Why The Jedi Were Wrong (& Why It’s Okay) [Canon]

[Spoiler alert for all canon shows and movies (both animated and live action) as of the latest edit of this article]

First things first, foundational to any conversation about Star Wars is a good overview of core themes and George Lucas’s intentions with the Star Wars universe. Dave Filoni does a masterful job of this in season 1 episode 2 of the docuseries “Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian” [21:35–27:45]. Disney Plus is a better place to watch this, but there is also a clip on YouTube using less relevant b-roll. Either way I suggest watching before reading further.

In this clip, Filoni asserts that “Qui-Gon hasn’t given up on the fact that the Jedi are supposed to actually care, and love, and that that’s not a bad thing. The rest of the Jedi are so detached and have become so political that they’ve really lost their way. And Yoda starts to see that in the second film, but Qui-Gon is ahead of them all and that’s why he’s not part of the council.”

We could simply leave it at that, but Filoni doesn’t. It may be easy to miss at first glance, but you’ll notice Filoni and Favreau weaving and developing this theme throughout Clone Wars and Rebels, and I’m guessing it will have great relevance for what we’ll see in upcoming Star Wars content (particularly Ahsoka’s and Obi-Wan’s series).

The Politics

On the surface, I have always been amazed at Palpatine/Sidious (really Lucas) for such brilliance as he played puppet master throughout the galaxy. The Jedi clearly had their own pre-existing issues that set them up for failure (i.e. the current situation in the galaxy, and their own inexperience in warfare/leadership, as well as their ignorance toward the Sith’s existence and their inexperience fighting the Sith) but I think there were other more significant weaknesses that Palpatine saw and took full advantage of. In the end, even apart from the advantageous mechanics of the inhibitor chips and Order 66, he had the Jedi right where he wanted them. They were overwhelmed with wartime busyness and distractions, they were entirely out of their element as army generals, they were dwindling in number, they had linked themselves intimately with the politics of the Rebublic so that they were bound by galactic policies and thus unable to do good for the galaxy in some cases (in the name of ‘winning the war’), and they had led an army in this prolonged war for so long that, no doubt by Palpatine’s design, public opinion of the Jedi swayed drastically by the end of the conflict. Even at the beginning of the fighting, neutral systems saw both the Republic and the Separatists as unwanted invaders, and by the end of the war, the once-heroic Jedi were seen as bullies, even by those on their own planet.

Though I have no complaints, there is obviously a significant jump between Episodes 2 and 3 of the prequels, and the Clone Wars show was needed in many ways to fill the gaps left by George (such as explaining the inhibitor chips). However, more than simply getting my questions answered, it was this [slow and steady] development of these deeper themes that I was most impressed with. I had always seen the Jedi as wholly good, and I was shocked that Order 66 didn’t result in a total galactic civilian uproar. Instead, people largely scoffed at the Jedi throughout the original trilogy decades later. Watching the Clone Wars allows us to see this steady downfall as the Jedi become more and more detached, political, dogmatic, and at times heartless. We see multiple instances of them deliberating over their priorities — do they still help those in need, even when it clashes with organizational image, political loyalties, or whatever the ‘greater good’ seems to be at the time?

One significant example of the Jedi’s increasingly dogmatic and heartless approach playing out in the Clone Wars series is through the contrast of Barris Offee and her master (Luminara) versus Ahsoka and her master (Anakin)(season 2, episode 6). When the padawans get trapped in the tank on Geonosis, their masters treat the rescue attempt very differently and reveal a key ideological difference in their approach, Luminara following more closely to the Jedi code of that period and essentially leaving her padawan to die. Later in episode 8 when Ahsoka has to wrestle with actually killing her friend, the parasite-infected Barris, she is found wrestling with more or less this same question. It’s kind of the question of one life versus the ‘greater good.’ The Jedi had been forgetting how to love and have relationships, politics and organizational code dictating their actions more than anything else. We see how this affected both Barris and Ahsoka and the paths they ended up on (season 5, episode 20). Barris ends up stating that the Jedi are responsible for the war, have lost their way, and become villains, “fighting for the dark side,” and “fallen from the light” in a “failing republic.” She felt strongly enough to bomb the Jedi temple and essentially turned to the dark side herself, unashamedly wielding Ventress’s red lightsabers. Ahsoka of course takes a different path, but is the quintessential example and living crucible of this entire discussion. There is a reason she is arguably the main character of the Clone Wars show (which is nearly 3 full days of nonstop total runtime); Filoni was committed to carrying George’s theme forward, and the audience is eased into it alongside a young Ahsoka — every time she makes an observation about the war, the force, the separatists, or the Jedi, we as the audience make the same observations with her. And we feel betrayed just like her when it’s all said and done.

