Star Wars Sets Up The Ultimate Jedi Killer Droids… 200 Years Before The Clone Wars

Star Wars has just revealed what are clearly the ancestors of the Trade Federation’s droidekas, the ultimate Jedi killer droids. It’s easy to see why Palpatine envisioned an army of droids as a rival for the Jedi; droids do not exist in the Force, which means they do not give off any intentions for a Jedi’s Force powers to sense. Although the Jedi won the Battle of Geonosis in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, when they first faced the Separatists, they did so only because of backup from the clone army. Some 200 Jedi died in the arena at Geonosis, leaving the entire order reeling.

The Sith and the Trade Federation were not the first to use droids against the Jedi. This is made abundantly clear in Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, with the episode “An Adventure With Master Yoda” revealing the space pirates known as the Nihil used droids during the High Republic Era, some 200 years before the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Surprisingly, the Nihil strategies seemed to foreshadow those of the Sith and the Trade Federation.

The High Republic’s New Droids Are Clear Ancestors Of The Droidekas

The basic design of the droids seen in Young Jedi Adventures will be familiar to every viewer; their main body can transform into a ball, allowing them to roll around at speed. They have powerful energy weapons, but in truth their mobility is the key to their effectiveness, because it enables them to maneuver at speed. The whole concept is identical to the droidekas, used by the Trade Federation against the Jedi during the Clone Wars. These Nihil droids effortlessly surround the Jedi Younglings they are trying to kill, attacking them from every side, and leaving them struggling against a relentless stream of enemy firepower. It’s the same kind of strategy the Separatists employed at the Battle of Geonosis, but fortunately it isn’t effective.

Why Droidekas Are Much More Dangerous

The droidekas are clearly the descendants of the droids faced by Jedi Younglings in Young Jedi Adventures. They are even more dangerous, because they have the addition of energy shields that protect them during battle. In Young Jedi Adventures, Master Yoda is able to easily deal with the droids by simply grabbing their blaster shots and tossing them back – a refinement of Kylo Ren’s technique in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That wouldn’t be possible with a droideka, because the energy shield would protect them from it.

It’s unclear whether the droideka energy shield is actually resistant even to a lightsaber, with mixed evidence. If it is, then it’s hard not to conclude the droidekas were developed specifically to deal with Jedi, perhaps inspired by the droids seen in the High Republic Era because those tactics had proved pretty effective. As always, Star Wars tie-ins are joining the dots together, leaving a fascinating image.