From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi is a new short story collection celebrating the 40th anniversary of Return of the Jedi. The book features an incredible line-up of authors, including Saladin Ahmed, Mike Chen (author of the recent Star Wars: Brotherhood novel), Charlie Jane Anders, Alyssa Wong (who currently writes the Star Wars: Doctor Aphra comic), all contributing new in-continuity stories that retell key moments of Jedi from the perspectives of different characters in the film.
One such story, written by Star Wars creative art manager Phil Szostak, focuses on the character of Max Rebo, the blue-skinned band leader from Jabba's Palace. According to the original novelization of Return of the Jedi from 1983, Rebo is what's known as a "jizz-wailer." Yes, really. The 1995 short story collection Tales from the Mos Eisley Cantina further established that "jizz" is in fact a popular style of music in the Star Wars universe, practiced not only by the Max Rebo Band, but also by Figrin Da'an and the Modal Nodes — the infamous Bith house band from Chalmun's Spaceport Cantina in Mos Eisley. As written explained on the official Star Wars website:
Jizz is primarily a Bith institution, and is characterized by swinging, upbeat melodies. Yet the tonal variety of jizz has led to it becoming one of the more versatile and widespread popular musical art forms, embraced and appropriated by numerous cultures, which bring their own unique native stylings into the mix. As a result, there are countless jizz offshoots spread across the Galaxy, such as Wroonian blues, gliz (not to be confused with glitz) Tatooine blues (or the dirty variety, developed by Smooth Banjaxx Wab and the Scundereds) , and the more romantic aubade.
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The only apparently indispensable member of a jizz band is a kloo horn player. The saying goes among aficionados, "A jizz band without a Bith has its work cut out for them. A jizz band without a kloo horn should find a new gig."
A jizz band without a Bith has its work cut out for them. A jizz band without a kloo horn should find a new gig.
Traditional Bith Saying
Now, when Disney purchased the Star Wars IP, the company wiped out a lot of the canon that had established in the officially licensed spin-off books. Thus, in the new continuity, it's entirely possible that a jizz band without a kloo horn is much more commonly accepted, for example. In 2017, the company published a new novelization of Return of the Jedi, written by Ryder Windham, which re-established jizz as a part of the official Star Wars canon. Alden Ehrenreich even referenced the musical genre while promoting his role in the Han Solo spinoff movie.
But jizz is conspicuously absent from the Max Rebo-centric story in From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi. Instead, writer Phil Szostak describes the genre of music performed by the Max Rebo Band as … jatz. Still, as The AV Club points out, jatz has its own established history in Star Wars continuity separate from jizz, including the currently established canon:
[Jatz] dates back to a piece in a Star Wars fiction magazine from 1993. In fact, it actually pre-dates jizz as a genre name; although the Return Of The Jedi novelization describes a musician as a "jizz-wailer," it wasn't until 1995's Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina that jizz itself was mentioned by name. (The A.V. Club: In-depth research in the Star Wars/jizz sciences.) Jatz and jizz have both appeared periodically since then, although, notably, only jatz has made the jump a few times from the non-canonical "Legends" material into official canon over the last few years—including a reference in 2023 novel Inquisitor: Rise Of The Red Blade, and now From A Certain Point Of View.
So either the creative art manager of the entire Star Wars IP made a glaring typo in his short story which was missed by numerous levels of editors — or Disney is quietly trying to eradicate all jizz from the Star Wars universe. If true, this could lead to a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of jizz-wailers cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
Of course, this jizz erasure should not be confused with the recent revelation from Marvel's in-continuity Darth Vader comics, which established that Anakin Skywalker's fatherless conception was not, in fact, immaculate, but rather the result of Emperor Palpatine using his Sith abilities to Force-impregnate Shmi Skywalker. That is, unfortunately, still part of the canon.
