After 49 years, Star Wars animation is finally taking a step away from the Skywalker saga with The Ninth Jedi. The films may be struggling right now, but the first trailer for The Ninth Jedi was everything we could have hoped for. Set in the galaxy’s far future, when the Jedi and Sith have been forgotten and Skywalkers are just legends, The Ninth Jedi features stunning animation by Production IG. It spins out of the non-canon Star Wars: Visions anthology series, which gives the world’s best animation houses a chance to play in George Lucas’ sandbox.
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Personally, I consider Visions to be one of the best Star Wars TV shows ever made. Some creators deliberately chose to weave their stories into the main timeline, while others offer whole new stories that riff on classic Lucas concepts. The Ninth Jedi is one of the latter, and the trailer confirms this series is about to give us the coolest Darth Vader replacement yet – with a key difference. Even better, it’s one that flies in the face of everything we thought we knew about the Jedi and the Sith.
The Ninth Jedi’s New Darth Vader May Actually Be a Jedi
At first glance, The Ninth Jedi plays Darth Vader straight. It introduces Nawaam, a figure clad in black armor who’s clearly aligned with a quasi-Imperial force and commands a superweapon to open fire. Nawaam’s goal is reminiscent of Revenge of the Sith, where Palpatine sold the Empire to the galaxy under the claim he would bring about a new age of security and stability. Nawaam is arguably operating in a galaxy even more ready for his kind of authoritarian doctrine, because this is a lawless age long after the Jedi and the Sith.
And then, in a shocking twist, the trailer turns the story completely upside-down. Lightsabers in this age have been (re-)created by Lord Zhima, and they automatically attune themselves to the bearer. That means Jedi have blue blades, and Sith have red. Far more than a mere plot contrivance, the original Visions shorts used this to phenomenal dramatic effect. But, incredibly, Nawaam’s blade is not red; it’s blue. This Darth Vader replacement, a character doing things that reek of the Sith and the Empire, appears to actually be a Jedi.
The trailer goes one step further. Until now, the shorts have been following the character of Lah Kara, a clear Chosen One analogue on a quest to rescue her father from Nawaam’s forces. Previous shorts have deliberately hinted she’s very close to the dark side, with Anakin Skywalker-style issues of attachment. Now, though, her lightsaber blade turns red as Nawaam taunts her. “Does the Force actually guide you? How many people have you killed… for the sake of justice?” That red color is the Force itself taking a side, suggesting he might actually be right.
What Does It Really Mean to Be a Jedi?
Watching The Ninth Jedi‘s trailer, I found myself reminded of a quote from one of the most controversial Star Wars books ever written. Matthew Stover’s Traitor is a dark, brooding story in which a young Jedi named Jacen Solo (Han and Leia’s son in the old Legends timeline) comes under the influence of an enigmatic alien named Vergere. Working with the alien Yuuzhan Vong, she systematically deconstructs everything he has known. In one key moment, she criticizes the Jedi attitude towards the light and the dark:
“Ah, I see. You can do whatever you want, so long as you maintain your Jedi calm? So long as you can tell yourself you’re valuing life? You can kill and kill and kill and kill, so long as you don’t lose your temper? Isn’t that a little sick?”
In truth, Lah Kara does seem to be losing her temper a little in that trailer. But the point remains; she is doing the things Jedi are expected to do, standing against the Empire, battling the forces who wield superweapons against the galaxy. And yet, despite that, she is losing herself to the dark side. In contrast, Nawaam – who seems serene and at peace – is the one with a blue blade. We’re challengng everything we thought about the Jedi and the Sith now, asking what it truly means to align ourselves with the light and with the dark.
But it gets better. Vergere was noted for a recurring line: “Everything I tell you is a lie.” The Ninth Jedi is concealing a secret; not a lie, not quite, but a misdirect that fits in so well with this twist. The name “Nawaam” appears to be derived from Sanskrit, specifically from the word for “Ninth.” Everything in this trailer – including the character’s own name – hints that the protagonist we’ve been following is turning into the villain, and that the Darth Vader replacement may actually be the true star. It’s a staggering reversal of everything Star Wars has ever stood for – and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.
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