Thoughts on the Jedi Order
Feb. 1st, 2007 09:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matrilYay, a fannish post! Well, I was ruminating on this the other day, because my husband and I were discussing this imaginary tournament that he and his brother have been doing for years - pitting characters from movies, TV and books against each other in fights to the death, and speculating on who would beat whom. It's become pretty elaborate over the years, with more and more people participating by writing matches and voting on their picks. I suppose it's what my husband and brother-in-law get into instead of sports, so I don't mind it much. ;) In any case, this particular tournament involves teams of fighters, and one of the teams is composed of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Mara Jade. :P I expressed my extreme displeasure toward that pseudo-Star Wars character being included at all, but unfortunately my husband's brother likes her character (I'll grant him some slack since he hasn't read the most recent EU, where she has become a full-fledged Mary Sue who has single-handedly wrecked any remaining quality in the books). My husband is much more tolerant of her existence on the team than I am, but in any case we were having a discussion about whether they would be able to beat another team. I posited that Mara Jade would stab herself with her own lightsaber, and my husband didn't bother disputing that, but then it came down to Luke and Leia. The idea is that the characters are at the height of their powers. Luke, obviously, is quite a force (sorry for the pun) to be reckoned with, but we didn't agree about how strong a fighter Leia would be. In my mind, she would be a Jedi with considerable skills in the Force. I mean, she's the daughter of the Chosen One! But my husband argued that she didn't really seem the type to devote herself to Jedi training, being more involved in leadership of the new galactic government as well as her attachment to Han.
But that's always been one my biggest annoyances with the EU. They never let Leia become a strong Jedi. They allow her a sort of half-hearted training, while Luke seeks out better candidates and Leia gets busy having the Amazing Solo Kids. Blech. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for Leia and Han getting married and having children. But I don't think such things must of a necessity rule out training as a Jedi. I think it's pretty darn clear from ROTJ that when Luke is told to restore the Jedi to the galaxy, he's meant to start with his sister. Her inherited strength in the Force cannot be discounted. Yes, I expect her training would bumpy at the start, when she was still coming to grips with her parentage, but eventually she would become a great Jedi. And I think she would want to be. Ruling the new Republic? No, I don't think she would. She would take an active role in the government, but I think it's pretty clear from where she stands in the Rebellion during ROTJ that she has stepped down from the top position. She's not the one giving orders any more, and I don't think she wants to be. She leaves to rescue Han, and when she comes back she's just another Rebel, volunteering for missions and taking orders. I'm sure she still commands a great deal of respect and authority, but she doesn't need to be controlling everything. Honestly, I think that may be a way that she's able to avoid the mistakes of her parents - her mother, in particular, but also her father, stretched themselves too thin, trying to be a perfect Senator/Jedi/public servant as well as devoted to family life. And it just didn't work. Leia, I think, has learned to not try to do everything all at once. So her family comes first.
Ah, but doesn't that mean she can't be with Han and also be a Jedi? No, no, and no. I have no doubt whatsoever that Luke would not mindlessly reestablish the old code of the Jedi Order, at least not without some serious tweaking. No attachments? Pffbbt. He'd toss that rule out in an instant. It was his very attachment to his father that saved Anakin. However, he wouldn't ignore the Order's valid concerns that led them to ban attachments. He'd be well aware that such things can in fact lead to fear, anger, etc., etc. But he'd approach the problem differently. It wasn't just an overly extreme measure, on the old Order's part, to ban attachments. It actually did them a disservice. People make attachments. Period. If they don't get them in the usual places - family, loved ones - then they'll show up somehow. Case in point? Yoda, on Kashyykk, feeling the loss of every Jedi - I'd say he was attached to them pretty tightly. However, the difference is that he is able to deal with those losses - because he's had time, thoughout his life, as he's seen old Jedi become one with the Force, to grow accustomed to loss. When he tells Anakin to "learn to let go of everything you fear to lose," it's not bad advice. It's just incomplete, too little too late. If, when Anakin was first a little Padawan, instead of chiding him for missing his mother, the Council had instead taught him techniques for dealing with that loss, he might have turned out quite differently. Simply telling him "missing someone is wrong; don't do it" is a pretty lousy way of dealing with these complex emotions.
