Chezmono's Thoughts On Maz Kanata's Identity

So many people have wondered who Maz Kanata is. Is she a new character that happens to be a species we are unaware of? Is she a character we already know of? There have been several theories suggesting who or what Maz is. One of the most popular among these theories is the Jawa Theory. For those of you who don't know, the theory is that Maz Kanata is/was a Jawa that appears in every (or almost every) Star Wars movie (the main series anyway). Let's go over the facts now...

Evidence: Maz's Eyes & Eye Fetish

In The Force Awakens, Maz makes it very clear that she has a thing about eyes. Why might she be so intrigued by peoples' eyes? Well, the eyes are the windows to the soul, and some people do have some very pretty eyes, (such as myself,) but the theory suggests otherwise. Jawas appear to have glowing amber eyes, and as we know, Maz doesn't, but there's supposed reason behind that. The theory says that Jawas wear some sort of contact lenses or goggles that make their eyes look as if they glow. As we see in Episode VII, Maz is wearing goggles. Now, while her goggles don't make her eyes shine, they are still goggles, that might count for something.

Evidence: Maz's Size & Unknown Species

We already know that Maz is 4 feet, 1 inch tall, has a slim body type, and her species is currently unknown. Every time we seem them onscreen, we are given the impression that Jawas can't grown any taller than a dwarf can. The average height of a Jawa is about 3.2 feet, but we have seen Jawas of varying heights, some smaller, some larger than a meter. Something many people don't take into consideration is the size of Maz's hands. Jawas appear to have relatively-small hands, the same goes for Maz. Though, Maz's hands seem to be about the size of Leia's, while some of the Jawas look like their hands are smaller. Most Jawas look pretty skinny as well, Maz matches that one. Then there's the matter that Jawas seem to have their eyes pretty low down on their face, Maz's eyes appear to be in about the center of her face. One last note to support this part of the theory is that Maz has rings around her eyes from her goggles, suggesting that she wears them a lot and has probably worn them for many years.

Anti-Evidence: Maz's Age & Other Information

One of the most important things we learn in The Force Awakens is that Maz is over a thousand years old, or at least that's what she claims. I could argue this by saying she's lying, but I have something else to say. According to the possibly-unreliable internet that I gather my research from, Maz has maintained her castle for about 1000 years and her castle bar/restaurant's cook, Strono "Cookie" Tuggs, has been working there for centuries. Maz is also sort of an anti-hero, she does what she wants to do to help the universe in the way she chooses to.

Maz's Suspected Appearences In Previous Movies

The following is Maz's supposed appearences in the movie and what proof there is of these moments. (So I won't have to repeat myself each time, I'm going to say this as if she is a Jawa.) Maz's first appearence is in Episode I as one of the Jawas seen at the pod race. Proof of this would be all of the flags she has hanging outside her castle, some of the flags are actually seen at the pod race. In Episode II, as Anakin is on a warpath to save his mother, he stops to ask a Jawa for directions. The theory suggests that this Jawa is yet again Maz Kanata, who felt that she was supposed to be there. Maz knew that her being there would help Anakin on the path to his destiny, whether she knew how he would turn out or not.

Her next appearances are loaded with evidence (Episodes IV and V). In Episode IV, towards the beginning of the movie, Luke purchases two droids off of a group of Jawas, those two droids being C-3PO and R2-D2, of course. Maz appears later on in the movie with her Jawa group as they carry away R2-D2. This is a supported idea, as their is a Jawa in the scene of significant height. It is found out later that the group of 8 Jawas was slaughtered, but the strange part is that there are only 7 dead Jawas shown on the screen. It's hard to tell by the angle of the shot, but it looks as if the tallest Jawa in the group managed to get away. Though, how could that Jawa have possibly gotten away from the killer? Maz has a strong connection to the Force and her entire past is still unknown. Perhaps, she could have been a rogue with a lightsaber.

Maz's next and supposed final appearance in the first 6 movies is in Episode V, as the lone Jawa found in Jabba's palace. It is known that most, if not all Jawas travel in groups, so it's very strange to see one with no other Jawa in sight. I also did a size comparison. Jabba (not including his sluggish tail) is just about the exact same size as C-3PO who is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall. The Jawa, while standing directly next to Jabba, appears to be about 4 feet tall. The Jawa is not seen with Jabba or his pals later on in the movie, suggesting that she offered to stay behind or escape in order to survive, knowing that they would not stand a chance against the mighty Luke Skywalker.

Now, just to clarify, Maz did not retrieve Luke's lightsaber from Cloud City (or below it) herself. Someone just-so-happened to retrieve it, it may have switched from hand to hand throughout the years, but it eventually made it's way to Maz Kanata. It is known that Maz helps smugglers begin on their paths, one might've traded/sold the lightsaber to her after getting it, or perhaps they gave it to her as a sort of "thank you" gift for helping them previously.

Well, that's just about it for this theory's evidence. See you in the next "Chezmono's Thoughts" article.