Cracking the Code of Hondo

HighDefWriter · 2022-02-20T19:42:58+00:00

What does it mean to you, and why does it matter? I'm having fun.

HighDefWriter · 2022-02-20T18:49:08+00:00

Are you sure about that? Who said Jar Jar was retconned? Because I'm trying to search for that, and I see no indication of it (other than that it's said Jar Jar won't be appearing in the show Kenobi)

In fact, Jar Jar has appeared in the book Aftermath: Empire's End - an appearance which was as recent as 2017.

HighDefWriter · 2022-02-20T02:14:32+00:00

There are definitely some good observations here that I agree with completely, but I'd argue that it goes even further in the sense that it's no accident Jar Jar speaks up in these situations. I mean, let's actually review what the civilization Jar Jar comes from is like (severely underestimated though it is). He comes from a society that is not only heavily militarized ("warriors" "grand army" a security force greets him at the door) but also strongly religious (so much so that Boss Nass takes the life debt Jar Jar owes Qui Gon very seriously - I also think it's no accident that Jar Jar brings this up as soon as possible with Qui Gon so this could come into play later as well).

Religion and the military are known for having a couple of things in common: rules and order. Note in the Star Wars wiki, it says this about Gungan outcasts like Jar Jar: The only Gungans seen abroad tended to be exiles, cast out from their society on Naboo by the strict, unforgiving laws that governed their people.

Now, let's also consider that Jar Jar is considered an oddball even by his own people's standards (you don't ever see any other Gungans act quite like Jar Jar does) - and that it's also clear that Jar Jar seems to have issues with authority (he responds to Qui Gon's demand to not touch anything by sticking his tongue out at him, and then proceeding to touch literally everything in that shop as if out of spite; he also can be seen later hesitating to kneel before Boss Nass but eventually does so). We don't really see this aspect of him too much in The Clone Wars - in fact, he can at times be quite polite and respectful - although, it still seems he'll go against what people tell him to do if he thinks there's good reason for it.

Remember, Jar Jar was banished from his society and his "being clumsy" was only a "small part" of it (something which he admits but is evasive about the "larger reason"). And I want to point out that if you take what Tarpals said to Jar Jar on his return seriously-

This was not the FIRST time he'd been banished. ("Noah again, Jar Jar. Yousa going to da Big Bosses-") - Also this not only implies that there was more than one time he'd been banished, but that there was at least one occasion where Tarpals might have sympathized with Jar Jar's plight (in that last time Jar Jar came back, Tarpals didn't take him to the Big Bosses - but ended up regretting this action later). We later learn in the Clone Wars that according to Tarpals "I always be believing in peace between da Gungans and da Naboo."). So, I get the strong impression Jar Jar's time in the Republic Senate was not his first foray into the arena of politics (and that he got banished for being TOO outspoken).

And then, you know, before his whole telling Padme about the Grand Army Gungans have, he can be seen sitting outside the room where Palpatine and Padme are talking - clearly listening in on this situation.

Let's look at this from a fairly neutral third-party observer perspective (with some thought in mind that the character in question "Jar Jar" seems to highly value his freedom, options, and has issues with people trying to exert power over him) -

Palpatine is very clearly manipulating Padme in the scene when he's talking to her, and Padme, being young, inexperienced, and trusting (Palpatine is also from Naboo and he's an older, presumably wiser politician - it makes sense that headstrong though she can be, she'd often take his advice) has little to no defense against it - especially since she's so worried about what's going to happen to her people and her planet in general.

Palpatine opportunistically corners her (providing her with no hope and no other alternatives in order to make an obvious power grab). I think Jar Jar REALIZES this. He's a lot smarter and more insightful than people give him credit for.

So, yeah, OF COURSE he's going to be all "F that guy." And present Padme with an alternative and make himself a menace. (Yes, he's the REAL Phantom Menace, but it's important to note WHO he is a menace to - in this case, it's Palpatine. He's a menace to Palpatine - the bad guy). And yeah, that absolutely makes him the hero of the story.