The old Jedi Order was full of holes. That's why they couldn't withstand Palpatine. Luke would learn from their mistakes. He wouldn't shut them away in a cloistered tower. The Jedi are commanded to have compassion. Hmph. It's hard to have compassion for people that you don't understand, isn't it? How can you have compassion for someone dealing with a crippling loss if you've never felt that pain yourself? It reminds me of a something from The Deed of Paksenarrion: "I used to wonder how the paladins for Gird could be considered protectors of the helpless when they had never been helpless. Rather like asking the hawk to feel empathy for the grouse, or the wolf for the sheep. Even if a tamed wolf makes a good sheepdog, he will never understand how the sheep feel. You...are most fortunate. For having been, as you thought, a coward, and helpless to fight - you know what that is like. You know what bitterness that feeling breeds - you know in your own heart what kind of evil it brings. And so you are most fit to fight it where it occurs."
I think Luke would discourage the old Jedi tendency to shut themselves off from the world. Of course I do think the Jedi require a certain strict discipline, and they certainly need to be willing to give up many selfish desires in order to devote themselves to the will of the Force, but I don't think that necessarily excludes family and other such personal connections. It's all about maintaining a balance. Aha! Balance to the Force. Yes, I think that Anakin's work as Chosen One was twofold - one was to literally bring down the Sith, which he belatedly did upon saving Luke from Palpatine, but the other was to restore to the Jedi the notion of attachments - selfless, unconditional attachments - by marrying and having children. He himself was not able to achieve that sort of selfless attachment until the very end, but Luke learned from him. I think both Leia and Luke would be able to marry (but no Mary Sue, uber-controlling redheads would be involved) and have children while working to establish a new, stronger, more compassionate Jedi Order.
The EU is already hopelessly ruined by being stuck to continuity established before the prequels, and also by being written by idiots and hacks. However, in fan fiction I like to envision a much better way of things after the Battle of Endor. I haven't worked out all the details, but those are just a few thoughts. I'm done now.
But that's always been one my biggest annoyances with the EU. They never let Leia become a strong Jedi. They allow her a sort of half-hearted training, while Luke seeks out better candidates and Leia gets busy having the Amazing Solo Kids. Blech. Don't get me wrong; I'm all for Leia and Han getting married and having children. But I don't think such things must of a necessity rule out training as a Jedi. I think it's pretty darn clear from ROTJ that when Luke is told to restore the Jedi to the galaxy, he's meant to start with his sister. Her inherited strength in the Force cannot be discounted. Yes, I expect her training would bumpy at the start, when she was still coming to grips with her parentage, but eventually she would become a great Jedi. And I think she would want to be. Ruling the new Republic? No, I don't think she would. She would take an active role in the government, but I think it's pretty clear from where she stands in the Rebellion during ROTJ that she has stepped down from the top position. She's not the one giving orders any more, and I don't think she wants to be. She leaves to rescue Han, and when she comes back she's just another Rebel, volunteering for missions and taking orders. I'm sure she still commands a great deal of respect and authority, but she doesn't need to be controlling everything. Honestly, I think that may be a way that she's able to avoid the mistakes of her parents - her mother, in particular, but also her father, stretched themselves too thin, trying to be a perfect Senator/Jedi/public servant as well as devoted to family life. And it just didn't work. Leia, I think, has learned to not try to do everything all at once. So her family comes first.
