Among the many iconic sounds of Star Wars -- from John Williams' incredible score to the chilling breaths of Darth Vader -- the sound of an activating lightsaber immediately transports minds and memories to that galaxy far, far away. Since the premiere of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope in 1977, decades of children the world over have used sticks, wrapping paper tubes, or anything remotely resembling a sword to re-enact their favorite lightsaber duels while mimicking that electric hum and sizzle of the Jedi's favored weapon.
With those homemade lightsabers, children could imagine themselves as Jedi, heroes of a distant galaxy, fighting against an expanding evil. As time went on, and prequels and sequels were introduced into the mythos, it became clear that, despite their oft-stated code, the Jedi were horrific role models whose arrogance, self-interest and immorality led to the infamous Order 66. In short, the Jedi earned their punishing fate.
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Throughout the Skywalker Saga's prequel trilogy, the Jedi and their council continuously sought to influence the politics of the Galactic Republic. Admittedly the Jedi's influence was significantly less pronounced than the Sith's -- who spent a millennium advancing their agenda. However, simply by aligning themselves so closely with the Republic and its Senate, the Jedi enmeshed themselves in political machinations, thus surrendering any claim to impartiality.
To be fair, the Jedi's involvement in government wasn't about their own advancement. The Jedi truly believed themselves to be warriors of justice, relying on the Force to guide their decisions. Interestingly, that reliance on the Force's guidance came at the same time Yoda, Grand Master of the Jedi Order, repeatedly admitted to having blind spots. "The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is," Yoda said in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. It takes a special kind of arrogance to admit blindness whilst simultaneously entreating others -- from Padawans to Senators -- to follow their vision.
The Jedi's trust that the Force would show them the way even blinded them from seeing a reality that a council of learned scholars should have seen. It doesn't take Force-sensitivity to recognize that expanding the emergency powers granted to Chancellor Palpatine would lead, if not to democracy's end, then at least to a difficult dilemma when the time came to surrender those powers. Yet, still, the Jedi pushed on, trusting their "vision" while knowing the enemy had blinded them.
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Perhaps due to their blindness or perhaps due to their methodology, the Jedi had an unfortunate tendency to train individuals who would then go on to betray the Order, turn to the dark side and commit to the Order's destruction. In the prequel trilogy, viewers met Count Dooku, a former Jedi Master, famous for training Qui-Gon Jinn in the ways of the Force. In time, Dooku fell to the dark side and adopted the moniker Darth Tyranus when he began his service to Darth Sidious (aka Chancellor Palpatine). As a secret Sith Lord and leader of the Separatists, Dooku caused endless headaches for the Jedi... until he was killed by Anakin Skywalker.
Skywalker, of course, is the most famous Jedi to abandon the light and adopt Sith teachings. Found by Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine and eventually apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi, young Anakin chaffed under the Jedi way from the get-go, which made him ripe for Palpatine's influence. Not long after his execution of Dooku, Skywalker would replace the fallen Sith Lord and become Darth Vader, sworn to serve the dark side and Darth Sidious. Years after Skywalker's own death, his grandson, Ben Solo, would also surrender to the power of the dark side. Admittedly, the Jedi Council was extinct at this point, but the pattern of Jedi-turned-Sith continued, this time with Luke Skywalker training young Ben before the latter began a murderous rampage and swore himself to the dark side.
Admittedly, all three traitors were adults who made their own decisions and were under the influence and manipulations of the Dark Lord of the Sith. That said, clearly, something within the Jedi Order and its teachings wasn't working if three powerful, trained Jedi not only left the Order but joined with the enemy and slaughtered countless beings, including their former brothers and sisters in the Force.
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In truth, it's surprising that more Jedi didn't denounce the Order once they discovered the incredible abyss at the center of Jedi morality and ethics. Despite a ban on slavery throughout the Republic, the Jedi didn't condemn the practice of breeding clones, training them in isolation and then ushering them to the front lines of the war with the Separatists. There's no amount of mental gymnastics that can wash away the immorality of breeding and enslaving sentient creatures. True, the Jedi did not create the clone army, but they did condone its use, even going as far as accepting commissions to serve as generals over the enslaved clones (an interesting role for self-styled "peacekeepers").
Even the more rebellious of the Jedi, those like Qui-Gon Jinn, lacked the ethical fiber to take any real stand against slavery. While on Tatooine in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon happens upon Anakin and his mother Shmi -- both slaves. Believing the boy to be "The Chosen One," Qui-Gon sets out to secure Anakin's freedom. The Jedi Master, however, was only interested in Anakin (and his future benefit to the Order). As for Shmi? The noble Jedi left her in bondage, refusing to use the Force or finances to free Shmi from her chains.
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Much of the Jedi's flaws can be traced back to the Order's bedrock principle that forbade its members to form attachments. Instead of the more altruistic tenet of service to others, the Jedi instead opted to keep others at arm's length. To be fair, the Jedi were not forbidden to care, but rather the level of their care was capped somewhere just above general indifference.
This detachment and indifference largely freed the Jedi from being responsible for anything beyond the edicts of the Jedi Order. It's what allowed the Jedi to take children as young as two years old from their homes and families and indoctrinate them into the Order. That same freedom from responsibility assuaged any guilt a Jedi might have over leaving a woman in bondage, forcing an army of slaves to fight and die, and brainwashing children to love nothing while unquestioningly carrying out the Council's commands.
While the Jedi were not "evil" in the traditional sense of seeking to harm others, the code they followed (and forced upon their toddler recruits) either overlooked or directly led to evil actions. Just as one "earns" success after a series of wise decisions, the Jedi "earned" their fate due to their conscious blindness, immorality and detachment.