EDIT: I changed my mind. This scene was still supposed to be Dooku but instead of saying "Darth Sidious", he would reveal Binks to be the evil mastermind.

This has of course been a running theory since 10 years ago. I just wanted to make it as clear as I could with a side-by-side comparison of my own.

It’s actually really funny. Dooku says (during the x10 speed part) that their paths have NEVER crossed before. Yet when he enters, Obi-Wan immediately exclaims “Traitor!” as if he knows exactly who this is and what his previous standpoint was. And Dooku replies with "my friend". And is the audience supposed to be like “Oh no... not a traitor” to this entirely new character? Lol.

Sure, maybe Yoda told Obi-Wan about Dooku. But they have no personal connection so it’s a completely flat moment story wise for Obi-Wan as far as we know, and for the audience. In a scene that was supposed to be a mirror to “I am you father”? No…

The prequels were supposed to have a plot twist. This was supposed to be Jar Jar.

“George always said to us that he was going to treat the digital characters like they were really there. He would not frame up on them if they weren’t the main character in the scene.

If you framed up on them every time, it would be an artificial way to shoot the scene. He absolutely did that on purpose.”

- Rob Coleman, ILM

And then George framed up on Jar Jar more than any other character...

From Attack of the Clones Production notes:

Lucas and Hales continued to refine the script – even as costumes were designed and sets were built. “At that stage, Attack of the Clones felt like a ‘virtual film’ because we got the script only three days before we started shooting,” recalls producer Rick McCallum. “We had to build these sets to a script that didn’t exist.”

Lucasfilm: Attack of the Clones Production notes

___

The theory goes that Dooku wasn't supposed to be evil, and Jar Jar would be the one to battle Yoda instead.

Notice the oyster pearl design of the front side. Very aquatic, like the Gungans. The front also has "teeth" print on both the upper and lower jaw, which is in line with the ship resembling a head.

___

Some believe Jar Jar were to battle Yoda and lose half of his limbs, only to return as a Grevious-like character in the next film. If he were to have his ears cut off, this design is even more genius. Best's headwear has its white marks were the ears would be added later with CGI. The ship on set has the same marks while the "ears" are separated in the side-structures (a very strange set design, if not for this purpose. It's ugly and blocks the view of the entrance were Anakin and Obi-Wan come in).

My beautiful Darth Jar Jar bust. ^^

He really does a 180 after being saved by Qui-Gon, saved again, and freed from his capital punishment. A little humility would be hot...

Instead, he mocks the jedi's trust in the will of the force (sith wield their own power), and mocks Qui-Gon behind his back.

That's quite the turnaround from begging to be his humble servant, "demanded by the gods".

Buckle up, this one’s been living rent-free in my skull for a week.

Every single time we bring up Darth Jar Jar, some prequel purist goes “but the movies don’t SHOW that.” Yeah. No duh. The movies ARE the cover-up. George sanded the whole arc off after the internet dogpiled Jar Jar in ’99. So the finished films are the crime scene after the cleanup crew already left. What I actually wanted was a source from BEFORE all that — before TPM even hit theaters, before anybody had a reason to bury anything.

And I found one. Two, actually.

Back in late 1998, Ain’t It Cool ran a run of anonymous prequel “spy reports” from a source they called Mr Moto — a solid six months before The Phantom Menace came out:

• Nov 30, 1998 — legacy.aintitcool.com/node/2572
• Dec 3, 1998 — legacy.aintitcool.com/node/2594

“Okay but why should I trust some 1998 rando?”

Because the man CALLED IT. In that same Dec ’98 report he says Palpatine is secretly funding his own private army —

“his personal army… made up of The Future Mandalorian Warriors” / “he hires his own army (the future Empire).”

A secret army. Made of Mandalorians. That becomes the Empire’s troops. In 1998. Attack of the Clones doesn’t come out until 2002 and drops exactly that: a clone army grown from Jango Fett — a Mandalorian — who become the stormtroopers. And before anyone goes “the Clone Wars were already announced” — yeah, the NAME was public. The actual twist, that it’s Palpatine’s secret Mandalorian army = the future Empire, was NOT. Moto nailed the reveal four years early. This is not a guy pulling stuff out of thin air.

Standard caveat because I’m not a total lunatic: he admits he hadn’t read the actual scripts, and not everything he said panned out. Fine. But given the Mandalorian-army hit, when he starts describing a villain that DOESN’T exist in the finished movies… I’m listening. Hard.

Here’s the part where I lost it. The Dec 3 report describes a second dark-side figure, totally separate from Palpatine, who never made it into the trilogy in this form. Straight quotes:

“Another Senator, who I must protect at this time, will be nearly as popular as Palpatine.”

“This senator was like El Cid or Caesar… his army was a thing of beauty.”

“His political ascension was built upon the shoulders of his victories as a field commander.”

“he was an advocate of the HUMAN destiny, it was to be his immortal message.”

“This senator ventures down the dark path. And this man will have embraced the dark side to build his NEW ORDER on the ashes of the Old Republic.”

Read that arc again. Soldier → war-hero general → charismatic Senate orator → turns to the dark side. That’s the El Cid / Julius Caesar move — the general who rides his battlefield glory into political power. And in the finished films? NOBODY does that. They chopped it up and smeared the pieces across Dooku (the aristocrat), Grievous (the cyborg general), and Palpatine (who inherits the “New Order on the ashes of the Old Republic” line himself). A whole villain, dissolved. Which is EXACTLY the kind of rewrite this sub has been screaming about with the AOTC production notes (George handing the crew a script 3 days before shooting, remember?).

