The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks

Here's a brand new story based on Star Wars to tie in with Star Wars Day starring Jar Jar Binks. Asides from Anakin Skywalker, Jar Jar has always been my childhood favourite since watching The Phantom Menace as my first Star Wars film although I am aware that he along with his actor Ahmed Best has been recieveing unwarrented hate with Jar Jar being treated very poorly towards the end of the prequel trilogy with wasted potential. So I thought I'll come up with a short story that gives Jar Jar a bigger role for Revenge of the Sith while coming up with what could have happened after the events of Revenge of the Sith and giving him a better ending, involving Jar Jar realising his actions regaruding to granting Paplpatine emergency powers and coming into terms with it. Enjoy and may the force be with you. 

 The Redemption of Jar Jar Binks

The Terrible Truth

 In a Galaxy far, far, away, there was a cheerful and clumsy Gungan named Jar Jar Binks. He is native to Naboo and has made friends with the Jedi, helping them win the war in Naboo with his Gungan army. This led him to become a Junior Representative in the Galactic Senate, where he took over Padmé’s role as a senator while she was forced into hiding during The Clone Wars.

 Although he was honoured to help out a friend, little did he know that his naiveté would lead him to become manipulated by more experienced politicians who tricked him into granting emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to create the Grand Army of the Republic, something that has lead to greater consequences when Palpatine declared himself the Emperor.

 Jar Jar soon realised the terrible consequences of his actions when he witnessed Palpatine destroying the Republic and worst of all, he found out that Anakin Skywalker, his close friend who he looked up to had turned to The Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader, taking down the lives of many Jedi including Younglings. Jar Jar couldn’t believe that he had indirectly set the stage for the rise of Darth Sidious.   

 “What has Meesa done?” said Jar Jar downheartedly with heavy guilt in his heart. In desperation to resolve this, he sets off to find Anakin, wanting to save him from the path he is following.

 The Confrontation with Vader

 Jar Jar has found Anakin Skywalker in the shadowed corridors of the Senate building. Jar Jar rushed towards him and said with his voice trembling "Annie... issa me, Jar Jar. Meesa needs to talk!” Anakin turned yet to Jar Jar, he looked different. The face that was once filled with kindness and hope (if not brash and rebellious at times) was now cold, almost unrecognizable with his Sith-tingled eyes gazing at him sternly. His dark robe matches his dark side. “What do you want, Jar Jar?” asked Anakin in a voice that is deep and emotionless with all warmth melted away which gives Jar Jar a nervous vibe.

 “Yousa has... turned to the dark side. Yousa...has Meesa to blame. Meesa thought givin' da Chancellor powers would be the right thing. But Meesa was wrong. It brought only more pain, more death,” Jar Jar said with his eyes filled with sorrow.

 Anakin stepped closer, glaring at the trembling Gungan. “There is no need for apologies my friend. The Jedi were not only weak but were full of lies. The Republic needed to fall and I needed this power to save her, making me stronger than I ever was. Soon with my new empire, I will bring peace, justice, freedom and justice to the galaxy.” Jar Jar couldn’t believe that he was truly deluded into the Dark Side, turning against everything that he had believed in.

 “But issa not peace!” Jar Jar cried, his voice breaking. “It’s fear, and suffering. Look at what meesa actions did to you, Annie. Yousa not da same. Where’s da Anakin meesa know? Meesa knew that you’re in there!”

 Anakin’s fists clenched, and for a brief moment, there was a flicker of something in his eyes—perhaps the man he once was. But it quickly vanished, replaced by the icy mask of Darth Vader. “Anakin Skywalker is dead, Jar Jar. You should go back to where you came from. Before it’s too late.”

 The words stung. Jar Jar realized that there was no bringing back the Anakin he once knew. His heart was too far gone, and the darkness had consumed him. Feeling the weight of his failure, Jar Jar retreated, unsure of what he could do next.

