From the beginning, the Jedi mind trick has been one of the most popular staples of the Star Wars franchise. Audiences were introduced to it during A New Hope in the now-iconic scene of Obi-Wan Kenobi tricking a couple of stormtroopers, allowing him and Luke Skywalker to pass through safely. It’s proven to be an extremely useful power that the Jedi have at their disposal, helping them deal with a variety of situations. Just in the films, Luke uses the mind trick to infiltrate Jabba the Hutt’s palace, Qui-Gon Jinn secures transportation from the Gungans, and Rey breaks free of her restraints on Starkiller base.
As great as mind tricks are, they have limitations. Most notably, they only work on the weak minded. This is why Watto isn’t influenced by Qui-Gon’s mind trick when the two are discussing payment for the ship parts. It’s a smart way to ensure Jedi mind tricks aren’t an overpowered “get out of jail free” card that can be used on anyone. Now, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord has highlighted another big problem with them: area of effect.
In the fifth episode of Shadow Lord, “Chapter 5: Inquisition,” the Empire arrives on Janix to take control of the planet and search for Maul. This makes life even more difficult for new Order 66 survivors Eeko-Dio Daki and Devon Izara, who plan to leave until the heat dies down. Initially, the two Jedi intend to sneak aboard a train, but then several stormtroopers arrive at the station to inquire citizens about Maul and check identification. Eeko-Dio uses a mind trick on one of the troopers, convincing the soldier that he has already seen their IDs and they are free to go. It’s a classic Star Wars scenario fans have seen a plethora of times over the decades, but Shadow Lord puts a new spin on it.
As Eeko-Dio and Devon walk away, another stormtrooper approaches to ask his colleague why he released the two Jedi without actually checking their identification. It’s a fun twist on a well-worn franchise trope (seeing a stormtrooper get called out for being fooled is a humorous moment), one that highlights an important limitation of Jedi mind tricks. Eeko-Dio’s trick didn’t affect all of the stormtroopers at the station, only the one he was specifically targeting. There was a large enough crowd that the Jedi were banking on being able to blend in unnoticed, but one trooper happened to be looking at the situation at just the right time. That particular trooper might have been impacted by a mind trick in a direct interaction with a Jedi, but watching from afar, he was fine.
The takeaway is that mind tricks are most useful when dealing with a small group of isolated stormtroopers. When Obi-Wan uses it in A New Hope, there are a handful of Imperial soldiers standing around, and none of them wonder why Obi-Wan and Luke were free to go. The implication is that either Obi-Wan’s mind trick affected all of the stormtroopers in his immediate vicinity or the others didn’t want to risk insubordination by questioning their leader’s orders. This scenario is similar to Qui-Gon tricking Boss Nass in The Phantom Menace; if the other Gungans weren’t directly impacted by the mind trick, they just decided to go along with their leader’s change of heart.
To be fair, this is something that Star Wars dabbled with as early as the original trilogy. Jabba is immune to Luke’s mind tricks, angrily calling Bib Fortuna a “weak-minded fool” as Skywalker tried to negotiate Han Solo and Chewbacca’s release. But it makes sense for Jabba, a powerful crime lord, to be mentally strong enough to resist the power of the Force. In contrast, stormtroopers across multiple Star Wars eras have fallen victim to Jedi mind tricks on screen. It’s reasonable to assume most (or all) would be affected by them (especially since the Empire sees them as disposable and probably wouldn’t invest in training programs). Through Maul – Shadow Lord, we know that if a stormtrooper is standing out of range, he’ll be able to point out his companion’s folly.
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