The Star Wars prequels were among the most disappointing failures in the history of cinema.
After the success of the original trilogy fans were dismayed to see creator George Lucas decide to focus on incredibly boring complex politics and throw in poorly thought-out comic relief characters like Jar Jar Binks.
For many, Binks perfectly illustrates everything wrong with the prequels. His slapstick behaviour and “funny” voice demonstrated the series’s decline from a thoughtful allegory on the battle between good and evil (and lasers) into an emotionless bore.
But what if Jar Jar Binks wasn’t actually the bumbling idiot we think he is? What if Jar Jar was actually the one pulling the strings, manipulating things behind the scenes to ensure the rise of the Sith, because he was actually a Sith Lord?
It’s something fans have been making fun of for as long as Jar Jar has existed, but this theory posted to Reddit by user Lumpawarroo makes it sound actually plausible.
Simply put, the theory is based in the idea that Jar Jar Binks was – and potentially still is – a master of the force and the greatest villain in the entire series.
His seemingly clumsy nature actually mirrors the ancient fighting style of Zui Quan – whereby fighters imitate the behaviour of a drunk person so as to distract their opponent and lull them into a false sense of security.
Despite what you might remember, Binks actually shows an impressive, possibly force-assisted athleticism that you probably overlooked because of his infuriating speaking style.
But this surprising athleticism would not explain how Jar Jar is secretly running the show – that’s where his political career comes in.
Much in the same way that he survives every major battle, apparently thanks to dumb luck, it seems as if Jar Jar has somehow fallen upwards into a career in the senate.
His foolish behaviour facilitates Emperor Palpatine’s rise to power, but it is possible that rather than being an error this was intentional. After all, Binks and Palpatine are from the same planet, a coincidence which Lumpawarroo likens to ‘growing up as next door neighbours’ within the expansive Star Wars universe.
It’s possible that Jar Jar has risen to his station of power not through chance, but by exploiting Jedi mind control tricks while maintaining an appearance of uselessness so that he may hide in plain sight.
When influencing someone’s mind, Jedi have a tendency to gesticulate towards the person they are hoping to control. You may remember that Binks regularly threw his arms about when speaking – perhaps setting it up so that people did not notice when he was attempting to control a person’s mind.
It’s common knowledge that the prequels were intended to match up with the original films, with Lucas even saying that they would “rhyme”. Keeping that in mind, Lumpawarroo says that this version of Jar Jar would be the prequels’ version of Yoda – a strange, seemingly harmless creature who turns out to be both wise an powerful.
It is possible then that the main villain of the series was intended to be a malevolent Jar Jar Binks who masterfully pulls the strings undetected, like some sort of phantom menace.
As far as we know, he could still be out there, ready to reveal himself and his newest co-conspirator – a now evil Luke Skywalker.
Or maybe he was just a terribly-written character who almost took down one of the most popular movie franchises ever…from the inside.
