This post contains a preview for Star Wars: Jedi Knights #826 years ago, Star Wars revealed the level of commitment and sacrifice required to become a Jedi Knight. Now, a new Star Wars story is preparing to pull back the curtain even further on one of the Jedi Order’s most controversial practices.
In 1999’s Phantom Menace, young Anakin Skywalker left his mother behind at the age of 9 to become a Jedi. A major decision for one so young, we know children younger than Anakin were taken to be trained at the Jedi Temple. Now, an upcoming Star Wars comic is primed to show us the full cost of choosing the Jedi path.
Star Wars Reminds Us Joining The Jedi Order Requires Major Sacrifice
Once Anakin was brought before the Jedi Council in The Phantom Menace, it was revealed that Anakin was too old to be inducted into the Jedi Order by traditional standards, as most younglings were taken to be trained before the age of 6 (most often between the ages of 1–3).
This means that parents either chose to give up their infant children to become Jedi, or the children themselves made the choice themselves, like in the new preview for Jedi Knights #8 by Marc Guggenheim and Madibek Musbekov.
In these first few preview pages, readers are introduced to a Jedi named Soona who’s reflecting on the day she was taken to be trained at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
Passing all the tests, Soona quickly came to realize that to joining the Jedi would mean leaving life and loving parents behind, just like we’ve seen in The Phantom Menace with Anakin Skywalker and even The Acolyte with Mae and Osha Aniseya when members of the Jedi Order discovered the unique twins on Brendock.
What’s so unique here is that we have an inducted Jedi who’s reflecting on the choice she made when she was so young, and clearly questioning if she made the right choice (or if she even could, being so young at the time).
There’s even a callback to The Phantom Menace when Anakin’s mother told him to go and “not look back“. In this new circumstance, Soona is most certainly looking back, both in the moment as she leaves her parents who similarly wanted her to reach her full potential, while also looking back to her first steps on the Jedi path (presumably years later).
Is This The Jedi Order’s Greatest Flaw?
The controversy around the Jedi recruiting so young is nothing new, having been discussed both by the greater Star Wars fandom and in-universe for years. However, this new issue looks like it’s ready to go deeper into the subject than ever before with a brand-new Jedi character…who’s clearly not sure whether her choice was the right one.
Combined with an appearance from The Mandalorian’s Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, the Jedi who saved Grogu during Order 66 who’d been instrumental in the training of younglings alongside Master Yoda, this new Star Wars comic is definitely a story that fans won’t want to miss.
It’s also been revealed that the entire issue will be from Soona’s POV, making the Jedi Knights issue even more unique as we’ll be experiencing her Jedi path through her own eyes.
Star Wars: Jedi Knights #8 is on sale October 22nd from Marvel Comics.
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Movie(s)
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren