When Disney purchased all of Lucasfilm back in 2012, one of the things they needed to do was reset the very messy canon. Since they did that, there have been quite a few new novels, comic books and other such expanded universe goodness forStar Warsfans to enjoy. But so far, this content has yet to address one big, sore thumb:Jar Jar Binks. That all changes now, because the upcoming novelStar Wars: Aftermath - Empire’s Endfinally gives us some answers and reveals the fate of the malignedGungan.
Fair warning, this article contains spoilers forStar Wars: Aftermath - Empire’s End. Chronologically speaking, we last saw Jar Jar Binks, as played byAhmed Best, at Padme’s funeral inStar Wars: Revenge of the Sith. But even with all of theStar Warscontent that has been and exists in the time period after that movie, there has been no mention of him. As reported byMashable, authorChuck Wendighas revealed in his new novel what Jar Jar was up to in his days following the events of theStar Wars prequels. It turns out, he literally became a clown.
“Following Star Wars: Aftermath and Star Wars: Life Debt, Chuck Wendig delivers the exhilarating conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy set in the years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.”
Like it or not, Jar Jar Binks became an incredibly important figure in theStar Warsuniverse during the events ofStar Wars: Attack of the Clones. In case you don’t remember, he was actually the one who proposed the war powers act in the galactic senate that gave Palpatine his powers. So, a lot of the bad stuff that went down was absolutely, at least partially, his fault. That did not go unnoticed. In the newAftermathnovel, it is revealed that Jar Jar was personally haunted by this monumental mistake and was shunned by many for what he did. That forced him into an exile of sorts on Naboo, where he became an actual street performing clown that entertains kids.
At one point during an interlude inEmpire’s End, a refugee kid named Mapo comes up to him and in trueThe Phantom Menacefashion, he introduces himself by saying, “Meesa Jar Jar.” He then entertains the kid by doing some very Gungany things, like bulging his cheeks and popping his eyes. However, he makes it clear that he is truly, terribly sad. Here is what he say.
“Jar Jar makin some uh-oh mistakens. Desa hisen Naboo tink I help the uh-oh Empire.”
There is quite a bit of interesting stuff here forStar Warsfans, even if you are one of the many people who absolutely despise Jar Jar Binks. For one, this is the first time Disney and Lucasfilm have really addressed the character since the buyout, even though the character did show up in some episodes ofStar Wars: The Clone Wars. It also might beChuck Wendigacknowledging the larger situation that Jar Jar represents. For those who hate the prequels, seeing a sad Jar Jar forced to be a sad clown is very satisfying. On the other hand, there was a generation of kids who grew up on the prequels and actually saw Jar Jar as an entertaining clown of sorts and now he is literally a clown entertaining kids. So this is kind of a really intelligent way for the new canon to address the character.
There are probably a lot of people who would have preferred that the new canon addressed Jar Jar Binks by having someone accidentally stumble upon his grave site, but instead, he is assuredly alive in the time period following the prequels. That means there is a small chance that he could show up in afuture Star Wars movie, but Disney is probably smart enough to know that would be a death blow at the box office. At least now we can finally put that whole “Jar Jar Binks is a Sith Lord” theory to bed.Star Wars: Aftermath - Empire’s Endis set for release on February 21.
