While the Star Wars universe is immense and continues to grow, there remain particular elements that fans beg to see explored. The name of Yoda's species and the origins of Darth Plagueis come to mind. However, while there are certain elements that seem to be shrouded in mystery for a reason, there are others that appear to have simply been forgotten. The Jedi Service Corps is one prominent example.

The Jedi Service Corps is designed for Jedi students never accepted as Padawans. If memory serves, the novel The Rising Force implies that if a Jedi Youngling reaches the age of 13 and has not been selected as a Padawan, then he or she is assigned to a branch of the Jedi Service Corps, which includes such departments as the Agricultural Corps, the Medical Corps, the Educational Corps, and the Exploration Corps.

Imagine being a young Jedi trainee who has been on a life path since as long as you can remember. Your ultimate goal has been laid out for you: you are to learn about the Force and the ways of the Jedi, eventually becoming a Jedi Knight and serving the galaxy at large. You don't know your family, nor any other way of life. But at the age of thirteen--really think about this, and maybe imagine a thirteen-year-old you know--at the ripe old age of thirteen, just barely into puberty, you are told that you apparently don't have what it takes, because nobody has taken you as a Padawan. And therefore you've been assigned to a particular branch of the Jedi Service Corps where you will wheedle away the rest of your sorry existence.

And it's not like this only happens to the clear Jedi failures. Obi-Wan--the wise, great Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator--was weeks away from an assignment to the Agricultural Corps. Imagine what the galaxy would have been like without him! And imagine how many other would-be Jedi's futures disappeared with an assignment to the Jedi Service Corps!

As such a curiosity, one would assume all sorts of stories have been told about individuals making up this group. It sure seems ripe for the picking. But so far, it has only been mentioned in passing, either in The Rising Force or Star Wars: The Complete Locations or retconned into a source for Palpatine's Dark Acolytes.

But that's all changed now... maybe. You see, the first story in the recently published Clone Wars Adventures: Volume 10 follows three Force-sensitive kid farmers on Dantooine who meet up with some Separatists. And for all intents and purposes, they certainly seem to be members of the Agricultural Corps. And yes, it's very strange to see such a curious, obscure group crop up in a graphic novel intended for younger readers.

Even so, it's nice to see a story about these Force-sensitive kids. One can only hope that this is the beginning of an emergence of stories on those in the Jedi Service Corps, and not a mere blip on the radar of canon that will soon drift back into obscurity.