Jolee Bindo

"You know what the problem is with the youth of today? They're young!"

- Jolee Bindo

Jolee Bindo was a Human Jedi Padawan who participated in the Rimward missions, and went into exile on Kashyyyk after the Great Sith War. He joined Revan's adventures near the close of the Jedi Civil War in 3,956 BBY.

Biography
During his days as a Jedi Padawan, Jolee was considered brash and reckless, often defying the will of the Jedi Council in order to do what he felt was right. A prime example were his actions during the blockade of the Ukatis system. Cut off from the rest of the Galaxy by its own king, the Ukatis system was unable to receive food and supplies, and no help from the Senate was forthcoming. Jolee decided to help the people himself. He acquired a ship and was joined by a friend, presumably Andor Vex. Together they stole from the rich, considering it a "tax on the greedy," and ran the supplies through the blockade to the planet.

Eventually, his craft was shot down on the planet by no less than his future wife, Nayama, and the two were married, although marriage was frowned upon by many Jedi of the time. He discovered her to be strong in the Force, and he took to training her personally, despite the advice of the Jedi Council and his Padawan status. During the war with Exar Kun, his wife, like many other Jedi, fell to the dark side. She attempted to turn Jolee, who resisted, culminating in a fight which brought her to her knees. Jolee was unable to kill his own wife, and let her go. She went on to kill many Jedi in the war.

The Council did not punish Jolee for his actions, stating he had learned his lesson the hard way. When instead they wished to promote him to the status of Jedi Knight, Jolee lost faith in the wisdom of the Council, and went into exile. Eventually he landed on Kashyyyk, and remained exploring the Shadowlands for the next twenty years. At first, the Wookiees believed him to be a benevolent forest spirit, and so left gifts outside of his dwelling, until the old hermit explained the truth to them, albeit with some embarrassment. Still, Jolee remained a friend of the Wookiees, helping them to protect the Shadowlands and its wildlife. He often wandered through the forest, ready to defend himself from predators, sentient or not, with his lightsaber.

During his wandering, he discovered an ancient computer guarding a Star Map, and ended up making 152 attempts to communicate with it - however, the computer had been secretly reprogrammed by Revan, during his first trip to Kashyyyk with Malak, to respond to nobody but himself.

Revan
"...Sometimes swirling Force is just swirling Force. It gets all us old Jedi excited at our age so we go, 'Oooo, destiny!'"

- Jolee Bindo

When Revan passed through the Shadowlands a second time, once more seeking Star Maps, Jolee attached himself to the party, partly out of boredom and partly to face his own past. He was one of the few members of the party to know Revan's true identity all along (actually, the only one besides Bastila Shan, if taken into account that HK-47's memories about his first owner were locked), although he decided it was not his place to say. As he traveled with Revan, he was often reminded of an old friend, Nomi Sunrider, whom he had known during his time as a Jedi.

At one point, Revan questioned Jolee as to why the old man had accompanied him. Jolee's response was to tell the story of a young man who one day finds a snake in his village. He follows the snake, helping it away from the village and into a great desert. Without food or water to be seen, the snake bites the young man. The snake then asked why the boy he had followed him, and the boy replies; "Did I follow you? I thought I was leading you away from everyone else..." Revan could only wonder whether he was supposed to be the snake.

Jolee's professed neutrality, already belied by his joining Revan, was rendered further questionable when Revan landed on Rakata Prime, the home planet of the Rakata. When the Rakatan priests allowed Revan into the Temple of the Ancients to disable the Star Forge's disruptor field, they insisted on him going into the temple alone. Jolee, however, persuaded the priests to allow he and Juhani to accompany Revan, and it turned out to be a useful measure: Jolee and Juhani restrained Revan from being once again seduced to the dark side, this time by Bastila Shan.

Jolee remained with Revan until the end and, along with Revan's other companions, was honored at the Republic's celebration of their victory over Darth Malak. It is, as yet, unknown what happened to him in the aftermath of the Jedi Civil War.

Personality and traits


"Oh, I get it. Let's play with the old man's head, is it? He's half-senile, he'll forget I said anything! Wait uh, what was this about, anyway?"

