6 Reasons Why Jedi Could Be Villains In a ‘Star Wars’ Movie

There's no mistaking it: Star Wars is back and ready to return to the heights it once enjoyed. With J.J. Abrams at the helm of Star Wars: Episode VII, fans are looking forward to new films carrying on the legacy of the Rebellion's heroes. But that's not the only direction to take. Now that confirmed standalone movies are also in the plans alongside major Episodes, the characters and stories that can be explored are far more numerous. We've already listed the Star Wars spin-offs we'd like to see, but the more we think about it, permanently relegating the Sith or 'Dark Jedi' to the role of villain seems to be making one massive assumption. At this point, the whole 'Light Side good, Dark Side bad' idea is common knowledge; but that's only according to the Jedi. History, as we know, is written by the victor. We tend to agree with the belief that the Sith were evil-doers and extremists, but it might be worthwhile to actually look at what drove them to that point, and see if a story can't be told placing the Jedi in the role of antagonists. Allow us to outline 6 Reasons Jedi Could Be Villains In a Star Wars Movie.

What should be made clear off the bat is that the Sith didn't just show up like boogeymen one day and start terrorizing the innocent. They were Jedi to begin with - only more radical in their views of the galaxy and what their gifts should be used for. The first Jedi Exiles - the group that would one day found the Sith - were simply one side of a civil dispute within the Jedi Order, known as the Second Great Schism. Whatever extremes each side pushed the other toward, it should be known that at no point did the Sith huddle around a fire and decide to crush all life in the galaxy; they were conquerors in search of mastery over life itself, not genocidal maniacs. They even developed their own Sith Code, opposing that preached by Jedi. Rather than speaking of existence as it should be, they focused on the way it was. The Code reads: -Peace is a lie, there is only passion. -Through passion, I gain strength. -Through strength, I gain power. -Through power, I gain victory. -Through victory, my chains are broken. -The Force shall free me. While the Jedi taught their followers that love, anger or passion were forbidden, the Sith embraced the full range of human emotion; passion is what makes people powerful, and free. The original Star Wars movies clearly show that the Skywalkers don't share the belief that love is to be avoided, and it's arguable that most of humanity would relate more to the Sith's view of passion as a good thing. The first Jedi Exiles' aims to revive dead worlds may not have been something their brethren believed in, and resulted in them being cast out, but it wasn't spawned by malice.

Fascist governments throughout history have proven that the denial of....unpopular progress on grounds that it challenges existing beliefs of what's "right" is one of mankind's worst habits: Galileo, for instance, was called a heretic for claiming the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the universe. It's no secret that the Jedi oppose anything - anything - to do with the Dark Side, since nothing good ever comes from it. What is less known is that before the Galactic Republic, the galaxy was largely ruled by the Rakata race's 10,000 year Infinite Empire. Like many others, this empire was built on cutting-edge technology (like the first widely-used hyperdrives). And it was all thanks to the Dark Side. Once the Rakata empire collapsed 25,000 years prior to the films, the technology was up for grabs, with the Corellians among the first to circumvent the Dark Side components of Rakata warp drives and sell the technology wholesale. The result was helpful, so no one batted an eyelash. Transportation's one thing, but the trademark of the Jedi Order - the lightsaber - is one that could only be crafted by those in tune with the light side of the Force, right? Right. The Rakata called their version 'Forcesabers,' using the Force to channel dark energy into a solid blade. The Jedi, as they did elsewhere, saw the potential made possible through 'ways of the Dark Side,' and adapted it for their own aims. Sure the technology was used by the Rakata for conquering and domination, but if every advancement that aided warfare was seen as inherently evil, the world would be a very different place. Maybe the Jedi actually meant that 'nothing good comes from the Dark Side... anymore.'

