I don´t think that Ani will join us anytime soon, to leave the Jedi order right now would also mean to abandon Ashoka, and I seriously doubt he will abandon the order before she is knighted (unless something drastic happens, like when she was expelled from the order and convicted)
So... wait until the Temple bombing, and we'll pick up both Anakin and Ahsoka? Sure, I'll take that bargain. ("
Two Jedi, for the price of one!")
in that same conversation with Anakin, we have reminded him that leaving is a real option, that there really isn't anything stopping him from leaving. That is the point where he finally accepted that he wasn't a slave, and that the Council weren't just his new masters. Bosses that he didn't always agree with, sure, but not his owners.
...Man, you and I read that same interlude in
totally opposite ways. I read it as "Ciaran reminded him that leaving is a real option,
and he's been weighing that decision ever since." Specifically:
the only explanation for why he's still in the order is because he's decided to stay. He's weighed his options and has made the decision that he is a Jedi.
That's hardly the
only explanation. Perhaps he's stayed in the Order because of his attachment to Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. Considering his lifelong 'struggles' with attachment, I view this as
far more likely -- he doesn't want to disappoint his Master or his Padawan, and knows that neither of them would
ever leave the Order or understand why he would.
The Jedi Lords are a flawed concept. When they first came into being their existence made sense and they were useful, but in this age they have no reason to exist.
...
With the downfall of the Sith and the new shape of the galaxy, they left behind such militarism and adapted to a galaxy that was now at peace. Since then, it has been a matter of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". The Jedi have functioned well and continue to function well to this day. It is a mistake to assume that just because an organisation has tradition that they are backwards and out of touch.
What? Just... what? How can you say "in this age they have no reason to exist," when the
entire point of the Jedi Lords was to deal with the realities of a galaxy at war, specifically the realities of those regions in the galaxy (
cough Outer Rim) that could not be adequately governed from the Core? That sounds like
precisely our current situation.
The entire point of the Separatist movement, the reason so many non-corporate systems joined, was that the Outer Rim was
not being adequately governed. And the entire reason it took a thousand years for the Separatist movement to coalesce, was because the Baneite Sith made sure to tamp down on any hint of Separatism until it could be wielded as their weapon against the Jedi. That's not an "if it ain't broke" scenario.
Just look at the Corellian Jedi, who are basically an example of what the Jedi Lords would be if they were still around.They ignore the countless cries for help in the galaxy because they don't care about the rest of the galaxy, they only care about Corellia. Jedi Lords would inevitably end up putting the interests over their own planet over anyone or anything else.
or maybe they just didn't want more Jedi Lords popping up because of how they'd do nothing but stifle growth in the new galaxy (see: the Corellian Jedi)
Again, not even slightly, and you yourself hint at one of the reasons why.
Back in the days of the Old Republic, they were much more militarised than they are now and trained as military leaders as well as Jedi.
The Corellian Jedi are led by and/or descended from a 'Jedi Lord'. That doesn't mean the Jedi Lord is in charge of the planet or its foreign policy. It doesn't mean they have any legal leeway to act outside their system (unlike the Coruscant Jedi, which do have a remit from the Galactic Senate). It doesn't meant that the Corellian Jedi have military training, or military organization, or military experience. In fact, given their isolation (both willing and unwilling), it's far more likely that they have
less experience that the main Jedi Order, and that whatever trappings of military remain are mainly
ceremonial.
The purpose of a Jedi Lord is to
localize authority and responsibility. Rather than a single organization taking responsible for keeping the peace in
every single planet in the galaxy (which is what the Coruscant Jedi and post-Ruusan Republic have done), the Jedi Lords took on that responsibility for a single system or (more commonly) for a single sector, with 'retainers' serving in similar roles for systems and planets. It was a federalized structure, and actually worked pretty well (cf. the "Army of Light" responsible for ending the last vestiges of the Sith Empire as a political entity). In fact, it worked so well that in specific hard-to-govern areas, the Jedi Order has recreated the 'Jedi Lords' structure (via "Jedi Watchmen" from the Sentinel corps).
Their code and their "there is no emotion" mantra give the impression that the ideal Jedi should be completely emotionless, little more than a biological droid, but a cursory look at any Jedi should tell you that that really isn't the case.
And here's what I said:
none of this has any connection to the moral status or virtue of any individual Jedi.
Which sounds like you're vehemently agreeing with me, at least for this. Certainly it doesn't qualify as a disproof or refutation of my main points.
Their suppression of the Valley of the Jedi could've had a number of motives. ... There really isn't enough information or evidence to say that they did what they did because of dogmatic differences
There really is. Considering their abhorrent treatment of the survivors of that battle, considering their
utter unwillingness to honor the fallen dead, and considering that all of this was based explicitly on their ideological disagreements with the Jedi Lords and on political expedience... yeah, I'm not sure how you
can't connect the dots.
Well yes, when the Supreme Chancellor is a god damned Sith Lord and you don't know how many people he's corrupted into serving him during his time in office, you can see why they might feel it's necessary to take control themselves.
And again:
they didn't know that. They knew he was a self-serving politician. They knew he was corrupt and power-hungry. But that's as far as it went -- they did not know he was a Sith Lord, or even suspect it.
As for your actual idea of going around helping people, Coruscant Jedi are allowed do that and have done so often, especially in the time before the Clone Wars.
And the ones who do so without the Council's approval and direction are called 'Grey Jedi' or forced out of the Order entirely (the "Lost Twenty" only counts Jedi
Masters who left the Order -- there would have been
plenty of Knights and Padawans who left for ideological reasons).
For instance, I recently added this snippet to my first 'Briefing the Boss' omake:
- Baltimn: childhood home of Ephaan Kenzon (left Jedi Order), site of School of Hidden Wisdom (dueling academy) [NB: survived Order 66]
Ephaan Kenzon was a Knight who recently left the Jedi Order for ideological reasons. Specifically, during a mission to the Zeemacht Cluster (Inner Rim), he witnessed a grave & obvious injustice (nature unspecified). His master insisted that they focus on their assigned mission; Kenzon insisted that Lawful Good Jedi should not turn a blind eye to injustice. Kenzon defied his master and intervened. On their return to Coruscant, his master brought up his disobedience to the Council, who debated whether Kenzon should be punished or simply exiled. Appalled by the Council's indifference, Kenzon resigned his membership in the Order before they could make a final judgment.
That's the sort of example Anakin would be familiar with.