- Jolee Bindo

Even during his days with the Order, Jolee allowed emotion to drive his actions, and thus walked a fine line between the light and dark sides of the Force, claiming that he saw 'only in gray.' He was therefore a heretic and, according to some, probably would have supported the Potentium theory of the Force, had it existed at the time. However, this is frowned upon by many since Jolee clearly believed that there was evil in the galaxy, as witnessed during the fall of his wife to the Dark Side as well as his experiances during his time in the Ukatis System. Likewise, Jolee's 'gray' view didn't stop him from having a stable position against the Sith, and being a good man throughout his life.

He appeared as a cantankerous old man who readily dismissed the galaxy and its troubles with an impatient wave of his hand. Bindo appeared to outsiders as a grumpy old man, directing his scorn at both the youth and old alike, but his care and wisdom still shined through the many layers he draped around his heart. He insisted that all he wanted was peace, and yet he was drawn back to war when Revan arrived in the Shadowlands for a second time. Jolee sensed a powerful destiny ahead of Revan, though he insisted that he was simply along for the ride.

Powers and abilities
"I've seen my share of the dark and the light. And frankly, both extremes annoy me . . . I assure you, I see more gray than dark or light."

- Jolee Bindo

Jolee's time in the Shadowlands only enhanced his survival skills. He had even learned to craft medicine from simple herbs, without any access to kolto. Jolee was also known to have fought and defeated multiple katarn, but his primary strength was not his lightsaber; it was his vast knowledge of the Force. He possessed a unique personality that allowed him to command the Force through both its light and dark sides. Lack of records have made it impossible to know the specific extent of Jolee's powers, but he could have potentially mastered dark arts such as Force Lightning as easily as any other power, which would have been nearly unthinkable for most light-sided Jedi of the time. It was his philosophy on controlling his emotions – neither blocking them nor allowing them to control him – that allowed him to draw on the Force as he did without fearing corruption from the Dark side.

Behind the scenes
"Love doesn't lead to the dark side. Passion can lead to rage and fear, and can be controlled, but passion is not the same thing as love. "Controlling your passions while being in love, that's what they should teach you to beware, but love itself will save, not condemn you"
 * Jolee's in-game character class is Jedi Consular (also known as the Sage Master).
 * In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, there are two items that might have belonged to Jolee: Bindo's Band and Jolee's Robe.
 * When Revan confronted Bastila on the Star Forge and defeated her, Bastila begs Revan to kill her because she thought there was no way she could be redeemed, Revan had the choice of saving her with persuasion ("The Jedi will forgive you" or "Look in your heart, I know you still follow the light"), or through their love for each other ("I love you, Bastila and I can't ever abandon you"). In the end, Bastila loved Revan and because of this she was saved. In a way, the credit should go to Jolee because of when Revan spoke to Jolee about love. This would also apply to the non-canon Female Revan relationship with Carth Onasi. In which Jolee will give feedback on their professed love on Rakata Prime, commenting that they should take love wherever they find it.

- Jolee Bindo

"But from now on, just think of me as any other non-Jedi in our little group with a lightsaber. And Force powers"
 * Despite the fact that he is a Jedi, he does not consider himself to be because of his history, or due to the fact that the order left him rather then Jolee and that he never progressed beyond Padawan, although he explains to Revan once that he is a Jedi, that he follows the Jedi way, and uses the Force, but as for the Jedi, eg: Jedi Council, he is not a part of that and hasn't been for a long time:

- Jolee Bindo


 * To Jolee, becoming a Jedi would have been a "formality."
 * In the alternate universe story where the player (as Revan) chooses to follow Bastila to the dark side, Jolee and Juhani become hostile and have to be killed because of their refusal to follow the reborn Dark Lord.
 * It is possible, though not proven, that Jolee Bindo's last name was derived from George Lucas's original name for the Jedi Knights, the Jedi Bendu.
 * Some fans have gained the belief that Jolee Bindo may be Korun, like Jedi Master Mace Windu. However, the Korunnai were descended from Jedi who crash landed on Haruun Kal during the Great Sith War, which Jolee fought in, so his supposed Korunnai heritage is a mistake.
 * In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, in a conversation with Handmaiden about the Jedi's ways, one of the options in response to Handmaiden's question on the love part of the Jedi code is "I think it's called 'pulling a Bindo.'" Handmaiden then has no idea what you are talking about, and a dialogue option is "Bald guy, bad joke."
 * It has been speculated, although never confirmed, that Jolee died in Darth Nihilus's attack on Katarr.


 * In a conversation with the Disciple on Dantooine, as he is mentioning what would be lost of the Jedi, he mentions something along the lines of "The adventures of Jolee Bindo on the Rimward Missions."

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords