Jar Jar Binks is one of the Star Wars universe’s most controversial characters. The hapless Gungan, introduced in The Phantom Menace, delighted children but low-key tortured parents and critics alike. The comic relief character, and his actor Ahmed Best, quickly became the fandom’s punching bag, which he remained long after the film’s 1999 release.
Despite his reviled status, Jar Jar remained a key character throughout the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series. While the series finale wrapped up plenty of loose ends left by the films, it never answered what happened to the controversial character after Palpatine and Darth Vader overthrew the Republic after Order 66.
How did Jar Jar help establish the Empire?
After the events of The Phantom Menace, Lucasfilm could have easily let Jar Jar slide into oblivion. Instead, they opted to bring him back for several cameos, including in Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and multiple story arcs throughout The Clone Wars animated series.
Episode II established the Gungan warrior as a key member of the senate, one well respected enough to stand in for Senator Amidala during important votes. Throughout The Clone Wars, Bink’s involvement continued to grow. The Gungan spearheaded multiple diplomatic missions, and took up arms against galactic menaces from pirates to Separatists.
But no amount of generosity from his friends could make Jar Jar something he wasn’t, and his good intentions were no match for his ignorance.
In a bid to make Amidala proud, Jar Jar was a key contributor to Palpatine’s power grab. He consistently threw his weight behind the secret Sith Lord, unintentionally undermining Amidala’s own work to stop the creation of a Republic Army. Jar Jar was the one to introduce the motion that gave Palpatine enough emergency power to create a Clone Army for the Republic. He basked in the Senate’s applause as the Sith lord promised to lay down the power once the crisis had ended.
Binks became a more permanent stand-in for Amidala as her pregnancy progressed and she shied from the public eye. He was a member of Palpatine’s political entourage, and was one of few politicians to greet the Chancellor after he was “rescued” from Count Dooku’s clutches. Of course, Palpatine never relinquished his newfound power.
Jar Jar was on Coruscant with Amidala when Palpatine declared the end of the Republic and ushered in the Galactic Empire. He returned home to lay Amidala to rest, appearing alongside Boss Nass at her funeral, but his homecoming was anything but sweet.
What happened to Jar Jar after the fall of the Republic?
In the 2017 novel, Aftermath: Empires End, Author Chuck Wendig delved into Jar Jar’s fate, leaning heavily on the public’s reaction to Ahmed Best’s performance. Bink’s fate, according to Wendig, is incredibly polarized, with some fans feeling he punished the character too much, and other believing he wasn’t punished enough.
The people of Naboo, including Jar Jar’s own race, believed he had supported the rise of the Empire. He was exiled from his aquatic home and left to wander the streets of the Theed, Naboo’s capital city. Leaning into his only natural talents, the aged Jar Jar became a street performer for the refugees that passed through Theed daily. Known as simply, “The Clown,” or “The Gungan,” he worked to make children laugh.
Since children started coming in by the shipload as refugees, the Gungan has served them, performing for the kids once or twice a day. He does tricks. He juggles. He falls over and shakes his head as his eyes roll around inside their fleshy stalks. He makes goofy sounds and does strange little dances. Sometimes it’s the same performance, repeated. Sometimes the Gungan does different things, things you’ve never seen, things you’ll never see again.
But as much as the children loved Jar Jar, the adults reviled him and blamed him for ushering in the rise of the Empire.
The adults, though. They don’t say much about him. Or to him. And no other Gungans come to see him, either. Nobody even says his name.
The Gungan lived a lonely life for five years, until he met a disfigured orphan named Mapo who was entranced by his skill. After surviving an attack by the Empire that left him badly burned, Mapo struggled to make friends, and was certain he would never be adopted. He found a kindred spirit in Jar Jar, who agreed to teach him the art of clowning, and the outcasts found peace alongside one another, concluding Jar Jar’s story – for now, at least.
Many fans are fond of the Darth Binks rumors, and who can blame them? When the only alternative is a destitute clown paying for the sins of someone else, we’d gladly believe the evil mastermind approach.