Recently, a new, to me at least, theory on the characterization of Jar Jar Binks from the Star Wars prequel trilogy emerged.  The gist of the theory is that Jar Jar is actually a Sith and maybe even a super Sith.  The article provided several examples from the movies that could support the idea that Jar Jar was more than what he seemed if you approached the scenes through the lens of this hypothesis.

I loved it.  I’m in.  It is a very fun interpretation for a character that many, many fans of the universe could not stand.  Then again, I do like random interpretations that dramatically improve story moments that I did not enjoy.  A similar dramatic interpretation is the Mass Effect 3 Indoctrination Theory for the game’s ending.  I really, REALLY did not like the literal interpretation of the Mass Effect 3 ending.  It was terrible.  Here is a great take down of the literal interpretation using story elements from The Lord of the Rings.

Anyway, back to Darth Jar Jar.  I love the idea.  But for me, this idea does not address the main story issues that disappointed me about the prequel trilogy.  The original trilogy gave few glimpses into what happened before episode 4.  They referenced the Clone Wars, which sounded fascinating but out of place with what had been presented of the universe.  Many Bothans died.  And, there was Obi Wan’s comment about the fall of the Jedi knights.

A young Jedi named Darth Vader, who was a pupil of mine until he turned to evil, helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi knights…Now the Jedi are all but extinct.

That was what I wanted to see from the prequel trilogy. I wanted to see Darth Vader hunt down and destroy the Jedi.  We did see the Jedi get destroyed.  But what was Anakin’s part in this plan, seeing as he hadn’t even become Darth Vader yet?  He killed a bunch of padawans.  So according to Episode 3, he didn’t really help destroy the Jedi.  He helped them destroy potential future Jedi.

I’ll probably talk in many posts about how I would do some story ideas differently.  Here is the rough idea for the Star Wars prequel trilogy.  The main problem of the movies was that the timeline of events was way off.  Episode 1 should have started with Anakin already a part of the story and a padawan.  By the end of Episode 1, he and Obi Wan should have accomplished something great, but the dark side seed should be planted.  The climax of Episode 2, like the revelation in Episode 5, should have been Anakin’s conversion to the dark side and becoming Darth Vader.  Episode 3 should have been the very depressing tale of Vader going around and destroying the Jedi knights, which is what we were told happened.  Episode 3 would have been a serious bummer story-wise, but the hunt could have made for some awesome action scenes.  Plus it would have set things up perfectly for…A New Hope.  You don’t need a new hope unless the situation is very, very bad.

Anyway, that is my rant on the prequel trilogy.  I certainly had other issues with it.  This new theory about Jar Jar helps alleviate one of them, but overall, it does not do much for the poor story of the prequel trilogy.  Darth Jar Jar is a great idea though.  And hopefully the new movie has more great ideas.  We’ll see.  I have my concerns about it as well, but that is a story for another time.