Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Summary
Star Wars Jedi: Survivormay have brought one of the Jedi’s oldest - and most secretive - conspiracies fromStar WarsLegends into canon during the Clone Wars. AfterDisney bought Lucasfilm in 2012, many of the galaxy’s stories outside theStar Warsmovieswere considered non-canon and labeledStar WarsLegends. While they’re not currently canon, Legends stories have become increasingly important to the future ofStar Wars, and many elements of the Expanded Universe have been reused in new stories. One such canonization may have come fromJedi: Survivor, and it may have been hidden in one of the game’s most secretive characters: Bode Akuna.
Bode Akuna had a very dark effect on the plot ofStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, and he may have canonized one of the darkest aspects ofStar WarsLegends. Towards the end of the game, Bode revealed that he was a former Jedi who survived Order 66, and that he had been secretly working for the Empire to protect his daughter. His mission was to infiltrate Saw Gererra’s rebel cell through Cal Kestis, spy on them, and report his findings back to the Imperial Security Bureau. The reason Bode was such an effective spy, however, may have secretly canonized a concept from Legends.
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Bode Akuna Hints At Jedi Assassination Missions During The Clone Wars
Bode hid the fact that he was a former Jedi for as long as he could inJedi: Survivor, but Cal was able to uncover some of Bode’s backstory through his ability to sense Force echoes.One of those nuggets of truth was the fact that Bode worked for the Republic’s Intelligence branch during the Clone Wars. That was how he began working for the Empire, as his commanding officer in Republic Intelligence was Lank Denvik, the same Imperial commander Cal confronted on the listening station. Bode offered to spy for Denvik in exchange for his daughter’s safety and information about the Inquisitor who killed his wife.
Bode’s history with Republic Intelligence explains why he was such a good spy, but there seems to be more to his backstory.Some of the Force echoes Cal found after Bode’s deception was revealed seemed to hint that Bode was more than just a spy for Republic Intelligence, but that he was actually a Jedi assassin. There have been Jedi assassins inStar Warscanon before, which means Bode being one wouldn’t be completely unprecedented. Quinlan Vos was famously ordered to assassinate Count Dooku in “Star Wars: Dark Disciple,” and it’s possible Bode was another one ofMace Windu’s Jedi assassins.
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If Bode was indeed an assassin, there were only a few targets Republic Intelligence would have realistically needed a Jedi to assassinate, and the two likeliest were Count Dooku or Darth Sidious. The Republic had other troops who were adept at infiltration and assassination, like the ARC troopers, and the Grand Army of the Republic would probably have just used them for the majority of their assassination missions. Going after a Sith Lord, however, would have required a more powerful assassin, like a Jedi.If Bode was ordered to assassinate Sith Lords, that would make him eerily similar to the Jedi Shadows of Legends.
There Are Striking Similarities Between Bode & The Jedi Shadows In Legends
InStar WarsLegends, thousands of years before the Skywalker saga, a Jedi could become a Shadow, a type of Jedi who was trained to use infiltration and stealth to attack the Sith.Shadows were used for a wide variety of purposes, from finding and destroying Sith artifacts to assassinating Sith Lords, just like Bode. While their missions were meant to destroy the dark side, manyJedi Shadows acted more like Sithand ended up falling into some of the dark side’s traps. Their penchant for becoming the very things they swore to destroy made the Shadows interesting, but they also made them very similar to Bode.
As a former Jedi, Bode was quite strong in the Force, but he seemed to have more knowledge of the dark side than he should have.ThroughoutJedi: Survivor,Bode used the same Force concealment ability as Emperor Palpatineto hide his Jedi history from Cal, Cere Junda, and Eno Cordova. Force concealment was typically associated with the dark side, though, and since Bode wasn’t trained as an Inquisitor or a Sith, he must have learned it while he was working for Republic Intelligence. That hints that Bode grew closer to the dark side while fighting it, just as the Jedi Shadows did.
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It’s possible that the Jedi Council saw fit to teach their assassins some dark side Force abilities for their missions. The Order has used morally gray tactics in the past, such as when Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker tortured Cad Bane. What’s more likely, though, is that Jedi assassins simply drifted to the dark side during their missions.Quinlan Vos temporarily fell to the dark side during his assassination mission, and it’s possible that Bode’s mission also pushed him towards the dark. If that’s true, Bode’s fall could have been due to a dark conspiracy behind the Shadows in Legends helped him on that path.
Did Legends' Covenant Reignite During The Clone Wars?
A major part of the Jedi Shadows' history inStar WarsLegends was defined by the Covenant, a secretive group of Jedi who used the Shadows to hunt down and destroy anything that indicated the Sith could return.The Covenant was probably the most obvious example of how the Jedi Shadows were seduced by the dark side while trying to destroy it. One of the worst crimes the Covenant committed was when they massacred a group of Padawans because they falsely believed one of them would become a Sith Lord.
The Covenant and the Jedi Shadows could lead to many exciting possibilities, and Jedi: Survivor made it easier than ever for Star Wars to officially bring them back into canon.
Eventually, the Covenant was dissolved, but there’s a chance they could have been brought into canon in time for the Clone Wars. There’s a long history of individual Jedi disagreeing with the Council in canon, and it seems likely that at least some of the Jedi during the Clone Wars thought they should be more aggressive in fighting the Sith.Some Jedi might have even seen the Covenant as the perfect solution to the Sith’s return, especially as the Jedi Council often seemed to be more concerned with winning the war than with destroying the Sith.
Re-canonizing the Covenant would also help fill in the gaps in Bode’s story.It would explain why Bode was used as an assassin for Republic Intelligence, and why he was so powerful in the dark side despite not being trained as a Sith or an Inquisitor. Like the Covenant of Legends, the canon version would likely have grown closer to the dark side in their efforts to destroy it, which might have been how Bode knew such advanced dark side techniques. That would also be yet another piece of irony showing how the Jedi brought about their own downfall, a common theme of the prequel trilogy.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Bringing the Covenant fromStar WarsLegends into canon would also make sense outsideJedi: Survivor. Many of Lucasfilm’s plans for the future of the franchise, likeDawn of the JediandNew Jedi Order, involve exploring new parts oftheStar Warstimeline. Reintroducing the Covenant through Bode would be the perfect excuse to explore another part of the timeline that canon has barely touched: the Old Republic and, more specifically, the Old Sith Wars. The Covenant and the Jedi Shadows could lead to many exciting possibilities, andJedi: Survivormade it easier than ever forStar Warsto officially bring them back into canon.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
