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Xylan Graf

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DarthSpoiler
No, I am your spoiler warning!
Obi-Wan never told you what happened in Out of the Shadows, Defy the Storm, and Temptation of the Force, but this article does. Before you read it, search your feelings: you know you'll be spoiled if you do.

"I thought you worked in theoretical hyperspace physics," Syl[vestri Yarrow said].

"I do. But this is even beyond me. And not to boast, but I am considered to be near the top of my field," Xylan said. It sounded like a brag. Xylan Graf was, unsurprisingly, not very good at being humble.

— Xylan Graf, humble bragging[4]

Xylan Graf—"And yes, before you ask, of those Grafs"—looks like he's just an ultra-rich and "very pretty"[1] scion of the Graf clan,[13] but he's also a genius[14] in theoretical hyperspace physics.[5] He was created during The High Republic Phase I. During that phase, he only appeared in Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland (2021), which also introduced THR's Graf/San Tekka clan drama:[note 1] "the San Tekkas and the Grafs were always at odds. There had even been a handful of holo adventures about their family feud, although the names were always changed to avoid lawsuits."[13] Xylan returned in THR Phase III with a new San Tekka husband, Cair San Tekka.[11] As LGBTQIA+ characters in the Star Wars universe, Xylan and Cair were featured together on a Pride Variant Cover for June 2024.[15][16]

Biography[]

Backstory[]

The Graf clan is led by Xylan's grandmother Catriona Graf,[9] whom he calls Grandmere and others call the Matriarch.[17] Lourna Dee, a Nihil Tempest Runner, has had a long partnership with the Graf clan[18] and plotted with them to support the research of Chancey Yarrow.[8] Chancey formerly attended the Academy of Carida until she was ejected for lying on a grant application to secure previously-denied funding for her controversial work on a gravity-well projector. While she was still a student there, she was taught by Professor Thaddeus Wolk, a Gungan who was "the preemeninent expert on theoretical hyperspace physics"[note 2] and knows Xylan in the "present day" (of Out of the Shadows).[5] "Years ago" (relative to Temptation of the Force), Xylan began funding Chancey's gravitational distortions research on behalf of the Grafs. He later described her as "charming, brilliant—but ultimately rather unhinged".[19] The Grafs and Lourna Dee gave her the opportunity and resources to test her theories by building a gravity-well projector, Gravity's Heart.[8] Xylan also maintained his own station, Gravity's Light, which he built alongside the Gravity's Heart because "backup plans for backup plans could be a Graf family motto",[20] or as he later says, "It's never a good idea to put all one's credits in one bank".[19]

At some point, on behalf of his grandmere, Xylan collected evidence to identify who in the Galactic Senate was working with the Nihil against the Republic's interests. That turned out to be Senator Ghirra Starros, but his grandmere decided not to use the information against her, instead allying with Ghirra based on shared interests.[12] Xylan later regards Ghirra as "his nemesis".[20]

Out of the Shadows[]

Xylan isn't a point-of-view character in this book, so everything is filtered through other characters, primarily Sylvestri Yarrow (aka "Syl", Chancey Yarrow's daughter) and Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh.

Chancey performs several successful tests of Gravity's Heart, knocking ships out of hyperspace far from where they're meant to be,[8] and the Nihil then attack these ships. Lourna claims to Marchion Ro, Eye of the Nihil, that she needs to bring "the savant" (Mari San Tekka) to her scientist (Chancey) to finalize this weapon for him,[18] when she and the Grafs actually want it for their own purposes, double-crossing Ro. To help convince Ro of the weapon's usefulness to him, the Grafs make a big public fuss about losing ships to ejection-from-hyperspace and the Nihil for supposedly unknown-to-them reasons.[8] Ro agrees to give Lourna access to San Tekka and her unique mapping data so the scientist can develop a more successful gravity-well projector.[18]

One of those affected by "the anomaly" ejecting ships from hyperspace is Syl, who believes her mother is dead. Xylan gets word from a Graf informant at the shipping and transportation office that Syl is trying to find someone to listen to her about her experience surviving the anomaly. Xylan tracks Syl down at a dockside tavern on Coruscant. She initially assumes he's a pleasure escort and rambles her way through turning him down because he's not her type (too fancy, not enough edge) and she can't afford him. He dismisses his Gigoran bodyguard Basha and asks her to walk him through what happened so that he can understand it as a scientist. He claims the Grafs have lost four ships within the past month, including one in the Berenge sector.[1] They go to a much fancier restaurant to talk further. He won't tell her why he's asking her about the Nihil or what he makes of her story, claiming he'll explain after he verifies her story, and he pays for her luxurious hotel room that night.[6]

This is all manipulation on his part. Chancey wants Syl with her and will later say, "Xylan Graf was supposed to tell you the truth, make things easier, but I see he seems to have fouled that up even worse than everything else."[21] Xylan hires an assassin to go to Syl's hotel room.[22] The Mon Calamari man shows up in a hotel uniform between breakfast and the midday meal and exchanges blaster shots with Syl before fleeing. Xylan (with Basha) then shows up to claim the assassination attempt shows whatever she knows is critical information, so he must move her somewhere safer.[6]

I greatly dislike being wrong, and I seem to have miscalculated your potential for assassination. Either way, it's bad form to have a guest murdered, so you're going to stay in my house where I can be assured of your safety.
— Xylan Graf, who hired the assassin that attacked Sylvestri Yarrow, lying to her face[4]

Xylan brings Syl to his home building. He lives in the penthouse (the top ten floors), but his grandmere gifted the entire two thousand one hundred and twenty-five floors-tall building to him for his eighteenth birthday, "with the understanding that it was my job to make it not just self-sustaining but profitable". He drops her off in his room so he can change clothes because his got soaked by the hotel room's broken aquarium. She thinks she's flopping onto some cozy furniture. Not quite:[4]

Xylan Graf
You know that isn't a chair, right?
Sylvestri Yarrow (scrambling to her feet)
If it isn't a chair, what is it?
Xylan Graf
That's Plinka, my Grand Theljian snow dog. Don't worry, she doesn't mind.
[Plinka stands and shakes herself out; Syl watches, horrified.]
Sylvestri Yarrow
I sat on your dog.
[Plinka licks Syl, who then scratches her behind the ears.]
Sylvestri Yarrow
Ugh. I suppose I deserve that slobber, since I sat on you.
Xylan Graf (laughing)
She does it all the time, crouches and waits until someone decides to see if she's as comfortable as she looks. She is a scoundrel.
— Plinka is the best[4]

Xylan has dressed down in unremarkable clothes, which puts Syl on edge that he's doing it to manipulate her. He brings her to another floor where he has a laboratory with a wall-sized star map. He sums up part of the Graf family history with hyperspace prospecting and claims to not know how she was kicked out of hyperspace because the possible reasons are 1) theories that are purely hypothetical, or 2) natural occurences like a supernova that don't apply to the Berenge sector. His star map also marks locations where the Nihil dropped out of and then back into hyperspace, which he describes to her. (The High Republic readers will know he's describing how the Nihil uses the Paths.) She asks if he's shared what he's figured out with the Republic so they can use it to stop the Nihil, and he says he has. She asks why he thinks she can help:[4]

Xylan gave Syl a direct look, and she realized that the man she'd seen before had been an act, even if a poor one. His kindness evaporated and his eyes turned hard as he stared directly at Syl.

"Because," Xylan said, crossing his arms as he studied Syl, "there is a theory your mother is the one behind all of it. And I think that is why someone wants you dead."

— The manipulation continues[4]

(Remember: Xylan already very well knows about Chancey and her work and he's the one who sent the assassin. He dropped one act but is still putting on another.)

As Syl protests that her mother is dead and wasn't some kind of hyperspace mastermind anyway, Professor Thaddeus Wolk lets himself in. Xylan makes introductions and Wolk fills Syl in on her mother's history as a theoretical hyperspace tactician at the Academy of Carida. Syl drinks a lot of Toniray trying to cope with everything they tell her. Wolk believes Chancey built her experimental gravity-well project for the Nihil and that's what's been kicking ships out of hyperspace. The Nihil aren't likely to have found anyone else who could figure out how to predict a specific ship's positioning and timing, which is necessary in order to weaponize such a device. He also believes Chancey is alive and working with the Nihil, and he's going to stop her. He wants Syl to help him build his case to present it to the Republic.[5]

Xylan has painkillers sent with Syl's morning meal since she drank a lot. She's forgotten that she agreed to go with him to meet Senator Ghirra Starros, so she doesn't understand why he also sent a bunch of dresses he'd had made for her. When she meets up with him, he's dismayed that she's dressed in her usual coveralls. However, he says he's pleased with how she spoke to Wolk:[7]

Professor Wolk is no ally of mine. He is a blockade. My family has been campaigning within the Senate to have the Berenge sector set aside for some hyperspace experiments since we have been tracking the anomaly there. The original lease was held by the San Tekkas, but since they've had a rash of bad luck with their investments, they relinquished the rights years ago. It is exactly what my family needs: a vast, unoccupied area of space. The Republic was agreeable at first, but the lease has been put on hold pending Wolk's silliness about a potential Nihil weapon. And foremost among those listening to Wolk is Senator Starros. She blocked our application, based on Wolk's theory that there must be some sort of hyperspace weapon operating in that part of space.
— Xylan, to Syl[7]

Xylan claims that what he'd said about missing ships when they met was a "bit of theatre" to "test" her in case she was a Nihil operative and that there "obviously isn't a weapon. That is just one of Wolk's wild flights of fancy. My holo simply showed a regular Nihil attack." (Liiiiies.) He wants her to tell Senator Starros the same things she'd told Professor Wolk so the senator will be convinced Wolk is "a few bolts short of a droid" and stop blocking a proposed lease of the Berenge sector by the Grafs. After all, surely Chancey can't be alive and building a weapon for the Nihil if Syl says her mother is dead and it's not in Chancey's character anyway? (Oh, Syl...) In exchange for Syl's help with securing the lease, he offers to clear her debts, provide her with a new ship, and extend a line of Graf credit for the next year. Syl knows she'll have to set aside her own observations and instincts, and pretend her ship simply malfunctioned and the Nihil were coincidentally there. She counter-offers wanting an additional ten thousand credits sent to her friends in Port Haileap by the day's end, along with the return of her blaster, and he agrees.[7]

At the meeting with Senator Ghirra Starros, it's immediately clear that Starros and Xylan do not like each other as they go back-and-forth with oh-so-polite insults. Syl is uncomfortable and wonders, what if Professor Wolk is right? But she doesn't listen to her instincts, holding onto her deal with Xylan as he negotiates. Starros will adhere to whatever the findings are of his supposed fact-finding mission with Wolk and Syl, and she'll endorse Xylan's lease request when he returns. Starros insists upon "unimpeachable" observation and brings out Jedi Knight Vernestra Rwoh and Padawan Imri Cantaros, representing the Jedi Order. Xylan is angry, especially because of their youth,[note 3] but regains composure to question Starros's claim that Jedi "children" were something Xylan's grandmother agreed to. Syl leaves the office with the Jedi as the politicking continues.[26]

Professor Wolk is murdered by a Twi'lek and Syl is saved from getting shot herself by the unexpected intervention of her ex-girlfriend, Jordanna Sparkburn of the San Tekka clan. Vernestra and Imri also turn up, but too late to save Wolk. Syl comments that she's also had an attempt on her life, "But that's probably more Xylan Graf's fault than anything else."[27]

Vernestra Rwoh
Why do you think Xylan Graf was behind this?
Sylvestri Yarrow (purses her lips and shakes her head)
Something about the guy really just puts me off.
Imri Cantaros (with a sheepish smile and shrug)
Me too. And not just because he insulted us, either. He's hiding something, but I don't know what it is.
Sylvestri Yarrow
Plots on plots on plots. Sod it all, but I could use something to drink. (sighs and turns back to Vernestra) Besides, if you have a hyperspace question, you should probably go back and make nice with Xylan Graf, because with Professor Wolk gone, he is your next best bet on Coruscant. That is, unless someone tries to kill him, as well. Who knows, maybe the reason I was attacked is because they thought it was Xylan's room and he was the real target. Everyone on this planet is more than a little shady.
— Nobody trusts Xylan, for good reason![27]

The two teen Jedi, Jordanna, and Syl eat and talk at a diner. Just as Syl comments that they're never going to figure out why Wolk died and tries to change the subject to their mission, Xylan shows up to say, "Oh, no, he was most certainly killed to throw suspicion on my family. So in a way, both our mission and his death are linked." He catches Vernestra and Imri up on what he's previously claimed to Syl about the Graf family's interest in the Berenge sector and Wolk's conspiracy theories. Jordanna offers to accompany the mission without disclosing her family affiliation, but Xylan is already aware of it since he'd been informed of a San Tekka sighting near the Senate office buildings. He agrees since having a San Tekka support what a Graf says would be even better than Wolk's testimony. With Xylan's lack of concern about Wolk, Syl gets the feeling he's working a long con, but she just doesn't know what.[13]

Vernestra had been interested in speaking to Wolk about a puzzle box, hoping he'd understand the glyphs. Xylan examines it and recognizes that it has old hyperspace prospector shorthand on it (his grandmother has some) but he only knows a couple of the symbols himself. He tells them they'll get the chance to meet his grandmother themselves because they're not going straight to the Berenge sector; instead, they're making a stop at the family compound near Neral's moon to pick up his ship.[13]

Xylan Graf (with a smile that makes Syl want to punch him)
An undertaking such as this requires something more than a pleasure craft.
Sylvestri Yarrow (crossing her arms)
You don't have a ship here on Coruscant?
Xylan Graf (answers smoothly, standing)
Not one with highly experimental weapons. The family compound also doubles as a research center for the military defense branch of the Graf Corporation, so we're going to need to go there to retrieve some assets. Just in case. (looks thoughtful for a moment before smiling wide) You should all spend the night at my tower! We will make an occasion of it. I have plenty of space for all of you, and it would mean that we could get acquainted with one another before we leave. I love having guests, and it would be an honor to host Jedi. Think of it as an apology for my crass behavior earlier today. (directed to Imri and Vernestra)
— Xylan is not a trustworthy sleepover host[13]

Xylan gives his guests a floor at his tower and oh-so-trustworthily locks the lift. Vernestra gets the tricked-into-sitting-on-Plinka treatment. Plinka is unsuccessful at getting Remy the vollka[note 4] to play with her.[28] Syl's wondering aloud about the locked lift, and why Plinka is with them instead of Xylan, makes her and Vernestra realize something isn't right. Jordanna doesn't perceive an immediate problem (maybe the locked lift is for their own protection from would-be threats); Syl adds that Xylan left his dog (how could he!) but Jordanna suggests it could be Plinka's floor. Xylan shows up with Basha, along with two more add-ons to their mission, Jedi Master Cohmac Vitus and Padawan Reath Silas, both on behalf of Master Stellan Gios "just in case".[28] (It's actually because Vernestra sent an encrypted message to Stellan about Wolk's murder and the strangeness of the meeting with Xylan and Starros, and this confirmed Stellan's own suspicions that Starros wasn't being completely honest when she requested Jedi assistance.)[29]

Xylan claims Jordanna's reasoning about the locked lift was right. Everyone sits down to a meal and another Xylan recap of what's supposedly going on for Cohmac and Reath's benefit, with the addition of Jordanna and Xylan taking verbal shots at each other on behalf of their respective families. Xylan recaps his lies yet again (no weapon in the sector! Wolk just had a "wild theory" that the Nihil were responsible for the Great Disaster and Emergences! Syl's mother definitely not alive!)[28]

"You don't believe the Nihil built a highly experimental hyperspace weapon?" Master Cohmac said, his dark brows drawing together with worry.

"Absolutely not," Xylan said with a wave of dismissal. "The cost alone would be prohibitive. But Senator Starros seems to think the Nihil are more than the space trash they are, and if I want to secure the lease on the sector, I have to assuage her fears. The original plan was to prove to her and Wolk once and for all that his 'theories' were more about securing the sector for his own interests than an issue of security."

"What about the attempt on Syl's life?" Jordanna said. "Someone did try to kill her."

"Yes, and the Graf family has a lot of enemies," Xylan said with a tight smile. "Your own brood has tried to kill Grandmere no fewer than a dozen times. I tend to think that was just a case of mistaken identity."

