upon reading that elzar has yet to reach masterhood naturally our minds will gravitate toward anakin. it gives us the readers something to base elzar against while we watch his character unfold. elzar’s continued knighthood is surprising due to this innate comparison. he’s not too young, he’s not inexperienced, he’s not troubled, he’s not being manipulated into the council by the chancellor…elzar is simply not the easiest to work with. that’s all. his sporadic explorations without explanations lead his fellows to find him difficult and to the council, that reason is enough. while anakin’s masterhood being delayed is understandable, reasonable, and not unfair, elzar’s is. the difference here emphasizes that even within the jedi, those who do not fit into perfected molds are often inherently punished for doing so.

he thought it was unfair. he didn’t care about other jedi’s paths through the force—why should they concern themselves with his? he just wanted to follow his road where it led.

their reactions to this delayed masterhood also differ. this mistreatment irritates elzar since none of his innovations put others in harm's way, but his willingness to fail outshines the incredible knowledge he contributes to the order. and although he might disagree with the council’s decision he will still abide by them and listen to their judgment. it again emphasizes that elzar is older and has a level of emotional maturity that anakin was never allowed to reach.

when we learn that elzar and avar had a romantic relationship in the past our minds also jump to the forbidden relationship between a jedi and republic senator. especially considering one of elzar and avar’s first scenes elzar suggests retirement on the same island anakin and padme got married on. elzar’s differences from anakin are highlighted again when we watch him let go of avar in the epilogue of light of the jedi. elzar loves avar and he always will, but his attachment to her at this moment was not consuming him completely. avar reaches out to hold his hand and he reminds her that “we are jedi,” she invites him to dance and he declines until later, elzar describes his emotions with intensity but elzar also lets go. their relationship was never dangerous and the emotional intimacy they do maintain is enough for him.

avar was a friend. a fellow jedi master. they’d agreed long ago that’s all they would ever be. and it was enough. truly, it was.

the most common comparison i see drawn between these two is the usage of the dark side. understandably so, elzar is one of the only jedi in the high republic to tap into the dark side but the reason why he does differentiates him from anakin and even his closest peers. elzar doesn’t use the dark side to take lives, he doesn’t use the dark side to appease his own selfish desires, elzar uses the dark side to save a group of jedi. in his typical fashion elzar finds solutions and at his lowest point, in the middle of a battlefield, elzar sees that he can use his emotions to save lives. the build-up to this moment was written incredibly well, it combines elzar’s innovative mind, overly compassionate heart, and the emotional anguish that has been plaguing him for months. in contrast to other jedi and anakin, elzar has pure intentions even though his actions may not result in the best of outcomes.

"we have a jedi who does flirt to the dark side and realizes what road he's going down, where instead of embracing it, goes to a friend and says, "i need help." we didn't want elzar to be anakin 2.0." - cavan scott

this. this is my point. a point he always knew but never imposed on them or anyone, like he wished no one imposed on him, let them live their lives how they saw fit without judgement but ready to offer support when they need it. elzar is someone who embraces, not tries to fix and fit into molds.

intentional or not on the authors' behalf, elzar mann has been narratively set up to be apart of the solution to the threat of the levelers.

light of the jedi is excellent in its introduction to the era as a whole and also through it's establishment of marchion ro as an immense antagonist. elzar solidifies this threat posed by the deadly evereni when he experienced a vision of not just the destruction of the republic fair, but the agony the jedi experience due to the levelers.

“awful visions flashed before his eyes, things he could not understand, cast in a sickly purple light. jedi, many he knew, friends and colleagues, horribly mutilated, fighting battles they could not win against awful things that lived in the dark. things that lived in the deep.” - light of the jedi

elzar undeniably foresaw the fear and death the levelers bring about. jedi cast in the purple light of the staff that controls them, creatures that live in the deepest parts of the sea of the force, faces familiar and new torn apart by purple lightning.

from the very start of this era’s conflict, from the very first hint at what’s to come, elzar has been connected to it personally.

the end of the rising storm, the battle at grizal, is the first instance marchion used the leveler against the jedi. the first time it fed since being released from the ice and elzar was the first to experience it. shortly followed by bell and then loden who understandably received the worst of it.

“…for a split second elzar thought he saw something else, something hunkered down on all fours, throwing itself from the air lock.” - the rising storm

immediately elzar is thrown back into his vision. in his sheer pain and confusion he wonders why the force is punishing him rather than realizing that he is currently experiencing what the force tried to harshly warn him of. the levelers.

although elzar was right to question, why him? why had the force attempted to warn him of all the great jedi during this golden age?

what elzar does realize is the force’s true intention of the vision was not solely about the fair, no. the vision was warning him of something worse to come.

“i thought it was over, stel. i thought it was finished, but it’s not. they’re coming, stellan. they’re coming, and we can’t stop them.” - the rising storm

he doesn’t truly understand the they he is talking about here, a vague prophet even to himself. it could be the nihil he is referring to but based on the previous pattern i highly doubt it.

the fallen star carries on this connection between the elzar and the levelers (despite the grievances i might have about his writing in the novel.) trapped on a falling station with several levelers in the vicinity, elzar remained the only jedi unaffected by the growing effect the dark creatures had. orla jareni recognized this and remarked on elzar being one of the only solutions they had.

“you’re not calling upon the force in the same way you once were. that’s shielded you, to a degree—protected you.” - the fallen star

elzar shutting himself off from the force allowed him to remain, at least, mostly unaffected by the leveler's influence. we saw something similar in the trail of shadows with emerick caphtor who concentrated and controlled his emotions enough to momentarily withstand the leveler.

when elzar connected deeply with the force again he felt the effects of the leveler once again nearly getting killed as he descended starlight beacon in a pod.

with all of this in mind, i believe elzar is being set up to play a significant role in how the jedi overcome the leveler threat. he was introduced as a trailblazing problem solver who found solutions and force techniques others believed impossible, despite the odd looks he received for it. what was once considered a problem by others in the order might just be their greatest solution.