Ah, but doesn't that mean she can't be with Han and also be a Jedi? No, no, and no. I have no doubt whatsoever that Luke would not mindlessly reestablish the old code of the Jedi Order, at least not without some serious tweaking. No attachments? Pffbbt. He'd toss that rule out in an instant. It was his very attachment to his father that saved Anakin. However, he wouldn't ignore the Order's valid concerns that led them to ban attachments. He'd be well aware that such things can in fact lead to fear, anger, etc., etc. But he'd approach the problem differently. It wasn't just an overly extreme measure, on the old Order's part, to ban attachments. It actually did them a disservice. People make attachments. Period. If they don't get them in the usual places - family, loved ones - then they'll show up somehow. Case in point? Yoda, on Kashyykk, feeling the loss of every Jedi - I'd say he was attached to them pretty tightly. However, the difference is that he is able to deal with those losses - because he's had time, thoughout his life, as he's seen old Jedi become one with the Force, to grow accustomed to loss. When he tells Anakin to "learn to let go of everything you fear to lose," it's not bad advice. It's just incomplete, too little too late. If, when Anakin was first a little Padawan, instead of chiding him for missing his mother, the Council had instead taught him techniques for dealing with that loss, he might have turned out quite differently. Simply telling him "missing someone is wrong; don't do it" is a pretty lousy way of dealing with these complex emotions.
The old Jedi Order was full of holes. That's why they couldn't withstand Palpatine. Luke would learn from their mistakes. He wouldn't shut them away in a cloistered tower. The Jedi are commanded to have compassion. Hmph. It's hard to have compassion for people that you don't understand, isn't it? How can you have compassion for someone dealing with a crippling loss if you've never felt that pain yourself? It reminds me of a something from The Deed of Paksenarrion: "I used to wonder how the paladins for Gird could be considered protectors of the helpless when they had never been helpless. Rather like asking the hawk to feel empathy for the grouse, or the wolf for the sheep. Even if a tamed wolf makes a good sheepdog, he will never understand how the sheep feel. You...are most fortunate. For having been, as you thought, a coward, and helpless to fight - you know what that is like. You know what bitterness that feeling breeds - you know in your own heart what kind of evil it brings. And so you are most fit to fight it where it occurs."
I think Luke would discourage the old Jedi tendency to shut themselves off from the world. Of course I do think the Jedi require a certain strict discipline, and they certainly need to be willing to give up many selfish desires in order to devote themselves to the will of the Force, but I don't think that necessarily excludes family and other such personal connections. It's all about maintaining a balance. Aha! Balance to the Force. Yes, I think that Anakin's work as Chosen One was twofold - one was to literally bring down the Sith, which he belatedly did upon saving Luke from Palpatine, but the other was to restore to the Jedi the notion of attachments - selfless, unconditional attachments - by marrying and having children. He himself was not able to achieve that sort of selfless attachment until the very end, but Luke learned from him. I think both Leia and Luke would be able to marry (but no Mary Sue, uber-controlling redheads would be involved) and have children while working to establish a new, stronger, more compassionate Jedi Order.
The EU is already hopelessly ruined by being stuck to continuity established before the prequels, and also by being written by idiots and hacks. However, in fan fiction I like to envision a much better way of things after the Battle of Endor. I haven't worked out all the details, but those are just a few thoughts. I'm done now.
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Date: 2007-02-02 01:44 am (UTC)I stopped reading the Expanded Universe novels just as the "New Jedi Order" was getting started, in part because of a general nervous backing away from pretty much everything Star Wars save my memories of the four movies at that point, so I do wonder a little at times about just what happened to Mara Jade. I don't know if I ever quite agreed with the arguments before then that she just had to be Luke's "soul mate," but then I'm not quite sure either what sort of character could have been introduced first to make everyone happy. In some ways, mind you, I've started wondering if the real problem with the Expanded Universe is that it has to continue for the sake of sales a story that reached a conclusion with Return of the Jedi more definite, and just perhaps more satisfying, than too many Ewok-obsessed people could quite realise in the early 1990s...
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Date: 2007-02-02 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2007-02-02 04:19 pm (UTC)