38

Jyn Erso’s Stormie Doll

Location: Lah’mu

Date: 13 BBY

From its inception, the Empire’s propaganda machine sought to turn its warmongering agenda into something that appeared more benign. Toy stormtrooper dolls were a subtle, innocuous-seeming way to persuade a new generation of youngsters that the Imperial regime was a freedom-loving force for good.

Recovered from the Erso homestead on Lah’mu, this stormtrooper doll once belonged to Jyn Erso, the daughter of the Imperial scientist Galen Erso and his wife, Lyra. With 13 points of articulation, the toy attempted to present the Imperial military as heroic, even playful. Carved from wood and nicknamed “Stormie” by the young Jyn, the doll was painted to match the white armor of the Empire’s infantry, down to the frozen features of its bucketlike helmet.

In the age of the Empire, merchants across the galaxy stocked their shelves with varieties of these figures made from cloth, wood, and other materials. Stormtrooper dolls provided comfort; in effect, they were avatars for children’s vivid imaginations.

These playthings also had a more sinister import. They were the first of many increasingly overt messages that sought to drive up enlistment numbers by encouraging children to envision a future for themselves among the Empire’s elite troops.

In Jyn’s case, the doll’s potential propagandist purpose failed utterly. Although the toy was supposed to present the soldiers of the Empire as friendly figures worthy of admiration, Jyn grew up to become an outlaw, fiercely opposed to the Empire’s tyranny. She was known by several aliases, before she was killed at the Battle of Scarif, bravely sacrificing her life for the Rebel cause.

DK