Lit Jar Jar in the Aftermath Series

I read the Aftermath Series ( Sorry I forgot which book they explained what happened to Jar Jar) and saw Naboo blaming Jar Jar for helping the Empire come into power. I think it's ridiculous that Jar Jar is blamed for helping the Empire get created in the Aftermath series. Palpatine played Padme like a puppet, he had the whole Jedi Order to fight a war for him, he fooled and used Dooku to do his bidding, he fooled the majority of the Republic, he played the Separatist, he played Anakin and Vader ( who I see as 2 different people of the same body ) and even his own master Darth Plageueis was deceived by Palpatine. There are many others I didn't mention, because the list is too long. Many had more power and held more power than Jar Jar, for anyone to put blame on him is dumbfounding.

I know many fans hate Jar Jar, but what are your thoughts of Jar Jar in the New Cannon ?

 

I think the little scene is the most dignified best use of Jar Jar Binks possible. Jar Jar also gets a more or less happy ending as being a clown who performs for children is all he ever wanted anyway. He never wanted to be a soldier or a Senator or anything more than a guy.

 

I didn't want them to play any major part of the series or ST. I was hoping for the novel to explain what he was doing during the Celebration after the battle of Endor if they were going to mention him. I just don't like Naboo putting the blame on him, when Padme and the people of Naboo helped vote him into power. I have no gripes about Jar Jar being a clown/street performer. I know he's not to play a major role in the ST or novels and he shouldn't, but it's something I am curious what us Star Wars fans think about it.

 

I like the idea that all he really wants is to be funny for kids, but I...think...Jar Jar deserved better?

 

I really liked it, I do not think the author hated Jar Jar, and Jar Jar was the reason Palpatine got into office. I think it is very fair others blame him, though I do not blame him. I really liked Jar Jar's character and story arc.

 

I think the scene in Empire's End is great. It's obviously got some meta-textual references to it, especially the idea that Jar Jar was meant to entertain kids but got caught up in all sorts of politicized trouble, and is blamed for things that weren't really his fault -- but the blame in that scene is purely from individuals in-universe; it's not suggesting Jar Jar should be blamed, or even that he was to blame. He doesn't specify who exactly blames him, as far as I remember, so it could well have been a vocal minority on Naboo who got him kicked out, having heard how he granted Palpatine emergency powers and spun a conspiracy theory from there. Considering all of the dumb conspiracy theories the fans surround Jar Jar with anyway, I don't think it's far-fetched at all that he'd become a victim in-universe too. It was an inspired and bittersweet moment, I thought.

 

I was content with the Easter Egg in the Legends game Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds that Jar Jar settled into civilian life on Coruscant. In new canon Jar Jar presumably could leave Naboo and do this too. He might actually have more friends in Coruscant.

I would think in universe the educated realized if Jar Jar hadn't proposed emergency power, someone else would have. And the majority of Senators voted for the power and are just as much to blame.

Would Palpatine hinge all his plans on a clumsy Gungan who could slip off a Coruscant building at any time? I doubt it, Palpatine had backups if Jar Jar didn't work out.

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Honestly I spent the whole prequel trilogy hoping Jar Jar would live up to his warrior status and become more like Captain Tarpals, so maybe I'm just projecting. I always wished writers would do something to redeem the character or deepen him rather than the opposite. I do see how we can read the passage in Aftermath as dignified and serious, in a way, but he was in the middle of it all, and it seems a shame to write him out of galactic events that way. To this day I still think the Gungans on the whole are pretty cool.

 

BobaMatt

In TCW....he did have some decent moments...but not enough to really redeem him in everyone's eyes.

As annoying as Jar Jar was he did not deserve to be so looked down upon. And if they are going to blame him for the Empire...then why not Padme as well. It was her call for a Vote of No Confidence that put Sheev in the Chancellorship.

I would have preferred a quiet retirement to a small home on the shores of one of the lakes for Jar Jar.

 

I think as one of the most fan blasted characters of all time, it served as a nice balance.

It was something that page homage to the (unjustified) hatred he got from fans while also treating him with a sad respect.

 

I think that people blaming him even though logically it wasn't his fault is actually highly realistic. How many pariahs are made in our modern politics over the most ridiculous things? Politicians have their careers ruined over minor events, doing things that everyone else is doing. People and the media select a target and take them down, even if it is common place. Currently, there are plenty of public figures that have been in the news for weeks for doing something wrong. Was there wrong doing? Sure, like Jar Jar, they made mistakes, some bigger then others. Were they the only one making the mistake? Absolutely not. There is a culture of mistakes that is actively celebrated and people make their fortunes by exploiting these mistakes. However, the media chose Jar Jar to ruin, for better or for worse. I could name a dozen Jar Jars that are actively being dragged.

 

I liked it on the basis of what need of a joker does the Empire have? None.

 

Vader and Jar Jar, Jello? Well, there's an unlikely pairing.