If it's possible to bring the morality of the Jedi into question, it's in the way they treat their enemies. After the First Great Schism came to an end, and the last twelve 'Dark Jedi' surrendered, public demand for their execution ran high. Ever the merciful diplomats, the Jedi chose to spare the lives of their fallen brethren and their followers. They then proceeded to strip their former allies of their weapons and armor, boarded them onto unarmed transport ships, and sent them into Unknown Space. It's hard to say what the Jedi intended to happen to the Exiles, but when the helpless prisoners found the race of red-skinned Sith on the planet Korriban, they did what Jedi do: shared their beliefs and technology, and laid the foundations of a new empire. Old feuds die hard, so once the Sith had emerged as a suitable army for their Dark Jedi leaders - now Sith Lords - the unbelievably named Great Hyperspace War began. The Sith ultimately succumbed to infighting, and the Republic and Jedi were victorious. Clearly, their actions 1,900 years earlier hadn't worked: the Dark Jedi had survived, and now ruled over a previously-unknown race of Force-sensitive humanoids. Republic Chancellor Pultimo looked upon an enemy that no longer posed a threat, and ordered the Jedi and Republic forces to invade Sith Space and destroy any remains of the empire and its citizens. This purge - known as the Sith Holocaust - ultimately failed, leaving the survivors to take refuge on Dromund Kaas. From here they would rebuild their empire, and not rest until they had their revenge on those who had tried to exterminate them.

As so many galaxy-wide armed conflicts do, the Clone Wars all started with the passing of a Financial Reform bill. Well, attempted passing. You see, this is the part that gets glossed over in the clearly pro-Jedi films, giving the impressions that the Separatists were simply bad guys. The truth is: the commercially powerful systems of the galaxy were only after removal of corruption in the Senate, and government deregulation in the name of capitalistic growth. Those wishes could be cast in a greedy or antidemocratic light, but they're also the desires that shaped the creation of the western world. In other words, not inherently evil. The taxation and corruption of the Senate from top to bottom pushed the larger corporations not to revolt, but introduce new financial reform to protect their interests. Before a vote could take place, the Senator representing the Commonality of trade planets was assassinated by a bribed Senate guard (apparently they weren't kidding about corruption). Those who sent the assassin got their wish, and the vote was cancelled. Understandably, this was the last straw. The Commonality broke off from the corrupt body and formed the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Political movements are usually bigger than they're made out to be their opponents. so while the films depicted the group as a table full of villainous characters, the Separatist Confederacy was made up of over eight galactic governments, dozens of Republic Senators, and spanned over 10,000 star systems. The Jedi and Republic didn't even formally recognize the group's existence, choosing instead to defend the corrupt government, and rather than address the Separatist concerns, simply wipe them out.

Have a look, if you will, at the stated beliefs of the Jedi Code around the time of Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace: -Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy. -Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others. -Jedi respect all life, in any form. -Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy. -Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training. Of course, the Force-wielding, telekinetic, mind-controlling monks weren't always so docile. When the Jedi put an end to the New Sith Wars 1,000 years before the films, they had grown to be so militarized that their beliefs were being jeopardized. As recognition of this danger the Ruusan Reformation took place, restructuring the Republic and disbanding the Jedi's army and navy, as well as restricting their influence. This meant no longer sporting armor or military rank, and serving the Senate, not their own hierarchy. Rather than weakening the galactic government, having the Jedi to defend freedom and serve democracy ushered in the 'Golden Age of the Old Republic.' The films are set 1,000 years later - enough time for the Jedi to have shifted from realizing their religious order should only be used to defend, not lead the Republic to claiming that they knew better. George Lucas could have at least included a scene where Mace Windu or Yoda debated the idea of instantly becoming generals, betraying their code and undoing legislation that brought a millenium of peace (fun fact: Luke Skywalker later removed the line about "never attacking others").

Despite the fact that the Sith were not inherently evil, there's no question the Jedi saw them as their enemy (even if they'd helped make them). So when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine was revealed to be Darth Sidious, believing in the quest for mastery over life that the Jedi so vehemently disagreed with, what would any peace-loving religious order do? In short, attempt to arrest or kill him. The problem here is that Chancellor Palpatine was, without question, the democratically-elected leader of the Galactic Republic. The Jedi had the right to be angry that he had kept his beliefs and religion a secret, and suspicious of what he had planned for the Republic, but…remember that bit in their Jedi Code that said they served the Republic’s government, and that they were not in charge of determining who was fit to lead and who wasn’t? Anyway you look at it, the Jedi attempted a military coup, wishing to depose the elected leader of a democracy based on a personal vendetta. They had many diplomatic methods of bringing his Sith origins to the attention of the Republic, but instead decided to act without consent. The result: the Jedi were judged by the Republic's leader to once again threaten freedom and exert control over the Senate, and had to be eliminated (poetic justice fans will note the Jedi Purge as a reversal of their genocide against the Sith). One could argue that Palpatine had manipulated democracy to settle an old score himself, but that means that he knew the Jedi wouldn't hesitate to remove the head of the Senate by force. The bottom line: marching into a Head of State's office with guns drawn after discovering his racial, religious or philosophical background is a hard pill to swallow.