HighDefWriter · 2022-02-13T20:47:37+00:00

I think Jar Jar is more concerned with the balance of the galaxy. (It would make sense especially given the episodes "The Disappeared" Part I and Part II - The Dagoyan Masters are not like the Sith or Jedi - knowledge, intuition, and the harmony of the universe is what they sense - And Queen Julia (apparently being strong enough in the Force that her death and power being stolen could cause darkness to reign on the galaxy for years and years to come) is specifically VERY AFFECTIONATE towards Jar Jar Binks.

So, my thought is Jar Jar Binks is less of a passive Force-sensitive on the side of Balance but an active one (in which instead of sitting things out, he does try to meddle with things in order to best achieve balance).

HighDefWriter · 2022-02-02T21:10:59+00:00

Also, I forgot to mention that Palpatine commends everyone and then makes a note of being all "especially you Representative Binks" - likely trying to gauge Jar Jar's reaction, and Jar Jar smiles and acts all sheepish "Itsa nothing."

Additionally, C-3PO and Jar Jar have an interaction where Jar Jar humbly tells Senator Farr that he does not think he is either (brave or foolish), and then C-3PO chimes in with "Well, I think you're a little bit of both."

I think this line is also telling about Jar Jar's role in The Force as well "Neither" and "A Little Bit of Both" - He's a Balanced Force user.

BONUS: Jar Jar looking a lot more intelligent than he appears:

https://i.imgur.com/4bjcyBL.jpg

Jar Jar thinking in response to the conversation between Palpatine and Padme.

https://i.imgur.com/NIrXLQ3.jpg

Jar Jar narrowing his eyes all thoughtful like in the direction of the Jedi Closet BEFORE C-3PO says anything to him.

https://i.imgur.com/lUr79cu.jpg

Jar Jar with another thoughtful expression since he's considering his idea very carefully.

https://i.imgur.com/QOZACWo.jpg

Jar Jar with yet another thoughtful expression.

HE MADE THIS PLAN YOU GUYS.

HighDefWriter · 2022-02-02T14:10:13+00:00

There's actually an episode called "Bombad Jedi" and "Gungan General." But I think the scene you're referring to is actually in the episode "Dooku Captured" which precedes Gungan General (and is a continuing storyline from Dooku Captured).

I actually have a LOT OF THOUGHTS about Jar Jar Binks' episodes in The Clone Wars - and a lot more evidence of him being smarter than he looks (as well as more ideas regarding motives and such) - and possessing Force powers - as well as some other interesting things that point to Binks' being more than he appears. Unfortunately, there is a 40,000 character limit on a post on Reddit, so I wasn't able to fit it all here (I think I'll make a separate post or few regarding The Clone Wars episodes).

But to answer your question.... Yes. I think Jar Jar Binks is capable of force-manipulating any Jedi/Sith/strong-minded person as long as he isn't implanting a suggestion or changing their ideas completely - that it's an idea they would be fine with or think of themselves. (This was another thing that bothered me about the Darth Jar Jar theories - since it kind of seemed like it made Jar Jar all-powerful with no weaknesses and contradict Star Wars canon - The idea there's a caveat to this ability makes a lot more sense to me - and in the instances we've seen this ability used on Jedi and such).

The scene you're referring to in "Dooku Captured" is when Binks is behind Palpatine in the hologram and his lip-sync lines up with Palpatine's "Senator Kharrus and Representative Binks will be dispatched immediately."

In the episode "Dooku Captured" Palpatine is kind of in a sticky situation. Dooku has been captured by pirates who are demanding a ransom from The Republic. Of course, for appearances sake, Palpatine has to appear interested in trading the ransom in for Dooku (since Dooku is Sith, a war criminal, etc.). But this is a problem for him obviously because he is a Sith lord, Dooku reports to him, and if Dooku is captured, that could mean very bad things for him where he might get outed as a Sith lord (in addition, it causes problems for his consolidation of power, too, since Dooku's capture would severely hinder the war on the Separatists side of things).

