Kanan Jarrus, a protagonist in Star Wars: Rebels, has his early life explored in greater depth through the comic series Star Wars: Kanan – The Last Padawan, which reveals how he survived Order 66. However, one small detail in the comic makes Kanan’s heartbreaking fate even more tragic than I ever thought possible.
Kanan cutting his hair becomes the ultimate symbol of freeing himself from his haunting past...
Kanan Jarrus, voiced by Freddie Prinze Jr., is a former Jedi Padawan who survived Order 66 as a child when his master, Depa Billaba, sacrificed herself to give him time to escape the Clone Troopers.
To evade the Inquisitors hunting down surviving Jedi—and to bury his own past—Kanan spent years living as a criminal. However, during the events of Star Wars: Rebels, he finally embraces his Jedi identity once more after taking on a young Force-sensitive Padawan, Ezra Bridger.
A Crucial Recap of Kanan: The Last Padawan
The Tragedy Is in the Hair (Trust Me)
Kanan: The Last Padawan-—written by Greg Weisman and illustrated by Pepe Larraz, Jacopo Camagni, Andrea Broccardo, and David Curiel—was released in 2015, beginning with young Padawan Kanan Jarrus—then known as Caleb Dume—and his master, Depa Billaba, at the moment Order 66 is executed. After barely escaping death, Kanan is forced to live on the streets of the planet Kaller before being taken in by a criminal named Janus Kasmir, who teaches him a harsh truth: to survive, he must abandon his Jedi past.
Trading his Jedi robes and lightsaber for street clothes and a blaster, Kanan adopts a new look meant to conceal his true identity. While Kasmir approves of the disguise, there’s one glaring issue—Kanan’s hair. Long and unkempt from his time on the streets, his hair gives away more than just poor grooming. Kasmir quickly picks up on Kanan’s nervous tell: every time he lies, he runs his fingers through his hair. In Kasmir’s cutthroat world, a tell that obvious could easily turn deadly for Kanan.
Kanan Slices Off the Ponytail He’s Worn Since Childhood
A Simple Hairstyle Shattered My Heart
Kanan takes Kasmir’s observation into and ties his hair back in a ponytail to solve the problem altogether. While the detail about Kanan’s hair takes up no more than two s on a single page, it struck me so deeply that I had to pause my reading as the implications of the origin of his ponytail ran rampant in my mind. If the ponytail is a symbol of Kanan living an untruthful life, then the climactic moment in Rebels when he cuts his hair holds massive significance for him as a fully realized character.
As a diehard Rebels fan, I’ve overanalyzed bits and pieces of lore from other Star Wars mediums, tying them into significant moments in Rebels. But this particular piece of knowledge from Kanan: The Last Padawan is by far the most haunting. I never once questioned why Kanan’s hair was styled one way or another while watching Rebels. It always seemed like an insignificant detail—something dictated by the showrunners’ preference, much like how Sabine Wren changes her hair in each season.
When Kanan slices off his ponytail in the final season of Rebels, in the episode “Jedi Night,” he does so after making a decision he knows will lead to his death. By this point, he has fully accepted what he must do, understanding that his sacrifice will ensure his team’s safety. Cutting his hair becomes the ultimate symbol of freeing himself from his haunting past and shedding the life of lies and crime he built before meeting Hera. To me, Kanan is choosing to face his death with a clear conscience, giving his faith to the Force, and accepting Caleb Dume once more.
Star Wars: Kanan Jarrus’ Comics History Could Shape The Galaxy’s Future
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.
Why "Jedi Night" is Even More Tragic Than You
Star Wars: Rebels, Season 4, Episode 10
Kanan’s death upon embracing his true self makes “Jedi Night” even harder to watch for me. It’s not just losing a character I grew to love more with each episode, but watching a man who finally found peace after a tumultuous past lose his life just as it was beginning. The epilogue further emphasizes the tragedy, showing that Kanan died before he had the chance to live an unencumbered life, with Hera and Kanan having a son that Kanan will never know.
The fact that “Jedi Night” marks the final time Kanan and Hera are together is made even more poignant by the title of the novel where they first met, A New Dawn, adding another layer of symbolism and tragedy to Kanan’s death. Kanan likely wouldn’t have survived that long if Kasmir hadn’t pointed out his hair. The lies saved Kanan’s life, and the truth allowed him to die at peace. The tragedy of it all, stemming back to Kanan: The Last Padawan, where a simple ponytail symbolized Kanan Jarrus’s true self, is deeply heartbreaking.
Star Wars: Kanan – The Last Padawan #1 is now available to read from Marvel Comics!
-
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.
-
Star Wars Rebels
- Network
- Disney Channel
- Showrunner
- Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg
- Directors
- Dave Filoni
Cast
David Oyelowo
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Tiya Sircar
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingBUYSet between Episodes III and IV of the Star Wars film franchise, Star Wars Rebels is a canon animated series that follows a group of ragtag heroes who band together to face the Empire. In an age where the Galactic Empire is hunting down the last of the Jedi, a teenage outcast named Ezra Bridger is discovered to be force sensitive by a surviving Jedi known as Kanan Jarrus. Agreeing to them and accept Jedi training, Ezra becomes a part of a small but growing crew of rebels determined to destroy the empire covertly.
