10 Stupidest Ever Things Done In Star Wars Movies
8. Qui-Gon Jinn Also Forgets He's A Jedi
The plot of the Phantom Menace makes it difficult to know who messes up when. It's never entirely clear precisely what Chancellor Palpatine is trying to achieve, why he needs Queen Amidala to do, it or even whether he fully succeeds or not. But one thing certain in Episode One is that Qui-Gon Jinn could have skipped the middle third of the film if he had just remembered he's a Jedi.
Qui-Gon detects young Anakin Skywalker's stratospheric Force potential and attempts to acquire him, and a new spaceship engine, from junk dealer Watto. Watto demands hard cash, which Qui-Gon doesn't have, and Watto's inbuilt resistance for Force powers means the old Jedi Mind Trick doesn't work on him. Thus the whole wager with Watto and Boonta Eve race that forms the centrepiece of the movie.
Except none of that is necessary because no one else in Mos Espa is Force-resistant. Bank tellers, shopkeepers, bookmakers, anyone who handles cash could have been mind-tricked into giving Qui-Gon the means to buy his engine and a new toddler-sized slave.
Qui-Gon clearly has no issue with using his Force powers to swindle someone as he tries to do it to Watto (and partially succeeds by tinkering with Watto's 'chance cube' roll). He just doesn't realise he could try it on anyone other than Watto, too.