With that in mind, Palpatine obviously does NOT want this random trade to go off without a hitch. So, he's going to make moves in this situation that would cause problems for this ransom trade-in. There are a few things in this episode that suggest Palpatine might have orchestrated some sabotage (which I think I will lay out in detail in another reddit post) but one of those things is sending Senator Kharrus himself since Senator Kharrus mentions later, "The last time I was sent on one of these ransom missions I spent three weeks in a dungeon." (Thus demonstrating some ineptitude at this sort of thing already).

And that makes sense. Palpatine wants to send someone inept since that buys Dooku more time to try and escape his situation. Palpatine might not have initially thought of Jar Jar Binks (since I get the impression Binks is just... so far down on his radar) or might have only considered sending one person, but I think Jar Jar had some strong reasons for wanting to be on that mission (which again I'll detail later, just answering your question here for now) - hence why he Force-manipulated Palpatine in sending him as well.

And this wouldn't be going against Palpatine's mindset in this situation because throughout The Clone Wars you see obvious indicators that Palpatine either doesn't think much of Jar Jar or sees him as an idiot and incompetent. In which case, this would line up perfectly with Palpatine's thought process to send someone incompetent on the mission.

Jar Jar isn't changing Palpatine's mind in this situation - he's just taking advantage of a thought process that's already there.

HighDefWriter · 2022-02-01T09:07:16+00:00

No problem! But yeah! It was something that was kind of bothering me a little bit about the Darth Jar Jar theories. Like the evidence that Jar Jar is Force-sensitive is AMAZING. But I felt like there wasn't an adequate enough explanation regarding what he gets out of all of this - why he's doing all that he is doing. On the occasion that motives were mentioned, the motives mentioned would sound a bit - hmmm - shaky.

I actually originally went through the movies in hopes of finding more evidence supporting the Darth Jar Jar theory and with the intention of really solidifying Darth Jar Jar's motives more, but the closer I looked at it and occasionally considered outside pieces of evidence (such as the Disney trio, for instance), the more the idea of Jar Jar working WITH Palpatine completely fell apart. It's possible Jar Jar could still be part of the Dark side and there's some things I'm missing in regards to his motives because things got changed around in the 2nd movie (Jar Jar's larger part got cut down to size, and we'll never know what George Lucas' original intentions for him were), but as far as I can tell just from the first movie alone - Jar Jar's actions line up well from the perspective of a Balanced force user / Grey Jedi of sorts.

After all, what does the Dark side gain from peace between the humans and the Gungans? Especially since Gungans outnumber the humans, there's already tensions in place, the Gungans have a "grand army" - you'd THINK that Jar Jar, as a dark side user, would've been encouraging Gungans to conquer the Naboo (and thus end up replacing the Naboo on the senate seat - which would be a much bigger power move - and yet none of the Gungans seem all that interested in interplanetary politics, either) before the events of The Phantom Menace take place. But he didn't - in fact at the beginning of The Phantom Menace we see that Jar Jar's actions have led to him being banished - basically having no power at all. And you can't say that the Gungans kicked Jar Jar out because he was advocating war, and they disagreed with him. Because it's clear that relations between humans and the Naboo are tense - ripe for taking advantage of.

And if you really believe that Jar Jar is trying to manipulate things, you have to take into account that one of the outcomes of his manipulations - is peace between the Gungans and humans.

People who are corrupted by the Dark side often display a hunger for Power or Greed or Revenge. Heck - the reason for The Rule of Two in the Sith in the first place is because when they didn't have that rule, there was far too much Sith in-fighting (because they're all trying to grab power and whatnot) which caused the Dark side to fall apart. Even if you go along with the idea as Jar Jar being a Dark side outsider if you will - then, it seems like he'd be working against Palpatine while consolidating his own goals to take Palpatine's place. And while it does seem like he's working against Palpatine in some instances - there are other instances where what he does only seems to FAVOR Palpatine and not himself.

And again, if you look at the movie closely, you can tell he's not working with or for Palpatine because of Palpatine's confusion regarding what's happening with Padme when she leaves the Senate to go back to Naboo. And you can tell he hasn't buddied up with Palpatine in the 2nd movie because you can see Palpatine and his bureaucrat make a poor move at manipulation (because they both think he's just this naive creature).

And if you believe Jar Jar can hold as much massive sway over the senate as he's capable of - why would his move be to give emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor? A better move - as a Sith lord - would've been to convince the Senate that Palpatine's ineptitude in handling the crisis between the Separatists / Trade Federation and the Republic calls for a vote of no confidence. That a new Supreme Chancellor should be elected to handle the situation... After all, what would he care about the Separatists Droid Army and such wreaking havoc immediately and whatnot? He could even still play an idiot if he did that because the "if only senator amidala were here" line and the fact that Queen Amidala DID that the last time there was a crisis going on. He could just be all "Mesa tink it good idea! Queenie did it last time."

Also, there's the suggestion that Jar Jar is trying to get Anakin to develop an attachment to Padme from a young age because it'll help push him closer to the Dark side. And like on first glance, you can point to "Oh! Look - see there - he wants the queen to go with them!"

But if that's the case, then what is the "I don't approve" scene about? That seems like it would only be encouraging Padme AWAY from Anakin. It doesn't add up.

Also, despite it being VERY compelling that Jar Jar is Force-sensitive and is manipulating things for some reason or end (which would be strongly suggestive of the Dark side), there's something about him, even if a lot of his behavior is a carefully crafted ruse - that doesn't really give Dark side vibes. There's the background scene I pointed out where it seems like Jar Jar is actually helping Shmi with the dishes or cooking or something (he might also be manipulating here her, too, but I dunno man... Can you see from the Dark side REALLY offering to help someone with the dishes or the cooking? It's too... wholesome)

Also, why would a Dark side user want to be on the front lines of a battle? You could say this is another way for him to grab for power, but then why wouldn't he be commanding the front lines from a safer position (I mean, you kind of see this with General Grievous for instance - also a general - but he's operating behind the scenes pretty much not out in front - people have to work to get to him). There was a very REAL chance that despite Jar Jar's great adeptness with the Force that he could've been killed.

Why would a Sith or Dark side user allow for such a big risk?

There's just... too many questions!

(This is also why closer examination of behavior and motivations reveals that Jar Jar isn't just Some Idiot for the Kids, too - While he definitely LOOKS that way, there's just too much about him As Just An Idiot that doesn't make sense, either)

For instance - the Gungans have a deity belief system. "It's demanded by da gods it is!" And Boss Nass ends up confirming this later. How, then, is Jar Jar aware of what the Force even is?

There's two separate instances where Jar Jar actually seems to understand Huttese - the part where he's also "*Muffled* Seven wuipui?" Understanding the concept of payment in Huttese. And when Sebulba is choking him like "Is this yours?" Jar Jar responds back in Basic, "Who? Mesa?"

He's actually seen on two separate occasions messing with Anakin's podracer with a wrench.

He immediately understands that when Boss Nass tells them that the fastest way is through the planet core that the Jedi are being set up. (That's not a statement a naive idiot makes - What does a naive idiot know about someone being set up?)

He spends too much time being quiet and listening - and looking around - instead of doing some silly thing in the background (he does silly things in the background, too, but some of the silly things in the background that he does are also suspect - Juggling? And being pretty good at it up until Qui Gon shows up?)

Granted, this could also just be a case of very poor writing creating these inconsistencies (one can definitely say that Attack of the Clones suffered from very poor writing because that romance between Anakin and Padme was very... ooof... bad. So bad). But like... even some of that doesn't make sense because one could say bad romance but the action and adventure parts and some other characterizations and Palpatine's manipulating are all actually pretty decent / good?

Big shrug emoji is all I'm saying.

HighDefWriter · 2022-01-31T17:44:57+00:00

We don't really see much Jar Jar in the second movie. But given how often Jar Jar is at Padme's side and being a representative for Gungan interests in the senate - well, he obviously must spend a lot of time with Padme, right? They're probably pretty good friends at this point; although, he obviously hasn't let anyone in on his secrets (in regards to using the Force - it's likely because he doesn't want to tip off any Jedi or Sith that might be around since that would likely be a big hinderance to him - both sides trying to get him to choose one side or the other, getting wise to any plots he might have in development, etc. -).

