Star Wars’ New Chosen One Shows What Comes After the Jedi & Sith

What comes after the Jedi and the Sith? The latest Star Wars series, The Ninth Jedi, is a creative vision of what George Lucas’ galaxy could become. Created by Production I.G., it spins out of the epic Star Wars: Visions anthology series, which allows some of the world’s best animation houses the chance to play in Lucas’ sandbox. In this timeline, the light of the Jedi has faded into legend, and galactic civilization has crumbled. Warlords scour the galaxy, while the last of the Sith hunt down any who serve the light.

We’ve already met the hero, Lah Kara, daughter of a celebrated sabersmith and now Padawan to Margrave Juro, who’s trying to reform the Jedi. We’re on the brink of a new Jedi era, but first the handful of Jedi must confront a whole new Force cult – one that has grown out of both the Jedi and the Sith. A Force-sensitive named Nawaam has risen to power as a warlord, and he stands as a powerful, Anakin Skywalker-like figure.

Nawaam Shows Us What the Chosen One Could’ve Become

Nawaam believes himself to be “beyond Jedi or Sith.” The Jedi Code honors serenity, the Sith Code seeks passion, but he wbas inspired when he saw the Jedi Lah Zhima turn on his former master. The experience broke something deep inside Lah Zhima, and he retreated into himself to a place of “nothingness,” becoming an emotional void that Nawaam coveted. Nawaam believes this nothingness is the true state of enlightenment, and strives to achieve it in everything he does. When he has achieved nothingness, he believes he will finally be able to fulfill the destiny of any Force user.

To Nawaam, the goal is to act from a position of nothingness, imposing his will upon the galaxy. He rejects the tenets of the Jedi and the Sith, believing both light and dark must be defeated on a galactic scale; to do that, he seeks a power he considers greater than eiither. He longs for “the power of death,” and thus seeks superweapons more dangerous than even the Death Star. What’s more, like the Sith, he has no qualms about using them; if you believe death is the greatest power of all, then to exercise that power is to demonstrate your might.

Nawaam may consider himself to be beyond Jedi or Sith, but his relationship with the two orders shows his true orientation in the Force. His army swarms the galaxy, seeking to destroy the last of the Jedi and prevent a new Jedi Order being founded. Meanwhile, the last of the Sith is his servant; the final Sith Lord, Gennoh. The Sith naturally recognize familiar traits in Nawaam, including a desire for dominance and the willingness to exercise power over others. It’s not particularly surprising to see the Sith side with Nawaam, while the Jedi naturally oppose him.

The Silver Lightsaber & the Black Helmet Are Symbols of Nawaam’s Order

The Ninth Jedi introduces a new lightsaber color, an unusual silver blade. To understand it, you have to realize that lightsabers in this time period are very different; Lah Zhima has created blades that respond to the alignment of the person who wields them at a given moment. This means a blade held by a Sith naturally turns red, reflecting anger and hatred, while Jedi blades switch between blue and green depending on the emotional state of the Jedi wielding them. When he killed his master, Lah Zhima’s lightsaber turned another color: silver. This, to Nawaam, is the coveted symbol of the nothingness he craves.

Nawaam’s design visually riffs on Darth Vader, right down to a black helmet. The Jedi initially believe he wears this helmet to conceal his youth, but that isn’t the case; the helmet is designed to limit sensory input, helping Nawaam achieve a state of nothingness. That idea is actually lifted from The Acolyte, which introduced a Sith known as the Stranger whose helmet served a similar function. Again, then, Nawaam’s approach unintentionally highlights how much closer he is to the dark side than the light. He’s far from the balance he believes he’s seeking.

Nawaam is a Dark Vision of What Anakin Skywalker Could’ve Been

The Ninth Jedi draws inspiration from Lucas, turning many classic Star Wars ideas on the head. Nawaam is what Anakin could easily have become, had he not had any mentor at all. “You were just a child,” he’s told, “all alone. With no one to teach you. Forced to make it on your own.” This is what the Chosen One could easily have been, had he not been taught doctrines of either the Jedi or Sith: something new, but something fundamentally broken because of his own experiences.

Naturally, things don’t exactly play out in Nawaam’s favor. I’m not going to spoil Star Wars: Visions here, of course; The Ninth Jedi is an epic adventure of truly cosmic scale, featuring stunning anime-style animation. All I will say, though, is that Nawaam isn’t the only Chosen One analogue in this story. He and Kara are mirrors of one another, each striving for balance, each tempted by the allure of nothingness. This, then, is the danger that comes after the Jedi and the Sith.

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