So where did the Jedi go wrong?

In part, it is this unloving detachment from people, and their increase in dogmatic rule-following and political alignment. This error is more obvious and easier for us to swallow. However, there is another error that almost feels heretical to a lifelong Star Wars fan: The Jedi didn’t accurately understand the force.

Dave Filoni rightly points to Qui-Gon, but doesn’t dive into this specific assertion. Like Filoni says, Qui-Gon seems to be a step ahead (of even Yoda) and even from the live-action prequels we see that this pertains also to the force; he knows things about the force that even Yoda doesn’t know. At this point it’s largely unclear to me exactly what Qui-Gon was dabbling in, but I’d suggest that it might have been a little further on the dark side end of the spectrum than might be comfortable to us.

Evidently, “[6:00–6:16] The ancient Je’daii believed in practicing both sides of the force and finding a balance between light and dark side within themselves. Eventually the Je’daii would lose that balance and start leaning toward…the light side of the force. This led to…the creation of the Sith.”

Perhaps it wasn’t as black-and-white (or light-and-dark, if you will) as we’ve always thought…

When we talk about Anakin being the Chosen One and ‘bringing balance to the force,’ this provides some interesting context. Could it be that Anakin’s calling wasn’t to destroy the dark side users of the force, but to rightly understand and steward both the light side and the dark side of the force?

Season 3 of Clone Wars has an interesting answer for us. In episodes 15–17, namely 15, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka end up on a strange planet. Qui-Gon reveals himself to Obi-Wan there and tells him that the planet may corrupt Anakin if he is unable to attain balance within his soul. Ahsoka is also warned about Anakin, and Anakin is tested. Interestingly, it is Anakin’s deep attachment to his master and padawan (and arguably his anger) that allows him to pass this test and prove that he is the Chosen One. I wonder what a more dogmatic light-only no-attachment rule-following Jedi might have done in this scenario (more on that idea below). Essentially, the powerful grandmaster of the force (who has two kids — light and dark, essentially) now wants Anakin to take over his job to keep his two kids in balance and not let one destroy the other — both are needed for balance in the galaxy. Anakin refuses to accept the position and leaves the planet with the old man essentially saying, “if you say no and leave, you’ll forever be tormented by the selfishness of this choice and you’ll put the galaxy in danger.” I think this is fascinating, as it suggests that ‘bringing balance to the force’ had nothing to do with destroying the Sith or any other external accomplishment of Anakin, but rather suggests that the prophecy of the chosen one was Anakin’s destiny to balance the light and dark sides of the force internally, and even to sacrifice himself in unseen isolation in order to keep the galaxy in check, taming these two competing forces of light and dark.

I also found it super interesting that Yoda ended up having to wrestle with some of these things (and embrace some newfound humility along the way), beginning with Qui-Gon’s direction towards a series of force tests. At the end of Clone Wars (season 6, episodes 11–13) (namely, 12), Yoda can only overcome his dark side shadow by admitting that it is truly a part of him. He also sees a vision of Ahsoka dying; she asks him if she’ll still be able to become one with the force even after leaving the order. I interpret this as a challenge in which Yoda must ponder the differences between following the Force versus following the ways of the Jedi, and whether there is in fact another right way of living in the force outside of the cultish Jedi Order. He is also challenged by the worth of the war that he’d gotten the Order involved in, and all the death and betrayal that it left in its wake. After his final test (episode 16) where he decides to value a single friend’s life more than the end of the war, he seems to have learned from these experiences, and goes back to the council suggesting that there may be better ways to achieve victory than the Clone War, and that the Jedi fighting in the war may have already caused the war to be lost, but that there is a path unknown to the Sith that could lead to a long-term victory for the Jedi — not victory in war, but victory in eternity…(more on this idea of a new ‘path’ below).

We see more of this idea of balancing light and dark in season 3 of Rebels when Kanan Jarrus has significant discussions with ‘the Bendu’ about the Sith holocron and the light/dark sides of the force. I would argue that the Bendu’s eventual fate (episode 22) seems to affirm his understanding of the force. Of course even earlier in his conversations with Kanan, we see Kanan’s style and posture as a master change significantly in a very positive way in light of this understanding, leading ultimately to his ability to sacrifice himself for others (season 4, episode 10). Knowing that Filoni cares deeply about Star Wars and that everything was done intentionally, I am again impressed at his development of these theme even through Rebels.

