“The Force is with me,
And I am one with the Force;
And I fear nothing,
Because all is as the Force wills it.“―The Guardian’s Mantra

I think most of us were introduced to the Guardians of the Whills in the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Cassian and Jyn are on the streets of Jedha, looking for leads to the missing Imperial pilot. Jyn is distracted by a blind man begging on the street who somehow knows she’s wearing a kyber crystal necklace. He offers to give her a glimpse of her future for the necklace. “The strongest stars are made of kyber,” he tells her.

Jyn asks Cassian who the man is, and he says he’s one of the Guardians of the Whills. They used to protect the Temple of the Kyber, but the Temple is no longer there so they are just “causing trouble for everybody,” he tells her. That man turns out to be Chirrut Imwe, a Guardian who, along with his companion Baze Malbus, helps them steal the Death Star plans on Scarif.

The Guardians of the Whills were a religious order founded in 482 BBY. They primarily guarded the Temple of the Kyber on Jedha as well as the pilgrims who made their way there from around the galaxy. The Guardians were armed with lightbows, a weapon that they built themselves as part of their training.

Guardians are not necessarily Force-sensitive like the Jedi, but they can sense the presence of the Force, while their compatriots, the Disciples of the Whills, prefer to listen to and interpret the will of the Force.

We see some of the Guardians in their original glory in the High Republic during the Convocation of the Force on Jedha. When fighting breaks out between Eiram and E’ronoh’s forces, it’s the Guardians of the Whills who assist the Jedi in trying to bring order back to the city.

If you want more of Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus before the events of Rogue One, there’s a short junior novel called, aptly enough, Guardians of the Whills. It tells of how Chirrut and Baze initially help Saw Gerrera in his fight agains the Empire, but change their minds when they disagree with his tactics and help a group of orphans escape the planet instead. It’s a great little book, with sayings and prayers about the Force from various Force-cults on Jedha at the beginning of each chapter.

In darkness, cold. In light, cold. The old sun brings no heat. But there is heat in breath and life. In life, there is the Force. In the Force, there is life. And the Force is eternal.“―Sunset Prayer of the Guardians of the Whills