As the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes, fan theory after fan theory have come to light about what could be the big twist in the newest installment in the Star Ward legacy. Last night, the red carpet premiere headlined while the public theatrical release is still three days off. But three days certainly isn’t enough to keep people from lining up outside theaters and venues alike nationwide. Could one of those fan’s theories be the actual plot? Possibly…
Fan theories have been around since the beginning of fiction. Huge names have even been created solely around the idea of trying to have the reader or viewer figure out what was going on, namely Sherlock Holmes or the hundreds of 
“minute mystery” type books out there. With the creation of entire character “universes” like Marvel, DC, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and obviously Star Wars, fans have gone crazy over trying to figure out just what the next big twist might be. Like the Joker from the DC universe actually being an insane, teleported, parallel universe Batman or Silva in the Daniel Craig era Bond movies actually being M’s son. Another wildly popular theory is that Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings planned on using the eagles to fly to Mordor, thus cutting down on a massive amount of time and effort walking all the way there. Often misquoted, Gandalf, before being pulled to what viewers and characters alike thought was his death says “Fly you fools”, not “Run you fools”. It was all just a huge oversight by the rest of the protagonists to not use them and by this point, Gandalf was busy traipsing about with a moth on top of a tower.
Whatever the theory may be, they are just that: theories. Rarely do any of them come to fruition nor are they ever confirmed by the creative powers behind these universes. (On an interesting note, there are even theories out there that the “creative” works of fiction we all love to read and watch actually exist and are born into reality without our knowledge. Thus explaining our own existence and the reason why tragic things happen; because in another universe, what happens here makes for a good story. But that’s another topic…) One, rather ridiculous, theory that actually has gained some traction in recent weeks has been a Star Wars specific one.
Without getting too detailed, the idea is that Jar Jar Binks, a Gungan character introduced in the first of the second trilogies, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, is actually a Sith lord, a.k.a. a really bad dude. The entire legacy thus far 
in Star Wars has been centered around the defeat of Darth Sidious and his various minions. But in the second film of the second trilogy, Chancellor Palpatine (later revealed to be none other than Darth Sidious himself) mentions something about an ancient Sith names Darth Plagueis, a man so powerful in the force that he had figured out how to extend the life of his loved ones and indeed, his own life as well. It is assumed that perhaps Sidious was the apprentice of Plagueis but likewise, that was never confirmed. The theory goes on to describe how Jar Jar, though by all means an incompetent, idiot of a being, somehow manages to rise in the ranks of the Nabooian government and eventually the galactic senate. Jar Jar can be seen using very subtle hand gestures as if he is using the force to lightly influence the minds of his companions. Other notable reason to believe the rather absurd accusation include his ability to perform flips only Jedi and Sith are seen performing, a rather accurate execution of the form of martial arts call Drunken Fist, as well as the rather mysterious backstory to why the Gungan people seem to fear him so much. And finally, perhaps the most convincing point in the argument, is that George Lucas, in his creation of the original trilogy, followed a very classic narrative arc: introduction of what seems to be a bumbling idiot or the last person to be anything but themselves and who turns out to be a hero (or antihero, however the plot unfolds). George later admitted to intending to do that with the second trilogy, but if so, where was it? Could it have been that Jar Jar was to be revealed as the most powerful Sith in the galaxy?
While all this postulation certainly makes for a fun time and even a fun hypothesis, theories just aren’t ever rooted in enough fact to become truth. Or are they… George Lucas can be heard in a small sound byte from a creative panel saying “Jar Jar is the key to all of this” and as these theories surfaced, Ahmed Best, the actor for Jar Jar tweeted “I will say this, it feels really good when the hidden meaning behind the work is seen. No matter how long takes.” Not so far fetched any more is it? What most fans postulate is that George Lucas backed out on the idea after the Phantom Menace was released and the public had a chance to react to it. Jar Jar Binks is hands down the most hated character in all of the Star Wars movies to date.
Did George not want to hinge the entire saga on the shoulders of the most hated character in the entire galaxy? Seems like a safe bet. I have to admit, even I start to wonder just what Jar Jar was up to…