History of the Jedi Order

The original Jedi Order was a group of individuals that had the ability to touch and use the Force. The Jedi followed the "light" side of the Force, using their power for unselfish and beneficial acts. The order began thousands of years before the rise of the Galactic Empire. Many ancient and semi-legendary organizations have been proposed as the forerunners of the Jedi Order, such as the Order of Dai Bendu or the Chatos Academy, but no conclusive links have ever been shown. Likewise, the birth planet of the order is unknown. There are many candidates, including such known worlds as Coruscant, Ossus and Corellia, and mythic, lost planets such as Had Abbadon, Ondos and Utapau. It is known, however, that the brightest and best philosophers, priests, and warriors came together on a single world long ago to discuss their discoveries involving the enigmatic, mystical Force, and that the concentration of these efforts eventually led to the development of the Jedi Order.

Great Schism
After an order was established, there began to be a divide within the structure, leading to the Great Schism, which several Jedi were to have been discovered delving within the "dark" side of the Force. After a heavy war, they were exiled and later found the planet of Korriban and the species known as the Sith.

However peace was not easily come by, as once again, members of the Order began delving into the dark side of the Force. The first was that of Freedon Nadd, who discovered, and was corrupted by, the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord, Naga Sadow, on the world of Yavin 4. Nadd would later go on to the planet of Onderon with hopes of rebuilding another, stronger Sith Empire.

Only 400 years later, the talented Exar Kun would also be exiled by the Jedi Order for manipulating the dark side and slaying his master. Kun would be corrupted by the spirit of Nadd on Dxun, causing the former Jedi Knight to give into the dark side once and for all. Planning on gaining his power, Kun would cause the Cron Cluster explosion that would destroy the former Jedi Archives on Ossus, after he and another skilled knight, