The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars: Sana Starros #5, on sale now.
The Skywalker Saga is a generational story, but they are not the only family with a large impact on the Star Wars franchise. While the Star Wars: The High Republic subseries focuses on new heroes and villains in a galaxy far, far away, many of these characters also are the ancestors of familiar faces. In particular, child prodigy Avon Starros is the ancestor of Sana Starros, and both of them are heroes of their respective eras.
The Star Wars: Sana Starros miniseries focuses on the Starros family as they attempt to steal back Avon's crystal research from the Imperials before the Empire can figure out how to use it to create dangerous weapons. At the conclusion of Star Wars: Sana Starros #5 (by Justina Ireland, Pere Pérez, Dono Sánchez-Almara, Fer Sifuentes-Sujo and Travis Lanham), Sana destroys the information. While Deva Lompop criticizes her for her actions, Avon Starros likely would have approved due to her own experiences with the Nihil and her fears about her research being used to cause harm.
Star Wars' Avon Starros Conducts Kyber Crystal Studies
Avon Starros' research actually is a focal point of her character in Phase I of the Star Wars: The High Republic subseries. In Justina Ireland's Star Wars: The High Republic: A Test of Courage, Avon Starros takes her friend Padawan Imri Cantaros' broken lightsaber because she wants to learn more about kyber crystals. As she reflects earlier in the novel, kyber crystals "were a near limitless energy source and the possibilities were endless. It made no sense that they had not been exploited by more than just the Jedi." Avon's desire to study the kyber comes from her wanting to use kyber crystals to better the galaxy. However, her use of the word 'exploited' is a precursor of the potential dangers of her research. Her ponderings also reveal that the Sith are not well-known during the High Republic era. Otherwise, she would have known more about how Sith abuse and infect kyber crystals with the dark side.
As revealed in Justina Ireland's Star Wars: The High Republic: Mission to Disaster, Avon's goal for her research is to create new energy sources for planets and ships that could be more efficient. Avon even figures out a way to potentially synthesize kyber crystals of her own. While she is a prodigy, she is also still a child, and she does not realize the larger, more dangerous implications of her research. By the time Avon's work resurfaces in the Star Wars: Sana Starros miniseries, the dangers of kyber as a weapon have already been shown through the devastating effects of the Death Star. Thus, even though Avon's intentions were good, her research could still have a devastating effect on the galaxy.
Avon Starros Would Have Approved of Sana's Actions
In Star Wars: The High Republic: Mission to Disaster, the Nihil, a group of space marauders led by Marchion Ro, kidnap Avon, and this kidnapping is the reason why the prodigy would have understood Sana's actions. In order to figure out a way to freedom, Avon pretends to help Dr. Zadina Mkampa create new weapons for the Nihil. During her capture, the child begins to realize that her research could be used for war as opposed to her more peaceful goals. While Avon does sabotage the weapons, the Nihil are still able to create an ecological disaster that forces the population of Dalna to evacuate, foreshadowing later uses of kyber to create weapons like the Death Star. While Imri encourages Avon to continue her research at the end of the novel, the child still shows growth and a willingness to place more consideration into the dangerous potential consequences of her research.
Because of her experience with the Nihil, Avon both would have understood Sana's decision to destroy her work and approved of her descendant's distrust of the Empire. Deva Lompop, a bounty hunter turned Starros family friend, even draws a comparison between Avon and Sana, stating that they both like to see the best in people. Avon's belief in the inherent goodness of people caused her to overlook the worst possibilities of her research until she was confronted with them firsthand, and this led her to preserve her research with the hope that her studies on kyber could still be used to better the galaxy. However, Avon would have undoubtedly understood the logic behind destroying the research to make sure it was never used to cause harm to others.
Overall, the Star Wars: Sana Starros miniseries shows the connections between Sana and Avon as they both work against cruel forces that threaten to tear the galaxy apart. Avon's brilliance and her general naivete led her to her kyber research without realizing the other possible implications of her work. If Sana had allowed Deva to keep or sell Avon's research, it could have led to even more dangerous weapons being created in a galaxy already at war. Thus, Avon ultimately would have understood Sana's decision to destroy the research to keep it out of the wrong hands.