The Jar Jar Binks comic has a surprising connection to Andor

Jar Jar Binks has always had an unfair reputation among the Star Wars fandom; so much so that it affected his actor, Ahmed Best, for years. Best later returned to a galaxy far, far away to a far more favorable reception as Jedi Master Kellaran Beq in The Mandalorian. However, Marvel’s new one-shot comic, Jar Jar, features the Gungan and Beq working together — with a revolutionary connection to Star Wars’ best TV series.

Written by Ahmed Best and Marc Guggenheim, with art from Kieran McKeown and Laura Braga, colorist Mike Atiyeh, and cover artist Taurin Clarke, Jar Jar follows the Gungan senator on a mission to the planet of Urubai, a paradise-like city that hides a dark secret. He is joined by Kellaran Beq, who reveals that Urubai is actually built on laborers who work non-stop to mine coaxium, a hyperfuel for starships and a resource the Empire would later try to hoard. The emergency powers given to Chancellor Palpatine allowed these grueling conditions to exist — something which Jar Jar voted in favor of near the end of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.

While Jar Jar is eager to help the people of Urubai, his actions go further than simply making up for his mistake. Beq and Jar Jar learn that the laborers have also uncovered a rare, galaxy-changing material: cyphristal. This special type of crystal can form the basis of a fractal radio network: a highly secure, encrypted communication network. As Beq explains to Jar Jar, “secure, private communications will allow for the truth to be shared and the opposition to be organized. If that happens, then we have a means to always fight back. One day, if necessary, such a network could have a galaxy-wide impact.”

Eagle-eyed Andor fans will recognize the term “fractal radio network” as the specialized communications device Luthen Rael and Kleya Marki used in the backroom of the Galactic Antiquities and Objects of Interest. Through the radio network, Luthen and Kleya communicated with members of their rebel network, Axis, including Cassian Andor, Cinta Kaz, and Vel Sartha. While it’s never established in canon how Luthen and Kleya got their hands on the device, we now know that the discovery and creation of preliminary radio networks like this came from the crystals on Urubai.

However, it isn’t just Beq and Jar Jar who inadvertently help start what would go on to become the Axis Network. The only reason the knowledge of these minerals gets out in the first place is that Beq and Jar Jar rescue a laborer who’s been using Urubai’s preliminary network to broadcast messages of dissent: Mira Bridger.

Star Wars Rebels fans will know her as the mother of the protagonist, Ezra Bridger. Though she and her husband, Ephraim, died during the Rebels timeline, the show establishes that both Bridgers were essential in broadcasting revolutionary messages against the Empire during their time on planet Lothal. They ended up imprisoned for this activity, but it was this rebellious spirit — and the knowledge Mira and Ephraim passed down — that would fuel Ezra to join the fight against the Empire. As it turns out, Mira’s knowledge of fractal radio networks would be essential for the beginnings of the Axis Network in Andor, too.

Image: Lucasfilm

Furthermore, Beq’s words about the discovery being a galaxy-changer prove correct. It’s because of Luthen and Kleya’s use of the fractal radio network that they can spy on and infiltrate Imperial spaces, providing them with key information on both allies and enemies. Most importantly, the actions of Jar Jar, Beq, and Mira speak true to what Andor posits throughout its two seasons. As summed up by Nemik’s manifesto: “The frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.”

No matter how tiny a push it might be, every person who decides to stand up to the Empire has done something brave and monumental. Like a ripple effect that will one day lead to the first pivotal blow against the Empire: Luke Skywalker’s destruction of the Death Star. Nemik says it best: “One single thing will break the siege,” and that one thing may just be Jar Jar’s desire to atone for his big mistake.