In survived Order 66 years prior. Bits and pieces of Kanan's past are told throughout Rebels, but nothing substantial is revealed about his survival. The comic Kanan: The Last Padawan shows exactly how Kanan evaded capture.
Written by Greg Weisman and drawn by Pepe Larraz, Jacopo Camagni, Andrea Broccardo, and David Curiel, Kanan: The Last Padawan starts with Order 66 and shows how Kanan learned to shed his Jedi past to survive.
Kanan, born Caleb Dume, is a pivotal figure in Star Wars: Rebels, where he has to find his place as a Jedi and with the Force once more after hiding his true identity for years. Once Kanan embraced being a Jedi, he went on to become master to Ezra Bridger and turned the tide of the war against Grand iral Thrawn.
Kanan's Order 66 experience was more traumatic than the average Padawan.
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Despite his status as a major Imperial leader, Grand iral Thrawn was absent during the original Star Wars trilogy (in Legends and in canon).
Kanan and His Master Depa Billaba Were Recovering From a Battle on Kaller Before Order 66
The Pair and Their Squad of Clone Troopers Were Taking a Long-Deserved Break
Kanan Jarrus: The Last Padawan begins with an adult Kanan on the Ghost with his crew. When he receives directives that they have a mission on the planet Kaller, Kanan instantly freezes up and retreats into his mind, thinking how much he hates Kaller. As Kanan’s memories play out, it is revealed that Jedi padawan Kanan (then Caleb) and Jedi Master and General Depa Billaba fought and won a battle on Kaller. After a short scuffle with the planet’s leaders, Kanan, Billaba, and their crew of three Clone Troopers set up camp in the wild, planning to leave the next morning.
The ragtag family, forged in the horrors of wartime, sit around the fire and talk about the battles. Billaba asks Kanan his thoughts on being a soldier during such dark times, to which the overly energetic child responds that he feels as though the trenches are where he belongs. Billaba reveals that she is against the Jedi taking military action in the war, outraging Kanan, who can't believe she'd question the Jedi Council. In response, Billaba points out that Kanan has his own reputation for endless questions, causing their trooper friends to burst out laughing. Only moments later, one of the troopers receives the dreaded message: Execute Order 66.
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Kanan Has Immense Guilt Rooted in Abandoning His Master
As seen in a great deal of Star Wars media, Order 66 unleashed pure chaos across the galaxy, with Clone Troopers suddenly massacring the Jedi they serve. As the troopers turn against Kanan and Billaba, Kanan has a difficult time believing what he’s seeing - after all, these troopers were his friends and fought beside him. Billaba, however, is clear of mind and commands that Kanan escape, knowing this is a losing battle. Kanan is defiant at first, not wanting to leave his master behind. But in the end, he obeys, despite knowing his master is lying about being okay.
As Kanan runs, he turns just in time to see his master cut down. With heartache, anger, and fear overwhelming the young padawan, Kanan continues to flee, trying his best to evade the troopers that are on his heels. Eventually, he manages to blend in with the locals and escape Kaller, but that does not stop the troopers from continuing their search for "the last padawan." Kanan arrives at Plateau City and lives the life of a scavenger in the alleys. He eats only what he can find in trash cans, all the while longing for Coruscant.
The first episode of the animated series The Bad Batch retcons the events of the comic to a degree. While Kanan still watches Billaba being slain while holding off the troopers for him to escape, Kanan runs in a frenzy through the woods and runs into Clone Force 99, also known as the Bad Batch. The troopers are kind and try to help Kanan, but Kanan isn’t aware that Clone Force 99 were unaffected by Order 66 and is too terrified of them to listen. He runs off into the unknown while the Bad Batch continue on their journey.
Without Obi-Wan, Kanan's story would have ended very differently... and much sooner.
The story underlines how traumatic Order 66 was for Kanan, coming at a point where he felt truly at home despite the war raging around him. The troopers were Kanan's close friends and they inexplicably betrayed him, going so far as to kill his mentor in front of him. Order 66 wasn't fun for any Jedi or Padawan, but through his exile on Kaller, Kanan goes through even more than most, shaping his outlook and his eventual commitment to the Anti-Empire cause.
