Jar Jar Binks Meets Sad Fate, At Least On Paper

Is it possible to start a Jar Jar Binks fan club?

According to author Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy, things haven't exactly gone well for Jar Jar since we last saw him supporting the granting of emergency powers to Chancellor Palpatine in Attack Of The Clones. In granting the chancellor - who was later revealed to be the legendary Darth Sidious, who became the Emperor - these emergency powers and voting in direct opposition to Senator Padmé Amidala's wishes, Jar Jar essentially became responsible for the death of billions, and Star Wars fans never really saw him again, except in a non-speaking role at Padmé's funeral.

Star Wars: Aftermath - Empire's End gives us insight into what may have happened to Jar Jar. He has found new life as a street performer of sorts, with kids curious about him and adults basically avoiding him.

"Jar Jar makin some uh-oh mistakens," the Gungan says in the book, explaining why he isn't wanted anywhere either. "Desa hisen Naboo tink I help the uh-oh Empire." He stares into the distance, seeming as though he knows more than he actually says.

He's busily trying to entertain in a street square when the refugee Mapo encounters him, wrapped up in his own sadness. When Jar Jar admits that he'd made some "uh-oh mistakens," the reader almost feels sorry for the Gungan in spite of having spent years reviling him.

With Jar Jar's admission comes the almost painful realization that the Gungan is a literal sad clown, carrying a palpable pain with him as he tries endlessly to redeem himself by entertaining people in the streets. Jar Jar was always simply not too bright, and that was part of his appeal; his unending stupidity excused him from the wealth of his actions throughout Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and then Attack Of The Clones.

His apparent acknowledgement that he'd screwed up and inadvertently became responsible for the death of billions strikes readers as incredibly painful when considered in Jar Jar's larger characterization. While there may have been some who were curious about his fate following Attack Of The Clones, this seems almost too much.