Chronological Canon Content Review and Analysis #1 - Age of Republic: Qui-Gon Jinn

*Spoilers for Age of Republic: Qui-Gon Jinn ahead!*

I'm beginning my dive into the Star Wars chronological reading order of the canon content. This will not be a linear posting situation, I will definitely jump back and forth between topics but for the most part I would love to explore the galaxy far, far way in a chronological manner.

I've gone through a lot of websites in search of the most comprehensive overview of the chronological timeline including both full-length books and comics. The three best that I have found come from starwarsreading.com, comicbookreadingorders.com, and yodasdatapad.com. I would highly recommend checking these out if you're looking to get into reading Star Wars content as well and have no idea where to start. There are so many helpful sites that can give you some guidance on the best places to start, but if you're looking to read in chronological order, these websites are gonna be your best friend!

Also, side note, if you are looking to get into reading Star Wars and you are interested in the comics, please find your local comic book store and pick up a hard copy comic every once in awhile if you have the means to do so. My local comic book store has basically been the only thing getting me through the weeks because I look forward to going there on the weekends to pick up some of the newly released Star Wars comics (a lot of the new ones have been incredible too!). Plus it's always great to support small, local businesses! Anyway, I got off topic but it's something I didn't realize I felt so strongly about until I started writing. 😂

So now into the real bulk of this post: a discussion on Age of Republic: Qui-Gon Jinn. This is the only digital comic that I own and it was actually one of the first Star Wars comics I read even before starting my chronological read-through. I've probably read this comic about ten times at this point because whenever I'm bored and want to read a comic without getting invested in a full-length story, this comic is perfect for that. The Age of Republic collection is made up of one-shots about different characters from the Prequels Era. They have these collections for each trilogy and although a lot of people seem to dislike the one-shots, I actually really enjoy them. These stories are short because they have to fit into one isolated storyline that indirectly connects to the broader timeline. For this reason, the stories are not always the most intriguing or unique but they're generally a fun, short read that gives a little insight into the characters they're focused on. I would say that Age of Republic: Qui-Gon Jinn is actually one of the best one-shots that I have read because I think it had enough insight to develop the character to some degree.

The main focus of this comic is "balance" explained through the experiences of Qui-Gon Jinn. I liked this idea because Qui-Gon always seemed like one of the most balanced Jedi in the prequels because he was aware of the faults of the Jedi. The Clone Wars developed the idea that the Jedi were just pawns in a war even more than the prequels and it always felt like Qui-Gon was supposed to be one of the main figures that recognized similar situations and questioned them in The Phantom Menace. I honestly think Qui-Gon is one of the most underrated Jedi solely because of how insightful he is. In my own *very personal opinion* that may be unpopular, I think that Qui-Gon had a better understanding of the entirety of situations rather than the fairly isolated point of view of the Jedi Council. You'll never see me genuinely trash-talking the Jedi Council because an actual group of Jedi is like one of my favorite things to see in Star Wars, but they were obviously blind to a lot of stuff. I like the fact that in this comic, Qui-Gon goes on a journey to find a better understanding of the purpose of the Jedi as well as what role they should really be playing. I love the fact that this journey parallels Yoda's journey in season six of The Clone Wars when Qui-Gon speaks to him in a similar manner. This insinuates that Qui-Gon even taught the great Yoda something. I just think that overall, this comic helps to develop Qui-Gon's character whom we didn't get to see much of in the movies.