Who is Jacen Syndulla?

Jacen Syndulla’s introduction in Star Wars Rebels came as a surprise at the time, but a welcomed one. The same holds true for his introduction to live-action in Episode 3 of Ahsoka. Interestingly, Sabine describes Jacen as someone who was “born to fly” in the finale of Rebels Season 4, and the title of Episode 3 is “Time to fly”, perhaps this is an intentional nod to Jacen from Dave Filoni. Jacen inherited the talent for flying from his mother, General Hera Syndulla, one of the galaxy’s most skilled pilots. But, who is Jacen Syndulla, and why is he an important character?

Jacen Syndulla was born in 1 BBY on Lothal, during the Galactic Civil War. He’s the son of General Hera Syndulla and Jed Knight Kanan Jarrus. Kanan tragically passed away before Jacen was born and was completely unaware of Hera’s pregnancy when he died. Dave Filoni admitted that he named Jacen after Jacen Solo, the name of Leia Organa and Han Solo’s son in Star Wars legends.  Since he’s the son of a pilot, a general, and a Jedi Knight, it’s not surprising that Jacen told his mom that he wants to be a Jedi as well. He’s surely inspired by his Aunt Sabine’s training, but it also helps that Jacen’s father was a Jedi. So far, it hasn’t been revealed if Jacen is force-sensitive like his father, though it seems like there’s a pretty good chance that he is.

Beyond his parents, Jacen is also the grandson of Cham Syndulla, a Twi’lek revolutionary leader belonging to Ryloth. Jacen is part Twi’lek and part human, which makes him very special. He’s one of the very few Star Wars characters born to parents belonging to two different species. Jacen bears a striking resemblance to Kanan, apart from his green hair, however, perhaps with time he’ll grow to resemble Hera a bit more.  Jacen is best buddies with trouble-making, tantrum-throwing Chopper, Hera’s droid.

As Jacen has a talent for flying and a desire to be a Jedi, there’s no doubt he has a promising future ahead of him. In Star Wars there are quite a number of Jedi with impeccable piloting skills. If he does decide to go ahead and become a Jedi, Jacen can be trained by anyone from Ahsoka, to Sabine, and even Luke Skywalker, but we’ll put our money on him eventually being trained by his dad’s apprentice, Ezra Bridger.

Ahsoka is streaming now on Disney+, with new episodes dropping every Tuesday.