— Xylan the lying liar that lies[28]

Xylan insists to Cohmac, who wonders aloud why Jedi are being asked to settle a business dispute, that there's no proof of Nihil operating there and this is just to satisfy Senator Starros's insistence on neutral observers. He offers the use of Graf ships to fly the grid search for the sector mapping. And of course they'll alert the Republic at the first sign of trouble![28]

It's a two-day journey to the Graf family compound near Neral's Moon using their private hyperspace routes[28] and Xylan's pleasure yacht. Syl, who he told to fly the ship, notices their route isn't taking them anywhere near Neral's moon, instead heading towards the Dalnan sector.[30] Syl tells Vernestra and disagrees with the suggestion to directly ask Xylan: "If there is one thing I know about Xylan Graf, it's that he always has an explanation that sounds completely plausible, even if the logic is fuzzier than a bemeer fruit." When Syl leaves the room, Imri asks Vernestra if she thinks Xylan is working with the Nihil; she doesn't know, but perhaps, and Cohmac definitely doesn't trust Xylan or the Grafs.[29]

Syl finds Xylan in the crew mess with Basha and the four Jedi, and immediately confronts Xylan about the changed flight plan. Jordanna has abandoned a nap and turns up right after he says he'd rather wait for her presence to explain. Xylan makes excuses: with so many wanting the expedition to fail, he filed a false flight plan to ensure nobody followed to interfere and didn't tell any of them because of Jordanna. They're actually heading for his grandmother's estate, Everbloom. He adds that his plan keeps them safe from the Nihil and he's certain some people in the Republic government are in league with them; his family has tracked Nihil attacks since before the Great Hyperspace Disaster and the Nihil seem to have inside knowledge on Republic movements. After he leaves the mess, Cohmac says he didn't sense subterfuge: "So whatever the truth might be, he believes that someone within the Republic is working with the Nihil."[31] (That'd be Senator Starros).

Vernestra is impressed by the Everbloom space station and discusses it with Xylan. He calls it "gaudy" and she says it reminds her of Starlight Beacon. Some of the same people worked on both stations, Xylan tells her, and it can jump through hyperspace, "But I didn't tell you that."[17]

Supposedly at Xylan's grandmother's request, the Jedi will be formally introduced and presented to her. They wear their mission attire instead of their formal robes; meanwhile, he's in a purple leather bodysuit. Syl refuses to participate and remains in the ship but Jordanna wants to watch the nonsense. Vernestra and Imri both have a bad feeling about this and that someone is concealing something but can't pinpoint it. After the ship lands, Basha tells Xylan to let the Jedi lead. When the boarding ramp lowers to the cargo bay and Basha pulls Xylan back, Imri and Vernestra realize Basha already knew the mask-wearing Nihil await them and are going to deploy their poisonous gas.[17] (Basha is primarily loyal to Catriona, not Xylan.)[12] Chancey is leading the Nihil group (but the Jedi don't know that yet) and Xylan genuinely wasn't expecting her since he was cut out of the loop.[17]

Xylan Graf
What are you doing? You aren't supposed to be here!
Chancey Yarrow
You're out of time, Xylan. We've renegotiated terms.
— Xylan Graf learns he's the family scapegoat, not the mastermind[17]

Basha tosses Xylan further back into the ship's interior and closes off the cargo hold to trap the Jedi with the Nihil and their gas. Vernestra tries to get Imri to flee to warn Syl, but the Nihil blast Jordanna and eventually all of the Jedi as they battle.[17] Since Chancey doesn't want to risk Syl getting killed, the Nihil are using stun blasts, which Vernestra finds inexplicable at the time.[9] In the cockpit, Syl's all set to catch up on her holos when Remy alerts her that Something Is Very Wrong. She uses the internal comms to overhear the attack on the Jedi. As she heads out to retrieve her blaster, she encounters Basha carrying an unconscious Xylan. When Syl refuses to go back to the cockpit, Basha takes a swing at her and Remy leaps for Basha's throat, making her drop Xylan to the floor (and out of actively appearing in the narrative until the final chapter).[21]

Syl and Remy reach the cargo bay and find the unconscious Jedi with the Nihil celebrating victory over them. It takes Syl some time to recognize she's actually hearing her supposedly-dead mother's voice. Chancey says Xylan was supposed to tell her everything but he messed up, and she stuns Syl.[21] After she regains consciousness elsewhere, she tries to come up with justifications, like Lourna being responsible for everything or Chancey just wanting to protect Syl. She realizes Professor Wolk had been right all along about her mother and the weapon, and that Xylan arranged the "assassination attempt" on her to win her trust.[32]

On the Everbloom, Vernestra wakes up to a Graf servant named Saffa apologizing on behalf of the Matriarch, claiming they had no idea about the Nihil and this attack. After Saffa leaves the room, Jordanna shows up and tells her the Nihil have taken Syl and the Padawans. Soon after locating Cohmac, the Matriarch also reaches the group and agrees that someone set them up: "But not how you might think. It seems that my grandson was not the only one played for a fool." She denies that she's working with the Nihil and throws Xylan under the space bus:[9]

