One key line in the novelization of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith perfectly set up the New Jedi Order from the Star Wars Legends continuity and made the sequel trilogy that much more disappointing. The old Jedi Order of the Star Wars prequel trilogy was a flawed insтιтution, but it was not malicious. The Jedi became complacent and rigid when they should have continued to evolve. This, tragically, contributed to their destruction at the hands of Palpatine.

The Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover is exclusive to the Star Wars Legends continuity, adding additional dialogue, scenes, and context to the saga film, including a poignant internal monologue by Jedi Grandmaster Yoda. Following his failure to defeat Emperor Palpatine, Yoda contemplates his failings and those of the now-bygone Jedi Order. Yoda’s realization perfectly ties into Luke Skywalker’s characterization in the original trilogy and the original Legends-era iteration of his eventual New Jedi Order.

Revenge Of The Sith Confirmed The Jedi Order Needed To Change

No Longer Could They Err In Their Ways

Yoda reflects on how the Sith Order has changed since their supposed destruction in the Ruusan campaign. Darth Bane reinvented what it meant to be a Sith Lord and created a thousand-year lineage of increasingly powerful Dark Lords who slowly took over the galaxy without the Jedi even knowing they survived until it was too late.

Palpatine, the last and ᴅᴇᴀᴅliest of these Dark Lords, enacted the long-awaited revenge of the Sith in his coup that destroyed the Jedi and the Galactic Republic in one fell swoop. The Jedi, on the other hand, failed to change. As Yoda’s internal monologue goes:

The Sith had changed. The Sith had grown, had adapted, had invested a thousand years’ intensive study into every aspect of not only the Force but Jedi lore itself, in preparation for exactly this day. The Sith had remade themselves.

They had become new.

While the Jedi—

The Jedi had spent that same millennium training to refight the last war.

The new Sith could not be destroyed with a lightsaber; they could not be burned away by any torch of the Force. The brighter his light, the darker their shadow. How could one win a war against the dark, when war itself had become the dark’s own weapon?

Why Didn’t The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Follow Up On Revenge Of The Sith’s Promise?

Luke’s Canon Jedi Order Simply Can’t Compare

In the Legends continuity, Luke Skywalker’s original trilogy-era character arc (especially in Return of the Jedi) and his eventual founding of the New Jedi Order align with Yoda’s monologue perfectly. Luke’s Jedi were far more balanced, far more attuned to the Force, than the Jedi of older generations. Luke’s Jedi, and Luke himself, allowed healthy forms of attachment, believed that even those who fall to the dark side can better themselves, and were overall far less rigid in their lifestyle.

The New Jedi Order was what the Jedi Order of the prequel era should have become after the Ruusan campaign. Unfortunately, the modern Star Wars canon took a disappointing approach to both Luke Skywalker and his generation of Jedi, removing the complexity of the former and turning the latter into a repeat of the prequel-era Jedi Order.

This was potentially done to replicate the original trilogy era and surprise viewers, likely exacerbated by a misreading of the prequel trilogy’s portrayal of the Jedi. Sadly, this depiction may continue in the forthcoming Rey spinoff movie, which could see the Jedi Order once again resemble their prequel-era form rather than fulfilling the promise of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.