The Gray Jedi Fan Theory In Star Wars Explained
This post contains spoilers for "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor."
Fan imagination is a big part of what keeps "Star Wars" alive. Since 1977, we've been fascinated by its details, looking for how it all fits into a galaxy trapped in a struggle of good vs. evil. That love of the lore helps "Star Wars" creators build more stories for audiences to explore, but sometimes, viewers pick up on a thread that maybe those creators didn't intend for them to follow.
The idea of the Gray Jedi has deep roots, and we're going to explore how it burrowed its way into fandom lore. Gray Jedi are a delectable idea; they're masters of the Force who don't march lockstep with the Jedi Council, chasing a moral nuance that lets them acknowledge both dark and light viewpoints — and both Force power types, too. With plenty of canon and Legends-era characters who fit the idea, it's easy to see how Gray Jedi became so fascinating. But there's a kyber crystal-clear answer as to whether the Gray Jedi are actually canon, and it's not the one fans want to hear.
Gray Jedi aren't canon
It's hard to believe, but there's nothing in today's canon to support an offshoot of the Jedi Order, officially sanctioned by the Council or otherwise. There are Jedi struggling with their morals and ethics on their way to a destined conclusion, sure, but for real shades of gray, fans cling to classic Legends stories that keep the question alive. "Knights of the Old Republic" introduced a character, Jolee Bindo, who openly described himself as gray, and it's a concept that turns up a lot in the "New Jedi Order" novels.
Digging around for information on Gray Jedi can leave an unwary fan extra confused, because tabletop gamers and fan creators, understandably, aren't going to give up something that makes their playgrounds fun. It's easy to slip from Wookieepedia (with its clear divisions on what's canon and what's Legends) into fan wikis that have built up years of campaign-specific lore that's as engaging as what you can find on a bookshelf. But the Lucasfilm Story Group and its members are clear on the topic: Gray Jedi aren't canon.
What's the fanlore around Gray Jedi?
We've already explained the general idea of Gray Jedi, in that they're a nuanced take on the light side. But fans aren't bound by canon cops like Pablo Hidalgo, and they've created a whole alternate universe that's a treat to explore all on its own. One of the easiest fanon tidbits to come across is a Gray Jedi Code, which was created by an unknown user on the Star Wars Fanon wiki well over a decade ago. It's fan fiction, but it's well-conceived and turns up frequently in conversations about Gray Jedi.
The Gray Jedi Code asks its adherents to set aside light and dark and focus on balance itself. There is no peace without passion. Knowledge needs strength to act. Power must seek serenity. The Force is all things, and all things are one in the Force. It's simple and reasonable, and that makes it durable. It's attributed to a Gray Jedi called Leor Danal, a fan-made character hailing from Yoda's homeworld, and who improbably uses the Japanese word "kage" — meaning shadow — to signify his leadership over the founding of the Gray Order. It's worth noting that at the time of the Code's creation, "Naruto," with its five village Kage leaders, already had a huge fandom.
The Legends of the Gray Jedi
Official "Star Wars" media doesn't always help keep the light vs. dark distinction clear, either. Works by authors Michael Stackpole and Kevin J. Anderson were staples of what's now the Legends continuity. Beginning in 1994, Anderson's "Jedi Academy" trilogy brought to life not only the struggle against Legends villain fave Exar Kun but a reborn Order struggling in a post-Thrawn world. In 1998, Stackpole revisited and revised this trilogy's events through a character he'd created for the "X-Wing" series, Corran Horn.
Horn, along with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, would encounter the Jensaarai, a splinter sect created when their founder dug up some Sith propaganda that claimed the Jedi ripped off their teachings and exiled the Sith so the treachery would never be uncovered. While the Jensaarai believed themselves to be true Gray Jedi, their founder, already corrupted by the Sith's influence, was accidentally pulling them to the dark side as well. In their last Legends appearances, the Jensaarai claim to have mastered balance, and their lone semi-canon reference in the "Forces of Destiny" RPG sourcebook leaves their ability to remain neutral unclear.
Legends of the Gray Jedi – Jolee Bindo and the Imperial Knights
There's one more big name in the world of Gray Jedi, and that's Jolee Bindo. Bindo is one of Revan's potential companions in BioWare's beloved 2003 "Knights of the Old Republic" video game. Bindo is content to be a hermit when the player finds him, an old Padawan who never received the rank of Master, and is no longer affiliated with the Order. Insistent on the wisdom of keeping a balance with the Force, he's implied to have a few dark side tricks up his sleeve. Further, the sequel game has a findable Gray Jedi Robe that buttresses the arguments Bindo makes.
In Legends' future hides one more interesting quirk. "Star Wars: Legacy," is a comic series that follows Luke's descendant, Cade. Writer John Ostrander builds on details from Timothy Zahn's "Outbound Flight" novel, and a secret Galactic Empire has risen in the decades after the Rebellion. Rather than Sith guidance, a neutral faction of Imperial Knights protects its Emperor. Unfortunately, none of this, from Bindo to the Jensaarai, has an impact on today's canon. What they all did was create a complicated idea of Jedi who are still light, but also like to argue about morality.
Revenge of the Gray Jedi
Canon did give fans a major hand in 1999 with the release of "The Phantom Menace." Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) has a pragmatic take on his relationship with the Force, and it's made clear he's on iffy terms with the Jedi Council. This leads to some fuzzy gray-like descriptors in "The Stark Hyperspace War," a comic storyline also written by John Ostrander, and "The Jedi Path," a fun, gimmicky reference book about the Jedi Order.