Catriona Graf
Xylan thought he might have a lead on some experimental technology, and he reached out to a contact he had made through the Nihil. He has been compensating certain members of that faction in order to protect our shipments for the past year or so, ever since the Legacy Run was destroyed. His contact was amenable to sharing their discoveries on the condition he could bring them a girl: Sylvestri Yarrow. Apparently they thought she would be useful in helping their scientist remain focused.
Cohmac Vitus
So the Graf family has been working with the Nihil?
Catriona Graf (after a shrug)
Absolutely not. When I discovered the truth, I insisted that Xylan cease his machinations immediately. But you know how children can be. (with a languid wave) So impulsive.
Vernestra Rwoh
So where is my Padawan?
Catriona Graf
Threaten me as you will, but I cannot give you answers I do not have. The Nihil came here to demand their payment, threatening my life in the process, and I agreed to let them take what my stupid grandson had promised them here. I feel I must reiterate that I did not know he had Jedi with him. Since when does the Republic send Jedi on 'scientific inquiries,' which is what this trip was supposed to be? I expected the whole thing to be quick and painless and this whole unsavory business to be put behind me by now.
Jordanna Sparkburn
Quick and painless for who?
Cohmac Vitus
Tranquility, Jordanna. (to the Matriarch) You do understand that there will be consequences for this? Your grandson lied to a senator and is party to the kidnapping of two Padawans and a civilian. This is no small matter.
Catriona Graf
I am fully prepared to answer for my grandson's actions, but I think perhaps you might want to find your friends with all haste.
— Once again, the Jedi know a Graf's lying to them but not to what the extent[9]

As the discussion continues, the Matriarch gives them the use of Xylan's Vengeful Goddess and says she'll deal with her grandson, but Cohmac says the Republic will.[9] While the Jedi are en route to Gravity's Heart, Cohmac calls the Temple to inform them of everything that's happened, including with the Grafs.[33] Republic forces join them, Syl and the Padawans are rescued from Gravity's Heart, and Gravity's Heart is completely destroyed.[34]

Back on Coruscant in the wake of everything, the various Jedi are questioned about what happened. Catriona lied to the Republic that Lourna Dee is the Eye of the Nihil (concealing Marchion Ro's existence) and Ro's ally Senator Starros also "helped" provide documents. Since Lourna is using a Graf ship, Xylan and his grandmother provided its tracking beacon and other information. Stellan asserts that there must be a public trial to hold the Grafs accountable and the Jedi must devote themselves to combating the Nihil. Vernestra leaves the hearing and is frustrated at the line of questioning taken with her, telling Cohmac, "Well, I was apparently taken in by Xylan Graf because I was too young to be made a Knight, despite my many accomplishments." Cohmac suspects he'll be told that he perhaps didn't recognize the danger because of how long he's spent in academic pursuits and reassures her, "We did the best we could with the information we had, Vern, and that's all there is to it."[34]

Syl is shocked to find the Vengeful Goddess has been signed over to her. Newly-girlfriend-again Jordanna brings an envelope to her, which Syl reads before the couple and Remy head for Port Haileap to pick up Syl's crew and then onward to Takodana.[22]

Inside was a peculiar token and a handwritten note from Xylan Graf. Paper? The man wasted no opportunity to flaunt his wealth.

Syl read the note:

Apologies for my subterfuge, but I always keep my word. Mostly. Here is your ship, and while my funds have been frozen by the Republic and the rest of my assets seized, I have a friend on Takodana who is always looking for enterprising new partners. You should look her up, and give her this when you get there.

— Xylan means Maz Kanata, pirate queen of Takodana[22]

Chancey, Catriona, and Xylan meet up to confirm their deal. The Grafs are satisfied with Chancey's proof-of-concept and she's prepared to accept their protection and resources in exchange for her work. Xylan notifies her of signing over his ship to Syl and ensuring Maz will get in contact with her, since Chancey also wanted someone to look after Syl.[8]

Catriona Graf
The Nihil are still pirates. Nothing can penetrate Everbloom's defenses short of a full-scale Republic attack.
Chancey Yarrow
And my laboratory?
Xylan Graf
Waiting for you whenever you're ready. An unlisted station built into an asteroid in the Hynestian sector. It will become the premier facility for hyperspace research and development under your guidance. There are worse ways to spend one's retirement.
— Retirement won't last long![8]

Between books[]

[...] since the fiasco with Chancey Yarrow and the Jedi and the Gravity's Heart. Since then he'd been knocked unconscious, been betrayed by his bodyguard, been tossed to the rancors by his own dear grandmere, had most of his public assets frozen in a spectacle of punishment he hardly deserved, blackmailed a spy into marriage to save his hidden assets, escaped to his prototype station, struggled to find decent aged cheese, been kidnapped by Marchion Ro after yet another betrayal, and been forced to oversee the Nihil Stormwall for months—all while isolated from the few people he liked and barely able to find time to reach out to contacts or smugglers to get him what he needed, or to appreciate his personal life. Wasn't he owed a personal life?

— Please play the tiniest of space violins for Xylan as he recaps to himself[12]

We learn about off-page adventures between Out of the Shadows and Defy the Storm through internal narratives and what's told to other characters in the latter book and in Temptation of the Force.

Chancey continues working at the Graf-funded asteroid lab. According to Xylan, he's also "banished" there to work with her on making her grav-tech profitable (and "less destructive, more dynamic, and something that could be useful"... but mostly: profitable).[35] While this implies his grandmere kicked him there to work for the family, he later says:

When I took my vacation from the Republic in the aftermath of the debacle with Chancey, they caught up with me and my Gravity's Light. They essentially kidnapped me, and soon enough I found that they'd done the same to Chancey, moving her laboratories to my station and forcing us to continue our development. Ro wanted the Heart's technology portable and flexible. Blah blah blah.
— Banished, kidnapped... either way: he was working on tech that the Nihil then exploited[19]