Hopefully we've made our case for why the story being given to Star Wars audiences may not be the full one. That's not to say one side of the Jedi/Sith conflict was more in-the-right than the other, but clearly both groups were willing to get their hands dirty. Could this make a film set in the Old Republic, or any of the numerous wars between factions a chance to provide a completely new perspective? It's hard to know how those entrusted with Star Wars' future feel about playing with morality, but if they do, we've obviously got some ideas. How do you view the Jedi after reading our argument? Still see them as the upholders of what's right and moral, or are the Sith not as bad as they may have been portrayed? Leave us your thoughts in the comments. Star Wars: Episode VII is tentatively scheduled to open in theaters by 2015. - Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.

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Crabbieappleton 2 months ago

I’m sure that this is well-researched, but I’m suddenly very glad that I’ve avoided all of the Extended Universe.

The elegance of the original films came from their simplicity (yes, with all their flaws, too. Ewoks. Egads), very much like a Greek myth (and, yes, I know about J. Campbell).

All that extra backstory is wonderful fodder for fanboy/girl late-night conversation, but it really doesn’t actually have anything to do with Vader’s redemption at the end of Episode 6.

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- jayce 2 weeks ago
  
  Too True.
  
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- bfg666 2 weeks ago
  
  Yet it is the EU that makes the richness of the Star Wars universe, and there are some storylines that rival (and maybe even surpass) the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker. Episodes I-VI tell the story of Vader but it’s thankfully not the only story worth telling in the whole universe.
  
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Louis Alexandre Simard 2 months ago

I love the mythology of the extended universe. My favorite sf book series is Dune and I believe the extended universe of Star Wars gives depth and ambiguity to a oversimplified story. But there is a reason Dune is hard to translate adequately to the screen and its that same reason why I think the extended universe has no place in the Star Wars movies unless it is tied with the existing movie mythology in a simple and concrete way that every moviegoer would understand.

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Louis Alexandre Simard 2 months ago

I love the mythology of the extended universe. My favorite sf book series is Dune and I believe the extended universe of Star Wars gives depth and ambiguity to a oversimplified story. But there is a reason Dune is hard to translate adequately to the screen and its that same reason why I think the extended universe has no place in the Star Wars movie

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JediKrel 2 months ago

The ‘Expanded Universe’ has been written by authors that don’t get Star Wars. Kevin J. Anderson is a prime example. Star Wars is Space Fantasy/Space Opera, not Science Fiction.

If you didn’t like the Prequels or the Prequels didn’t meet your expectations, you’ll be disappointed by the rest of the Star Wars movies that are coming.

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- Killian Brown 1 month ago
  
  Try the ones by Drew Karpyshan… Karpishin… I cant remember his name, Darth Bane Trilogy!!!
  
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ryan 2 months ago

palpatine orchestrated a galaxy wide conflict that killed trillions of ipeople just to gain power, and was committing high treason. What’s more, the dark side does tend to drive the ones who use it

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Conor 2 months ago

This is off topic but i just want to through this our there imagine Tom Hiddleston (who has expressed interest in Star Wars, article is on Screen Rant.) and Bennedict Cumberbatch who has worked with Director J.J Abrams on Star Trek into Darkness playing the villains in the movie.

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dolo 2 months ago

The problem with the Force is that we warp it into this fight about good against evil. It’s not. Everyone is always talking about bringing balance to the Force in the movies and this is always interpreted as a balance between good and evil.
George Lucas stylized the Jedi on Eastern Philosophy. In Monastic teaching the only real schism is between Harmony and Discord. To a monk, the Sith would be squarely on the side of Discord and the Jedi their clear opposite. Maybe this is a failing of Lucas to explain it, him not getting it or us not getting it, or the writers of the EU (dont put it past them, they killed Chewbacca with a planet.) But it’s not really the actions of the Jedi or the Sith that are inherently evil, it’s the fact that the Sith flagrantly discard their faith in the Harmony of the Force and do what they think is right.

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Topher 1 month ago

I like the thought put into this post, I really do, but some of this pro-Sith stuff is stretched a little bit too far. My main gripe is about Palpatine. You said that “it could be said that he manipulated democracy”. He didn’t just manipulate democracy, he went outside the bounds of legal conduct to achieve his goals in the system. When he couldn’t get his way through guile, he didn’t hesitate to have obstacles removed with lethal force. The Jedi, at that point, did operate within the system and were in some ways subject to it, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have the authority to arrest Palpatine. He was orchestrating a war against the Republic while acting as its leader, which is considered treason if I’m not wrong. Elected leader or no, he needed to be removed from office and would have been taken peacefully if not for him going batsh*t evil crazy, cutting people’s limbs off. Lol I’m done.

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ryan 1 month ago

Your #2 is all wrong. That is incorrect with the sabers. It was a technology taken from engineers. They were adapted by one person into a weapon. The first few of them required a huge back pack and were closer to flame throwers then swords. Over generations the designs evolved. And for the bit on jedi always shunning anything dark…whats Mace Windu? His style is all based upon walking the edge of dark and light, using the strength of the dark. Just saying. I realize this article is mostly speculation and personal opinion but for any who care about the ‘facts’

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- ozzy 1 month ago
  
  Actually the infinite empire did use forcesabers, there where also battery pack powered sabers like you say, they are called protosabers
  
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Chris 1 month ago

“The Jedi Led a Coup Against an Elected Leader”

Yes and know it wasn’t his beliefs that was the problem it was the fact that he played both sides. He gained is position through fraudulent means. They didn’t go to kill him but confront him and finding out his crimes, creating a war to gain complete control over the Galaxy. Mace was sent into a rage and attacked him.

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- RobertX 1 month ago
  
  Actually, Mace went into his office to arrest Palpatine. Palpatine attacked first.
  
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CaravanRush 1 month ago

Best article about Star Wars I have ever read.

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MysterWright 1 month ago

Here is what I hate: They focus primarily in this diatribe about how bad the Jedi could be but NOWHERE in there are we SEEING where the Sith are owning up to THEIR flaws. Its not about them? Well how can you make it about the Jedi and not the Sith if you want the audience reading to find it all FAIR? You can’t. You’re setting yourself up for failure. For every finger pointed at the Jedi the author should have the Sith pointing two AT THEMSELVES. o.O That is how you’ll get people hooked. Not like woe is me, I’m bad. More like yeah, well hindsight is 20/20. Irony doesn’t apply to evil because it takes itself too seriously. You never saw the Sith make one liners about letting the Wookie win at space chess or whose being called scruffy. Does The Emperor think Vader a little short to be a Sith Lord?

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Jra 1 month ago

I think you got lightsabers all wrong buddy. They came from something called “frozen blaster technology”. It is basically a frozen beam of plasma. The force sabers were a precursor but it is something that runs differently. A non force user can use a lightsaber but it is not advised. Although the lightsaber was perfected by the Sith, a design that Jedi still use.

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Roosta 1 month ago

If i were supreme chancellor I would outlaw the use of the force all together.
Nearly every major conflict in the star wars universe where billions if not trillions of people have died has had the rivalry between Jedi and sith at its core. As long as there are Jedi or sith innocent people will continue to get caught in the middle of their efforts to wipe each other out.
Sure if Jedi and Sith didn’t exist people would probably still find some reason to destroy each other. But if the expanded universe has shown us anything it’s that planetary feuds are usually only minor compared to the galaxy wide conflicts between the light and dark sides.
Just my opinion haha.

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- bfg666 2 weeks ago
  
  Yet the fiercest blow to our beloved galaxy far, far away came from the Yuuzhan Vong, a race of extra-galactic conquerors who couldn’t care less about the force.
  
