Obi-Wan Kenobi’s message from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, others take a bit of digging to be revealed. One such connection exists between the protagonist, Kanan Jarrus (formerly Caleb Dume), and the legendary Jedi Master Mace Windu from the prequel trilogy. The connection they share is simple, yet profound: Mace Windu’s apprentice, Depa Billaba, was the Jedi Master who trained Kanan.
In the old Jedi Order, a master’s relationship with their Jedi padawan was comparable to that of a parent and their child. Given that the majority of prequel-era Jedi never knew their birth families, this makes sense. The Jedi Order was their adopted family, and this sentiment was sometimes stated by the Jedi of the era (or beings who interacted with Jedi). In the Expanded Universe (aka Legends), Count Dooku thought of Obi-Wan as a grandson to a degree, simply by virtue of Obi-Wan being trained by Dooku’s former apprentice, Qui-Gon Jinn. In the current canon, Anakin was once mistaken as Obi-Wan’s son by a non-Jedi in Star Wars: Obi-Wan and Anakin comic series.
Fittingly, Mace Windu ed many traits on to Depa Billaba, who in turn ed them down to Kanan Jarrus. The first issue of Star Wars: Kanan sees Billaba voicing strong disapproval of Jedi Masters taking up formal positions in the Republic military, a sentiment shared by Mace Windu in the first act of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. The second season of Star Wars Rebels often showcased this trait in Kanan, who often voiced his reluctance to a formal military force and frequent annoyance with Captain Rex’s use of Clone military jargon.
Billaba also believed that Jedi must be prepared to sacrifice themselves for others and the causes they fight for. She tragically demonstrated this belief during Order 66, when she distracted Clone Troopers to allow Kanan to escape and died in the process. In the novel Dark Disciple, Mace Windu reflects positively on the recently-deceased Asajj Ventress due to her sacrificing herself to save Quinlan Vos, despite her being a war criminal and responsible for the deaths of numerous Clone Troopers. Kanan learned this lesson well from Billaba, sacrificing himself for his crew and the Rebellion on more than one occasion in Rebels. The first instance of this was when he allowed himself to be captured by the Empire, and the second tragically ended in his own demise.
Mace Windu also had a rarely-seen deadpan sense of humor that was likely ed down to Depa Billaba. Windu once humorously offered a unit of Separatist Battle Droids an opportunity to surrender, noting that he’d destroyed over one hundred thousand of them at that point in the war. Depa Billaba would often playfully banter with her young apprentice over his inquisitive nature. Kanan’s sense of humor was much more prominent, as seen throughout Star Wars Rebels.
Although Mace Windu and Kanan rarely interacted with each other, Kanan held a great deal of respect for the Jedi Master, reflecting on his heroics during the Battle of Ryloth with Cham Syndulla. Both Windu and Jarrus were heard in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, lending their power and to Rey as she battled her grandfather, Darth Sidious. The Jedi lineage of Mace Windu continued past Kanan, who went on to train Ezra Bridger as a Jedi, ing down many of Windu and Billaba’s traits to the young rebel in Star Wars Rebels.