In another book, Chancey goes to Starlight Beacon with a Nihil, Nan. (Spoilers for The Fallen Star) The station is sabotaged by the Nihil and breaks up while falling to a planet below. Chancey tries to stop the destruction-in-progress, but Elzar Mann mistakes her for a saboteur and kills her, extra-dooming everyone. Between The Fallen Star and Defy the Storm, Marchion Ro shows up at the asteroid lab and Gravity's Light without Chancey, but with Ghirra Starros and crystal scientist Dr. Zadina Mkampa, to seize absolutely everything, including Xylan himself. Since they don't have Chancey to continue working on her gravity impulses and prototype gravitational beacons (repurposed and renamed "stormseeds"), Xylan will have to do.[35] He's quite offended that they take "his gorgeous Gravity's Light, making him change its name to the Lightning Crash, and holding him hostage to run the Stormwall from there. And they'd redecorated!"[20]

Sometime after the Republic has seized or frozen all of Xylan's public assets, he moves to save his hidden assets. He presents Cair San Tekka with evidence of his extensive spycraft and blackmails him into marriage. Romantic![2] According to Xylan (while not telling Jordanna the whole truth), their "interests aligned" and "two handsome scions of two wealthy prospecting families found themselves in a position to share resources".[36] Cair apparently claims more than once that "It was my plan the whole time",[2] and later describes himself to Jordanna as a "war bride" who "did elope, with an absolutely gorgeous princess, but it was mostly about tax evasion, not true love." (The "princess" is, of course, Xylan.)[37] Xylan being taken hostage by the Nihil very rudely prevents them from having a honeymoon.[20]

Xylan, who'd blackmailed Cair into marriage as if it were only another chit in a balance book. Cair had been shadowing Xylan for weeks by that point, sure he knew the Graf well, less sure of his own feelings. Out of nowhere, Xylan had presented evidence of Cair's espionage and said it was time to cut ties and run, or to bind himself to Xylan more completely. Xylan wanted to hide assets in layers of marriage contracts so the Republic—and his grandmother—couldn't find them. He'd seduced Cair with epic promises and legalese that should have been dry but instead sounded thrilling. Spying, forbidden romance, ancient rivalries ended in wedded bliss—it had appealed to Cair's rebellious nature. Besides, he liked Xylan, and Xylan absolutely liked taking Cair to bed.

— Cair San Tekka's internal narrative; they are both ridiculous[38]

Defy the Storm[]

When the book begins, Xylan is miffed at being forced to work for instead of with the Nihil for the past year. He acts like he totally knows what he's doing as he troubleshoots the Stormwall, but he's self-aware that he's not actually capable of improving the experimental technology without Chancey. He privately objects to "babysitting this cutting-edge technology being used as something so uncouth as a weapon of war. Nobody was making any money on it, least of all him—not yet, anyway."[20]

Personality[]

Cair San Tekka, on the left and wearing black, is taller than Xylan Graf, on the right and wearing green, gold, and black.

Cair San Tekka and Xylan Graf, for Pride 2024

Since he was alone, but not for long, he sank into his yearning for a moment. So many circumstances had kept him from admitting what he wanted most honestly. Xylan was used to wanting what he was supposed to want as the primary Graf scion, and it wasn't a hardship; he did want wealth, luxury, family, pride, power—naturally. It was only that lately, he'd wondered about those small moments he saw others savor. He'd wondered if it was something he could want in addition to all those other things.

[...]

He knew what certain people would expect of him—the one person who seemed to like him for inexplicable reasons, who seemed to see the best in him. Xylan knew what that person would want. Pshaw, it was so annoying—caring what others thought, what others suffered.

— Xylan's internal narrative; how dare Cair San Tekka see there's more to him![11]

When Xylan meets Syl, she's quick to assess him as someone who has "something inherently untrustworthy about him" and who speaks to everyone like they're hired help.[1] He also assesses and observes her; for instance, when he plays the good host for a mea, he tells Syl (a vegetarian who hasn't mentioned her diet) that the dishes containing meat have red lids.[28]

Vernestra thinks there's "something too friendly, too smooth about him" that reminds her of a blaster salesman she once knew who'd defauded people. She senses he "had a very loose understanding of the concept of truth."[17]

Xylan's thoughts on the Republic versus the Nihil are that the Republic is a "glorified bureaucracy at best, with ideals it rarely lived up to. It was a government, and like all governments, it was only as good as the people running it. Which was why the Nihil would fail in the long run. Xylan could see they were merely pirates trying to be some kind of empire." To an extent, he admires some things about the "dangerous megalomaniac" Marchion Ro, like how he's capable of seizing so much power under the Republic's watch, which is something money couldn't buy.[20]

When Xylan thinks Deva Lompop is going to capture him, he totally loses his composure because he's absolutely terrified that she's going to eat him.[39] (She's a Shani, a reptilian species, and genuinely does eat mammalian people!)

Wardrobe[]

If Xylan was expecting a parade-quality entrance, he was going to be disappointed. All the Jedi wore their mission attire. Xylan, who seemed to have forgotten the purpose of their trip, had dressed himself in a bodysuit made of what looked to be some kind of purple leather, the front open to his navel in a deep V that revealed a good bit of his brown chest and made Master Cohmac raise an appreciative eyebrow when he thought no one was watching. Xylan also wore a silver cape over his right shoulder, and Vernestra felt that this was his true self. These flamboyant fashions were as much a part of his identity as a lightsaber was part of a Jedi's.
— How Xylan Graf dresses for formal introductions[17]
Costume concept illustrations; wearing beige-and-red on the left, shades of green and gold on the right

Xylan Graf, concept art for Out of the Shadows

Various fashions worn in his appearances:

