Star Wars: Visions Volume 3

Episode 3

It's not too hard to see why, of all the Star Wars: Visions episodes, The Ninth Jedi is the episode that not only gets a sequel (this week's The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope) but also an entire forthcoming anime series. While other vignettes are arguably better, The Ninth Jedi has one thing going for it that contenders like The Village Bride do not: a complete freedom from any meaningful continuity.

The Ninth Jedi is set so far in the future that the events of the films, TV series, books, and comics are basically irrelevant. While the world-building rules of Star Wars remain intact—e.g., how the force works, the races that populate the galaxy, and what kinds of technology exist—things are so radically different that Jedi don't even know how to build their own lightsabers anymore. Thus, without any connection to Skywalkers, the Republic, or even the Jedi Order, The Ninth Jedi feels like a completely new take on Star Wars that's both novel and familiar.

The original The Ninth Jedi introduced us to the basics of this time period. The Sith rule and war rages unchecked across the galaxy. Meanwhile, the Jedi are few and unorganized—and the Sith are willing to do whatever it takes to make things remain this way.

Child of Hope picks up with our heroes in the early stages of their quest to rebuild the Jedi Order. Pursued by bounty hunters, they make their escape into hyperspace—accidentally leaving Kara behind. Luckily, she is found and brought aboard an ancient derelict starship by its sole remaining inhabitant, the service droid, Teto, and the two explore the ship while looking for a way to help Teto's master.

This story continues from the original The Ninth Jedi thematically in that Kara is incredibly unsure of herself. Despite her role in defeating the Sith that came to kill Ethan and Juro, she still views those events as a failure—that if she had been a true Jedi, her father would have never been kidnapped in the first place. Kara faces the “do or do not, there is no try” dilemma that Luke once faced. Because she does not believe in herself—has the creeping fear of failure nagging at her every action—she is far weaker than her true potential would suggest.

This episode is tragic because, over the course of her time with Teto, Kara begins to grow into the person she could become. Together, she and Teto not only reach his master but also fight off a numerically superior force and two specially trained Jedi hunters. However, all this confidence is dashed because, even though she can emerge victorious in the objective sense, she clearly views it as another failure. To her, losing Teto—despite Teto tricking her to save both her and the rest of the Jedi—is yet another sign that she isn't good enough.

Juro, Ethan, and Homen see what she did as amazing—alone with an unknown droid, she defeated an army of bounty hunters. No one looks down on her. No one sees her as a failure—no one but herself. And that is the true moral of this story: the real enemy isn't without, it's within.

But will Kara be able to defeat her own doubts? We'll have to see next year when the story continues in Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi.

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Star Wars: Visions Volume 3 is currently streaming on Disney+.