Star Words: Episode II, Part 2

In the first episode of the prequels, the Republic has begun to fall but no one knows it except Palpatine (and the audience). In the second episode, other characters are slowly beginning to recognize that disaster is looming. They still don't realize, however, that many of their own choices will contribute to that disaster. And many of those ill-fated choices are made by the Jedi Order.

It's foreshadowed very early in the film, during a meeting between the Chancellor and leading members of the Order. All of us who know better are writhing in our seats as the Jedi unwittingly sit across from the Sith Lord who is plotting their destruction. But Yoda can only voice a vague disquiet that the Dark Side is clouding his vision. Mace, meanwhile, is concerned with the idea of impending war. The Jedi are already stretched too thin by the conflicts fomented by Separatists. If a compromise can't be found, they'll be completely overwhelmed.

And then Mace asserts, "We're keepers of the peace, not soldiers."

I suppose we could then jump cut to Mace leading clonetroopers into battle, brandishing his lightsaber...but that's not really the problem here. Mace isn't lying or hiding his true nature. Jedi really are peacekeepers; that is the foundation of their creed. Remember Yoda's lesson to Luke in Episode V? "A Jedi uses his powers for knowledge and defense. Never for attack." So when Mace and Yoda and all the other Jedi take on the role of soldiers, they are essentially betraying the essence of who the Jedi are. Their downfall is practically inevitable after that.

And yet. The problem is, nothing is quite so simple as peacekeeper vs. soldier. Palpatine is particularly crafty in creating scenarios where aggression seems justified. In the arena on Geonosis, they're defending their fellow Jedi and a valued member of the Senate, right? And then they're defending the Republic, aren't they? It's all in the name of restoring peace. What other choice do they have? I can't say that I would choose any differently...but by the end of the war, they've become so strongly associated with war and aggression that it isn't so hard to convince the Senate that the Jedi Order attempted a violent overthrow of the government. And of course the years of fighting alongside the clones have left them completely vulnerable to betrayal. Palpatine laid a very clever trap indeed.

Oh, I won't deny that the sight of a hundred or so Jedi charging forward in the arena isn't incredibly thrilling, and the prequels would be dull indeed if all they ever did was sit around and meditate. But when Yoda tells Luke, "Wars not make one great," he is speaking from sad experience. Once you start down the path of war, it's very hard to turn back.

Next, a line from a reunion scene fraught with all sorts of delicious embarrassment....