  • "Very shiny", deep-green tunic with folds[1]
  • Beige shirt and pants with a "pattern that swirled in shades from deep red to scarlet as Syl watched"; deep red cape with a beige edge lining it; matching boots[6] (see artwork above)
  • Sleeveless sheath tunic that flares out at his hips, with swirled green and blue pattern; fitted knee-length trousers with matching pattern; knee-high silver boots; silver cape[7]
  • Green tunic, "serviceable" black pants, making Vernestra "somewhat disappointed he hadn't included a cape. He had made quite the scene when he'd flipped his cape so dramatically back in Senator Starros's office."[28]
  • Purple leather bodysuit with a deep V-neck; silver cape over his right shoulder[17]
  • Many-layered silk outfit with a violet silkensteen jacket[20]
  • "Eye-peeling orange-and-magenta outfit" that's "brassy and expensive-looking"[40] and made of silk:[36] calf-length skirted vest with magenta lapel; maroon eyeliner;[12] platform shoes;[40]

lacquered fingernails[35]

  • Emerald vest with long skirts, cinched over a "vivid gray" tunic and dark trousers[11] (either borrowing from Cair's closet or keeps some of his own clothes there)
  • "Vivid-teal silkensteen trousers, several layers of ruffled tunic skirt, and a tight jacket" with polished boots[19]

Justina Ireland was asked on Twitter about Xylan's costumes:

Rik Villanueva (@CadBanesBounty)
There's an outfit in @justinaireland's Out of the Shadows that reminded me of these looks.

Am I off base, Justina? Because I certainly hope not.

#HighRepublic
[Image 1: screenshot from Eddie Murphy Raw of Eddie Murphy in a purple leather suit. Image 2: photograph of Prince performing with a glittery purple coat over an unbuttoned chest-baring shirt]
Justina Ireland
Not at all, LOL.

Almost every look Xylan Graf wears is either an homage to Prince or Jem and the Holograms, two of my favorites.
— Prince Xylan and the Holograms?[41]

Miscellaneous details[]

  • Various people in his tower address him as Lord Graf. In other settings, like hosting a meal with four Jedi guests, he corrects people to call him Xylan.[28]
  • Has a bedtime routine: wash his face, clean his teeth, apply several tinctures and moisturizers, comb his hair.[20]
  • Implies he already has multiple degrees in his early 20s: "It's been a few years since my last doctorate."[19]
  • In Avar Kriss's musical perception of the Force: "Cair's passion was like scales dancing up and down a harp, and Xylan's skittering flute kept high and apart from the company but tied in rhythm and theme to his husband. Even Plinka had a Force song, and it was a pinging happy harmony."[42]
  • Food and drinks:
    • Keeps Toniray from Alderaan on hand[5]
    • Likes cold Naboo ice wine and "a decadent fontra-bean torte"[20]
  • His space stuff:
    • Vengeful Goddess, experimental ship with cutting-edge weaponry[28]
    • Resplendent Pearl, pleasure yacht[30]
    • Gravity's Light, space station[19] (not italicized)

Writing Xylan Graf[]

Author-and-creator Justina Ireland brought up Xylan in her SYFY WIRE interview for Out of the Shadows:

SYFY WIRE
[Sylvestri Yarrow]'s not a Jedi, she does not go in for the rich lifestyle of Coruscant at all, she's not impressed by any of it. I never really knew what to expect from her or her story as it played out. Did that go as planned, or were there moments where she surprised you, or did something that you didn't expect?
Justina Ireland
For the most part, her story went as planned. I think the first draft, I was expecting her to have a love triangle between her, her ex-girlfriend Jordanna and Xylan Graf. And then after I started writing, I was like, "She doesn't like him. She doesn't like him at all. And I don't particularly like him." And then as I was about halfway through the first draft and I was like, "No, this doesn't work at all." There was nothing there. It was just no sizzle.

She's a hard scrabble pilot. She loves what she does. She wants to be independent. She's not going to be really excited that this guy is rich and like all this stuff, it's going to get uncomfortable. And I think that that was why that never happened. But yeah, so there's like stories... No matter how many, like synopses you write, no matter how many outlines you write, there's always something surprising in the drafting stage.
— Please enjoy this free mental image of Justina and Sylvestri confronting Xylan: "[S]he doesn't like you. I don't like you, either."[43]
StarWars.com
Shifting characters, Xylan Graf might be the most annoying person I've ever read. [Laughs] He irritated me so much but in such a good way, you wrote him so well. How was it writing that character who's so steeped in arrogance?
Justina Ireland
Have you ever met somebody that's never had to worry about money? They're not like regular people. [Laughs] I know a lot of people who think Schitt's Creek is really funny but that's real. [Laughs] I've never met anybody that rich, but I've met people who have grown up with money and continue to have money. The kind of people who are like, "Well, why wouldn't you just go to Harvard? Why would you want to go to a state school?" And you're like, "Who just goes to Harvard? That's not how it works." [Laughs] And so I wanted to show that there are these people in the galaxy who are so completely untouched by reality -- or at least the reality for most of the other characters -- that you’re just like, "What're you doing?" And [Xylan's] like, “Oh, this is my tower. Why would I listen to somebody? Why would I follow rules? Rules don't apply to me, I have money." I thought it was a lot of fun to write that character because we don't always get to see the really annoying rich person in Star Wars.
StarWars.com
Totally. And it was so nice to see him in comparison to Syl who's on the complete opposite spectrum of [Xylan], and her just being like, "What?!" [Laughs]
Justina Ireland
[Laughs] She's like, "What is happening here? I just want something to eat and you bring me these plates of tiny little nothings." Also, that scene is totally based on a time when I went to a gastro-pub with some friends who were like, "We should try these!" And it was one of the most expensive meals I've ever had, and I was still hungry when I left. I was like, "There was no food! We paid for food and it never showed up!" [Laughs]
— Xylan Graf, aka Xylan Schitt[44]
Tessa Gratton
How did you feel when I said that I really, really, really wanted to write the point of view of Xylan in Defy the Storm?
Justina Ireland
I was actually surprised because I do think you tend to write characters who have a little more depth. Xylan is all fashion, no depth, but you gave him hidden depth. You made him deep, even though he was originally just kind of a very surface-level character. I definitely thought you'd want to write Jordanna [Sparkburn] just because when I wrote that character, it was kind of an homage to you. [She is] just like, "Lemme show up, get the work done, and hang out with my cat." But I was pleasantly surprised by [Xylan's] chapters. He just shows up to chew the scenery, which is delightful. And you need that, especially with Phase III. It's so deep and there's so many horrible things that our characters have gone through and there's so many obstacles they still have to get past that I think you need those moments of lightness in the book to help carry you through. So, I think readers are really going to be excited and delighted to see how Xylan has changed from Out of the Shadows to Defy the Storm.
Tessa Gratton
I really liked how he and Avon [Starros] play off of each other. That was something that I wouldn't have predicted, but I really like every single scene that the two of them are in together.
— Defy the Storm co-authors Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland[45]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ The Grafs and San Tekkas didn't start off as era-spanning clans that clashed as hyperspace prospectors, but now they are! The first San Tekka was Lor San Tekka in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens during a story era now called the Rise of the First Order. Cavan Scott introduced a Reign of the Empire-era Graf family (via Auric and Rhyssa Graf, and their children Lina and Milo): New Canon · The Escape by Cavan Scott in the series Adventures in Wild Space. Published 2016 by Egmont UK (UK); Disney • Lucasfilm Press (US).
  2. ↑ While Chancey is explicitly a former student of Professor Wolk's,[5] it isn't clearly stated if Xylan was taught by Wolk or knows him through having a shared specialty.
  3. ↑ In Out of the Shadows, Xylan is twenty-two,[4] Sylvestri is eighteen[23] and so is Reath,[24] and Vernestra is seventeen years old;[25] Imri was fourteen in A Test of Courage so he's not much older here.
  4. ↑ Remy is a big cat with electricity-generating horns. She has been with the San Tekkas a long time and is currently "owned" by Jordanna.

