25,200 BBY: The Pirate Prince (Xim week)

Greetings, I'm back with a look at The Pirate Prince. This story was part of Xim week on the Star Wars website when they still had the Hyperspace section (thank you to MKB for making these files available to me).  It has been a couple of weeks since I published my last post, but I'm ready to jump back into the Star Wars universe.

I'm not to sure on how I should report on this piece, but let me give you a brief summary and then I will do a character analysis of Xim.  The reason I'm unsure on how to report on this piece is because it's essentially a play about the life of Prince Xim.

This play is said to be written by Xim's court poet, Lyechusas, at the request of Xim himself.  Lyechusas exposed Xim and showed all the "ruthlessness and arrogance later dramatists caricature to staggering exaggeration"(Xim, Intro) that Xim possessed.   Some say that the way Lyechusas portrayed Xim is a strike at Hutt propoganda.

The play starts out with a chorus of Xim's war robots singing about how the people of mortal blood will eventually turn on one another.  "Calculate we try, to crunch the numbers, the anger, the hate, the ever pressing need to annihilate, one's master, one's maker, one's father.  Never does it compute"(Xim, Act 1).   The robots are confused as to why the mortals start war with their own kind.  The robots are brothers in steel and will not crush themselves like the mortals do.  After this song by the robots takes place, the attention of the play then goes to Oziaf who is a loyal servant to Xim.  He releases Xim from being imprisoned by a carbonite slumber.  Xim awakes in a flurry of confusion.  He then immediately wants to confront his father.  Xim returns to his fathers palace.  Xim's father, Xer, enters the scene with a woman that Oziaf described as being like a poisonous snake.  Xim believed that he was an only child but his father reveals that he has more siblings.  Out of rage, Xim exits the scene to slay his siblings then returns to the scene and kills his father.  Xim becomes the new ruler of his worlds and the play ends.

First,  let me start of by saying that this was a good story.  However, I'm not a huge fan of plays so I think that because of this I wasn't able to fully enjoy the Star Wars history and story telling and I think it also has had an effect on the way I'm writing this post.  There were a few things that I was able to pick up on though.  One of these things being the character of Xim and the way that he acts towards the people around him.

Xim has been exposed to many things throughout his short life which is the reason why he has become so ruthless and arrogant.  Xim tries to please his father often by bringing back various treasures that he has plundered during his travels, but with no luck.  Xer keeps the secret of Xim's siblings from him and when the truth really comes out,  Xim acts only as he knows how and slays these unknown siblings then drives a sword through Xer's chest.  All Xim has known throughout his life is betrayal and treachery through the actions of his father.  He is the son of a pirate king and has had to go through many horrible things in his life to serve his father.  I believe that if Xim wasn't exposed to these things as a child, his reaction to the truth may have been different and all the blood spilled would have been avoided.  This was not the case and at the end of this play Xim is still a murderous tyrant and it seems like that his path of destruction is only getting started.

I'm curious to find out if later on in Xim's life, he realizes what he is doing wrong and corrects himself, or if he continues on until the time of his death.

I'm still not sure if I am looking forward to reading the rest of the Xim week plays.  My next post will be on the First Dark Legion which is in the Jedi vs Sith book.  Until then, may the Force be with you.....