DuringStar Wars’Legends era, readers were given a closer look into the life of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Long before taking on the straight-laced Obi-Wan Kenobi as his padawan, Qui-Gon had an emotionally unbalanced apprentice with glaring similarities to another famous fallen Jedi. The student was fierce and powerful but driven by ego and easily manipulable. Sadly, this seems to have been a recurring problem in his life.
In the miniseriesStar Wars: Jedi - The Dark Sideby Scott Allie and Mahmud Asrar, Qui-Gon Jinn and his talented padawan Xanatos are tasked with traveling to Xanatos’s homeworld, Telos IV, to help bring peace to a brewing civil war. Xanatos, the son of the planet’s governor, Crion, is resistant to returning to his home,angry that his father had discarded him with the Jedi.
As Qui-Gon, Xanatos, and two fellowJediinvestigate the civil unrest, they discover a plot that breaks Xanatos completely. Torn between the Jedi Order and his personal interests, Xanatos becomes easy prey to the dark side.
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There is a lot at stake in this mission. The Jedi Council wished to throw Xanatos at his homeworld’s civil war to test his resolve before officially knighting him. Xanatos is frequently desperate for approval, boasting about his achievements for recognition from his Masters. Angry and heartbroken that he had family who didn’t stop the Jedi from taking him away,Xanatos believes that he has something to prove.Before the mission even begins, Xanatos feels threatened and challenged when the Council appoints a second padawan to work alongside Qui-Gon.
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Instead of realizing that this mission is a test to knight him, he believes it’s a test to replace him. Already suffering from distrust, Xanatos’s heart is again challenged once he finally faces his father and sister. While he is initially aggressively resistant to his father, Xanatos instead turns his back on the Jedi after discovering that Qui-Gon is withholding secrets about Crion. Qui-Gon learns thatCrion is secretly stoking the civil warso that he can use that anger to redirect it toward Telos IV’s neighboring planet.
Xanatos Parallels Anakin’s Fall to the Dark Side
By the time Qui-Gon is willing to confront his padawan with this information, Xanatos had already been tricked by Crion. Crion had previously staged that the Jedi were involved with the opposing planet, sewing even greater discord within Xanatos’s heart. Eventually, the truth is revealed, but Xanatos had not yet believed it before watching Qui-Gon kill Crion over a bed of flames.Xanatos succumbs to his rageand strikes at Qui-Gon before leaving the planet. In the following years, Qui-Gon takes Obi-Wan as an apprentice and the two frequently clash with Xanatos during their subsequent missions.
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In later Star Wars comics and books, Xanatos falls further into the dark side, becoming a Dark Jedi bent on destroying his former master. Eventually, Xanatos loses to Qui-Gon but throws himself into acid, hoping tobreak Qui-Gon’s spirit. Just as he later discovers a young impressionable boy with complicated family drama and an inclination to get cozy with politicians, there areobvious parallels between Xanatos and the person Anakin grows up to becomeunder Obi-Wan’s teachings. It begins to feel like a dark curse that befell Qui-Gon’s line of succession.
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Like Anakin, Xanatos becomes a test of faith for his master. On that first mission that saw the pupil’s fall, another Jedi appointed to the assignment suggests that Yoda knew Xanatos would fail and that the test was Qui-Gon’s. While Qui-Gon couldn’t save his pupil, he didn’t let it destroy him. AsQui-Gon and Obi-Wancontinuously face Xanatos throughout their journeys, Obi-Wan is given an opportunity to see the grace ofa Jedi who won’t let past failures define his future.Qui-Gon is always willing to help Xanatos redeem himself, another trait of Obi-Wan’s, as he tries to extend help to Anakin.
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While Obi-Wan later fails to save his own apprentice from a similar fate,Xanatos’s fall was enough of an example to save Obi-Wan.With or without Xanatos, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan would still have found Anakin, and the events of Anakin’s fall to the dark side would have proceeded as normal. But without the opportunity to see Qui-Gon’s firm but forgiving resolve in the face of his fallen pupil, Obi-Wan may not have found the resolve to endure Anakin’s corruption long enough to inspire Luke.
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His Legacy Is Defined by Hope
Xanatos, like many of the Legends additions to the Star Wars canon, helped to enrich the story that was already present. His fall informs the story of Obi-Wan’s journey to deliver a new hope to the galaxy without having to retell the original story first. And sadly, Xanatos becomes another part ofthe disheartening tragedy of Qui-Gon Jinn’s final years.Many of the Jedi who became close to Qui-Gon eventually fell into the temptation of the dark side. First, it was Xanatos. Then, after Qui-Gon’s death,Dooku leaves the orderand falls to the dark side.
Qui-Gon Jinn’s ultimate legacy is defined by suffering, failure, endurance, and hope.
Even during the Legends era, Anakin wasn’t the last Jedi within Qui-Gon’s line of succession to fall.Luke Skywalker’s earliest apprenticein both canons, Ben Solo in the current canon and Jace solo in the Legends canon, fell to the temptation of the dark side, once again adding another fallen Jedi to Qui-Gon’s legacy. Qui-Gon Jinn’s ultimate legacy is defined by suffering, failure, endurance, and hope. It’s a tragedy, but it’s the fuel behind the original message of the franchise.Star Warsis a story about hope and redemption in the face of corruption and despair.
Star Wars: Jedi - The Dark Sideis available now from Dark Horse Comics.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
