We Stand For Mace Windu

We stand for Mace Windu

I LOVE MACE WINDU AND I’M GONNA YELL ABOUT WHY. I noticed this small moment in the first episode of season 7, where Mace and Anakin are having a meeting about how they keep losing on Anaxes, when Cody approaches with Rex in tow, who has an idea to pitch. CODY:  “Pardon the interruption, General, but Rex here has a good theory on why we keep, uh… losing.” MACE:  “Please, Captain.”

The way Mace says it is very welcoming and respectful, he’s glad to hear if someone thinks they have a good idea of what the hell is going on here.  But it was just one moment in the episode, so it wasn’t until “Unfinished Business” that it really seemed to have been brought home. It reminds me of how I recently rewatched “The Disappeared” and Mace goes through the usual “character is frustrated by Jar Jar but eventually comes to appreciate him”, but I always noticed how he never expressed that to Jar Jar himself, he was always patient with him, always explained things, always included Jar Jar, and just generally was an incredible Jedi and incredible person. And then there’s this episode where we see, even after all the years of the Clone Wars, after all the times droids have mindlessly attacked them, Mace is still offering them a chance, even when it’s an Extra As All Get Out moment to do it, that even Obi-Wan “Hey Do You Think That Brain Worm Will Enter Through Luminara’s Ear Or Nose?” Kenobi is like, you’re doing this now? It reminds me of how Mace may be reserved and very “Hmm.” side-eyeing of Anakin during their time in “Death Trap” and “R2 Come Home/Lethal Trackdown”, that he’s not necessarily as friendly or laughing about it as Obi-Wan is, but it’s absolutely banter between him and Anakin.  It reminds me of how Anakin isn’t shy around Mace, that he was almost laughing as well when he said he never got any compliments from Master Windu. This, in the scene where Mace is indirectly–but knowingly and pretty clearly–complimenting Anakin, by saying, “I can see why your Master trusts you, little one. Good job.”  The whole point is saying, “I get why Anakin’s right about you.” All of this really goes to show that Mace Windu is an incredible person, he is an incredible Jedi.  He’s compassionate and he refuses to let this war take that from him.  No, he doesn’t fully trust Anakin in Revenge of the Sith, because Anakin took the position Palpatine offered him on the Jedi Council and nearly got into a snit about it when he wasn’t made a Master, despite that he was very clearly not ready for it, if he was three days away from falling apart that badly.  Mace says, “If this is true, you’ll have earned my trust.” signifying that his distrust wasn’t that he disliked Anakin, but that he didn’t trust Anakin would be able to set aside personal relationships for the greater good–like he kind of didn’t do when he accepted the seat on the Council. And it shows that Mace does compliment Anakin–he says, “Good work, Skywalker.” right here.  It makes one wonder–does Mace compliment him because Anakin expressed that he wanted more concrete praise when he’s done well?  Or does he do this often and Anakin is like a bucket with a hole in the bottom, where you can pour a million compliments into him and they all just leak out and so he’s never full? Either way, Mace does praise him, Mace does offer enemies a chance to stand down, Mace does listen to clones (ones that aren’t even in his battalion) when they say they might have an idea, Mace asks Echo if he’s sure he can do this and trusts him, you can see it in the way he and Obi-Wan and Anakin nod to each other, which is paralleled by the scene like thirty seconds later where Tech expresses doubt and Rex immediately says, no, I know Echo is loyal to us. These characterizations go hand in hand.

Mace also puts himself in danger first and foremost, he’s the one who jumps up and runs to handle the bomb, telling all the clones and everyone else to get out of here now. When Echo gets hurt by the pulse and can’t give Mace the final number, he immediately accepts that, yes, Echo’s life is important and if he’s wounded, take care of him, rather than saying he should be sacrificed to get Mace that final number. Mace Windu, in many ways, is one of the characters that we look to as The Epitome Of A True Jedi, especially as he was Master of the Order for a long time, he holds a lot of influence and respect with his people and in his culture.  He is a leader and he’s someone who exemplifies them in our eyes. And he is resolute, compassionate, caring, and kind.  He can be dryly snarky at the same time, he can be annoyed at times, he doesn’t have to be perfect, but he’s good. Mace Windu is one of those characters that I’m not sure if I love him because he’s such the epitome of who the Jedi are or if I love the Jedi because they’re so much the culture/religion that produced this character that I love or if those two things have wound together so completely that I cannot separate them. But I love this character very much and I was absolutely clutching my chest and crying about how deeply wonderful he is and how much I admire him and what a wonderful character Star Wars has given us in Mace Windu.