Star Wars has a lot of renowned Jedi. Some are wise like Master Yoda. Others are strong like Anakin Skywalker or Mace Windu. The galaxy had a lot of different Jedi, but one Jedi, in particular, was quite unusual. Quinlan Vos is well-known for not following the rules which led him into some unusual adventures.
Who is Quinlan Vos?
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Quinlan was an unusual Jedi Master who served the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars as one of their best detectives in solving mysteries. Vos mainly worked in the criminal underworld due to his skill set allowing him to fit into rough crowds without anyone knowing he was a Jedi.
Vos had a rare force ability called Psychometry which allowed the user to experience other memories from animals and other sentient beings years later after touching an object. This is the same ability that Cal Kestis uses in Jedi: Fallen Order. A Star Wars database describes how this force ability allowed Quinlan to have a special role:
He became renowned, however, for his ability to experience the memories of other beings by touching an object a being had previously touched. This allowed him to develop skills as an expert tracker, and, as a result, often took missions that dealt with the criminal underworld.
It was on one such mission that Vos met Aayla Secura, a Twi’lek who displayed a sensitivity to the powers of the Force. During the mission, Vos rescued Secura from a dangerous area on her homeworld of Ryloth.The maverick Jedi took Secura as his Padawan, and the two formed a close relationship. Secura later became a Jedi Knight.
Did Quinlan Vos Appear In the Skywalker Saga?
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Surprisingly enough, Quinlan Vos appeared in Star Wars: Episode One — The Phantom Menace (1999). The Jedi Master didn’t appear on Coruscant as one of the background Jedis. No, the Jedi is actually seen on Tatooine when Jar Jar and Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) are walking back to see Shmi and Anakin Skywalker.
This small detail is missed by several fans, but after seeing the Jedi in The Clone Wars, it’s hard to mistake the man for anyone else due to his iconic yellow bar tattoo on his face. While Quinlan appears in The Phantom Menace, the Jedi Master isn’t seen elsewhere in The Skywalker Saga, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more stories for Star Wars to tell about the memorable Jedi.
Quinlan Vos had an unusual life as a Jedi since he was trained by Jedi Master Tholme on his homeworld, Kiffu. This was because Quinlan’s people were very protective of him and didn’t want to hand him over to Tholme to go to Coruscant so the Jedi agreed to teach him there.
As seen with Anakin Skywalker, most Jedi grow up at the Jedi Temple at a young age as their families give their force-sensitive children to the Jedi Order so they could be trained.
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A Star Wars database also describes Quinlan’s early life and how he was seen as a troublemaker from an early age:
Quinlan Vos was born on the planet Kiffu in the years prior to the fall of the Galactic Republic. He became a member of the Jedi Order, becoming apprentice to Jedi Master Tholme. Although he was not born in the Jedi Temple, he considered it home for it was where he grew up. He ended and started fights in rooms meant for fighting and in some that were not. He also took sneak naps in the Temple’s library. Vos eventually rose to the rank of Jedi Knight. Vos gained a reputation as a maverick who did not always follow the rules of Jedi life
Star Wars fans mainly know Vos from his work during the Clone Wars when he helped captured Ziro the Hutt with Obi-Wan Kenobi and was also sent to assassinate Count Dooku at one point.
What Did Quinlan Vos Do During the Clone Wars?
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Ziro the Hutt escaped prison with the help of the infamous Bounty Hunter, Cad Bane since the Hutt Council didn’t want the Galactic Republic to learn any secrets about the Hutt council from Ziro. The Republic then sent Vos and Kenobi to track down Ziro and retrieve the Hutt prisoner.
Normally, the Republic wouldn’t deal with the Hutts, but Ziro almost got the Hutts to work with separatists after having Jabba’s son, Rotta kidnapped in order to have Count Dooku gain access to Hutt Space.
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This led to the Republic learning of Ziro’s treachery and arresting the Hutt. With Quinlan and Kenobi working together, they almost captured Ziro but the Jedi failed since the Hutt was killed by his former girlfriend. Vos and Kenobi found Cad Bane standing over the corpse and decided it was best to arrest the Bounty Hunter after he held the Galactic Senate hostage and broke into the Jedi Temple.
The two Jedi fought Bane and somehow the Bounty Hunter was not only able to hold his own but was able to escape without any major injury. Even though the two Jedi Masters failed their mission, the Republic was fine knowing that Ziro wouldn’t be a threat anymore to the Republic.
