How The Jedi Order Slowly Lost Its Way Before The Clone Wars
Image Source: CultureSlate
How did the Sith, a group known for their impulsivity and impatience, manage to keep themselves hidden from the galaxy and the Jedi for nearly a millennium without launching an attack on their sworn enemies?
The truth is that we still don’t know much about the fate of the users of the Dark Side between the time of Darth Bane’s proclamation of the Rule of Two and Darth Sidious becoming the puppet master of the galaxy.
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Even the former Expanded Universe didn’t go very far in telling what had happened after Bane’s apprentice, Darth Zannah, had killed her master, and although Zannah had been brought into current Star Wars lore, very little is known about her successors.
As in real life, history tends to repeat itself in the Star Wars galaxy as well. After the dark age and the seemingly defeat of the Sith at 1032 BBY, both the Jedi and the newly established Republic needed time to heal their wounds and establish a new political structure. Not to mention that the two remaining Sith probably didn’t see themselves fit to make another attack yet.
It is not known how long these efforts took, but by around 500 BBY, both the Jedi and the Republic were at their heights of power.
For Light and Life
Chancellor Lina Soh worked hard to bring the mostly uncharted and dangerous Outer Rim Territories closer to the galactic core, establishing new trade routes and building a massive space station called “Starlight Beacon”, which should provide communication, infrastructure, and aid to all beings out there.
The Jedi willingly assisted Soh in her so-called “Great Works” by sending Wayseekers deep into the Outer Rim, establishing many Outposts, and setting up a large accommodation on Starlight Beacon. By that time, many Jedi were able and allowed to pursue their own missions without having to seek approval from the Order or the Republic.
Source: Den of Geek
Things changed when the Nihil, a massive group of marauders under the leadership of the cruel Marchion Ro, appeared in the galaxy, causing havoc and destruction throughout the Outer Rim Territories. After centuries of peace and exploration, the Order suddenly had to face an enemy that had the means to bring both the Jedi and the Republic to their knees.
In the beginning, Jedi and Republic fought side by side, assisting each other with their respective powers: the Republic by providing a massive fleet and infrastructure, and the Jedi by using their vast Force powers.
And while each victory against the Nihil provided a glimpse of hope that the marauders would be gone for good, they always returned even stronger and more brutal. Over time, this took a toll on the Jedi, whose combined efforts never seemed to be enough. And for each being they could rescue from the Nihil, there were so many more they could not save.
When the Drengir, a giant planets-spanning plant-like monster, appeared, the Jedi temporarily sided with the Hutts, against the will of the Republic and the Chancellor. At this point, it also started to become clear that the freedom and liberty the Jedi had used when pursuing their missions until then became a dangerous and deadly burden, when some of them became reckless and overconfident, believing they could take on the enemy on their own.
Source: Wookieepedia
Although the Drengir was ultimately defeated, the solo effort of the Jedi started to create a first rift between the Republic and the Order.
Things got even worse when the Nihil started to release the Nameless. Strange creatures that could not only sever the Jedi from their connection to the Force, but also drive them completely mad and even turn them into stone and dust.
At this point, when the Republic asked for assistance against the Nihil, the Order refused to help, as they needed time to heal their wounds.
In an Age of Light, a Darkness Rises
When the Nihil were finally defeated, neither the Republic nor the Jedi was the same as before. Many senators were furious about the lack of support from their former allies, calling for the creation of an army of the Republic or at least allowing the various systems to establish their own military, so they could defend themselves should another crisis appear.
Others feared the powers of the mysterious “wizards” with their laserswords, claiming that the Jedi could take over the galaxy and crush the Republic if they wanted to.
Source: Star Wars Canon Wiki
The Jedi, on the other hand, concluded that their previous ways did not work anymore. Many had fallen due to the Nihil, the Dregnir, and the Nameess, partly due to their own recklessness. The days of freely exploring the galaxy were over, outposts that had not been destroyed in the battles were abandoned, and many Jedi returned to Coruscant, leaving the capital city only to go on missions when the Council ordered them to.
The prior belief in the importance of the “living Force” slowly diminished, eroded by a more docmatic view of the energy field. Free thinking and making one’s own decisions were replaced by rules, constant debates, and a growing solipsism.
Again, this slow downfall mirrored that of the state of the Republic. The days of Lina Soh’s “We are all the Republic” were long gone, as more and more senators focused on their own well-being, or just that of their systems, caring less and less about the common progress of the galaxy.
The degradation was not lost on the Jedi, who saw the Senate more and more as a necessary evil and a bureaucratic monster than an equal partner. But at the same time, distrust had started spreading among the Jedi themselves. When the Sith apprentice Quimir revealed himself to a group of Jedi, those who survived this encounter decided not only to hide this from the Republic but also from their fellow Jedi.
Source: BossksBounty
While the Jedi of the Prequel era claimed that the dark side of the Force shrouded everything, limiting their ability to communicate with the Force, it is also possible that, because of the way they had shut themselves off from many aspects of the Force they had actively used during the High Republic, the Force itself withdrew from them.
This may explain some of the events of The Acolyte, the Disney+ show set at the tail end of the High Republic, roughly a century before the events of the Prequel Trilogy. Although the Jedi of the series had good intentions, their fear of the now dogmatic rules of the Order and not being able to comply with them made them wary and suspicious even towards their peers.
When Elzar Mann tapped into the Dark Side during the Nihil Attack on the Republic Fair, he consulted with his fellow Jedi, seeking assistance from a wayseeker to reestablish his connection to the Force. Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh, on the other hand, explicitly lied about what had happened to Master Sol and his apprentice, not only to the Chancellor but also to other Jedi.
We might never get to know if the Sith had anything to do with galvanizing the slow rotting of the Jedi Order from the inside, or if Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious were just at the right time at the right place to harbor not only the weakness of their sworn enemies, but also that of the Republic.
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