Star Wars Nerdism
So, I was thinking about Star Wars recently. I am full of love for the original trilogy, and the parts of the Ep 1-3 trilogy that Lucas didn't fuck up are pretty good too. I liked the supporting characters more than Anakin, but that is besides the point.
I am still amazed at how short-sighted the Jedi Council was in Eps 2-3.
At the time, the Jedi were arguably the wisest organization in the universe. Certainly the most moral. Their power approached that of the Catholic Church in our own world.
And they still made one of the dumbest decisions ever. I don't get it; they weren't stupid. They weren't even blinded by optimism, at least, not most of them. They *knew* the universe was an ugly place full of nasty people. With sufficient training/power, they could see into the future, for God's sake.
It's been a while since I've seen the movies, so I may be off, but not by much.
But consider. The Jedi Council did not trust Palpatine as far as Yoda could throw him without the Force. I believe they suspected he was at least connected to the Sith, if not the extent of his involvment. So, when he asked for a Jedi assistant, it both made sense for a man in his position and gave the Jedi Council the opportunity to keep an eye on him.
However, he asked for the youngest, most inexperienced hothead apprentice, not even full Jedi. A young man who, it was patently obvious, was at best emotionally unstable and had not yet outgrown his adolescent bravado. A young man who the Jedi Council also did not trust, and they had the poor sense to essentially tell him this to his face.
Now, if one is assuming that Palpatine is not a Good Guy, as the Jedi (so rightly) were, on what level does giving him what he wants in this situation even approach being a good idea? First of all, you'd be putting the apprentice in a position where he could be influenced in unhappy ways. Second of all, you don't trust the apprentice either, what part of this situation *doesn't* scream "dangerous"?
I mean, it's not like it would have been hard to thwart Palpatine. "Oh, your excellency, he hasn't completed his training yet, he needs to focus on that. A more experienced Jedi would be able to assist you more effectively. If you need a bodyguard, Mace Windu is the baddest of badasses. If you need an advisor, Master Yoda is the wisest of the wise. If you need someone to gather intel for you, Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't too bad at that..." Couched in language like that, as long as the Council was careful to play up the benefits of taking another (more trustworthy) member, Palpatine would at least have been more hard-pressed to get at Anakin.
But no. They allow Anakin to be Palpatine's attache, and deliver themselves to slaughter on a silver platter.
And it occurs to me that though I said they weren't blinded by optimism for the most part, they were, on one issue.
They figured Anakin to be the figure in their prophecy, the one who would restore balance to the Force, and they were right.
However, pretty much... all of them, except for almost certainly Yoda (and Obi-Wan, once he got his face shoved in it), assumed that meant the Sith would be eliminated. As another great movie once pointed out, there can be no light without shadow. The Force was inherently neutral, but human nature being what it is, there were two sides. The Jedi was... probably at least a couple hundred strong, and the Sith consisted of exactly two practitioners. It was a grossly unbalanced situation, which was why for the most part, the Sith had to be in hiding.
And wouldn't you know, after Anakin turned and got through slaughtering the Jedi, there were exactly two Sith, Palpatine as Darth Sidious (I think) and Anakin as Darth Vader... and exactly two Jedi, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. (In fact, I almost wonder if that's why Obi-Wan let Darth Vader kill him in Ep 4.) I think Yoda knew that was what was likely to happen from the get-go, and that's part of the reason he opposed Anakin being trained. Well, that, and the fact that Anakin was too old to be properly indoctrinated into the Jedi faith, not to mention Anakin's own flamingly obvious emotional instability.
Though I do find it interesting that Anakin, as Vader, was never turned irrevocably. He could, and did, come back. To my knowledge, he's the only one who ever did. (Luke was tempted, certainly, and his temper did get the best of him at one point, but I think it would take more than one episode of rage to constitute being turned... especially since Luke got a grip on himself pretty quickly.)
The case can also be made that Anakin was ultimately responsible for the complete annhilation of the Jedi and the Sith. I haven't read the books, but I do know that everyone who survived the fall of the Jedi *died* by the time everything was resolved. Obi-Wan basically committed suicide, Yoda died of old age, Palpatine was killed by Darth Vader, and Darth Vader had been slowly dying ever since Obi-Wan knocked him into molten lava. (If one wanted to be philosophical, one could also say he'd been dying ever since he killed Padme.) That left Luke, who had been trained in the skills of the Jedi, but not really the philosophy. I know that according to the books, Luke founded the New Jedi Order... but that's exactly what it was, new. Different.