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Four, by Justina Ireland in the series The High Republic. Published 2021 by Disney • Lucasfilm Press.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Thirty-Six, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 New Canon · The High Republic Character Encyclopedia, "Citizens" — "Xylan Graf", by Amy Richau and Megan Crouse. Published 2023 by DK.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Eleven, by Justina Ireland.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Thirteen, by Justina Ireland.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Eight, by Justina Ireland.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Sixteen, by Justina Ireland.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Forty-One, by Justina Ireland.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Thirty-Two, by Justina Ireland.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 New Canon · Defy the Storm by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland in the series The High Republic. Published 2024 by Disney • Lucasfilm Press.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Seventeen, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Seven, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Twenty-Three, by Justina Ireland.
  14. ↑ New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Fifteen, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  15. ↑ New Canon · The High Republic (2023/Phase III), issue #8. Published 2024 by Marvel Comics. Pride Variant Cover for June 2024.
  16. ↑ Real World · "New 'Star Wars' Pride Variant Covers Celebrate Pride Month in a Galaxy Far, Far Away" on <marvel.com>. Published 2024-05-03. (Archived on 2024-06-03)
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 17.8 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Thirty, by Justina Ireland.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Three, by Justina Ireland.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 New Canon · Temptation of the Force, Chapter Sixteen, by Tessa Gratton in the series The High Republic. Published 2024 by Random House Worlds.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8 New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Two, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Thirty-One, by Justina Ireland.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Forty, by Justina Ireland.
  23. ↑ New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Prologue, by Justina Ireland.
  24. ↑ New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Two, by Justina Ireland.
  25. ↑ New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Seven, by Justina Ireland.
  26. ↑ New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Eighteen, by Justina Ireland.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Twenty-One, by Justina Ireland.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 28.6 28.7 28.8 28.9 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Twenty-Five, by Justina Ireland.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Twenty-Seven, by Justina Ireland.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Twenty-Six, by Justina Ireland.
  31. ↑ New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Twenty-Nine, by Justina Ireland.
  32. ↑ New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Thirty-Three, by Justina Ireland.
  33. ↑ New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Thirty-Three, by Justina Ireland.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 New Canon · Out of the Shadows, Chapter Thirty-Nine, by Justina Ireland.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Ten, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Fourteen, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  37. ↑ New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Thirty-Thirty, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  38. ↑ New Canon · Temptation of the Force, Chapter Eighteen, by Tessa Gratton.
  39. ↑ New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Eleven, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 New Canon · Defy the Storm, Chapter Nine, by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland.
  41. ↑ [Untitled] (Tweet) by Justina Ireland on <twitter.com>. Published 2021-08-01. (original link down; URL was: <https://twitter.com/justinaireland/status/1421827136260878336>) (Archived on 2021-09-21)
  42. ↑ New Canon · Temptation of the Force, Chapter Forty-Nine, by Tessa Gratton.
  43. ↑ Real World · "'Star Wars: The High Republic: Out of the Shadows' Author Justina Ireland Explains Why the Jedi Are a Little Sexier" by Brian Silliman on SYFY WIRE. Published 2021-07-25. (Archived on 2024-09-22)
  44. ↑ Real World · "Spoiler Talk: Justina Irelands Shines a Light on Out of the Shadows" by Emily Shkoukani on StarWars.com. Published 2021-08-23. (Archived on 2024-08-02)
  45. ↑ Real World · "The High Republic Authors on Authors: Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland" on StarWars.com. Published 2024-03-04. (Archived on 2024-09-17)
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