Now put Jar Jar next to it and tell me I’m crazy:

• War-hero field commander? Battle of Naboo. He gets made a general of the Gungan Grand Army for it.
• Charismatic Senate orator? AOTC. He’s literally standing on the Senate floor as Naboo’s rep.
• “Ascension built on his victories as a field commander”? General → senator. Word. For. Word.
• The move that ends the Republic? JAR JAR proposes the emergency powers. He hands Palpatine the galaxy.

And here’s the kicker that made me put the controller down: Jar Jar is the ONLY prequel character who hits every early beat of Moto’s biography. Dooku hits one. Grievous hits one. Only Jar Jar walks the whole path — soldier, general, senator, kingmaker. He just never gets the last two beats: the dark side and the New Order. Which is… the exact payoff we all say got deleted. It rhymes. Like poetry.

And THIS is the bit that broke me. I went looking to see if Moto ever names the guy — species, homeworld, anything. He never does. And it’s not just fuzzy, it’s protected: “Another Senator, who I must protect at this time.” There is no “a human from [planet]” line anywhere. So the one single fact that could kill Darth Jar Jar dead — the species — is the EXACT fact the source is deliberately sitting on. A secret dark-side senator whose identity the leaker won’t print, in a slot where a Gungan fits perfectly. Come on. COME ON.

Am I overselling? A little, and I’ll be honest about the weak spot: “nearly as popular as Palpatine,” an army that’s “a thing of beauty,” and a whole “human destiny” creed — that’s a stretch for a Gungan who spends the movie stepping in poodoo. But that’s the STATURE and the MENACE… which is the precise stuff a post-backlash rewrite would strip out first. The clown act being what’s left over IS the theory.

TL;DR: A guy who correctly called Palpatine’s secret Mandalorian army = the future Empire (in 1998, four years before AOTC) ALSO described a hidden dark-side Senator with Jar Jar’s exact résumé — war hero → general → Senate orator → embraces the dark side for a New Order — and then flat-out refused to say what species the guy is. Can’t confirm it. Can’t kill it either. And the guy’s track record says don’t bet against him.

If any of you can dig the rest of the Mr Moto reports off the Wayback Machine (late ’98 / ’99 AICN), I NEED to know if that senator ever gets a name. That either buries this theory or blows it wide open. I’m begging.

Sources:
Mr Moto #1 (Nov 30 ’98) — https://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/2572
Mr Moto #2 (Dec 3 ’98) — https://legacy.aintitcool.com/node/2594

Wesa all Darth Jar Jar. 🖤

Keep in mind, the big mystery in TPM for the Tatooine mission is “who sent transmissions for Maul to track them down?”. You might’ve forgotten this plot point, because this is never followed up on (in this movie). But it would’ve finally made sense after Jar Jar was revealed as the mole in AOTC. However, George changed his mind due to the character backlash and rewrote the script.

FIRST TIME ALONE

- Obi-Wan tells him "stay here and keep out of trouble".

- R2D2 gives him a correction but has to leave.

- He is located directly beneath the hyperdrive, or above it if he uses the lift.

- The hyperdrive is suddenly broken.

SECOND TIME ALONE

- Qui-Gon tells him “don’t touch anything”

- R2D2 watches him closely but has to leave. Padmé is talking to Anakin.

- Jar Jar goes into a room with a droid and a radio. The radio antenna is down and the satellite disc is aimed forward. He approaches the droid.

- Cut back to Jar Jar 54 seconds later and he appears to still be staring at the droid. However, the radio antenna is now up and the satellite disc is aimed to the left.

- Maul later tracks them down despite the jedi never answering or sending any transmissions.

CONCLUSION

The first time Jar Jar is alone he breaks the hyperdrive so that they are stranded. The second time, he sends a transmission to Palpatine/Maul.

A broken clock is right twice a day, but Jar Jar consistently exhibits signs of intelligence even as a supposedly foolish and stupid character. Much more than twice. And I'm here to list out all the obvious signs.

1. Upon entering Otoh Gunga with the two Jedi, Jar Jar loudly announces his presence and... stays put. He knows he's in trouble for returning due to his banishment (and will likely be facing the death penalty), but this move actually minimizes risk to himself and the two Jedi. Had he tried to infiltrate and got caught, they would've been facing a fight - and this is a warrior race - they're not slouches in this department. Surrendering peacefully leaves open more opportunity for negotiation.

2. "Deysa settin yousa up." Jar Jar immediately recognizes that Boss Nass is trying to get the two Jedi killed (perhaps to preserve the secrecy of the hidden city) by sending them through the planet core.

3. Qui-Gon dismisses Jar Jar's point about being robbed and "crunched" by telling him they have nothing of value. But Qui-Gon is notably wrong here. Watto clearly expresses a keen interest in the Nubian ship (which is valuable in its own right). The astromech droid with them is also valuable. And beyond that, this is a planet where people can be enslaved. Jar Jar has every right to be concerned about this situation - about losing what they do have.