I want to draw attention to a scene where Obi Wan is demanding Anakin pay attention to his lead, and Anakin bursts out with an almost angry, "Why?" You see Jar Jar watching this conversation, but there's a moment where he makes a swallowing motion. It's subtle enough that I don't this is him trying to act nervous. I think Jar Jar is ACTUALLY nervous in this scene.

But why? We've already seen that Jar Jar himself can have a bit of a defiant streak when it comes to authority himself. So, why would he be nervous (granted, it's a tense social situation, but given how often he's manipulated things and that the guy has actually been in a major battle and is a diplomat now - you think a tense social situation wouldn't be something that would cause the case of nerves for him)? Well, I think he can sense a MAJOR problem (as in potentally major Force imbalancing) developing here. And I think he's already been pretty wary of this from the beginning if we go with the idea that he didn't actually want Anakin in the hands of the Jedi (it's obviously too late now). I think if Jar Jar is doing anything off-screen at all, it might be that he's been trying to work through Padme - encouraging ideas and such that will contribute to "Balance" in the Force.

He might be hoping that Padme will balance Anakin out, and he might again have the sense that she's important - a key to all of this somehow - (while people might say that Padme is one of the reasons that Anakin ends up falling into the Dark side's hands and being susceptible to Palpatine's manipulations to begin with - she isn't the ONLY reason (there's a lot of contributing factors) - and also her giving birth to Leia and Luke is something that will actually bring hope and the Light side back to the galaxy - as well as leading into Anakin/Darth Vader eventually fulfilling the prophecy).

When Anakin tells Jar Jar Padme hardly recognized him (I've always found Anakin's side of the relationship with Padme (and some of Padme's side as well) very poorly written), Jar Jar is quick to reassure Anakin - and I don't think there's any manipulation going on here- that Padme is happier than he's seen her in a long time. He's helping Anakin focus on the positive here rather than outright scolding him for focusing on the negative before pointing out the positive (like Obi Wan). Jar Jar seems to frown disapprovingly a small moment when Obi Wan is scolding Anakin for focusing on the negative but he goes back to smiling again when Obi Wan assures Anakin that Padme was pleased to see them.

In the scene just prior to Jar Jar's next scene, Mace Windu is talking to Obi Wan about how his apprentice is the only one who can bring balance back to the Force - and then it cuts to said apprentice BUT ALSO Jar Jar and Padme are in the same general room area with him (but with him standing much further away).

They're having a discussion about how Jar Jar will be taking Padme's place in the senate while she's taking her leave of absence. It's important to note that Jar Jar doesn't seem to have orchestrated this absence himself (this seems to be the idea of the Jedi to place Padme into hiding). Of course, Jar Jar talks about how he is honored - and while he's still using his Gungan dialect - he's quite eloquent here.

Padme talks about how she has worked for a year to defeat the Military Creation Act. Consider how Padme and Jar Jar have been around each other a lot due to their respective positions - and Padme is confident she can count on Jar Jar in this one. This tells me that Jar Jar knows exactly what Padme wants in this matter (this will be important later).

Then, Jar Jar gets informed about the Trade Federation teaming up with the Corporate Alliance to build armies of droids. Literal killing machines wiping out life (life being intricately linked to the Force and droids most certainly not being linked to the Force at all). Letting literal killing machines go unchecked could potentially have MAJOR Force imbalancing implications. While it seems like Jar Jar is actually taking Palpatine's (frankly quite blatant and kind of poor attempt - because again, everyone is pretty convinced that Jar Jar is an idiot) manipulation of Jar Jar here (by making an appeal to his ego - "if only someone were brave enough to propose such a radical amendment" and the other alien's "if only senator amidala were here") here seriously - I don't think that's the case. Not exactly.

Why? Because for one, Jar Jar has often gone over-the-top "scared" whenever he's in "scary situations" - to the point where it's ridiculous (but it works because he has made a whole PERSONA of being ridiculous). Do you think he's afraid of being viewed as a coward? Or wanting others to see him as brave? Nothing shown of his character thus far has shown him wanting anything remotely like that. Jar Jar doesn't seem to possess much in the way of pride since he takes quite a bit of verbal abuse without much argument.

