The Far, Bright Center

It’s been a while now since I’ve written about this character, but recently my husband and I were discussing the Prequels (and especially The Phantom Menace), and we both heartily agreed that Qui-Gon Jinn is a truly brilliant addition to the saga, both from a storytelling and ‘in-story’ perspective. Not only is he a compelling figure to watch on-screen (thanks to the mesmerizing Liam Neeson), but he is also an ingenious way of introducing us to the Twilight of the Republic-era Jedi—via someone who is, by that point, considered a ‘maverick’ in comparison to the rest of the Jedi Order.

This is a very clever approach, because it means that we actually experience the entire first half of The Phantom Menace from Qui-Gon’s perspective. Throughout our journey with him—during which time he comes to the aid of many beings, from the hapless Jar-Jar, to Queen Amidala, to a slave-boy and his mother on Tatooine, all while simultaneously on a spiritual quest of his own (aka, to find the Chosen One)—we come to admire a Jedi who is everything that we, as viewers who had only ever seen the Original Trilogy, would expect a Jedi to be.  It is only after Qui-Gon’s arrival on Coruscant (when we are met by the comparatively cold, closed, and standoffish Jedi Council), that we realize that…oh… this wonderful, warm, openly-caring, and compassionate Jedi who we ASSUMED must certainly be the ’norm’, is actually anything but.