For a kid who was raised on the OT, I find it interesting that of my 3 favorite Star Wars characters, 2 of them appear only in the PT. Long ago, I wrote about how much I identified with Padme, yet there is another character that I identify with.

I admire the Jedi committment to service and trying to make the world a better place. From the OT we learn that the Jedi Knights were once the Guardians of Peace and Justice in the Old Republic. We know they're powerful, but we really don't get to see them in action. In ANH, Obi-Wan is an old man who has clearly lost a step or two. If we believe Darth Vader, Obi-Wan is weak and no longer as strong as he used to be. According to Obi-Wan his strength lay in some riddle involving striking him down, which he then allows Vader to do. In ESB, we meet a crazy old hermit purported to be a great Jedi Master. We get a better idea of what the Jedi are capable of as Yoda raises an X-Wing out of the swamp, but even then, Yoda is 900 years old. He needs a cane to walk and can't move very fast. And Luke is but an inexperienced Jedi student. I'm not suggesting that Obi-Wan was in any way a weak Jedi, but George Lucas himself has said that in the OT all we saw in terms of lightsaber dueling was an old man vs. a crippled man, and a young kid vs. a crippled man. Just who were the Jedi anyways?

The first answer to this question came in the form of Qui-Gon Jinn. The first thing we realize is that Qui-Gon trained Obi-Wan, so this guy must be pretty strong. We also see Qui-Gon's confidence. This is a man who has complete and total trust in the Force. He knows who he is and what he's supposed to do. And he is confident in who he is. Yet underneath this confident and strong exterior, Qui-Gon is a man of compassion. Qui-Gon shows compassion to Jar Jar and takes him along. On Tatooine, he befriends young Anakin Skywalker. I've always found Obi-Wan's "pathetic lifeform" comment troubling. It could be chalked up to an insensitive youth, but one would also think that the Jedi respect for life would have prevented such an attitude. Is there a pervasive attitude throughout the Order that would have influenced Obi-Wan to make such a comment as that? Or maybe Obi-Wan said it tongue in cheek.

What's interesting is Qui-Gon's response. In both cases he refers to the merit of the individual in question. Jar Jar could be of some assistance. Anakin is the boy who enabled them to get the parts they need. Regardless of what worth others may see in a clumsy Gungan and a 9 year old slave boy, Qui-Gon sees something in each of them. His kindness to Anakin's mother is also seen in the way he treats her and eventually working to free Anakin. He knows it's hard for her to give up her son, but he also knows that she wants Anakin to pursue his dreams. He even gives them time to say goodbye.

Another thing I admire about Qui-Gon is his sense of purpose and faith in the guidance of the Force. Repeatedly he refers to the will of the Force. For Qui-Gon, this isn't some Jedi platitude, but a way of life. He seeks the Force to guide him in almost everything he does. As such, he is open to currents that may take him in a different direction than others expect him to. When Padme voices her disapproval of putting everything in Anakin's hands, he tells her the Queen doesn't need to know. Personally, I suspect at this moment he knows who Padme is anyways. Just look at his reaction when she steps forward during the meeting with the Gungans. He is confident that the Force has guided him specifically to Anakin, and he won't let doubt get in the way.

Qui-Gon is also not a man who seeks honorifics for their own sake. Obi-Wan mentions that Qui-Gon would be on the Jedi Council if he would just follow the code, yet Qui-Gon doesn't care about a seat on the Jedi Council. While he respects the Council, he also is going to do what he thinks is right, even if that means defying the Jedi Council. Qui-Gon epitomizes what I think it means to be a Jedi. Anakin would later note that compassion was at the heart of being a Jedi, and he's right. Some of the EU materials on Obi-Wan talk of how much he learned from Qui-Gon about the value that every being has. He's come a long way from his reference to pathetic life forms.

What I find most interesting about Qui-Gon is his impact on the saga. He's just as important to the saga as Yoda and Obi-Wan. It is Qui-Gon who discovers Anakin. I believe that if Qui-Gon had not discovered Anakin, than Sidious would have. Maul would have sensed the boy too and who knows what would have happened if the Jedi had never gotten a chance to train him. The biggest impact that Qui-Gon had though was on the Jedi Order. His connection to the living Force somehow taught him of the ability to retain one's identity after death. This appears to be a new concept even to Yoda, who was smart enough to realize that even at 900 years old, he still had much to learn about the Force. The strength here is Qui-Gon's humility. He was willing to come back and teach Yoda and later Obi-Wan about this ability. It would come into play later when Obi-Wan uses it as a taunt against Vader. The irony here is that the Jedi have figured out the secret to eternal life, and while the Sith want it, they can never attain it. As referenced in the ROTS novelization, the key to attaining it is the release of self, or putting the needs of another above yourself. That very idea of service lies at the heart of what it means to be a Jedi.

In some ways, Qui-Gon may have been the most powerful Jedi ever because of the life of service he chose. Sometimes the Jedi were too focused on what the code said. Qui-Gon understood that the code was a set of guidelines that in some ways had become outdated, which Yoda acknowledges at the end of the ROTS novelization. While there was tremendous good in the code, Qui-Gon also knew that serving the Force meant serving the needs of others, even if serving such needs went against the rigidness of the code. Qui-Gon's connection to the living Force helped him learn the meaning of what it truly means to be a Jedi.

For me, Qui-Gon became the definition of what a Jedi should be. He was confident in who he was and what his purpose in life was, but he also showed compassion to others.