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Evading Capture as a Jedi After Order 66 Was a Great Task
While living on the streets, a criminal named Janus Kasmir finds the boy and offers him food. Kasmir offers Kanan a place to bathe and sleep for one night on his ship, but insists that the offer is only for one night. The next morning, Kanan hijacks Kasmir's ship to return to Coruscant. But while in hyperspace, Kanan receives Obi-Wan’s final message to the Jedi, commanding them not to return to the Temple, as it is a trap and the Jedi have fallen. Hopeless, Kanan returns to Plateau City, where Kasmir offers Kanan the chance to his criminal schemes.
Kanan exchanges his lightsaber for a blaster and changes from his Jedi robes into an outfit that is more reminiscent of the one he wears in Star Wars: Rebels. While working with Kasmir to pull heists and resell stolen goods, the Clone Troopers are still tracking Kanan’s whereabouts to execute the escaped padawan. The showdown is inevitable, with the troopers finally catching Kanan and imprisoning him on their ship. However, Kanan still sees them as his partners in war and does not understand how they could behave in such a deadly way.
Even Kanan's hairstyle is a sad artifact of how he survived Order 66.
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Instead of making Ezra hide his force gifts, Kanan helps Ezra embrace his talent. What if Ezra never met Kanan; the Jedi way would be close to fading.
Kanan, known for not holding anything back, reminds the troopers how much they respected Billaba. Though one trooper starts to question the root of their actions, the other remains loyal. But Kanan’s tenacity is rewarded, as one trooper realizes their behavior is nonsensical and they betrayed their general. He frees Kanan before blasting the controls of the ship, causing the craft to explode. As Kanan is ejected into space, Kasmir is waiting to rescue him. After his escape, Kanan takes one of Kasmir’s new ships - which Kanan aptly names The Escape - and begins his travels across the galaxy as a criminal.
How Kanan’s Hairstyle Choice During His Criminal Life Makes His Actions in Rebels More Heartbreaking
I Can't Believe Star Wars Made a Ponytail Tearworthy
One of the most satisfying yet heartbreaking elements in Kanan: The Last Padawan is how an explanation is given for Kanan’s signature ponytail hairstyle he sports in Star Wars: Rebels. When Kanan is first taken in by Kasmir, Kasmir notes that Kanan has a distinct tell when he is lying: running his hand through his loose hair. Directly afterward, Kanan ties his hair back in a ponytail to prevent the unsavory folk he does business with from knowing if and when he's bluffing.
In the episode “Jedi Night” of the final season of Star Wars: Rebels, Kanan is about to embark on a mission to save the Captain of the Ghost and his love, Hera Syndulla. Knowing that he will not survive the rescue mission, Kanan kneels down and uses a dagger to cut off his ponytail. Given the backstory provided in Kanan: The Last Padawan, Kanan choosing to cut off the ponytail that kept his ability to lie symbolizes that he is choosing to meet his death with a clear conscience and the truth of his past life as Caleb Dume.
Kanan Jarrus' backstory shows how much he managed to overcome in order to embark on a life of heroism, making his eventual accomplishments all the more impressive. It also shows the vast difference between escaping Order 66 as a fully trained Jedi knight and doing so as a Padawan, full of fear and confusion. The Last Padawan shows Kanan totally isolated and alone, fighting to survive despite not knowing why he's being targeted - a bitter origin that turns the Star Wars hero into perhaps Order 66's most impressive survivor, given how low it brought him and how high he subsequently managed to rise.
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A Jedi Padawan who survived Order 66 in large part thanks to his master's sacrifice, Kanan survived during the Dark Times of the Empire's reign and became an important member of the Lothal rebel cell. Kanan sacrificed much over the years, but gained much as well, falling in love with Hera Syndulla. Although he gave his life for his friends, he left a legacy behind in his own Padawan Ezra Bridger, as well as his son Jacen.
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Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
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Star Wars: Rebels
- Release Date
- 2014 - 2018-00-00
- Network
- Disney XD
- Directors
- Bosco Ng, Steward Lee, Dave Filoni, Saul Ruiz, Melchior Zwyer, Sergio Paez, Brad Rau, Justin Ridge
Cast
Freddie Prinze Jr.Kanan Jarrus (voice)
Taylor GrayEzra Bridger (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingBUYStar Wars: Rebels is an animated series set between Episodes III and IV, chronicling the efforts of the starship Ghost's crew, including Kanan, Hera, and the street-smart Ezra, as they resist the oppressive Galactic Empire's control over the galaxy, confronting new villains and sparking a rebellion.
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