Star Wars Finally Reveals Jar Jar Binks' Fate

If anyone ever mentions the Star Wars prequel films, there's one character who almost always comes to mind: Jar Jar Binks. Now, we finally know what happened to him after the prequels.

The Gungan character, portrayed by Ahmed Best, was very clearly designed as a kid-friendly member of the ensemble for comic relief. But, Jar Jar ended up being almost universally hated by Star Wars fans, and the portrayal was criticized for being racist and wildly annoying. Jar Jar played a very big role in Star Wars – Episode I: The Phantom Menace, but after the immense backlash, his role was drastically reduced in the next two prequel films. Along with annoying Star Wars fans, Jar Jar is likely best remembered for pushing the Galactic Senate to give Chancellor Palpatine the authority he needed to eventually start the Galactic Empire. Oops.

Once the prequel trilogy wrapped, Jar Jar pretty much dropped off the radar (aside from a few appearances in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series). But, now we finally know where his life ended up all those years later thanks to the in-canon novel Star Wars Aftermath: Empire's End. The Aftermath trilogy is set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, and fills in a whole lot of gaps during those decades of downtime. Part of Empire's End takes place on the planet Naboo, and we see a young boy meet a Gungan performing for children on the street. His name? Jar Jar. The clownish Jar Jar tells the young boy that he "makin some uh-oh mistakes" in the past that "help the uh-oh Empire." Yeah, that's putting it mildly there, Jar Jar.

As Mashable points out, the scene likely serves a few purposes. For one, it serves to wrap up Jar Jar's story and show where he wound up all these years later. But, on another level, author Chuck Wendig might be making a comment about Jar Jar's place in the Star Wars universe at large. Jar Jar is playing with the kids, but mostly avoided by the adults. You know, kind of like his role in the films.