After he goofily, accidentally helped give Senator Palpatine control over the galactic senate and made Star Wars fans over the age of 8 question their allegiance to the franchise, we didn’t see much of Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars universe. The Star Wars novel Aftermath: Empire’s End is finally giving the world’s Jar Jar heads the closure they need. The novel contains a section wherein we learn that the goofy Gungan was shunned for his political mistakes, and eventually took up a life on Naboo as a sad clown haunted by his guilt. Mashable describes the following scene between Jar Jar and a boy named Mapo thusly:
“Meesa Jar Jar,†says the clown when Mapo introduces himself. The clown distracts the orphan from his own sadness by popping his eyes and bulging his cheeks, but is hiding a sadness of his own.
“Jar Jar makin some uh-oh mistakens,†the Gungan says, explaining why he isn’t wanted anywhere either. “Desa hisen Naboo tink I help the uh-oh Empire.†He stares into the distance, suggesting he knows more than he’s saying.
Well, this is some Arthur Miller–level despair, and honestly, far darker than that theory that Jar Jar Binks became a vicious Sith Lord.