This video does a great job of further elaborating on this idea of the Chosen One, bringing balance to the force, and how the Jedi ought to have viewed love and attachments. In short, to bring balance to the force was to understand all of it — the light and the dark — and to learn to embrace attachments. If this is the correct view, it is clear that most Jedi missed it altogether, and that most who dabbled in the dark side (such as Dooku) took it too far, likely for lack of proper instruction. It’s not too hard to oversimplify some master-padawan relationships with this in mind:

• Yoda was devoted to the Light, and blinded in some of the ways we’ve discussed
• Dooku saw more clearly concerning attachments and politics and the force. The Jedi forbade his communication with his sister (attachment), stifled his vision for a healthier and more productive Jedi order (politics), seemed blind in their apparent non-ability to sense things (force), and were largely unapproachable and arrogant in their code and tradition. Instead of Dooku’s fascination with the Dark side being guided, it was stifled. Thus, Dooku overcorrected and found more of what he sought in the Dark side.
• Qui-Gon observed all of this, and found Balance in the force, saw some of the error of the Jedi and thus was not on the Jedi council. He could have trained Anakin to have healthy attachments, knowing he already had one with his mother, and he didn’t take this lightly. Indeed, the ‘Duel of the Fates’ concerned the fate of Anakin, should Qui-Gon live or die.
• Obi-Wan, as Filoni pointed out in our original clip, was committed to the Jedi code of the era (and thus the Light). He severed relationship with Satine, saw Jar Jar and Anakin as “useless life forms,” and initially trained Anakin out of obligation due to his promise to Qui-Gon.
• Anakin was too old for training, and Obi-Wan was still a padawan at the time, and thus they became brothers, Anakin still lacking the father-figure he needed. Obi-Wan also lacked the Balanced training that Qui-Gon could have provided, and so him and Anakin continued to be trained, in effect, by Yoda and others of this era, which obviously chafed at Anakin in a greater way, being younger, less mature, more zealous, more skilled/ambitious, and more emotional than Obi-Wan. He knew no one who had Balance, as everyone around him was starkly positioned on one side or the other. Thus, Anakin succumbed to the Dark for most of his lightsaber-wielding career, even if he found Balance in his last moments. (This quick 3-min video from my favorite Star Wars lore/discussion channel puts further emphasis on how gradual Anakin’s turn to the dark side actually was and how different his story might have been had the Jedi trained him properly.) (Let the obvious also be stated: Anakin never got what he wanted from the dark side; the Sith lord was utterly brutal to Vader and purposefully made him mad so that he’d be stronger, even designing his suit so that it would inflict more constant pain and torment.)
• If our pattern were to continue, we would expect that Anakin’s padawan would find Balance on his/her own, much like Qui-Gon had to. This I think is the primary brilliance and intrigue of Ahsoka’s still-unfolding story.

Interestingly, there may have been others of these more ‘balanced’ Jedi even before the prequel trilogy. Concerning the new High Republic content coming out, which takes place before the prequels, I agree that what we will see is “the Jedi at the height of their ignorance and fanaticism,[9:45–10:00]” yet we’ll also be introduced to entirely new characters. One such character is Orla Jareni, whom this article suggests is one of our ‘balanced’ Jedi. “She serves the light side of the Force, but does not agree with the philosophies and interpretations of the Force as dictated by the Jedi Council. As such, [she will] take on a unique title within the Jedi Order: that of the “Wayseeker." …Clearly, by the time of the Skywalker Saga ideas about Wayseeker Jedi had faded out in favor of Yoda’s philosophies of the Force and how to serve it. However, The High Republic is now adding new levels of irony to Ahsoka’s story, by connecting her to the tradition of the Wayseeker. Ahsoka rejected Yoda’s Jedi Council and its ways, believing them flawed in their interpretation of the Force and a Jedi’s purpose. Following her own path through the Force allowed Ahsoka to survive Order 66, growing and thriving as a force of good in the galaxy, while the Jedi Order shattered and fell.”

Star Wars Theory calls these ‘Grey Jedi’ and in this video he discusses some interesting things that we haven’t yet concerning Luke, Qui-Gon, and Yoda.

Why It’s Okay

There’s hope.

Like Filoni said at the beginning, the Star Wars story is always about hope. There’s hope for the Jedi of course, as Ahsoka, Ezra, Luke, Grogu, and others forge ahead as wayseekers (necessitated by the extinction of the official Order), and there’s also hope for us in the audience as we entrust the future of Star Wars to guys like Filoni and Favreau who care about these things. While George’s sequel plans didn’t come to fruition due to poor leadership and planning, these guys (F&F) are doing gradual damage control as they continue to crank out awesome content.