 The war between reluctance and courage

 After attending Padmé’s funeral, Jar Jar has decided to return to his homeworld Naboo with nowhere else to turn having to play a role in the rise of the Empire and losing his friends. He spent the days in the swamp just staring into space with guilt and sadness, seemingly disrespondent with everything around him and forever haunted by the memories that led to the devastation that was the fault of his own.

 As Jar Jar was sitting near the water surface of Lake Paonga, the Leader of the Gungans Boss Nass approached him. “Jar Jar, wesa urgently need yousa again as a general. Our home is becoming invaded.” Jar Jar unenthusiastically turned to him and said: “Why mees? Meesa is no hero. Meesa made a huge mess, giving powers to da wrong man. Da galaxy is burnin’ with Meesa’s friends are lost. Meesa can’t fix it”.

 Boss Nass was surprisingly understanding as he placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and said “Meesa knows how yousa feel but messa still believe that yousa are a hero. Without yousa back then, Naboo woulda been lost to da Trade Federation. Wesa all makes mistakes. But da strength of a hero is not in being perfect. It’s learnin' from da mistakes and helpin' where yousa can. Even so, what’s more important is focusing on da present right now. Yousa cannot change the past. Only the future can.  Wesa need yousa to guide us to victory.”

 Jar Jar looked at Boss Nass with awe as he was taking it all in but it’ll be a while until he understood what he meant as he half-heartedly followed his orders and joined The Gungan Grand Army. Before he knew it, the reluctant General tagged along with the Gungan Grand Army as they made their way to the Great Glass Plains. He remembered fighting The Trade Federation Army to divert their attention while Padmé and her Royal Naboo Security Forces were infiltrating the Theed Royal Palace, achieving victory despite the odds. But that memory can only bring pain.

 Upon arrival, a huge spaceship landed on the plains with an army of Stormtroopers have marched their way. Some of them were riding on their huge All Terrain Armoured Transport (aka AT-AT). They were given orders by Darth Sidious to clear away the inhabitants of Naboo to expand their empire and to get rid of a certain witness who was the one who granted him emergency powers. 

 Within seconds, a fierce battle began with the Stormtroopers making their first move, firing their E-11 blaster rifles towards the Gungan Grand Army who held up their energy shields to defend themselves from the attack but that didn’t stop some of the shots from already causing heavy damage including to their deflector shield generator. One of the shots was aimed directly towards the Kaadu that Jar Jar was riding on, causing him to fall off.

 This along with seeing the fearsome fight has frightened Jar Jar which reminded him of the war that has brought pain and misery. He spotted a nearby tree which he ran towards and hid. Why was he called to help The Gungan Grand Army? He would only cause more damage as clearly shown when he became the Senate. He didn’t have any confidence to become a hero. He would rather hide and forget it all. The galaxy is better off without him.

 But then he looked behind the tree and saw the Gungans who were having trouble against The Stormtroopers with their huge numbers and powerful weaponry. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing more of his close ones but he wasn’t sure if he had what it takes to lead them the victory with all the mistakes he had made. Can someone like him who has made the wrong decision can still be a hero or is it too late to atone for it with him only making things worse?

 He then remembered the words that Boss Nass had told him that everyone makes mistakes and he cannot change the past. He can only learn from the past and change the future by facing the present here and now. All of this has helped him to realise that running away would only turn his back on the Gungans and if he cannot change what has happened, then he can start a new path for a brighter future. “Meesa will save them!” said Jar Jar with renewed courage.

 So he went back to the battlefield and saw a Gungan who was about to get shot by a Stormtrooper’s E-11 blaster rifle. Jar Jar grabbed a Gungan Personal Energy Shield and protected the Gungan from the Stormtrooper’s attack. He then whacked the shield on the Stormtrooper, knocking it out. The Gungan thanked Jar Jar for saving his life. “Here, take this shield,” said Jar Jar, giving him the shield to help him fight.