Including the long-running "Jedi Apprentice" book series featuring Qui-Gon, and excluding the prequels themselves, these are all materials left behind by Disney's official continuity. In canon, all that actually suggests Qui-Gon is a Gray Jedi is his independence from the Council, which directly leads to bringing balance to the Force through tragic ends. While the Jedi remain firmly light, their elitism blinds them to the coming dark. More importantly, perhaps, it's Qui-Gon who seeks out the steps needed to break through death to become a Force ghost — a power solely granted to servants of the light.
Graying out the Imperial era
We'll get to Ahsoka Tano in a moment, but the Imperial era brought one more fascinating aspect of the Force into play. "Star Wars Rebels" spent time exploring what it means to be a Jedi in a bloody, angry universe, with both Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger struggling with their connection to the light. And while Darth Maul returned to weigh the scales in favor of Ezra's rightful, but dangerous, anger, there was another being who had lessons to give. Bendu, a unique creature living on Atollon, affiliated himself with the center of the Force, choosing neither light nor dark. Non-interventionist by choice, Bendu's place in the gray would be quickly challenged by Kanan.
Bendu is no Jedi, and his presence still doesn't justify the role of Gray Jedi. He's functionally an incarnation of nature's whims — and by extension, the Force — even when he finds that he can't stay as far out of the conflict as he'd prefer. When Thrawn attacks Atollon, Bendu summons storms onto the skirmish. While Bendu doesn't leave the fleeing rebels unscathed, whether he admits it or not, it's the Imperials, and Thrawn himself, that Bendu really leaves shaken.
Ahsoka the Gray?
The show may be called "Ahsoka," but a big part of it is going to be about the search for Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), a fledgling Jedi who's already been tempted by the dark side, and went missing in the company of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) years ago. Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) is already another popular figure for fans looking for canon Gray Jedi, and although her journey consistently shows her coming back to the light, there's little doubt we're going to see the same questions renewed as this lost Jedi comes home.
Ahsoka walked away from the Jedi in well-earned frustration, but she never lost her focus on doing what was right. From pulling a pair of sisters out of a life of dangerous crime to meeting Luke Skywalker in his early days of rebuilding the Jedi Order, it's hard to see where the gray fans attribute to her is supposed to be. If anything, Ahsoka is the first post-fall Jedi to embody the light side ideals a Jedi was always meant to hold. As for Ezra, it remains to be seen where his journey through the Force has taken him.
Gray Jedi: The true Fallen Order
Cal Kestis, another survivor of Order 66, went through a hell of a ride in the video game "Star War Jedi: Fallen Order." He did what he could to protect the future of Force-sensitive younglings, and even came face-to-face with Darth Vader himself. "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor" rejoins Cal after some bitter years in the trenches, joining forces with the ultimate figure of chaotic and morally gray rebellion in "Star Wars," Saw Gerrera. That's not the best sign for Cal's journey of personal ethics, and making it deep into the game comes with some big shocks.
Fan-favorite Merrin, possibly the last Witch of Dathomir alive, is already here to teach us that darkness isn't always a gateway to the Sith. But Dathomiran witches aren't Jedi, they're just different. So when Cal, in rage, touches the dark side to overcome his biggest trials, that's not him going gray. It's him dangling dangerously close to corruption, a fate he needs his friends to help save him from. As the credits roll, it seems clear that Cal's third outing is going to see him either embrace the light or fall to tragedy. Being in the gray isn't the safe, nuanced moral choice fans want it to be.
The villain question
Here's a question that fans rarely ask themselves, probably because the answers help blow up the idea of Gray Jedi: Why focus on Jedi, when there are villains on the dark side who've questioned themselves? Asajj Ventress hews close to the idea of a Gray Jedi. A Nightsister who follows both the Jedi and the Sith during her lifetime, "Dark Disciple" by Christie Golden shows how her love for Quinlan Vos brings her back into the light in her last moments, her body welcomed home by her ghostly Nightsisters. Vos himself? Nearly corrupted to the dark side by his order to assassinate Dooku, a job he's relieved of before it destroys him.
Speaking of Dooku, this deliberate dark mirror of Qui-Gon Jinn reveals he danced with gray behavior well before setting up with the Separatists and Darth Sidious. "Tales of the Jedi" shows us a young Dooku grappling with the Jedi's failures to look out for common folk. His mission to Dagonet to help its senator illustrates how this longtime politician neglected his near-starving world, all while thriving under the half-closed eye of the Jedi. A later episode, which puts Dooku in conflict with Yaddle, shows the result of this much anger. In the end, even Dooku can't hold on to the gray. His fall to the dark side is complete as Yaddle dies.
The final word
Nothing will stop fans from embracing the idea of Gray Jedi, and that's great. But George Lucas and Dave Filoni have made their stance clear. Gray Jedi are not canon, and they won't ever be. For Lucas, "Star Wars" is a morality play, a story about good vs. evil above all else. While men like Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard) can afford to act in darkness to serve a future good, even Luthen knows he's destroying his own soul to do it. No, even the grim critical darling "Andor" is a story about the goodness in our hearts and the light that emerges in the hour of need.
If we need to hear these facts in their most exuberant form, we can turn to Freddie Prinze Jr., our beloved redeemed-in-the-light Jedi Knight Kanan Jarrus. In a 2019 podcast (via CinemaBlend), Prinze Jr. makes it clear that "Star Wars" was always Lucas' gift to kids. "Star Wars Rebels" producer Filoni also taught Prinze the morality is simple: the Force brings balance, and the light will win. Prinze goes on to slay the concept of Gray Jedi, not as fan fiction, but canonically denied, as he quotes Qui-Gon's own words in Claudia Gray's "Master And Apprentice" novel: "I don't turn towards the light because someday I'll win ... I turn toward it, because it is the light."