Star Wars: The Clone Wars is critical to building on some of the structures Star Wars left too skeletal in its prequel trilogy. It gave backstories to the fascinating characters of the Jedi Council, like Plo Koon and Ki-Adi-Mundi, and it fleshed out worlds seen only in glimpses. However, it didn't always succeed at its greater goals, and years later, Jar Jar is still heavily reviled. The series tried its best to fix this issue from the first season, giving Jar Jar a chance to play the hero in 2008's "Bombad Jedi."

The episode has a cute premise, mixing the classic "mistaken identity" gag with the Rodians assuming Jar Jar is a Jedi while giving the Gungan the famous droid Threepio as his bumbling straight man. The stakes rise as Threepio gets captured, Jar Jar nearly gets eaten by an underwater monster, and Senator Amidala puts together a Separatist-foiling plan that relies on the help of the Jedi she's been hearing about. She's shocked to realize it's just the clumsy Gungan; however, "Master Bombad," as the Rodians call him, manages to be useful enough to help save the day.

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With a script by Kevin Rubio, the fan-turned-pro who created the viral hit TROOPS, it should have been a riot, but it doesn't quite land; although there's still a kind heart inside this early attempt to redeem Jar Jar. Stuck with a middling score by critics, it might have still been enough to warm relations between the character and fans, but it's become something of a fandom touchstone to dislike Jar Jar. It's understandable to a certain extent, but it's also sad that, of all the flaws in the history of Star Wars, it's a corny, child-friendly mascot that's forged such lasting hatred.

In contrast to The Clone Wars, Jar Jar would next get his due as a potential Force user in 2015, when Reddit user u/Lumpawarroo proposed the Darth Jar Jar hypothesis. While it remains categorically non-canon, the theory, which was supported by multiple video clips and critical breakdowns, has become an indelible part of fandom history. It has its own section on the Wikipedia article for Binks and a rich selection of sources that gleefully went all-in on the trend, from The Guardian to The Washington Post.

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Ahmed Best, who bore the cruelly misdirected brunt of the backlash, embraced the theory, and it even reached J.J. Abrams, who lauded the theory's stability. Though Lucas himself has still never commented publicly on the idea, it's a safe guess that he wouldn't approve. The childlike innocence of Jar Jar is part of why Lucas named the Gungan as one of his favorite characters, and the cynically hilarious Darth Binks theory completely upends that.

Unfortunately, as Jar Jar tells the Rodian senator, Onaconda Farr, at the end of "Bombad Jedi," he is only a humble Gungan, cementing that he is neither a Jedi or a Sith. Things can always change, as Star Wars is continuing to expand. While chronologically Jar Jar's story won't be part of the new High Republic era of content, there's still plenty to come for the post-Imperial era, even if it's introducing a different Gungan who's Force-sensitive.

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