousy or anger. He knew that he had little time remaining before the stone would consume him and he would have to join his predecessors in suspended animation; and in Han Solo he believed he saw all the qualities of a good successor to himself. The next day, he brought Solo and Chrysalla to a mine on the pretense of giving the offworlder a tour of the planet's most valuable industry. In fact, it was a test of Solo's bravery and cunning: the Satab led him directly into the lair of a Cavern Monster. Solo managed to slay it, satisfying the Satab that he would be a worthy successor.^[1]

Supreme Sacrifice

This test alerted Chrysalla to the Satab's scheme, and she was stunned to learn that her new beloved had been designated for the lethal role of the next Satab. She brought Han to the Hall of Satabs, showing him the fate that awaited him if the current Satab had his way. One touch of the Shadeshine would be enough to confer its effects and shorten Han's lifespan. At that moment, the Satab appeared outside the hall, intending to bestow the stone's power on his chosen successor. His body was already glowing with the first signs of burnout, showing that he had very little time left. He began to attack the Corellian, using the stone's power to compel him to accept it. Chrysalla decided to act, sacrificing herself to save Han Solo. The Satab was devoting all his attention on Solo, his victim and successor, and Chrysalla had no trouble approaching him unnoticed and snatching the Shadeshine from him.^[1]

Chrysalla now possessed the full power of the Shadeshine, though she lacked the practice and experience that the Satab had acquired. She could not defeat him, but she could hold him off, using its power to thicken the air and repel his attacks. The exertion was too much for the Satab, and he became overwhelmed by his own powers. The burnout struck, consuming his body before he could reach the safety of the Hall of Satabs.^[1]

Han wanted to celebrate their victory, but Chrysalla had made her choice and sealed her own fate. Seeing no reason to prolong the agony of the Shadeshine, she kissed her lover, promised to dream of him during her suspended animation, and promptly entered the Hall of Satabs without looking back. Solo took the Shadeshine, careful to touch it only by its chain, and destroyed it in the thrusters of his starship, the Millennium Falcon. Ventooine was free forever from the absolute rule of the Satabs. Chrysalla remained suspended in the Hall of Satabs years later, when Luke Skywalker, Lando Calrissian and C-3PO came to Ventooine and learned Han's story.^[1]

Personality and traits

Although Chrysalla, who grew up in poverty, appreciated the easy life she had courtesy of the Satab's favor, she struggled to decide whether or not the exchange was worth it—she had a considerable distaste for the man himself, thinking him cruel. Instead, Chrysalla had dalliances of her own, which the Satab observed but tolerated or ignored, knowing that his remaining life was short. Chrysalla developed intense feelings for Han Solo and decided she had to protect him from the Satab. After making this decision, she acted immediately and without hesitation. She sacrificed herself and indefinitely entered suspended animation with no regret.^[1]

Powers and abilities

As the Tieress of Ventooine, Chrysalla learned to conduct herself at court and use her position to her advantage. In just one year, she grew accustomed to being obeyed. This alienated her from most of her fellow Ventooinians, and she would have been killed by fanatical assassins had Han Solo not intervened to save her life. For her last moments before entering suspended animation, Chrysalla possessed the powers of the Shadeshine, a mysterious stone that enhanced her senses and allowed her to alter matter, affect other beings' bodies, and possess other powers. Chrysalla did not have time to become proficient in the use of the stone, but the raw power she possessed enabled her to defend herself and Solo from the Satab's attacks.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Chrysalla appeared in Star Wars Annual (1977) 2, written by David Michelinie, illustrated by Carmine Infantino and released in 1982.^[1]

Appearances

• Star Wars Annual (1977) 2 (colorized in Star Wars: A Long Time Ago... Volume 4: Screams in the Void) (First appearance)

Notes and references

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