Qui-Gon Jinn's Dark Past Could Have Prevented Darth Vader's Rise

Star Wars Makes It Clear: Qui-Gon Could’ve Prevented Darth Vader By  Kevin Erdmann Published 55 minutes ago Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero.  With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention. Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Add Us On Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Jedi Knights #10

New revelations into Qui-Gon Jinn's past further support the idea that he likely could have prevented the creation of Darth Vader. As seen in Star Wars' recently concluded Jedi series, Qui-Gon's history has more in common with Anakin's than we ever knew.

Facing a dark shame in parallel with Anakin in Attack of the Clones, we now know about one of the darkest moments in Qui-Gon Jinn's entire life, and how he was able to redeem said darkness years later. As such, it makes for an incredibly compelling case regarding how Qui-Gon would have trained Anakin and what might have been.

Star Wars Reveals Young Qui-Gon Had His Own Secret Massacre

Marvel's new and canonical Jedi Knights #10 from Marc Guggenheim and Madibek Musabekov reveals that Qui-Gon Jinn carried a devastating secret shame from his time as Dooku's Padawan, years before The Phantom Menace.

Attempting to stop a group of raiders known as The Behru, Dooku had Qui-Gon enter single combat with one of the Behru's chosen warriors. Following Count Dooku’s poor guidance too aggressively, Qui-Gon violated the clan’s sacred rules of honor by using the Force to wound his opponent.

That single mistake saw the Behru clan becoming incredibly violent. Dooku then responded by slaughtering them all, claiming it was the only way to protect both himself and Qui-Gon as they were instantly surrounded.

The massacre was then buried, with Dooku telling Qu-Gon that they would never speak of it again, becoming a shared shame between master and apprentice.

As seen by the end of this new issue, Qui-Gon ends up confronting this vengeful warrior he once fought years later, the lone survivor of the Behru, now named Corlis Rath.

Expressing humility, regret, restraint, and accountability, we see Qui-Gon Jinn reconciling with Corlis, correcting the dark mistake of his past without further violence, an incredible example of growth and following the Jedi path in its purest form.

Qui-Gon Could Have Helped Anakin Process His Tusken Slaughter

Anakin Skywalker stares angrily ahead while wielding his lightsaber just before he attacks the Tuskens.Image via Disney+

This new reveal becomes even more significant when we look at Anakin Skywalker's similar Tusken Raider massacre in Attack of the Clones, one of the prequel trilogy's darkest and most pivotal moments. While Anakin did confess his massacre to Padmé in rage and anguish, the only real guidance he received was the wrong after revealing his dark actions to Palpatine/Darth Sidious.

Furthermore, Jedi Knights #10 makes hearing Qui-Gon’s voice during Anakin's slaughter even more heartbreaking. We now know that Qui-Gon had lived through a strikingly similar failure, one born from anger (and poor mentorship).

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Had Qui-Gon trained Anakin, he might have helped him confront the horror of what he’d done instead of burying it, assuming Anakin's Jedi path was still similar enough to get to that same dark point. Processing that trauma openly could have weakened Palpatine’s influence on Anakin before it fully took hold, well before Revenge of the Sith.

By keeping his actions hidden, Anakin never learned how to heal and reconcile with his past darkness like Qui-Gon had. As such, Star Wars has made it even clearer that losing Qui-Gon in The Phantom Menace completely changed Anakin’s future.

Star Wars: Jedi Knights #10 is available now from Marvel Comics.

Qui-Gon Jinn Created By George Lucas Cast Liam Neeson First Appearance Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Died Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Alliance Jedi Race Human

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• Comics
• Qui-Gon Jinn
• Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

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