#the jedi suck

[the-leegend-99]

Yeah I fully agree with your reading. That's what George Lucas intended, but that's also why George's ideas are mostly shit and we shouldn't strive so much to rehabilitate a series of movies he mostly made to get back at his ex-wife.

When did the Jedi lose their way?

A notion put forward by Tales of the Jedi and The Acolyte is the idea that the Jedi were losing their way, as an Order, by letting themselves become more institutionalized and mired in bureaucracy.

Is that the intended narrative? Nope!

Because here's the thing, Lucas acknowledges the fact that the Jedi start to be corrupted, at some point. But if you ask him, that happens as a consequences of being used as generals during the Clone Wars.

(note the keywords "used" and "forced"... aka they didn't willingly join the war, they were drafted by the Senate to fight in it, see here for more research & quotes)

But during The Phantom Menace? The Jedi are in their heyday.

"You see the heyday of the Jedi, when they are the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, sort of like the old marshals out West. And there's thousands of them." - Vanity Fair, 1999

Their only fault is that:

the Senate is their boss and the Senate is corrupted af which limits their mandate greatly (so not really the Jedi's fault, but it does make their hands tied)

they're oblivious to the Sith's scheme.

This notion that "they were so institutionalized/detached from the regular Joes of the galaxy that they became dispassionate and lost their way, forgot about the little guy" is absolute headcanon from fans and current authors. Lucas never brings it up once.

On the contrary, during development, he and concept artists took measures to make them look less institutionalized and heartless.

The Jedi temple isn't meant to signify an ivory tower, it represents a place of warmth/worship that contrasts with the coldness dispassion of the Senate building.

The Jedi used to wear uniforms, it was softened to a humble tunic.

Because the intended narrative is that the Republic (including the Jedi) and Anakin's downfall are paralleled with Palpatine's rise to power. There is a direct correlation, both in-universe and thematically.

As Palpatine becomes Emperor, the Republic dies under thunderous applause while the Jedi get slaughtered, and Anakin becomes Darth Vader.

As Palpatine gets emergency powers, the Republic weakens because of the war, the Jedi's values are foregone and Anakin is put in situations where he fails to uphold the Jedi teachings, over and over.

And it all starts when Palpatine becomes Chancellor after pushing out Finis Valorum, marking the end of an age of value.

(Get it? Finis Valorum? "Finis", latin for "end", "Valorem", latin for "value" puns are fun!)

[galactic-rhea]

More silly Luke Skysilverfoxwalker doodles

in my mind, almost nothing of the sequels is canon, but Luke is still grumpy and somewhat depressed, his dad tries to help tho

[padmestrilogy]

i bring a sort of "the jedi lost the second they went to war using a slave army" vibe to "the jedi wouldve won the war and things would've been perfect if this one dude hadn't fucked it up" posts that jedi discourse bloggers don't really like

[underwaterspiderbird]

they’re trash too. good people in religions don’t undo the eons worth of atrocities their faith commits upon groups who don’ believe what they believe. there’s no such thing as a good jedi, their life a lie and so is yours.

how could they truly love being jedi? they were taken as babies and didn’t know anything else. they didn’t know how to think for themselves, what normal, healthy relationships even looked like, or even what true family was. and then they were raised by an institution who insists they’re good, passive-aggressively tells them their feelings & the things makes them them are bad & wrong, then throws away and cannibalizes any pupil who questions the dogma: who doesn’t drink the kool-aid. maligns them as dark and evil so more people don’t question them.

face it, they were brainwashed little goose-steppers who did whatever their masters said. they only thought they loved the jedi because of the veneer of goodness & righteousness thrust upon them: they never loved the jedi, they have fucking Stockholm Syndrome & grief over the ppl they met & called friends.

if anything, the jedi who did love being jedi, loved being jedi the same way the people of jamestown loved the flavor of the kool-aid.

THE JEDI WERE GOOD, ACTUALLY. ANAKIN AND AHSOKA WERE OUTLIERS AND YOU ALL JUST SUCK AT COMPREHENDING BIASED PROTAGONISTS.

[sapphicsparkles]

wolfwren week day 5: dreams and madness | a day for bending reality

Jedi Padawan AU

[short-wooloo]

So the take goin around right now is that acolyte shows how its era of Jedi are better than the prequel ones because they're less quick to draw their lightsabers

Yeah, gotta disagree on this

1. The prequel Jedi really aren't overly quick on the saber draw (there are certainly individuals who are, but they're people like Anakin/ahsoka/etc, sucky Jedi/people taught by sucky Jedi), pretty much any time they take their sabers out its because the situations call for it, which brings me to...