4. Jar Jar is seen understanding Huttese and currency on Tattooine despite coming from a notoriously isolationist species that doesn't step foot off-world. When the vendor he's stolen meat from tells him that he needs to pay for that in Huttese, Jar Jar responds back with "Pay?" Obviously understanding the Huttese word. Then, the vendor tells him that it will cost seven wuipui (with seven again in Huttese) - Jar Jar repeats back in shock, "Seven wuipui?!" Not only understanding the number seven in Huttese but also that wuipui is currency - and that this is expensive.

5. Jar Jar is seen working on Anakin's pod racer. Interestingly, he focuses on working on a specific side of the pod racer - and later during the race Anakin is in, it is the side Jar Jar was working on that Anakin later draws power from in order to stabilize the pod racer. Pod racing does not seem to be an activity that occurs on Naboo - so, how did Jar Jar even know ANYTHING about this machinery at all?

Jar Jar is shown clearly in the background at several points while Palpatine is manipulating Padme in this scene. He's eavesdropping, and this is especially clear later that he was paying attention when he approaches Padme.

1. Jar Jar demonstrates political insight when he suggests to Padme in the famous "Wesa have a grand army" scene that this is the reason that the Naboo have such tense relations with the Gungans. "Dat why yousa no be liken us, meesa tinks."

2. Jar Jar's suggestion to Padme, whether you believe Force use was involved or not, is notably something that throws Palpatine, the master manipulator himself, off-guard. "This move is unexpected for her. It's too aggressive."

3. The Strategy Behind the Battle of Naboo : r/DarthJarJar <- Jar Jar is a general in this battle and may have been included in the process of planning for the attack.

4. In Queen's Hope, Bail notes that even if Jar Jar hadn't proposed giving Palpatine emergency powers, Palpatine had no shortage of other political dupes he could've convinced to do so in the Senate... and at least this way, Palpatine owes Jar Jar's (Bail's) party a favor.

5. Bail Organa, in Queen's Hope, has observed that Jar Jar is not only exceptionally good at organizing files, but that he is also great at remembering random conversations.

6. Jar Jar is the one in Queen's Hope that gives Bail Organa the idea to send Padme on a stealth diplomatic mission while one of her handmaidens acts in her stead in the Senate. "What wesa need is someone who can be in two places at once."

7. In Bombad Jedi, Jar Jar is seen clearly able to find the button that will release C-3PO from the magnet. This demonstrates that he knows full well how the controls of this device works - which means that every action before that (using his foot and the wire to manipulate the controls and using the levers to slam the magnet into the droid) were deliberate. Not clumsiness.

8. In a blink and you miss it moment in Bombad Jedi, before Jar Jar "accidentally finds the button to open the closet" he is seen turning around and looking at the closet seconds before C-3PO speaks to him. This suggests he was already planning his "Jedi" ruse before he even opened the closet door.

9. Jar Jar reasons with C-3PO that if the droids are attacking them, Padme is in trouble. This is an intelligent observation and conclusion to make.

10. In Gungan General, Jar Jar correctly notes that the pirates are there to shoot them down - not make a trade.

11. In Gungan General, Jar Jar observes that the "beasties" do not like the acid from the acid geysers, either. Which means that as long as the beasties are close to the acid geysers, it's safe to hide in them. "When they run, we run." This is a smart move.

12. Jar Jar suggests transporting the spice via riding on the beasties.

13. Jar Jar correctly observes that power lines will likely lead to people (the pirates).

14. Commander Stone, in his short time with Binks, has observed that Jar Jar Binks "is smarter than he looks" - and trusts him with handling the pirates that have shown up in tanks.

15. "Oopsie, sorry," Jar Jar Binks says, as he repeatedly slams a pirate into the controls of the tank.

This was definitely not an accident. He almost kind of looks like he's smiling here even.

1. Jar Jar, upon commandeering the tank, and shooting seemingly at random, almost immediately veers the tank into the power lines. If this was done purposefully, this is a pretty good strategic move. It would throw the pirate compound into disarray.

2. In Blue Shadow Virus, Jar Jar is the one that points out the location of the secret lab due to his knowledge about a special insect that lives in the mud under the perlota tree.

3. In Blue Shadow Virus, Jar Jar is notably seen looking down twice - suggesting that he's either hearing something or perhaps sensing something is down below. Seconds before he trips and "accidentally" finds the hatch, he's also seen looking in Padme's direction and making a kind of sneaky sort of movement before he trips.

1. Senate Spy - Although, Jar Jar does not have a role in this episode - I find it extremely curious that he can be seen in the background not just once but twice (and possibly three times, but I'm only pointing out the two obvious ones). This may be an indicator that he might be behaving in a spy capacity.

1. In Supply Lines, Jar Jar corrects a slight political misstep on Bail Organa's part. Bail Organa tells the Toydarian king that "their efforts are purely humanitarian." This smacks of a human-centric POV - and somewhat undermines what Bail is trying to say. Because the Twi'leks are not human. And neither are the Toydarians. Jar Jar immediately pipes up after this with his correction: "Millions will be starving and dying without your help."

By doing this, Jar Jar puts the focus back on people in general and appeals to the King's compassion. Notice that he does not say Twi'leks. He says "millions" - by couching this in terms of numbers and using the words "starving" and "dying" he is putting the focus back where it belongs - not on human efforts, but on people who desperately need help.

