Even Star Wars has finally acknowledged that the prequel Jedi Order had become “cruel.” I still remember settling down to watch Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace in theaters all the way back in 1999. I’d been hooked to Star Wars since childhood, and I finally had the chance to see the Jedi on screen. There was just one problem, I swiftly realized: this Jedi Order was nothing like what I expected.
To be fair to George Lucas, that was kind of the point. Like Luke Skywalker, I’d idealized the Jedi Order, viewing them through the lens of hero worship. But Lucas’ Jedi were flawed and fallible, so fixed in their doctrines they barely recognized the Chosen One when he stood in front of them. The entire prequel trilogy flows from the flaws of the Jedi, which allowed Palpatine to flourish and left Anakin Skywalker in a position where he was torn between conflicting attachments. But now, Star Wars is going a little further – openly acknowledging the Jedi had become cruel.
The Experience Of Becoming A Jedi Was Historically Different For Wookiees
We haven’t seen many Wookiee Jedi in Star Wars, partly because Lucas blocked them for a while; he backtracked in the end, introducing the Wookiee youngling Gungi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. They’ve become more common in recent years, with Lucasfilm introducing several Wookiee Jedi who were active during the High Republic Era, centuries before the Skywalker saga. Claudia Gray’s latest novel, Into the Light, reveals that Wookiee Jedi are very different to other members of the Order.
“Yes, Wookiees came to the Order as very young children, but within that species, ‘very young’ meant ‘not yet thirty years old.’ Although Wookiee youth did not form as many memories as most sentients had by that age, they generally retained strong recollections of their family and powerful bonds to the trees and forests of their homeworld. Complete separation was not only more difficult under such circumstances but cruel.
Therefore, Wookiee Jedi were not entirely cut off from their families and all the beings and places they had known before. They made occasional visits, knew their relations, and went to Kashyyyk for various festivals. Although the Order did not permit stays so long that deep personal attachments were inevitable, Wookiee Jedi remained connected to their origins in ways few other Jedi could even imagine.”
This fits perfectly with canon, where we’ve seen Wookiee Jedi frequently ᴀssociated with their homeworld of Kashyyyk. Even The Acolyte‘s Kelnacca, who retreated from the Order, headed to a forested world similar to Kashyyyk. But this has mᴀssive implications when it comes to the aforementioned Gungi.
We Know That Had Changed By The Prequel Era
Gungi returned in Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 2, episode 6, “Tribe.” Now a Padawan, he had survived Order 66 and was now headed back to his homeworld to lie low. Concerningly, though, he told Clone Force 99 that he didn’t remember anything of his homeworld or his village; he only remembered a little about Kashyyyk from his dreams, and it was hinted this was simply the will of the Force leading him there after the destruction of the Jedi.
The Jedi Order was cruel to separate Gungi from Kashyyyk like this.
The clear implication is that something had changed since the High Republic Era; the Jedi no longer encouraged Wookiees to embrace their mystical connection to Kashyyyk, a planet rich in the Force. This makes Gungi’s choice of lightsaber hilt, wood from the brylark tree, particularly sad; it suggests he had always sensed that something was missing, deep inside him, and that he sought reconnection to his homeworld. Into the Light is right; the Jedi Order was cruel to separate Gungi from Kashyyyk like this. It’s telling that the Force took him back.
Why Did The Jedi Become So “Extra” About Attachments?
Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One, born to bring balance to the Force. It’s still unclear what exactly that means, but it doesn’t just appear to be about destroying the Sith; the Jedi had lost their own sense of balance, pushing the doctrine of non-attachment to the point where it tore them away from galactic life, and they needed to change. During the High Republic Era, we see Jedi celebrate love and insist that non-attachment simply means being willing to let go, rather than avoiding any possible connection with others.
Anakin Skywalker possessed deep and unhealthy attachments. Imagine if the Jedi had followed an approach to handling them that was similar to the one they historically showed with Wookiees – allowing him to return to Tatooine, to spend time with Shmi, perhaps using Council funds to find and free her (to her credit, canon has revealed Padmé tried). Instead, the Jedi insisted on the kind of extreme separation that their predecessors would have condemned as cruel. And they’d have been right, too; the fate of the Star Wars galaxy would have been so different had the Jedi just shown compᴀssion.
Star Wars
- Created by
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George Lucas
- First Film
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Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