2. There is a fundamental difference in the times between the prequels and acolyte

Acolyte is in a time of peace and a peace that will last another century

The prequels are a time of rising tensions and war, the Jedi here must always be on guard

And on that note

3. Personally I'd say that the fact that the acolyte Jedi aren't drawing their sabers in response to a threat shows that they're not taking this as seriously as they should, that they're treating the situation with kids gloves, in contrast to the prequel Jedi who are responding appropriately to the danger to their lives an lives of others by not hesitating and dealing with the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible

It's all so ironic, this show is very much trying to go for a "this is how the Jedi messed up and became the prequel Jedi" message, but because it's based upon a fundamental misunderstanding of what the prequel Jedi are, it actually ends up making these Jedi from a century prior to the prequels seem worse

In other words, the acolyte era Jedi are complacent and arrogant, while the prequel Jedi have adapted with the times

[stealingpotatoes]

Regarding the Acolyte ask and your tag about Master Bald Shrek (oh my gosh Bald Shrek 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭) and yeah coming from the High Republic books fandom with a 100 years younger Master Vernestra: we have no idea why she's like this either and personally I think it sucks. I was so excited to see her in live-action, why'd they make my girl change so much in 100 years to become that. Do not like.😭

omg what she was a canon character before the show??? you poor Old Republic fans you were done so atrociously dirty w the acolyte

[corvidscreams]

Kesett Week 2024 Day 1: Role Reversal/Outfit Swap When Boba barely escapes an attempt on his life, someone has to take his place to lure his would-be assassin out. It's unfortunate that Mandalorian armor carries the weight of generations, but Cal is nothing if not dedicated to protecting his family.

[flammabel]

Cal 'I should have no ribcage left' Kestis

[thehollowprince]

I'm curious, how is Sol different from any Jedi we've seen?

I'm just... I'm curious. Has the writer of this "article" ever watched or read anything with another Jedi in it before?

[blackstar30]

Star Wars: Rebels Season 3 Episode 11 "Ghosts of Geonosis part 1"

[engagemythrusters]

“Anakin Skywalker was the best Jedi” uh no that was Mace Windu. Mace was the best Jedi.

[jedi-enthusiast]

Ok, I know that I already reblogged @antianakin's post about why Anakin didn't need to murder an entire Tusken village because 2-3 of them killed his mom (original post here), but I just feel the need to talk about one of the most damning examples of why Anakin has no excuse for that response.

Post Order 66 Jedi/Clone interactions.

Let's just say, for the sake of the argument, that the entirety of the Tusken village--including the literal babies and children--all took part in the torture/murder of Shimi Skywalker. No exceptions.

Anakin's response to his mother's death is to murder everyone with no remorse or a second thought. Even when he confesses what he did to Padme, the RotS novel clearly shows that he doesn't actually feel bad about what he did. Most of his worry is about what others will think of him and, ironically, about how he's a "good Jedi" that should be better than this.

Now let's move on...

Every clone took part in Order 66 in some way.*

The clones murdered every single Jedi they could in cold blood (albeit without a choice), including the children, with only a miniscule few survivors. How many do we canonically have right now that didn't get captured and become Inquisitors? Obi-Wan, Quinlan, Cal, Caleb/Kanan, and Gungi are all I can think of at the moment.** That's 5 Jedi, out of thousands, that survived--and that's not even mentioning the destruction of their places of worship/cultural artifacts and the shitty propaganda spread about their culture.

* I'm not including the Bad Batch because, my own opinions about the show/characters/writing/etc. aside, we can all agree that the only reason their chips didn't activate was because they're Filoni's beloved OCs and he has a habit of trying to make his OCs "special" in some way.

** I'm not including Ahsoka in this because, like she says repeatedly as of Season 7 of TCW onward, she isn't a Jedi and doesn't see herself as such--and for the same reason I'm not including Grogu, since he's like...a Mandalorian apprentice now and not technically a Jedi. I'm also not including Luminara because she eventually gets captured and killed pretty early on and I'm trying to only include Jedi that are alive for a significant amount of time in the Imperial Era.

So, how do the Jedi treat the clones after they murder their entire family and destroy their culture? Let's look!

-----

Example One:

Obi-Wan Kenobi never learns about the inhibitor chips, as of current canon. He is 100% under the impression that Cody and the 212th (as well as all of the other clones) just up and betrayed him and the Order for no reason. He also watched the security tapes that, yes, showed Anakin killing children, but also would have shown the clones killing Jedi as well.

In the Kenobi show he runs into a clone veteran of the 501st--a veteran who, in all likelihood, probably stormed the Temple and was a part of its destruction.

