Qui-Gon Jinn is seen by many as the best of the Star Wars prequel era’s Jedi, and there is evidence that he could have even stopped Anakin Skywalker from falling to the dark side of the Force. Anakin’s tragic fall from grace resulted in the near-destruction of the Jedi Order and while his foibles and Palpatine’s machinations pushed him to become Darth Vader, the Jedi Order’s own failings played a role as well. Qui-Gon Jinn, who is considered a maverick Jedi Master by his colleagues, might have been able to keep Anakin on the path of the Jedi, had he not been killed by Darth Maul.
Star Wars‘ Qui-Gon Jinn would have been the ideal mentor for the young Anakin. Not only could he have been a better source of guidance than Obi-Wan Kenobi in many regards, but he would have also prevented Palpatine from stoking the fires of Anakin’s darker tendencies from the start. Qui-Gon’s seemingly unorthodox tendencies as a Jedi may have been a source of frustration for his colleagues, but he might have had a positive influence on the Jedi Order over time. Qui-Gon’s tragic death in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace facilitated Palpatine’s master plans, but had Qui-Gon lived, Anakin may not have become the Sith known as Darth Vader.
Qui-Gon Was The Father Figure Anakin Sought In Palpatine
Anakin Skywalker left his mother behind to become a Jedi in The Phantom Menace, and while Qui-Gon immediately filled the role of a parental figure, the Jedi Master’s death left Anakin in the care of Obi-Wan and Palpatine. Obi-Wan, despite his good intentions and best efforts, was not the mentor Anakin needed. Obi-Wan adhered closely to the ways of the prequel-era Jedi, which unfortunately made him unable to properly address Anakin’s issues with attachment and arrogance. Palpatine obviously had the worst intentions for Anakin, manipulating him to embrace the dark side of the Force and become the mass-murdering Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Had Qui-Gon lived to become Anakin’s mentor, it would have been far more difficult for Palpatine to negatively influence the young Force-sensitive. Qui-Gon had no qualms with defying the ways of the Jedi Order when needed, and he’d know that their often platitudinous advice to Anakin was insufficient when he’d only joined the Jedi Order at age 9. Anakin was formerly enslaved, missed his mother dearly, and was susceptible to becoming overconfident when so many Jedi believed him to be the prophesized Chosen One. Qui-Gon would have ensured that Anakin had as relatively normal of an upbringing as possible, diminishing the temptation to listen to Palpatine.
Qui-Gon Understood The Failings Of The Jedi
The Jedi Order had become corrupt and complacent by the prequel era. While the Jedi of canon’s High Republic era allowed healthy attachments and unique, individual, perspectives of the Force, it had become dogmatic, inefficient, and too closely tied to the increasingly-corrupt Republic by the prequel trilogy. In the Legends continuity, the Jedi Order was never rebuilt after the Jedi Purge, with Luke Skywalker instead establishing the New Jedi Order, whose emotionally healthy philosophies and practices made it far closer to the Jedi Order in canon’s High Republic era. Although he was not part of either era of the Jedi, Qui-Gon would have been a perfect fit for them both.
In both canon and Legends, Qui-Gon Jinn is depicted as being keenly aware of the Jedi Order’s failings in the prequel era, and he follows the will of the Force and his own moral compass over the Jedi Code. This may have alienated him often, but had he survived the Battle of Naboo, he could have had a strong influence on the Jedi Order. Had Qui-Gon lived to gradually change the Jedi Order for the better, it would be far more difficult for Anakin Skywalker to lose his faith in them, as a balanced Jedi Order removes much of the appeal of the dark side and the Sith Order.
Qui-Gon Always Trusted In Anakin’s Power
In addition to his unorthodox views of Jedi Knighthood and the will of the Force, Qui-Gon Jinn also distinguished himself from his Jedi colleagues in the way he viewed Anakin and his intrinsically strong connection to the Force. The rest of the Jedi feared Anakin’s potential, and while his turn to the dark side proved their anxieties correct, their mistrust of him was one of the many mistakes the Jedi Order made with Anakin. Qui-Gon never feared Anakin’s power, seeing its potential for good more than anything. Qui-Gon would have been far more welcoming to Anakin, albeit without letting him become arrogant as Palpatine did.
Qui-Gon Had Started To Sense The Dark Side
Qui-Gon was also ahead of his Jedi peers in that he seemed to have been the only one to sense the growing darkness as Palpatine’s machinations came closer to their success. The canon novel Queen’s Peril reveals that Jedi Master Qui-Gon was the only Jedi who suspected potential foul play when analyzing new taxation bills in the Republic Senate. Of course, these bills are what allowed Palpatine, in his Darth Sidious identity, to initiate the blockade and eventual invasion of Naboo, which would eventually lead to the Separatist Crisis and Clone Wars. Qui-Gon’s more critical views on the Jedi and Republic allowed him to see what the other Jedi could not.
The events of The Phantom Menace further prove this point, as Qui-Gon Jinn was, for a time, the only Jedi to know that the Sith had returned after a millennium. Having a brief but intense duel with Darth Maul on Tatooine, Jinn recognized not only Maul’s signature red-bladed lightsaber (a weapon used almost exclusively by Sith) but also his incredible strength in the dark side of the Force and mastery of Juyo (a lightsaber combat form favored by Sith and typically forbidden by Jedi). While Yaddle, a High Republic-era Jedi, believed Jinn, the order writ large did not take Qui-Gon’s warnings seriously until it was too late.
Star Wars Comics Hint Qui-Gon Could Have Saved Padme
Canon Star Wars comics introduced the Living Sea of Gazian, where a vergence in the Force allows imprints of any Force-sensitive who visits the sea to live on for eternity. While Luke Skywalker uses the sea to learn more about the ways of the Jedi from Elzar Mann, it is also revealed that an imprint of Qui-Gon exists in the vergence. Even with Qui-Gon Jinn dead, Anakin Skywalker might have been able to remain on the path of the Jedi Order through the Qui-Gon imprint’s wisdom, preventing Padmé from dying (which his fall to the dark side ultimately causes) and changing the course of the Star Wars Skywalker Saga.
