That Time Jar Jar Binks Save the Galaxy... I'm Not Joking

[Winter]

Everyone loves to go off how because Jar Jar gave Emergency powers to Palpatine that he is the one most chiefly responsible for Palpatine gaining power. This is of course ignoring the fact that Palps would have gotten said power even if Jar Jar was never there as it's made clear that Palpatine had hundreds of Senators in his pocket so even if Jar Jar didn't suggest the idea he would have gotten someone else to do it as the growing crisis would have forced someones hand to make Palps take Emergency Power.

But no one talks about that time when Jar Jar saved the whole galaxy. It takes place in season 4 in the first story of that season. Hearing his friends are in danger Jar Jar convinces the Current Gungan leader to send an army of Gungans to help Anakin and Padme and while this doesn't turn the tide it DOES buy the heroes time they need save the prince of this planet. However, during the battle, Anakin, Padme, Fisto and Jar Jar are captured and to force the Jedis hand the villain of the episode punctures Padme's helmet which will result in her drowning if nothing is done and while Anakin and Fisto try to help her their unable to do much. So Jar Jar, in a impressive bit of quick thinking, using his spit (which hardens quickly even underwater) to seal Padme's helmet.

So, without Jar Jar, Padme would likely have died, which would have likely resulted in Anakin turning to the Dark Side sooner rather then later, Luke and Leia would never have been born and it's entirely possible that Palpatine would never have been defeated. So, yeah, Jar Jar saved the universe by first getting his friends are army which did prove crucial to the battle and saved his friends life.

Why am I bringing this up, I'm bored and have nothing better to due.

[clearspira]

For me, and dare I say, the majority of the fandom, Star Wars is just the films. That's why to me Grevious is just some lame chain smoker who did nothing.

[hammerofglass]

Also there were giant cyborg jellyfish, the bad guy was a humanoid shark, and Kit Fisto spent the whole battle shirtless.

It has nothing to do with your point, it was just a fun storyline.

[stryke]

For me, and dare I say, the majority of the fandom, Star Wars is just the films. That's why to me Grevious is just some lame chain smoker who did nothing.

Nothing wrong with being selective. Sure disregard all the CG Clone Wars stuff, but nothing wrong with acknowleding the explicitly no longer canon earlier Clone Wars series given it made Grievous a significantly better character who was worth taking seriously.

See also how Darth Maul got a really dang excellent exit in Rebels that was much better than what he got in the films... just do skip over the unfortunate amount of Ezra that also happens to be in that episode.

[hammerofglass]

Film-only Maul: a nobody who barely talks.

EU Maul: a tormented tragic villain whose schemes leave entire worlds in flames and who talks like someone who decided to make "theatrical" his entire personality.

[Al-1701]

earlier Clone Wars series given it made Grievous a significantly better character who was worth taking seriously.

It had the advantage that he only appeared briefly. Being a recurring character in a several seasons long series meant we would be seeing more of him and him having to lose. I suppose they could've had him only come in during the closing weeks of the war, or perhaps he's a general who was gravely wounded earlier and comes back as an unstoppable cyborg. However, they went with what they went with.

It should be noted he was still personally a threat, just terrible at commanding a battlefield. I think he was only a general because he was really good at killing Jedi.

[Meushell]

Why am I bringing this up, I'm bored and have nothing better to due.

Jar Jar needs more praise, and as one of his fans, I appreciate it.

Blaming him for Palpatine’s one more step to power never made sense to me for the reasons you explained. It’s just one step out of many that most of the people cheered on and voted for until it was too late.

Jar Jar has no more faults that most people, but he’s brave and loyal, and he never hesitates to do the right thing. I enjoyed when the Gungans were asked to help, the leader says he’ll think about it, and Jar Jar immediately asked him why he needs to think about it. Padmé needs help, and she would help them, so they have to help her. Then, no warrior himself, he goes himself with which lead to the scene you brought up.

Compare that to Orn Free Taa who does nothing while his people are starving to death. He sent a message asking for help, and… That’s it. He didn’t even follow through on message. He didn’t even deliver it! Lazy, lazy, lazy.

[Winter]

Why am I bringing this up, I'm bored and have nothing better to due.

Jar Jar needs more praise, and as one of his fans, I appreciate it.

Blaming him for Palpatine’s one more step to power never made sense to me for the reasons you explained. It’s just one step out of many that most of the people cheered on and voted for until it was too late.