Does he spit in the clone's face? Call him a murderer? Kill or harm him in any way?

Nope!

He gives the veteran some of his credits, even though it's made a point in the show that Obi-Wan is now working with limited funds and is very poor at this point in time. He doesn't have credits to spare and he is supposed to be looking for Leia, but he takes a moment to give some to someone who took part in the genocide of his people.

He also routinely thinks about Cody and the 212th in the comics! He remembers them fondly and still connects Cody to the feeling of hope, even though they tried to kill him! Even though he has no idea that they never wanted to!

-----

Example Two:

Kanan Jarrus/Caleb Dume knows about the inhibitor chips, but in Rebels it's made very clear that he thinks that it's just something the clones made up so that they didn't have to take responsibility for their actions.

In Rebels, Ahsoka makes the (objectively bad) decision to send Kanan out to find her "old friends" to help the rebellion.*** Kanan then finds out that her "old friends" are three clones, only after he gets there and sees them. He reacts in a panic and ignites his saber, clearly freaking out a bit.

*** I'll probably expand on this later, because I have a lot of opinions on this particular decision of hers, but anyway-

Does he try to hurt and/or kill them? Do they have to fight him off? Does he even lunge in their direction or deflect Wolffe's blaster bolt at him?

Again, nope!

He steps in front of Ezra in a defensive position and, when shot at by Wolffe, deflects the bolt into their ship. Then, when Ezra steps in and says that Ahsoka said to trust them, Kanan de-ignites his saber and they all have a conversation about them helping in the rebellion--even though Kanan clearly doesn't trust them at all and is dealing with his PTSD while being there. Eventually he even comes to get along with/trust Rex, albeit in later episodes.

-----

Example Three:

Gungi, in the Bad Batch, meets up with the Batch and immediately recognizes them as clones. Now, we don't know his opinion on them and their betrayal because it's never really expressed, but it's safe to assume that he has no idea about the chips (at least, until Tech tells him) and it's clear that he's very scared at that point in time.

What does he do?

He hides in the corner of the ship and is wary about the food they offer to him.

That's literally it.

And then later in the episode he works together with TBB and trusts them enough to let them help defend his village.

-----

So, even with most of the Jedi either having no idea about the chips or likely doubting that story, we're shown over and over again that the Jedi never seek revenge against the clones or try to kill them after Order 66. Even though their lives were ruined by what the clones did/took part in, they're never shown to be actively trying to cause them harm.

So there is literally no way you could possibly justify Anakin killing an entire village of Tuskens because of his mother's death, when--in arguably the same/a worse situation--the Jedi are actively shown not doing that.

[spock-smokes-weed]

I get so annoyed at those “the no attachments rule doesn’t mean X, Y, & Z! ” type posts because yes it does. Omg yes it does.

There is a big difference between a belief on paper and how it actually pans out in practice. The Jedi might say “no attachments doesn’t mean we suppress our feelings, or we don’t form relationships” but we see how they’re constantly policing each other’s emotions, and how often genuine concern is met with ire.

People get so caught up in the technicalities of the Jedi doctrine, they ignore the actual actions of the Jedi of the republic and they way they interpret that doctrine.

I’m not a Jedi hater, I think the Jedi are super cool, but the Jedi of the republic are FLAWED!!!! that’s the whole point of the story. The flaws in the order and their unwillingness to change is exactly what created the prime environment for Palpatine to enact his plan. The whole point of OG trilogy is Luke righting the wrongs of the past and building a brighter future for the Jedi specifically because he chooses to embrace emotion and attachment.

I hate all this waffling about “well the Jedi didn’t actually do this” WHEN YES THEY DID THAT IS SUCH A MASSIVE PART OF THE PLOT

[prncssguya]

sol was kind of unhinged and obsessed right? sol seems to have always had a contentious relationship with the council. he never wants to seek their advice on anything. my theory is the council thought sol was not ready for a padawan and that led to feelings of inferiority. essentially it was his own selfishness and desires that made him act recklessly and led to the death of the entire coven. a coven the jedi council seemed more than willing to let be

his decision to save osha over mae was because one. she wasn’t marked like mae two. osha wanted to leave the coven three. osha didn’t witness him murdering her mother

[chaoticly-shy-dragon]

(it's may the 4th?!)

may the fourth be with you! enjoy: ashla from my fic orderly facade, a few months after the first chapter

also a version without the scarf/shawl/head scarf

this was actually a redraw from some old colored doodles I did back in 2022 (I will probably make a comparison bc the gap between the two is something that astounds me)