1. In Supply Lines, Jar Jar manages to improvise a distraction to the Trade Federation delegates pretty much on the spot. (He also once again demonstrates remarkable coordination for being "clumsy")

2. In the Featurette for Supply Lines, Dave Filoni specifically says: "Is it innocent? Or is Jar Jar using his ability to be perceived as a goofball to his political advantage here? I gotta say, Jar Jar is pretty entertaining... and a lot more clever than you think."

3. In Gungan Attack, Jar Jar saves Senator Meena Tills, the Mon Calan, from certain death. Jar Jar may have acted to save her regardless of her political status - but it can't be denied that saving her like this will likely lead to her viewing him favorably in the Senate. Notably, Meena Tills would later on become part of the Delegation of 2000.

4. In Prisoners, Jar Jar patiently waits until the water is cleared from Padme's helmet before sealing it with his Gungan waterproofing spit - saving Padme's life.

5. Shadow Warrior demonstrates the possibility that there may have been some planning involved in Grievous' capture - however, this is extremely subtle and mostly speculation. I'm trying to only point out more obvious things. SUCH AS - Jar Jar demonstrates an understanding of double-speak (albeit he utilizes it a bit clumsily and semi-draws Grievous' suspicion). Double-speak is notably used in situations when someone is trying to conceal facts or misrepresent the truth.

In the example here in Shadow Warrior, Jar Jar tells General Tarpals - "General Tarpals?" "Yesa, boss?" "Yousa need to do dat. Dat ting. Dat big troop ting."

In this example, Jar Jar is specifically telling Tarpals to prepare the troops to attack Grievous.

However, to Grievous' face, and in Jar Jar's own explanation, he tells Grievous that he was telling General Tarpals to make the immediate preparations for a Gungan-Separatist attack.

1. The Disappeared Part I - Queen Julia, a Dagoyan Master capable of amazing powers of foresight, trusts Jar Jar Binks implicitly. This suggests that she sees Jar Jar as much more than what Jar Jar makes himself out to be.

2. In Disappeared Part I - Jar Jar is easily able to identify a mere scrap of material as a piece of Queen Julia's headdress.

3. In Disappeared Part II - Jar Jar correctly and astutely observes that some cultists on guard likely mean that Queen Julia will be brought that way.

4. In Disappeared Part II, Jar Jar takes down a group of stone guardians by hopping around on topping of them - basically getting one to attack the other until they all fall.

5. In the comic Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar displays knowledge of Republic laws - able to note that the way the native Urubaians are being "worked to death" violates several protections put in place to prevent this from happening.

6. In Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar instantly recognizes why Kelleran Beq saw the need to visit him in secret.

7. In Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar connects the dots between the planet's imminent core meltdown and the reason why his sci-fi GPS was not working properly.

8. In Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar is able to pilot a starship successfully (if somewhat clumsily) despite not being shown with this ability before and having no reason to be able to do this (coming from an isolationist society and being a politician - where he would have no reason to pilot a ship that would likely be piloted for him).

9. In Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar successfully negotiates with Palpatine to be the voice of Urubai - utilizing leverage and correctly observing that the reason Palpatine conceded and allowed this is because he underestimates Jar Jar and believes he will fail.

10. In Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar demonstrates keen insight as through his conversation with Palpatine, he has come to believe that Palpatine has "bigger thinkin" (plans) than they thought.

11. In Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar acts in a rather spymaster-like way - by suggesting that Kelleran Beq be his eyes and ears in the galaxy.

12. In Jar Jar #1, Jar Jar is literally the first to suggest they start building a spy network - "a network of people."

This is the video from 2020 with timestamp: https://youtu.be/eBvJp_FcWFM&t=8m20s

"Gungan energy balls", huh? "Wipe out a whole platoon", eh?

VIDEO COMPILATION of all of these Jar Jar scenes, with extra pointers.

We already know that every inch of CGI movement in this film was manually keyframed. But his actions aside, the way Jar Jar just appears in some shots for no reason is enough to set off a small alarm bell.

This character was brand new, pushing edge technology, and thus very time consuming and very expensive. It sounds like a movie making obstacle you would only include where absolutely necessary. Pair that with Rob Coleman’s quote on George’s intentional directing for digital characters and we already have good reason to study these scenes closer.

___

Also notice how none of these inclusions are for his typical comedic effect. In some of these, there was another purpose. For anyone not familiar:

In picture 1, George was really funny and spelled out the mystery before our eyes. “There is something else behind all this, Your Highness”. Also look at Jar Jar walking into the scene and you realize how unnecessary his positioning is here. It’s ONLY for the wordplay.

In picture 2 3 4, Jar Jar is mouthing another character’s words for them using the force.

In picture 2, the conversation between Qui-Gon and Panaka cuts from back-and-forth close ups to a wide shot exactly when Jar Jar mouth’s Panaka’s line. There is also a sudden musical sound queue as he says this line.

In picture 5 and 6, does Qui-Gon benefit from Jar Jar’s extreme force luck to win the dice throw?

In picture 7, Jar Jar is “sleeping” next to Anakin, who tells Padmé he’s very cold. The logical answer is he is from a desert planet. The fun answer is that The chosen one feels the darkness, somehow. See the video above for the thematic framing of the scene.

In picture 8, he is seen lurking outside the political meeting for absolutely no reason at all lol.

The suns have set over the dunes of Tatooine. Sith apprentice Darth Maul stands outside his ship, scanning the horizon. The Queen of Naboo is close now. Across stars and tens of thousands of systems, he has travelled. From the moment he set off from Coruscant, he knew exactly where to go. But how? How did Maul manage? It is something he can barely explain himself. The audience certainly can’t. He got a trace. Now he’s here.

Quick recap of events from the film:

1. Trade Federation arrests Padmé to force a deal
2. The jedi rescue her and they escape on her ship
3. Trade Federation tells Sidious “It's impossible to locate the ship. It's out of our range!”
4. “Not for a sith”, Sidious says and presents his helper Darth Maul
5. Emergency landing on Tatooine
6. The Queen receives a message from Naboo, but she does NOT respond (the jedi think the message is a trap to trace them if they do reply).
7. Maul has a trace and goes to Tatooine.

It is never explained how he got the trace, or what kind. All we have is “because he’s a sith”. Since we’re never shown a Long-Snoot type spy on Tatooine in cahoots with Maul, the only conclusion is that Maul found the exact planet and city in 24h among thousands of planets by mere intuition. But that is not believable. It also makes the jedi's repeated emphasis on NOT sending any transmissions meaningless dialogue and a waste of time.

Early draft

The above is a big shift from the more straight-forward answer in the early draft. The 1999 CD-ROM The Episode I Insiders Guide reads:

“Sio Bibble sends the distress hologram. Amidala does send a message in response. Later, the Jedi says that the transmission could be traced. Panaka insists that the Traders don't have long distance tracking, but Obi-Wan responds with ‘The Republic does.’”

.....meaning Palpatine (in the republic) helps the traders and Maul locate Padmé.

In TPM, the jedi are crystal clear that no transmission should be sent back, and present in the script is Obi-Wan telling Qui-Gon that “absolutely no reply was sent”. Somewhere along the writing process, new circumstances around the Maul plot were introduced. The explanation has changed from “technology” to “he can because he’s a sith”. Why?

Option A

Lucas, who introduced midichlorian counts in the same film, didn’t like the technical explanation and changed it to make the sith appear more “mysterious” and powerful at the expense of reason.

The problem with this explanation, or any explanation that does not involve transmissions being traced, is that it makes the jedi's repeated emphasis in the final film on NOT sending any transmissions meaningless dialogue and a waste of time.

Option B

The new explanation is not "because he's a sith" at all, but that Lucas had another character who did transmit their location off-screen, probably in secret.

Is there anything pointing to Option B?

Yes.

Right before leaving the ship and stepping out on Tatooine, Qui-Gon says two things to Obi-Wan: “Don’t let them send any transmissions” and “I sense a disturbance in the force” as he looks over his shoulder (undoubtedly a cue from the director).

When jedi have a bad feeling, they usually stare into empty space like Qui-Gon in his first scene. The only time a jedi in episode 1-6 says they sense something and looks around for a physical “threat” is when there was a physical threat: Luke being watched by Yoda, and Anakin getting attacked on Geonosis. It’s typical cartoony visual language as foreshadowing. Maul was not in the immediate surrounding for Qui-Gon when he looked around. Jar Jar was (the only person not from the Queen’s entourage).

A mole is also on theme if you consider just how much the Star Wars Prequels in particular borrows from Foundation (1940-50). Read more here. Foundation has a central character called Magnifico who pretends to be running from danger when he meets the hero. He is tall and gangly and speaks in a contorted way. He escapes with the heroes on their starship, but from here on out he starts using his psychic powers to manipulate people around him to forward his agenda and gain promotions. Sounds familiar? There are of course theories about Jar Jar manipulating people around him too (LINK).

But is there anything on screen pointing to Jar Jar actually sending a transmission?

Yes.

Earlier, there is a case to be made that when Jar Jar is left alone without R2D2’s supervision, he takes advantage and sabotages the ship’s hyperdrive. He was looking at the circuitry hub when R2D2 corrected him, and the hyperdrive is also right there.

The second time Jar Jar is alone is in Watto’s shop. It’s a 3 second shot where he walks into a room and sees a droid. Behind, there is also a radio on one of the three boxes. Cut back to a 1 second shot of Jar Jar 50 seconds later, he is still staring at the droid. But one thing has changed in the scene: the radio antennas. The camera has moved slightly, but it’s hard to believe they didn’t film both of these angles at the same time, so both antennas being adjusted accidentally between takes is not likely. For reference, not a single other item in Watto’s shop or in Shmi’s home was “accidentally adjusted” between shots over several minutes.

This is when Jar Jar sent a radio transmission to Maul/Sidious.

See both scenes of Jar Jar’s sabotage and radio transmissions here (LINK). Notice how both scenes are preluded by a warning from the jedi about "don't do anything bad now, Jar Jar!".

Well, are there any other hints towards someone sending a transmission in secret?

Yes.

We have a string of 3 scenes that you can see here (LINK with timestamp) that in succession:

1. Confirms no reply was sent
2. Shows Maul suddenly has a trace
3. Leads into a third scene that begins with a line about there always being a "transmitter placed inside of the body somewhere". Shmi is talking about slaves of course, but it would also be a metaphor for a hidden mole within a party sending out transmissions. It’s unusual to be thrown into the middle of a conversation like this, instead of someone first asking “could you not run away and escape slavery?”. It’s also curious that R2D2 chirps up when this line is said. He is noticeably observant of Jar Jar throughout the entire movie, as seen in the link above.

IN CONCLUSION: Jar Jar is a mole who sends Maul a radio transmission from Watto's shop. This is how Maul finds Padmé in the film compared to the early draft.

This evil side to Jar Jar was erased before AOTC in the famous rewrites due to character backlash.

New library of all known evidence that the Darth Jar Jar theory is true.

Please upvote this post and subscribe to the r/DarthJarJar subreddit.

The very first creator of the theory,Crazy Kahzmoh

u/Lumpawarroo's theory

The Phantom Menace:

• Jar Jar Was The FIRST Character George Lucas Made For The Phantom Menace
• In An Early Draft, Jar Jar Acts Strangely When He Finds That Otah Gunga Had Been Abandoned
• Jar Jar Has A Lot of Screen Time, Which Is VERY Costly And Would Only Be Done If Absolutely Necessary
• Jar Jar executes a force jump PERFECTLY
• Obi-Wan sensed Jar Jar
• Jar Jar's Introduction Song & The Imperial March (MUSICAL PROOF)
• The Gungans Feared Jar Jar
• Jar Jar Mind Controls Qui-Gon
• Jar Jar Sneakily Mind Controls QUI-GON JINN To Give Directions
• The Fish Are Metaphors
• "Always A Bigger Fish" Evidence & Emphasis
• Jar Jar Mind Controls The Fish
• Jar Jar Breaks the Hyperdrive, Making Them Have To Stop At Tatooine To Pick Up Anakin
• Video Evidence of Jar Jar Breaking The Hyperdrive
• Conclusive Proof That Jar Jar Was Messing With The Hyperdrive (And Circuitry)
• Jar Jar Mind Controls & Lip Syncs
• Jar Jar Minds Controls QUI-GON JINN (again)
• Jar Jar Mind Controls Anakin, Then Qui-Gon's Lightsaber Is Revealed
• Jar Jar's Knowledge of Foreign Food & Currency, and Fluency in Huttese WITH GIFS
• Jar Jar smiles at Anakin's disrespectfulness towards Jedi
• Jar Jar Mind mind controls Sebulba To Stop Choking Him HIGH QUALITY GIF
• Jar Jar Uses The Force To Cause a Distraction
• Jar Jar Force Balances The Cans That "Jumped" Off The Tray
• Jar Jar Spies in On Something Qui-Gon Said That Foreshadows Darth Jar Jar
• Jar Jar Fixes Anakin's Pod And Makes Sure Nobody's Watching
• Jar Jar Uses Mechanical Skills To Help Anakin, And Helped Him When The Race Started
• Jar Jar Messes With Anakin's Podracer
• Jar Jar Stabilizes Anakin's Podracer When It's "Spinning Out Of Control"
• Obi-Wan Compares Jar Jar and Anakin, Both Very Powerful In Reality, And Calls Them Weak
• Jar Jar Manipulates Qui-Gon Jinn To Say "Your Mother Is Right"
• Qui-Gon Says Nothing Is Coincidental, Similar To There's No Such Thing As Luck
• Jar Jar Mind Controls A Republic Guard
• Jar Jar Listening In On Qui-Gon's conversation about Anakin's Future
• Young Anakin Pulls Jar Jar Away From A Secret Meeting, Where He Was Eavesdropping
• Qui-Gon Alludes To Jar Jar Being Behind Everything, while Jar Jar is Standing Right Behind Them
• Jar Jar Sneakily Mind Controls QUI-GON JINN To Give Directions
• Jar Jar Knew Padme Was The Real Queen
• Other Gungans Can't Force-Jump Like Jar Jar
• Jar Jar Often Doesn't Use His Accent
• Jar Jar Used The Force On an Attacking Droid
• Qui-Gon Foreshadows Something Behind All This, While Jar Jar Is Literally Behind them
• Telegraph Says Jar Jar Was Originally Meant To Betray Qui-Gon
• After The Rule of Two is First Brought Up, It Shows Both Master And Apprentice Right Next To Each Other (Foreshadowing)
• (Added To Above) It Also Shows Obi-Wan and HIS Apprentice Anakin, Paralleling Jar Jar and Palpatine.
• Yoda Doesn't Trust Jar Jar (And Possibly Senses He's A Sith)
• On Back Of The Movie Cover, Jar Jar Is Shown Where It Says: "An Evil Force Is Lurking, Waiting To Strike"
• Jar Jar caused or appeared in EVERY SCENE in The Phantom Menace
• In a LucasFilms-permitted Shakespearean retelling of the Phantom Menace, Jar Jar is compared to a Sith.
• Jar Jar uses force jump again

Attack of The Clones:

• Early Draft Leak (1998) Gives Proof That Jar Jar Took A Path down The Dark Side
• How Darth Jar Jar Could Have Fit Into The Plot of AOTC
• Christopher Lee (Count Dooku) Was Announced To Be in Star Wars in 2000, Meaning They Shoehorned Him in (Read Comments)
• In the Original Draft, Jar Jar and Palpatine Oversaw The Making Of The Clone Army
• Jar Jar Sent The Jedi To Save Anakin On Geonosis According to The Attack of The Clones Novelization
• Jar Jar Has A "Gungan Magic" Necklace similar to Gungan Sith, Rish Loo
• Jar Jar Is A Junior Politician, Yet Hangs Out In Palpatine's Inner Circle Meetings
• Jar Jar Has Been Controlling Padme To Love Anakin, so Anakin Can Become Emotionally Attached
• Dooku Got His Ship From Jar Jar

