Anakin Solo and the Hero's Journey

A discussion about Anakin Solo and heroes in the SW EU has things going on in me head, things about hero's, villains and how they apply to Jacen and Anakin specifically in the context of post-SBS SW fiction.

Consider, DR has dumped Jaina into obscurity, and Ben is not developed enough to carry the franchise on his own. So that leaves us with Jacen, but he has become the villain.

Which leaves SW a fantasy series without a leading hero. Of course we have the Big 3 and all those other supporting characters, but they've aged so. They're getting on in the years, to the point where it has become something which Han contemplates a lot in DN3.

And thinking of heroes led me to consider the Hero's Journey. And let's really look at it. (Summary of Steps)

The journey is built into 3 stages

1. Departure
2. Initiation
3. Return

Now the first stage, The Departure, is split into the following sections:

1. The call: Anakin going to Yavin and meeting Tahiri
2. Refusal of the Call: His issues with his power, due to his heritage
3. Supernatural Aid: The finding of Ikrit
4. First Threshold: Lyric's World
5. Belly of the Whale: End of JJK/YJK

The second stage, The Initiation, has these steps:

• Road of Trials: Early NJO.
• Temptress: Mara?
• Meeting with the Goddess: Conquest/Tahiri
• Atonement with the Father: That whole Han hates me subplot...
• Apotheosis And now the fun one. Apotheosis, death, deification. Anakin was the FORCE in SbS. He pulled so much to him that he was able to reconnect with beings who had been stripped of it. and then he 'died'
• The boon He understands the Force, he has connected to it in such a way that he can FEEL the Vong. While it may not be the 'ultimate' boon, it is the boon he had been searching for since his actions on Yavin during Conquest...

So where does the Hero go from here? He has the Goddess and the Temptress, he has the boon (knowledge of the Force) and he has died.

The Hero now has to return.