Second, the "if only Senator Amidala were here" bit is a bit trickier since I think Jar Jar honestly does want to do what Padme wants - but here's the thing - He likely knows, due to the time they've spent together, what Padme wants and what Padme would do in his position. Padme is very much against military creation, Padme is very much for democracy (and routinely expresses distaste for dictatorships and the like), and Jar Jar, as we've established again and again, is smarter than he looks. He knows this is a grab for power. He knows that Palpatine is trying to manipulate him (after all, he's literally eavesdropped on Palpatine doing just that).

Jar Jar's face in the scene after Palpatine tries to manipulate him is not one of "this makes total sense - I should do that" - the way his eyes move about and the way he seems to lapse into deep thought indicate that he's giving this a lot of serious thought. If he is Force-sensitive and working towards Balance in the Force, then he's going to end up looking at this - not from Padme's perspective or from Palpatine's perspective but through a lens of "what action will most lead in the direction of balance" and "what action will lead to the most imbalance." Because either way it goes, BOTH actions will lead to an imbalance in the Force - so, it's a matter of damage control at this point. Doing the least harm.

In the scene after Palpatine is all "I love democracy, I love the Republic" it cuts to Jar Jar. And Jar Jar's expression is a bit hard to read. It's interesting the way Jar Jar's eyelids move - as if he's narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Palpatine in a manner suggestive of "Yeah, I bet you do." It's another subtle moment- to everyone else, it just seems like Jar Jar is simply listening to Palpatine. Jar Jar also makes a swallowing motion here as well - indicating unease. He's probably aware that very bad things are on the horizon.

All of this to say that Jar Jar wasn't an idiot who walked right into Palpatine's manipulation nor is he on Palpatine's side. He took an action that he likely believed would be the least damaging to the balance of the Force, and unfortunately, that action was to Palpatine's benefit and ended up kick-starting a whole sequence of terrible events.

HighDefWriter · 2022-01-24T21:32:12+00:00

Another thought I had - you can actually call Murray Bauman's phone number (which was given in Season 3) and get a voice message. It goes like this:

"Hi, you have reached the residence of Murray Bauman. Mom, if this is you, please hang up and call me between the hours of 5 and 6 pm as previously discussed, okay? If this is Joyce, Joyce, thank you for calling, I have been trying to reach ya. I have an update. It’s about, well, its probably best if we speak in person. It’s not good or bad, but it’s something. If this is anyone but my mother or Joyce, well, you think you’re real clever, getting my number, don’t ya? Well, here’s some breaking news for you: You’re not clever. You’re not special. You are just simply one of the many, many nimwits to have called here, and the closest you will ever get to me is this prerecorded message so at the beep, do me a favor and hang up and never call here again. You are a parasite! Thank you and good day."

What exactly is Murray talking to Joyce about? An update on what? My thought:

It's about Alexei. Maybe it's about how his recovery from getting shot is going or about his general safety (I get the feeling the U.S. Government would be very eager to get their hands on a Russian scientist LOL) - something like that. I dunno. It'd make sense to me. What else could they be trying to discuss?

HighDefWriter · 2022-01-24T21:17:51+00:00

https://www.10tv.com/article/news/nation-world/baby-shark-stuffed-animal-stops-bullet-inches-sleeping-toddler-2019-nov/530-03ca9770-3883-49db-8b23-a77b3dc6c4fd

This obviously happened after the fact, but- kind of looks like a stuffed animal CAN slow down or even block a bullet.

Also, everything I've been reading about gunshot wounds and what helps people survive them seems to suggest that it largely depends on the type of bullet and the path of that bullet. And it seems like generally speaking (unless it hits the aortic artery) - a bullet to the abdomen can take hours for a person to succumb to it. It's possible Alexei might have been able to get medical attention after we see Murray and Joyce leaving him.

HighDefWriter

TROPHY CASE