Jar Jar has no more faults that most people, but he’s brave and loyal, and he never hesitates to do the right thing. I enjoyed when the Gungans were asked to help, the leader says he’ll think about it, and Jar Jar immediately asked him why he needs to think about it. Padmé needs help, and she would help them, so they have to help her. Then, no warrior himself, he goes himself with which lead to the scene you brought up.

Compare that to Orn Free Taa who does nothing while his people are starving to death. He sent a message asking for help, and… That’s it. He didn’t even follow through on message. He didn’t even deliver it! Lazy, lazy, lazy.

To keep this going I think the most underrated episode of TCW is Shadow Warrior which is a Jar Jar centric episode in which Jar Jar has to pose of the current Gungan leader which helps to save everyone and then later finds himself in a meeting with General Grievous which leads to some of his funniest moments as he acts like many of us would, scared S#!t1ess. And while he does insist that they need to save Anakin's life by exstanging him fro Grievous who the Gungan had managed to capture (at the cost of one of Jar Jar's friends) it makes sense BECAUSE Jar Jar lost a friend and he can't stand to loose another one and I think many of us would do the same thing. And this episode takes place right after the one we're talking about.

I personally never got the hate for Jar Jar as while he was annoying he wasn't that bad especially when compared to characters like Neelix who would often act smug, possessive and get people killed Jar Jar helped where he could and stayed out of everyone's way when told to.

On a side note I've NEVER like the Darth Jar Jar theory. I know it's mainly just a joke but much like "What was Obi-Wan up to between Revenge and Hope" it's one that many want to see be made canon even though it breaks the lore and makes no sense if you really think about it. Like the biggest component of the argument is that it was Obvious that Jar Jar was using the Mind Trick on the senate to make them think that giving Palps Emergency power was a great idea.

This ignores that the mind trick ONLY works on the weak minded and that big displays of power is physically draining to Force Users and such a feat would have either killed Jar Jar or made him pass out AND he did this... over the top bit of power RIGHT IN FRONT of Yoda and Mace Windu two of the most powerful Jedi of all time.

There's an interesting theories and then there's joke theories that everyone takes serious.

[hammerofglass]

I do think there's something to Jar Jar being some kind of Force wielder, although he might not understand it himself. He has supernaturally extreme luck where unlikely disasters happen around him but he ends up coming out OK or even benefiting, and he kills an insane number of enemies through apparently random bumbling. That's in TPM and the series both.

Plus there's that whole Summon Bigger Fish thing on Rodia, where he casually makes friends with a native swamp monster that then saves the day. In Rebels Ezra being able to do that kind of thing is represented as a rare gift that few Jedi can do.

[Winter]

I do think there's something to Jar Jar being some kind of Force wielder, although he might not understand it himself. He has supernaturally extreme luck where unlikely disasters happen around him but he ends up coming out OK or even benefiting, and he kills an insane number of enemies through apparently random bumbling. That's in TPM and the series both.

Plus there's that whole Summon Bigger Fish thing on Rodia, where he casually makes friends with a native swamp monster that then saves the day. In Rebels Ezra being able to do that kind of thing is represented as a rare gift that few Jedi can do.

It could be that he's force sensitive but it's also possible that the Force is just helping him out. We know that the Force is self aware and that there is more then just one side to it. It's possible that bad things happening around him are the result of the Dark Side trying to off him while the light side is trying to keep him alive.

Personally I like the idea that Jar Jar isn't Force Sensitive because it is an over used trope in Star Wars. This person is really good at something that others say is near to impossible, they must be Force Sensitive. Some times it works like in KOTOR and other times it just feels like lazy writers trying to justify bad story choices with the worst of these being, IMO, Finn. Finn saw terrible things and left the First Order, it's because he's Force Sensitive. Managing to find someone they weren't looking for but just happens to have the sort of skills they need to save the Fleet, the Force did it. Finn knows which ship is guiding everyone off the planet because no one knows what a window is and which way is up, Finn used the Force.

I remember a lot of Prequel Trilogy critics getting real mad at TPT for landing just where Anakin was in The Phantom Menace and that he just happened to build C-3P0 and then defending the SEVERAL contrived plot points in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi (which makes landing on the planet where the Chosen One just happens to be look like small potatoes in comparison) by saying that it was justified because the Force was doing all this.

It's just something that bugs me because it comes off as writers being lazy and using the lore as an excuse rather then using the lore to tell a story.