Droids Should Be Jedi, Too

The droids of Star Wars have all the time been bizarre. While many are subservient robots that do nothing however carry out their programmed capabilities, some, like R2-D2 and Solo’s L3-37, clearly have free will. They, together with many different droids together with C-3PO and BB-8, even have feelings—they really feel concern, loss, happiness, and extra. But, being inorganic, they’ve by no means been in a position to connect with the Force—till now.

The Star Wars: Visions shorts, created by a wide range of top-tier anime studios, supply new, err, visions of the franchise that aren’t anchored to the Skywalker Saga and its adjoining motion pictures and TV sequence. As such, they’re non-canonical, which is sort of a bummer as a result of they include a mess of contemporary views and artistic concepts that the Star Wars galaxy sorely wants. But “T0-B1,” created by the Science SARU animation studio, comprises what’s arguably the anthology’s most fascinating idea: that a droid can develop into a Jedi.

The canon has flirted with the thought earlier than with Revenge of the Sith’s General Grievous, however he couldn’t use the Force, he simply had a robotic physique that was actually good at swinging 4 lightsabers round. They have been residing characters from the comics who had cybernetic implants that gave them Force-like powers. And the upcoming Star Wars: Hunters area sport features a droid who believes he’s a Jedi, however isn’t. Only in the notorious Star Wars: Tales comedian containing “Skippy the Jedi Droid”—a quick story by Peter David so goofy it was non-canonical even within the outdated Expanded Universe—has a droid used the Force.

Until “To-B1,” that’s. The droid (an homage to the beloved and iconic Japanese robotic hero Astro Boy) needs to develop into a Jedi, and his creator Mitaka leads him to consider a kyber crystal is situated someplace on their planet, the important a part of a lightsaber creates its blade. Eventually, T0-B1 discovers it inside himself, makes use of the Force to telekinetically assemble his lightsaber, is sensed by a Sith Inquisitor, receives a knighting from the Force ghost of Mitaka, and defeats the Inquisitor in an extremely animated duel.

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There is something so authentically, inherently Star Wars about the idea of a droid transcending itself to form a connection with a Force that it needs to become part of the canon. The Jedi, the Rebellion, and the New Republic have been symbolized by their inclusiveness, while evil has not. R2-D2, C-3PO, BB-8, Rogue One’s K-2SO, and especially L3-37 are proof that whether or not they have blood coursing through their veins, they’re as fully realized as the organic characters that they care about, and care about them. Star Wars droids can learn and evolve and develop relationships just like flesh-and-blood sentient beings. They’re alive—inorganic—but alive. Why shouldn’t they also be able to connect with the living Force?

There’s only one real reason, and it’s a bad one: midichlorians. If midichlorians are the true measure of a person’s connection to the Force, and the Force isn’t mystical but just about the quantity of a certain germ flowing through their veins, then droids can’t be Jedi. But midichlorians, while technically canon, are part of the canon that desperately need to be retconned, and Lucasfilm knows it. The Disney era of movies has covertly shoved everything in the prequel trilogy under the rug, while the entire modern franchise has focused on the Force as being much more than just about Jedi and Sith—it’s a spirituality that means different things to different people, societies, and planets.

What would be a better way to officially and permanently retcon this long, long derided bit of lore than with the first droid Jedi?

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