‘The Mandalorian’: Is Jedi Kelleran Beq Actually Jar Jar Binks?

Episode 4 of The Mandalorian season 3 allowed us to see a welcome surprise in the form of Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, who was responsible for rescuing Grogu from the Jedi Temple around three decades before the events of The Mandalorian. But the thing about Beq’s character is that he actually has a connection with one of the most well-known Star Wars characters of all time, Jar Jar Binks. So, is Kelleran Beq Jar Jar Binks?

Kelleran Beq and Jar Jar Binks are not the same characters and are entirely different in the Star Wars universe. However, they share a connection in that the same actor, Ahmed Best, plays them. But despite being portrayed by the same actor, they are not the same characters.

The thing about Ahmed Best getting the chance to portray a revered and respected Jedi is that he gets to redeem himself as an actor after years of living with the fact that he played a character that many Star Wars fans hated. Of course, we are not sure how Jar Jar’s future will be settled now that Ahmed Best plays a different character. Regardless, let’s look at what we know about Kelleran’s connection to Jar Jar.

Who Is Kelleran Beq?

After many fans spent years wondering how Grogu escaped the events of Order 66 in the Jedi Temple, episode 4 of The Mandalorian season 3 finally gave us some answers. The truth was that his escape was aided by a Jedi Master named Kelleran Beq, who worked his way through many clone troopers to get the youngling out of the Jedi Temple and away from Coruscant. But who is Kelleran Beq?

Kelleran Beq is not a new character in the Star Wars universe. Of course, a lot of people questioned whether or not he was canon because his first appearance as a character happened in a children’s game show called Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge, which allows children to go through obstacle courses and challenges that Jedi younglings go through whenever they train to become Jedi. Kelleran Beq is the host of that game show.

But Kelleran’s appearance in episode 4 of The Mandalorian season 3 dispelled any doubts about whether or not he is a canon character, as he was the one who rescued Grogu from the clones and allowed him to get out of the temple safely. Kelleran is a Jedi Master who worked as an instructor for younglings still training in the Jedi Temple. In that regard, he was in the temple the entire time, all while most of the other Jedi Knights were out in the galaxy fighting in the Clone Wars.

Called “The Sabered Hand” due to his proficiency with a lightsaber, Kelleran Beq is as powerful as they come and is a Jedi that knows a thing or two about training younglings. That’s why it was great that he was the one that rescued Grogu, as he knows how to handle kids better than most other Jedi. 

What Is Kelleran’s Connection to Jar Jar Binks?

Of course, for many fans, Kelleran Beq is a new character, and his actor, Ahmed Best, is also particularly new to the Star Wars world. But the thing about him is that he actually has a real-world connection with Jar Jar Binks.

Introduced during the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Jar Jar Binks is one of the most polarizing characters of the entire Star Wars lore because he was often seen as an annoying alien that just could do things right. He had a big role in the events of Episode I, only for his role to diminish during the subsequent movies and even the Clone Wars series. To this day, many fans still aren’t sure whether or not they like Jar Jar.

Jar Jar became a senator after the events of Episode I, as he was instrumental in uniting the Gungan people of Naboo with the rest of the planet. The thing about Binks is that he was the one who proposed emergency powers to be given to Chancellor Palpatine during the events of Episode II: Attack of the Clones. And it was through his emergency powers that Palpatine became incredibly powerful before he reorganized the Republic into the Empire.

Those who know their Star Wars history would know that the actor that portrayed Jar Jar Binks is the same actor that plays Kelleran Beq. Ahmed Best started his Star Wars journey as the man behind the costume of one of the most ridiculous and hated characters in Star Wars. As such, the connection between Kelleran and Jar Jar can be found through Ahmed Best, one of the few to play two different Star Wars characters.

Kelleran and Jar Jar Are Not the Same Character

While there is a connection between Kelleran Beq and Jar Jar Binks in the sense that the same actor plays them, the thing is that they are not the same characters. Kelleran is human, and Jar Jar has always been a Gungan. They are two different characters that the same actor merely portrays.

Of course, outside of their connection through Ahmed Best, we don’t know whether or not there is a deeper connection between the two characters. We found out in episode 4 of The Mandalorian season 3 that Kelleran and Grogu escaped Coruscant with the help of some Naboo soldiers.

While the humans of Naboo are different from the Gungans of that planet, they are close allies, which means that the humans and Gungans may have worked together to help some Jedi flee the Jedi Temple. Of course, Kelleran also said that these Naboo soldiers were his friends, as he might have also made friends with the Gungans of Naboo.

This means that there is a possibility that he and Jar Jar are actually friends and that Binks was one of the people that helped facilitate the escape of the Jedi younglings from the Jedi Temple. If that is true, this could be his redemption arc. We all know that Jar Jar Binks has always had a negative connotation in the real world and the Star Wars universe, considering that he did some idiotic things throughout his lifetime.