... Wow, I just realize how dorky this whole thing is. Oh well, there are worse things.
I am still amazed at how short-sighted the Jedi Council was in Eps 2-3.
At the time, the Jedi were arguably the wisest organization in the universe. Certainly the most moral. Their power approached that of the Catholic Church in our own world.
And they still made one of the dumbest decisions ever. I don't get it; they weren't stupid. They weren't even blinded by optimism, at least, not most of them. They *knew* the universe was an ugly place full of nasty people. With sufficient training/power, they could see into the future, for God's sake.
It's been a while since I've seen the movies, so I may be off, but not by much.
But consider. The Jedi Council did not trust Palpatine as far as Yoda could throw him without the Force. I believe they suspected he was at least connected to the Sith, if not the extent of his involvment. So, when he asked for a Jedi assistant, it both made sense for a man in his position and gave the Jedi Council the opportunity to keep an eye on him.
However, he asked for the youngest, most inexperienced hothead apprentice, not even full Jedi. A young man who, it was patently obvious, was at best emotionally unstable and had not yet outgrown his adolescent bravado. A young man who the Jedi Council also did not trust, and they had the poor sense to essentially tell him this to his face.
Now, if one is assuming that Palpatine is not a Good Guy, as the Jedi (so rightly) were, on what level does giving him what he wants in this situation even approach being a good idea? First of all, you'd be putting the apprentice in a position where he could be influenced in unhappy ways. Second of all, you don't trust the apprentice either, what part of this situation *doesn't* scream "dangerous"?
I mean, it's not like it would have been hard to thwart Palpatine. "Oh, your excellency, he hasn't completed his training yet, he needs to focus on that. A more experienced Jedi would be able to assist you more effectively. If you need a bodyguard, Mace Windu is the baddest of badasses. If you need an advisor, Master Yoda is the wisest of the wise. If you need someone to gather intel for you, Obi-Wan Kenobi isn't too bad at that..." Couched in language like that, as long as the Council was careful to play up the benefits of taking another (more trustworthy) member, Palpatine would at least have been more hard-pressed to get at Anakin.
But no. They allow Anakin to be Palpatine's attache, and deliver themselves to slaughter on a silver platter.
And it occurs to me that though I said they weren't blinded by optimism for the most part, they were, on one issue.
They figured Anakin to be the figure in their prophecy, the one who would restore balance to the Force, and they were right.
However, pretty much... all of them, except for almost certainly Yoda (and Obi-Wan, once he got his face shoved in it), assumed that meant the Sith would be eliminated. As another great movie once pointed out, there can be no light without shadow. The Force was inherently neutral, but human nature being what it is, there were two sides. The Jedi was... probably at least a couple hundred strong, and the Sith consisted of exactly two practitioners. It was a grossly unbalanced situation, which was why for the most part, the Sith had to be in hiding.
And wouldn't you know, after Anakin turned and got through slaughtering the Jedi, there were exactly two Sith, Palpatine as Darth Sidious (I think) and Anakin as Darth Vader... and exactly two Jedi, Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi. (In fact, I almost wonder if that's why Obi-Wan let Darth Vader kill him in Ep 4.) I think Yoda knew that was what was likely to happen from the get-go, and that's part of the reason he opposed Anakin being trained. Well, that, and the fact that Anakin was too old to be properly indoctrinated into the Jedi faith, not to mention Anakin's own flamingly obvious emotional instability.
Though I do find it interesting that Anakin, as Vader, was never turned irrevocably. He could, and did, come back. To my knowledge, he's the only one who ever did. (Luke was tempted, certainly, and his temper did get the best of him at one point, but I think it would take more than one episode of rage to constitute being turned... especially since Luke got a grip on himself pretty quickly.)
The case can also be made that Anakin was ultimately responsible for the complete annhilation of the Jedi and the Sith. I haven't read the books, but I do know that everyone who survived the fall of the Jedi *died* by the time everything was resolved. Obi-Wan basically committed suicide, Yoda died of old age, Palpatine was killed by Darth Vader, and Darth Vader had been slowly dying ever since Obi-Wan knocked him into molten lava. (If one wanted to be philosophical, one could also say he'd been dying ever since he killed Padme.) That left Luke, who had been trained in the skills of the Jedi, but not really the philosophy. I know that according to the books, Luke founded the New Jedi Order... but that's exactly what it was, new. Different.
... Wow, I just realize how dorky this whole thing is. Oh well, there are worse things.