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Alexander 1 month ago

While most of that is true, and I consider valid, the last point is not wholly correct. In Episode III after discovering that Palpatine was the Dark Lord that had eluded the Jedi since the events of Episode I, the Jedi went to ARREST Palpatine. They meant to arrest him on the grounds of orchestrating the war between the Republic and the Confederacy, this was due to him being the head of both sides. As such, the Jedi attempted to bring his corruption to trial before the Senate. Naturally, the Lord Sidious resisted arrest by Jedi and the Jedi fought him in self-defence. Windu was wrong when he tried to kill Sidious in his office, and I believe Skywalker was right in intervening; albeit, it cannot be ignored that after the combat that had just happened, that Anakin was naive in thinking Sidious might spare the life of the man who just tried to kill him. As such, I do not find the last point completely valid, but as a fan who has traditionally favoured the Jedi, I find this a very interesting and overall well put together argument.

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- Nexaddo 4 weeks ago
  
  Alexander, even if the Jedi were aware he orchestrated both sides (which they were not at the time, in the movie, they were only aware he was Sith)the fact remains that they went to arrest a lawfully elected official whose only “crime” was a difference of philosophy. This still smacks of an attempted coup, not unlike the coup that toppled the Romanov dynasty in Russia. If you are unaware of how THAT ended, I’ll tell you, the Romanov family members were all shot. Given the violence that Sith noncombatants had faced in the past, it is reasonable to surmise that Palpatine feared for his life, and struck preemptively to protect his life, never mind his position. Palpatine was a victim of the bigotry of the Jedi, although he is no saint.
  
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Sean Goertz 4 weeks ago

You make a good point that maybe it is oversimplified to state that the Jedi are good, so the Sith must be bad by default, and that we might need to take into account their side of the story before we start using the good/evil labels… But so much of what the Sith do is inherently evil in that they seek to dominate over every living being.

Now, I guess this argument does a good job of pointing out that the Jedi aren’t exactly perfect either, but what I was kind of getting out of this, especially with the first slide was that, despite the fact that we may be able to related better to the Sith with how they embrace the full range of emotion rather than suppressing it, the Sith to me could be seen as a representation of how humanities instinctual behaviors in the most extreme will hold us all back to being subject to a system where only the strongest will prosper while those who start out from weak beginnings will never be given a chance. That just screams corruption and evil to me.

Now about the last point you made about how the Jedi were being hypocritical when they attacked Palpatine, an elected official… its already been said that Palpatine may have used his powers to corrupt the masses (similar to the jedi mind trick power, but on a larger, more time consuming scale), PLUS its already been established that one of the powers for the Dark Side of the Force is to cloud the minds of others, so he hid his true identity and real intentions from the Jedi for years, so how could they ever get the hint at the idea of there being any sort of corruption in the Senate prior to his true identity being revealed?… PLUS, it was said many times that Palpatine, as Chancellor, was given more and more executive power over the Senate, so its been established that through this corruption, democracy was slowly being killed off. This trend and eventual result of a future Empire was even more obvious once his true identity was finally revealed, and the Jedi obviously saw this as enough of a threat to take him out of power by force. I don’t see it as an attack based on a personal vendetta. The entire teachings of the Sith is in conflict with the ideals of Democracy and Freedom.

So yeah, the Jedi are definitely not perfect (especially with their over suppression of feelings and emotion, and a track record of screwing up a few times….), but they’re doing a helluva lot better of a job of maintaining peace and order than the Sith ever would, and we already know that.

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jayce 2 weeks ago

Wow, that would make some great cinema there. The Jei are responsible for there own plight. Cool concept.

The Jedi where very ridged, prickly & arrogant in George Lucas’s Prequel Adventures and this concept tie’s in very well too the style and feel of much of those movies.

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LJones 1 week ago

[" Windu was wrong when he tried to kill Sidious in his office, and I believe Skywalker was right in intervening; albeit, it cannot be ignored that after the combat that had just happened, that Anakin was naive in thinking Sidious might spare the life of the man who just tried to kill him."]

Why in the f**k aren’t you criticizing Yoda for trying to kill Sidious later in the movie? Because his character wasn’t voiced by a black actor?

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LJones 1 week ago

["Windu was wrong when he tried to kill Sidious in his office, and I believe Skywalker was right in intervening; albeit, it cannot be ignored that after the combat that had just happened, that Anakin was naive in thinking Sidious might spare the life of the man who just tried to kill him."]

Why aren’t you criticizing Yoda for making the same mistake?

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