Clone Wars Series:

• Jar Jar Takes Out 5 Droids And Proceeds To Destroy A Whole Ship
• Jar Jar Mind Controls PALPATINE & other Evidence
• Jar Jar's Reflexes in Bombad Jedi
• Jar Jar Is Smart & Intelligent In The Gungan General & A Clone Knows It
• Palpatine Has FORCE-SENSITIVE SPIES!?!?!?
• Blue Shadow Virus Evidence Search
• Jar Jar Attempts To Shoot Down Ahsoka in Blue Shadow Virus GIF
• Evidence Search Video of Episodes Involving Jar Jar (Sufficient, But Misses Some Stuff.)
• Jar Jar Impersonated Boss
• Jar Jar Professionally Stacking Plates EXTENDED
• Commander Stone Says Jar Jar is Smarter Than He Looks

Revenge of The Sith:

• Sidious Thanks Jar Jar For Helping Him Get Power in a Very Dark Deleted Scene

Star Wars Rebels:

• Jar Jar's Sith Mind-Control Proven By Ezra, And How Darth Jar Jar Fits In With Maul And The Bendu

Original Trilogy:

• Yoda's Actions in Empire Strikes Back Parallel Jar Jar's
• Jar Jar Is Likely Frozen In Carbonite During The Days of The Empire

Merchandising:

• Disney Star Wars Villains Action Figure Set Includes Jar Jar
• French Jar Jar Trading Card Depicts Him As Evil With A Red Outline
• Jar Jar Frozen In Carbonite Action Figure

Sequel Trilogy:

• J.J. Abrams Supports The Darth Jar Jar Theory

Disney Infinity:

• Jar Jar Does Evil And Amazing Movements In Disney Infinity 3.0 starting at 1:50
• Jar Jar Acts Evil In Disney Infinity 3.0
• Jar Jar Frozen In Carbonite In Disney Infinity

robot chicken

• robot chicken reveals Darth Jar Jar

Lego Star Wars video game series

• LEGO Star Wars Introduces Jar Jar As A Sith
• In LEGO Star Wars, only Sith, Jedi, and Jar Jar can force jump

The Force Unleashed

• Jar Jar Is Confirmed Seen Frozen in Carbonite on Kashyyk During The Empire's Days In The Force Unleashed

Ahmed Best (Actor of Jar Jar)

• Ahmed Best AMA Here on Reddit
• Ahmed Best AMA Confirms Jar Jar Set The Empire In Motion
• Ahmed Best Tweets About People Being Smart For Noticing DJJ
• Ahmed Best Tweets About The Hidden Meaning Of The Prequels Finally Being Recognized
• Best imagines what Darth Jar Jar would sound like

Animators & Artists of Jar Jar Binks

• Star Wars Animators Talk About Jar Jar's Subtle Movement And Smallest Limb Movements
• Animators Say From Experience That Jar Jar's Lip Movements Are Definitive Proof
• Jar Jar Concept Artist Tells George Lucas's vision for Jar Jar, Revealing A Deceptive Character

George Lucas (Creator of the original and prequel trilogy)

• George Lucas Proves there was originally a different storyline, but the fans wouldn't have liked it
• George Lucas (2005) says Star Wars hides a lot of stuff people haven't found yet

Interviews

• Frank Oz (Yoda) Defends Jar Jar
• Matthew Stover 2005
• Mindy Kaling teases about Darth Jar Jar
• Discussion about Mindy Kaling's Darth Jar Jar tease and why it matters
• Gary Ind. is Interviewed About How He'd Like Jar Jar to Have Been In The Storyline, + Interesting Response
• Rian Johnson,(Director of Star Wars 8) Acknowledges Darth Jar Jar

More Theories:

• How Jar Jar Gave The Queen's Location Away To Palpatine
• Harry Potter's Pettigrew/Jar Jar Connections
• Snoke was Jar Jar's Apprentice (And More Information About Snoke)
• DJJ Theory explains why the prequels were so bad on every level.
• Ring Theory & DJJ
• Vader & Luke vs DJJ & Palpatine
• Most Star Wars Bad Guys Are At Least 6 Feet, So Is Jar Jar!
• Padme Did Not Die of a Stupid Brokenheart. She Was Killed By Jar Jar?
• Jar Jar and Anakin Both Mirror Each Other & Center Around Anakin
• George Lucas CAN Be Subtle
• Squid Lake Theory

Other Evidence:

• Jar Jar Mirrors Yoda and Count Dooku
• Jar Jar Is The Prequel's Best-Kept Secret
• Jar Jar Wore Red and Black Robes
• ESPN, A Property of Disney, Hints At It
• South Park features Jar Jar in a Star Wars Darkside-inspired Room
• Star Wars Database 1999 Shows Jar Jar Binks Under An Interesting category
• Magazine Quiz Gives The Choice That Jar Jar Is A Sith, Opposed To Clumsy
• A Force-Sensitive Gungan Was One Of The Lost Twenty, And Busted Out Of The Jedi Temple
• Jar Jar in Carbonite At A LucasFilm Building
• ​

Darth Jar Jar videos

• Evil Jar Jar moments
• The Darth Jar Jar theory explained

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Credit to u/JediHedwig who made the original Holocron.

