Jyn Erso

When all hope seems lost, where do we go? How do we move forward? How do we survive?

Young Jyn Erso likely asked herself these very questions on repeat as she hid alone in fear after the Empire took her parents away. Even after Saw Garerra rescued her and took her in, the heartbreak of losing all she knew and loved likely never left her.

It may have taken years. But the resulting anger started a fire within her. And from that fire rose a rebel.

From her birth and early life in Catalyst to her heroic sacrifice at the end of the Rogue One novelization, the Star Wars Expanded Universe opens our eyes to the tragically short yet iconic life of one of the Rebel Alliance’s many unforgettable martyrs. 

Several volumes of the Forces of Destiny comics offered brief glimpses into Jyn’s life before she joined Cassian and crew on their life-changing mission on behalf of the Alliance. But it wasn’t until Rebel Rising that we learned the heartbreaking details of Saw’s betrayal. 

Jyn’s ideologies no longer aligned with his, and though it devastated her to watch him abandon her without looking back, it turned out all for the better in the end.

When rescued from Imperial imprisonment, the Alliance offered Jyn a deal she could not refuse: Help them locate her father, and she would be free.

Only after reuniting with Saw -- after years of resentment -- did Jyn learn the truth.

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The message Galen Erso left revealed he had deliberately sabotaged the Empire’s production of a certain superweapon. He inserted a fatal flaw in the Death Star’s design, and retrieving its schematics was the only way to destroy it.

All along, her father had been risking his life behind enemy lines every single day … to protect her.

Jyn lost her mother, her father, and the father figure who took her in when she found herself alone and abandoned. But she still found something to fight for. She found a reason to stand up to the Empire that took away everyone and everything she loved … and her actions changed the galaxy forever.

Because of Jyn and her team, the Alliance was able to retrieve the Death Star plans, hide them from the Empire, add a questionably experienced pilot from Tatooine to its ranks, and avenge the billions of lives lost at the hands of Grand Moff Tarkin, Darth Vader, and every other power-hungry being responsible for holding the galaxy hostage for over two decades.

The fight wasn’t over after the first Death Star went down -- there were plenty more obstacles for the Alliance to overcome. But it was a victory that inspired the hope the galaxy needed to finally set itself free.

If Jyn Erso can help save the galaxy and hold onto a cause to fight for -- right up until the end -- so can we.

For more about Jyn, her life, and her legacy, check out the books and comics featuring the unforgettable, inspirational Stardust.