Many components contributed to the Jedi Order’s downfall within the Star Wars prequel trilogy, however Jedi Grasp Qui-Gon Jinn’s use of Drive tips all through Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace is emblematic of the one factor that was actually the deadly flaw of the Jedi.
The Jedi had been removed from a brand new idea within the prequel trilogy, but it was in these three motion pictures that the true nature of the Jedi, significantly pertaining to the principles, construction, and the Order on the whole, was outlined. Sadly, simply as shortly as the ability and grandeur of the Order was established in these motion pictures, it was destroyed.
Sure, a big a part of that destruction was Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the darkish facet, in addition to Palpatine’s decades-long plot to rule the galaxy, however the fact is, the Jedi had vital flaws that contributed to their very own demise, one in every of which was clear in Qui-Gon’s makes use of of the Drive all through The Phantom Menace.
Qui-Gon Jinn Had No Drawback Utilizing Methods In The Phantom Menace
There are various Drive powers in Star Wars, though Qui-Gon made use of a few of the mostly recognized (and generally proven in Star Wars motion pictures and TV reveals): the power to govern objects and the Jedi thoughts trick. By way of the latter, Qui-Gon really tried and failed to make use of the ability on Watto, who owned each Anakin and his mom, Shmi.
Qui-Gon wanted elements for his ship, however he had solely Republic credit to make use of, which had been of no use to Watto on Tatooine. In an effort to persuade Watto to take the credit anyway, Qui-Gon tried the Jedi thoughts trick, nevertheless it did not work on Watto as a result of he’s a Toydarian.
Regardless of the trick failing, this try by Qui-Gon is reflective of the Jedi’s willingness to make use of the Drive when it’s handy for them, even when that falls outdoors what would usually be thought-about moral or ethical. This wasn’t a life-and-death state of affairs, probably not. Qui-Gon was merely in a pinch.
No, this is not the worst crime in Star Wars—removed from it. Nonetheless, the actual difficulty with Qui-Gon’s actions on Tatooine is that they convey the Jedi’s hypocrisy. Qui-Gon was prepared to make use of the Drive to affect Watto into taking his credit, however he did not suppose it was applicable to intervene when it got here to Shmi Skywalker’s enslavement.
Releasing Shmi would have, after all, been a a lot bigger endeavor with a lot graver penalties, however Qui-Gon did not even strive.
In truth, when it comes to Qui-Gon’s use of the Drive to govern objects, Qui-Gon employed his talents as soon as once more, manipulating the roll of the cube in order that he was betting on Anakin’s freedom, not Shmi’s. But once more, this reveals that the Jedi had been prepared to make use of the Drive to get what they needed.
That in and of itself would not essentially be an issue, nevertheless it makes the hypocrisy and the inconsistency of the Jedi a lot extra obvious, which is the actual difficulty.
The Jedi Have been By no means Constant
Qui-Gon’s willingness to make use of the Drive to get what he needed out of Watto however insisting that his arms had been tied when it got here to liberating Shmi is a smaller instance of a a lot bigger drawback with the Jedi.
All through the prequel trilogy period, there have been many occasions when the Jedi acted as if they could not get entangled, even when there have been lives on the road, but they intervened in ways in which far overstepped their position as galactic peacekeepers.
As only one instance, when the Duchess of Mandalore, Satine Kryze, begged for Jedi assist when the planet was underneath assault, the Council denied Obi-Wan Kenobi’s request that they ship assist. Their rationale for rejecting this request was that Mandalore was a impartial planet, whereas the Jedi had been aligned with the Republic within the Clone Wars.
Therein lies the main drawback with the prequel period Jedi, although. They by no means ought to have been concerned in politics within the first place, but they’d entered a political conflict and brought a place so firmly that they had been unwilling to assist a planet in want—one thing that ought to have been their true position within the first place.
Whereas they may appear disparate at first, Qui-Gon Jinn’s actions in The Phantom Menace undergo from the identical type of hypocrisy and inconsistency that the Jedi exhibited all through the prequel period, particularly as their decisions of motion or inaction had been involved.
- Launch Date
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Could 19, 1999
- Runtime
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136 minutes
- Producers
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Rick McCallum