After the Jedi Order learned of Dooku’s genocidal attack on Mahranee, the Jedi Order assigned Quinlan Vos to kill the Count so that more lives could be saved. This was one of the first missions that went off the record for the Jedi Order just like how Anakin’s mission to spy on the Chancellor was off the record. Kenobi was the Jedi Council’s middle man for Quinlan and helped provide the Jedi with any resources that were available.
Master Yoda recommended that Quinlan find Asajj Ventress due to her anger towards the Count betraying her and leaving her for dead. After Quinlan found Ventress, they worked together in order for Vos to gain Ventress’ trust. They spent weeks doing bounties in the lower levels of Coruscant and Quinlan revealed his true identity to her. Due to them working closely with each other, the two fell in love and Ventress agreed to help Vos kill Dooku.
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At first, things were going accordingly, but Vos fell into a trap after going to assassinate Dooku on Raxus, but the Jedi Master failed to defeat the Count in combat. Dooku used torture to drive Vos mad and then made him his secret weapon as his apprentice. Ventress already taught Vos how to use the Dark Side so it wasn’t hard for Dooku to get Vos ready for combat.
The reason why Quinlan agreed to be Dooku’s apprentice was that the Count revealed that Master Tholme, Quinlan’s master, had been killed by Ventress and Vos’s psychometric skills revealed that the Count wasn’t lying. After losing his trust in Ventress, Vos gave up on the Jedi Order to serve Dooku.
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This led to Quinlan being called Enigma and operating as a Separatist operative which led him to defeat the Republic very efficiently after understanding their tactics and strategies. After the Jedi Order found Vos onboard a Separatist ship, they brought him back to the Republic unaware of his turn to the Dark Side. Vos used this to sabotage several Republic assets before the council realized what had happened.
Instead of arresting Vos, the Jedi Council decided to give him one last chance to kill Dooku. This finale mission included Anakin and Obi-Wan secretly infiltrating Dooku’s flagship since the Council didn’t trust Vos and capturing both of the Sith. Vos ended up breaking free and saving Dooku.
In the end, Vos realized the error of his ways after Ventress saved his life and redeemed himself. This led to the Jedi reinstating him into the Order but decided that a mission like this could never happen again even if the Jedi needed to learn who Darth Sidious is.
Is Quinlan Vos A Gray Jedi?
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Gray Jedi isn’t a term Disney has used to describe Jedi in canon, but Vos could easily be one. After falling to the dark side once before during the Clone Wars, Vos knows how to use both the light side and the dark side. Since he doesn’t always follow what the Jedi Order would tell him to, it would make sense for him to be considered a Gray Jedi.
Obi-Wan’s master is the best example of what a Gray Jedi looked like since Qui-Gon wouldn’t always listen to the Jedi Council, but he would follow the Jedi Code. Qui-Gon didn’t use the dark side, but his methods were unorthodox leaving him to act unlike his fellow Jedi, but he didn’t become a dark side user in the process.
Quinlan Vos didn’t die during Order 66. In early concepts for Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005), the Jedi Master was actually on Kashyyk and ended up being killed by a Clone Juggernaut Turbo Tank in one of several deleted Order 66 scenes.
Thankfully, George Lucas decided it was better to keep the Jedi alive so that his story could be told later. Ever since 2005, no one at Lucasfilm or any other media has brought Quinlan Vos back for another story meaning that there’s a good chance the character might get a spinoff or be featured in another series or book very soon.
Did Quinlan Vos Appear in Obi-Wan Kenobi?
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After hearing Obi-Wan mention Quinlan Vos in Episode 3, fans thought it would be possible for the Jedi Master to show up. After Kenobi escapes with Roken and the rest of the Path, fans weren’t able to see the Jedi Master show up to help Obi-Wan.
Even though it would be awesome to see Vos fight alongside Obi-Wan again, Quinlan’s presence would’ve brought more imperials and Inquisitors which is something Kenobi didn’t need so that Luke and Leia could stay safe.
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This doesn’t mean that Quinlan can’t show up in another series as the Jedi is still young and could easily survive in hiding and eventually meet up with Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka or even Luke Skywalker. Quinlan is known to not follow the rules, but the Jedi Order is gone and he would be a great character to help rebuild the order with Luke.
The hard part is knowing how long the Jedi would stick around as Vos would probably have to die before Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens (2015) so it would be interesting to see what story Lucasfilm will tell with the character.
Hopefully, Quinlan Vos appears soon in Star Wars fans love the character and due to his roguish personality, he is a great character to see due to him not being like other Jedi.
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Credit: Art by Bruna Richter/ Star Wars