 Jar Jar then got onto the Kaadu (the same one that he was riding on) and commanded it to charge towards a group of Stormtroopers, ramming them down by swinging his spear towards them just when they were about to take out some wounded Gungans while they were down. He then tossed his spear towards one of the AT-ATs, directly at the blaster right when it was about to fire at the Gungans. Jar Jar then escorted the injured Gungans to safety (with help from those who were still able to fight), telling them to retreat while they can.

 Jar Jar is turning things around but the enemy still remains at large so he has to come up with a way to take them down fast. There were lots of AT-ATs that were heading towards them with many Stormtroopers fighting alongside them which they used to defend themselves. Jar Jar spotted a quadruped amphibian-like creature known as a Fambaa that was carrying a carriage full of Boomba, energy spheres that Gungans used for fighting. He told the others to use the catapults to toss the Boombas straight towards the AT-Ats, specifically at the top part where they were firing their weapons.

 The army did not hesitate to follow his command and fired their Boombas at the AT-ATs which dealt a great amount of damage to the combat walkers, destroying them. This gives the army an opening to confront the Stormtroopers while they are unguarded as said by Jar Jar “Now everybody, charge!” The Gungans headed straight towards the Stormtroopers, attacking them with their Atlatis or spears at close range with Jar Jar backing them up by shielding them with his Gungan Personal Energy Shield or tossing his Boomba at them. The other Gungans appreciated Jar Jar for coming up with such a plan while having compassion for them.

 Many Stormtroopers were still persistent, especially with many of their AT-ATs malfunctioning, rapidly firing their rifles. One of them fired towards Jar Jar who quickly jumped to dodge it. He grabbed an Atlatl and used it to knock down the Stormtrooper. He then headed towards the Fambaa that had plenty of Boombas left. He unhooked the carriage which caused the Boombas to roll towards the unsuspecting Stormtroopers, causing them to get shocked and knocked out by them.

 With The Stormtroopers at a disadvantage, they decided to retreat, declaring victory for The Gungan Grand Army. Because he single-handedly led the army to victory, Jar Jar was crowned as the hero with the Gungans cheering for him. “Wesa...did it. Wesa won” said Jar Jar as he was taking it all in.

 The road to healing

Use this music for this bittersweet section

Following his heroic actions that led to victory for the Gungan General Army, Jar Jar became promoted as the top general where he serves as the tactician for his army, coming up with strategies that help to overcome seemingly impossible odds.

 He also helped to solve conflicts between Gungans and the people of Naboo, helping to unite them despite their differences while healing Naboo from the scars that they have endured during the wars As Jar Jar’s own scars were healing, his optimism and goofy charms were returning while still being a little more wiser.

 Word has got around about Jar Jar’s actions throughout Naboo, for both Gungans and humans as shown when Jar Jar was walking in Theed, he witnessed children playing the street, pretending to be heroes that they heard about in stories. One of the children who played as a Gungan raised a stick that he used as a pretend spear and shouted out “Wesa fight for Naboo!” Another child said “Cool! I want to be the hero just like Jar Jar someday!” This made Jar Jar smile but also close to tears, finding that there are those who looked up to him despite all the mistakes he has made.

 A couple of days later, Jar Jar sat near the water surface of Lake Paonga during the sunset, gazing in the sky as he was slowly, but surely finding peace that even if he cannot undo the past, he can create his own future.

 He then looked at the water's surface, imagining the images of his friends that he had met.

He knew that even if they were no longer there or were far away, they would be proud of him. He was thinking about them including Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Padmé, R2-D2, C3P0, Asoka, Mace Windu and others including Anakin Skywalker. Despite everything, maybe there was still some good in him. He gasped for a moment as if they were there, smiling at him. It’s like a sign to keep on moving forward for their sake.

 “...Thanks. Meesa will move forward. Meesa...will see you all again” said Jar Jar with emotion. And so, Jar Jar is able to move to a brighter future with hope and healing having to learn that even those who have made the gravest mistakes can still find a way to make things right.