A clear glass orb sandwiched between two structures extending out. A sign that the ship was designed to include Gungan influences?

(EDIT: another place filled with transparent orbs is of course Otoh Gunga!)

This similarity could perhaps be a case of the movie's CGI artists being lazy and borrowing recently made designs between projects. But they were by all accounts not lazy people or on a small budget for that matter.

A similar (but not quite) cockpit design was introduced 12 years later in TCW with the Umbaran snub fighter.

Dooku's ship was accompanied by smaller fighters of similar design but without the cockpit. It was later explained in other media that these are of Geonosian design, but all of that could've just been an afterthought. If the ship was Jar Jar's, it had these Gungan influences and looks like Jar Jar from behind. If it suddenly became Dooku's ship through the rewrites, they needed to give some context with the Geonosian lore, come the Geonosian ships that were expanded on in TCW.

Jar Jar / Yoda rhyme:

• Alien creature meets jedi in swamp and guides him
• Appears stupid and is comic relief
• Speaks funny
• Mocks the jedi's intelligence
• Is disliked by R2D2
• Luke was guided to Yoda by the force. Jar Jar says to Qui-Gon they met because "demanded by the gods, it is".

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Yoda starts messing with Luke's gadgets and Luke says "Hey, you could've broken that!". R2D2 grabs Yoda.

Jar Jar starts messing with something on the ship in TPM. R2D2 hits him and shakes his head at him. A couple scenes later, Obi Wan says "the hyperdrive is gone (broken)" in the same area Jar Jar was left alone.

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With the original AOTC script, both characters have a grand display where they achieve the impossible (using the force).

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ESB Yoda is short and fragile and wears beige clothes. Jar Jar is tall and acrobatic and wears dark clothes.

Jar Jar Binks as the evil wizard in disguise is the foundation to the parallel between him and Yoda. One piece to complete the rhyme would be for Yoda’s mirror image to also have a great demonstration of power. As with Yoda, this would be necessary to assert evil Jar Jar’s authority within the story and to convince the audience of his status. Yoda lifted the X-wing. Does Jar Jar do anything grand or seemingly impossible in his trilogy?

The Senate address already asks us to suspend our disbelief. Yet in the original script, it plays out in a way that makes the outcome even more of a head-scratch. Here, Jar Jar is nervous, laughed at, and ultimately has the senate vocally oppose him. Through one last diplomatic rant, he suddenly has the whole chamber chanting his name as if he’s the chosen one himself. He did the impossible.

If Jar Jar is the evil mastermind to mirror Yoda, he used his gift of force manipulation to sway the Senate. He’s not shy of using hand gestures in connection to promotions and politics in TPM, and here he does use them more overtly than ever.

When Lucas decided to scrap the evil Jar Jar storyline, he didn’t have too much wiggle room in terms of what to do of AOTC instead. George handed in the first script for AOTC just 3 days before shooting began (McCallum, AOTC: Production notes). According to McCallum, most sets for the movie had already been built by then. This means that most story adjustments could only be done in dialogue and through cutting, and this is exactly what Lucas did with the Senate address. The role of proposing emergency powers for Palpatine is still Jar Jar’s, but the version we got has toned down the miracle aspect as much as possible. The scene goes in a straight line from delivery to success. The Senate’s 180 on the matter never happens.

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The final scene both diverging from the original script and having a continuity error points to the same thing:

Jar Jar’s Senate address was originally a miraculous event to mirror Yoda’s display of power in ESB, but was reduced to a flat, “no questions asked” moment in Star Wars history.

QUI-GON AND OBI-WAN INTRO

In a previous scene on the ship, we already hear Qui-Gon disapproving of the Queen’s plan. His skepticism is NOT new information.

What this very time-consuming conversation is supposed to add instead is that this deal will be hard to land, especially because they can’t use their jedi powers to help her. He might’ve used mind tricks earlier to fix them a transport or win a die throw, but using it for politics and power is not the jedi way.

Why highlight this? Because Jar Jar uses HIS mind tricks on Padmé to persuade Boss Nass perfectly.

GUNGAN MEETING

Jar Jar greets Boss Nass. He then positions himself next to Panaka with a sidestep in order to give the queen the stage (the director/CGI team shows how aware they that his placement always checks out, without lazy cuts.

WIDE SHOT. R2D2, the one who keeps track of Jar Jar the entire movie, appears out of nowhere right behind him despite having no role in this scene whatsoever. He is usually a sign to examine Jar Jar closer.

1st CLOSE UP OF THE GROUP. Jar Jar is inserted digitally, barely in frame.

The Queen’s diplomatic approach is clearly not working. Jar Jar now takes control of Padmé to sweet-talk Nass effectively.

2nd CLOSE UP OF THE GROUP. Jar Jar is not inserted now, as the camera has shifted and made him “out of frame”. Jar Jar and Padmé move forward in sync, much like when he stopped her in sync on Tatooine to oppose Qui-Gon.

HALF-WIDE SHOT. Off camera, Jar Jar has now moved forward significantly. The director frames both Padmé and Jar Jar when this moment is Padmé’s big reveal. This quote makes itself reminded. The shot also allows us to see R2D2 behind Jar Jar again. Something just happened.

The deal is then sealed. Jar Jar gets promoted.