In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious convinced the galaxy that the Jedi deserved to die based on one lie—but there’s more to this than meets the eye in Star Wars movies and TV shows. Even with how much power Palpatine acquired throughout the prequel trilogy, he still had to convince the galaxy, and most importantly the Senate, that he had called for the execution of all the Jedi (younglings among them) for good reason. No matter his status, it wouldn’t be so easy to convince everyone that this brutality was warranted.

Ultimately, the Jedi played right into his hands when it came to this lie. In Revenge of the Sith, Mace Windu and several other Jedi confront Palpatine in his office, which ends with Mace standing over a seemingly defenseless Palpatine. This allowed Palpatine to claim that the Jedi had tried to ᴀssᴀssinate him and had been playing the galaxy all along. While that wasn’t really accurate, there is something about Palpatine’s lie in Revenge of the Sith that is very odd and has mᴀssive implications for the Jedi.

Palpatine Deceived The Galaxy By Claiming The Jedi Attempted To ᴀssᴀssinate Him

That Wasn’t Entirely The Truth, Though

Convincing the galaxy—or at least the Core Worlds—that the Jedi had deserved Order 66 was going to be a mᴀssive undertaking, particularly because the Jedi had been seen as the protectors and peacekeepers of the galaxy for thousands of years. In fact, the Clone War complicated this even more, as they had seemed like the heroes of the Republic for several years. Because of that, Palpatine needed a solid lie that would quickly justify such extreme measures.

The Jedi, Mace Windu especially, unfortunately made this much easier when they arrived in Palpatine’s office and Mace tried to kill him. Of course, it wasn’t actually accurate that the Jedi had attempted to ᴀssᴀssinate him; they had clearly come to arrest him. Even with Mace eventually trying to kill Palpatine in this encounter, it wasn’t an ᴀssᴀssination attempt, as that implies it was premeditated. Instead, Mace acted on instinct, and he acted alone. He had essentially independently decided Palpatine needed to die.

This event nevertheless lent credence to Palpatine’s claims, and that was evidently enough to convince many (but not all) that the Jedi had deserved to be eradicated. While it’s still a little jarring that Palpatine could relatively easily convince so many of something so brutal, there’s something even odder about this lie in Revenge of the Sith. That is, although Palpatine lied about the Jedi trying to ᴀssᴀssinate him for political reasons, the Jedi had actually attempted another political ᴀssᴀssination just a few years earlier.

The Jedi Council DID Try To Have Count Dooku ᴀssᴀssinated

One Canon Star Wars Book Revealed This Shocking Truth

The Jedi didn’t intend to ᴀssᴀssinate Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, but they had actively tried to ᴀssᴀssinate Count Dooku. This shocking plot wasn’t shown on-screen in Star Wars, but the canon book Star Wars: Dark Disciple, written by Christie Golden, confirms that, between Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the Jedi instructed Quinlan Vos to kill Count Dooku. In fact, they even asked Vos to team up with Count Dooku’s former ᴀssᴀssin, Asajj Ventress, to do so.

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Given how quickly the galaxy accepted that the Jedi deserved to die because of their alleged attempt to ᴀssᴀssinate Palpatine, it’s difficult to even imagine how damaging it would have been had the truth of their attempt on Dooku’s life been revealed. Hiring Ventress for this task would have been even more damning, as she was known the galaxy over as a Separatist. This was therefore a major gamble the Jedi took, but, more than that, this has some serious negative implications for the Jedi.

I Still Don’t Understand This Jedi Council Decision

This Really Was Opposite To The Way Of The Jedi

I, of course, do not believe that the Jedi deserved Order 66 at any point in the Star Wars timeline, but even I have to admit this plot in Dark Disciple is unsettling. Yes, Dooku was a Sith Lord, which is the same justification people use (in real life) to defend why Mace was willing to kill Palpatine. However, the truth is, no matter how justified the Jedi Council’s desire to kill Count Dooku was, an ᴀssᴀssination attempt of this kind was absolutely not the Jedi way.

Sadly, this entire era was a disappointing one for the Jedi. They betrayed their core beliefs in countless ways, from becoming too wrapped up in politics to acting as soldiers rather than peacekeepers during the Clone Wars. Again, while there are justifications for these actions, there’s no denying that the Jedi frequently acted opposite the Jedi way in the prequel trilogy era. Even odder, although Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious lied about the Jedi’s ᴀssᴀssination attempt in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the Jedi had actually attempted another political ᴀssᴀssination before.