'Star Wars': Another Jedi Confirmed To Have Survived The Jedi Purge
How did we end up from there being thousands of Jedi Knights to The Last Jedi? The Jedi were rendered myths after most of the Order was destroyed by Emperor Palpatine and his first-in-command Darth Vader, during the events of Star Wars Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith. Nearly 10,000 Jedi Knights existed at the time, and it was presumed that all of them — except for Yoda, Obi-Wan, and a select few who were off the radar — died.
But...there is another. At least, according to a new Star Wars comic book issue of Darth Vader, which explores the Sith Lord's attempts to exterminate the survivors of Palpatine's Great Jedi Purge.
Spoilers follow for Darth Vader #6.
Palpatine, also known as Darth Sidious, unleashed his devious plan upon the unsuspecting Jedi Knights toward the end of Revenge of the Sith, in a scheme known as Order 66. A refresher: Palpatine had secretly encoded a program into the Republic's clone troopers that would suddenly turn them against their Jedi allies once the switch was flipped.
Aided by the corrupted Anakin Skywalker's attack on the younglings, Palpatine was able to wipe out nearly all of the Jedi Order.
But a member of the Jedi Order who was assumed to have been killed in the slaughter was recently revealed to have survived, according to canonical comic book issue Darth Vader #6 (via ScreenRant).
Jocasta Nu, the Master in charge of the Jedi Order's Archives — and the elderly authority figure who arrogantly dismissed Obi-Wan's search for the mysterious Kamino planet during Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones — survived. Jocasta managed to escape Vader and the 501st Clone Division's massacre at the temple and apparently is continuing her mission to salvage all Jedi knowledge despite the dire times.
Jocasta so much a character in her introduction in Attack of the Clones, as far as she was an example of the Jedi Order's complacency and hubris, leading to their downfall. She appeared again on the Cartoon Network animated series The Clone Wars, briefly mentoring Anakin's padawan Ahsoka Tano when she is sent to guard the archives. This comic book issue seems to rewrite her onscreen death shown in Revenge of the Sith's video game companion, which we can now assume is non-canonical.
So will Jocasta's efforts to preserve the Jedi Order prove successful and leave reverberations throughout the galaxy? Who knows. For now, it's just another insight into the ever-expanding mythology and world of Star Wars.
Darth Vader #6 is currently being sold online and at comic book stores. Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15, 2017.