Wars not make one great

So… I’m watching old episodes of Star Wars Clone Wars and thinking about the Last Jedi and thinking about Star Wars in general and I came to this realization that people have unjustly labeled the Jedi as being ‘blind’ and ‘letting’ the Sith rise in the prequel era.

I’ve stated this on Jedi Alliance and also on other platforms that I think people (and the characters in SW lore) have become Monday Morning Quarterbacks concerning how things went down. First of all we have phrase called the “Fog of War,” and the Fog of War is a situation that we know all too well in reality so why isn’t this applied to our heroes? When bullets (or lasers) are flying each and every day and decisions have to be made very quickly from a safety and protection standpoint things get hectic. People have to move on the drop of a dime or at the drop of a hat and they have to be able to wade through so much confusion politically, socially and physically; especially when things on the ground (with actual citizens) are much different than in the Senate or the Jedi Temple.

It’s already not easy when you have the Fog of War but the Jedi also had the confusion and the cloudiness of the dark side. Jedi like big homie Obi-Wan, like my man Mace Windu, like Master Yoda could already feel that something was coming, something was wrong, something wasn’t right; but with the Fog of War, Politicians, the motion of the future and so many other factors, they couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the ‘source’ of the darkness was coming from.

Not being able to initially notice the Dark Side’s murkiness and manipulation is understandable. That they would not be able to see or understand who exactly was pulling the strings. I don’t think it’s particularly fair to say that the Jedi were blind. I mean, imagine being in a situation where there’s already War, there’s always already boots-on-the-ground, in a situation similar to say the Vietnam War. Say inside the Vietnam War you’re a couple of generals trying to figure out the best steps forward. While you’re doing that, there are people who need you physically because they are dying, there are politicians (unbeknownst to you) also manipulating outcomes, while you’re trying to work towards a certain goal.

To say that the Jedi, at times, were holier-than-thou is fair but I don’t think it’s fair to say that they were just blind. I do think the Jedi were looking for nefarious activities, I do think the Jedi were onto something, but they just didn’t know where it was because they were already stretched way too thin.

I know you might say, “Come on NERDSoul, you’re a kind of Jedi apologist. You’re going to pat them on the back and say that they did the best they could.” And you’re right, because the Jedi would literally being closed in on in every single direction and turned every which way but loose in the prequels. The Jedi were lost inside of a war that they didn’t star, but were charged with settling on their own and trying to pick up those pieces while also realizing and figuring out darkness was afoot.

Coming from who loves Star Wars, someone who loves the Jedi Order, someone who loves the force, I pray that all of you take a second step back and put yourself in the shoes of all of those Jedi that we’re kind of just caught up. Caught up in a whirlwind which was the Separatists and the Republic, lying politicians, battle and ultimately the Sith.

Sit back and think… Maybe they weren’t as blind as I thought.

Nerd Nuggets

#NERDSoul