 

I'm so confused - I always thought Jar Jar's role as joker was pretty continuous from his previous line of work.

It's an amusing character arc all the same - he goes from being merely "a joke", soon to become "The Joke", and finally, "joker". If anything it's a promotion.

 

I am currently reading aftermath and I've heard about them slandering Jar Jar and making him a clown. Just ridiculous

 

Star Wars already has a Joker Mark Hamill aka Luke Skywalker aka The Joker

 

I really cannot fully described how outraged this makes me. Jar Jar was totally mishandled in Aftermath, and only to placate the haters.

I never hated Jar Jar, and when I realized that people hated him so much, I couldn’t understand why. It caused me to take a closer look at the character, and I think Jar Jar is great and Gungans are now some of my favorite aliens in SW. But I absolutely hate the way that he was dealt with in Aftermath; it was demeaning to the character and makes no sense with what we have seen previously in canon.

For one thing, during the Clone Wars era, Jar Jar was pretty respected by his people. When Padme asked the Gungans for help in the TCW (I believe it was in the Mon Cala arc), Boss Leoni seemed keen to refuse, but Jar Jar protests that they have to help the Senator Amidala, as the Gungans are friends of the senator. Boss Leoni immediately, with no hesitation, takes Jar Jar’s advice. This scene shows clearly how much the Gungans respect Jar Jar’s judgement.

Another point about Jar Jar is that I think the character really highlights the arrogance of those who think they are better than others and scoff at those who are different. For example, the Jedi look down upon Jar Jar because to them he appears silly and childish. They act like Jar Jar never knows what is going on (when the character understands more of what's going on than they realize). Jar Jar was a nice way of showing how the Jedi have become arrogant and think themselves better than others, just because someone – in this case, Jar Jar – is different. This is nicely contrasted by Padme, whose manner towards Jar Jar is to treat him with respect, gentleness, and kindness. She even takes what he says to heart and uses it to formulate a plan to save the people of Naboo. Without Jar Jar’s mention of the army and his help, they might never have been able to save Padme’s planet as quickly as they did.

And blaming Jar Jar for the formation of the Empire is absurd. Palpatine manipulated both sides of the war in to build his Empire. He manipulated everyone to do his bidding. That includes Jedi, Sith, Separatist leaders, politicians, everyone. And yet somehow Jar Jar takes the blame for it? Oh, and everyone conveniently forgets that without Jar Jar granting Palpatine emergency powers, that would have been the end of some of the most important Jedi and Star Wars by AOTC, since without the clone army, the Jedi would have eventually been overwhelmed in the Geonosian Arena and would have all been killed.

Anyway, I absolutely loathe the way Jar Jar was so mistreated in this book. Chuck Wendig obviously gave into hate over what was practical. Saying that I find it disappointing is an understatement.

 

I read it as an ominous reference of Darth Jar Jar taking up an apprentice, but that's just me.

 

What they did to poor Jar Jar is a travesty. He's the Star Wars equivalent of Forrest Gump and deserved to beat all odds and become successful; not reduced to a homeless person on the street. Its just done to appease the fans who despised the character.

 

If we could choose the one thing to be removed from the Aftermath trilogy if a second reprint came out, I would certainly vote for this one because it never made any sense to put Jar Jar in this position. It makes it look like that the people of the galaxy really do have less then one brain cell.

If we could choose three from each book -
Aftermath - Mon Mothma and her aides on Nab Ubdur.
Aftermath: Life Debt - Mon Mothma and Leia's falling out.
Aftermath: Empire's End - Jar Jar.

 

I... actually liked it. Jar Jar was a joke character that somehow became highly influential in galactic politics. I kind of like that he ended up doing something he genuinely enjoyed while continuing to help people, even after being ostracized. It's bittersweet, but I think it's a good sendoff.

 

He cast SUMMON BIGGER FISH.

I will always appreciate TCW for that, alone.

RELEVANT

 

In that era he was respected (cos he's still a planetary representative) but after the Empire's been in power for twenty-odd years? And here comes the guy who was literally hanging around with the Emperor for years? I can definitely see at least some Gungans being resentful of him.

Isn't that what Aftermath is doing as well? Showing the arrogance and pettiness of the people around him by having them blame him for the Empire? Mapo, the POV character, sympathises with him, so the scene isn't taking the side of the ones who are looking down on Jar Jar; it's sympathetic to him and his circumstances, and both he and Mapo know better than the haters.

Again, this is out-of-universe perspective. We shouldn't assume the characters know the same as the audience. Who exactly on Naboo would know anything about Palpatine's plans and machinations? But they'd see Jar Jar, who'd been right in the upper echelons of government as the Empire rose, and they'd decide to pin the blame on him.

He's not giving in to hate at all; he's commenting on how Jar Jar has been treated by the haters, and is clearly sympathizing with a maligned character who was always intended to be comic relief. Characters' beliefs should not be equated to those of the author.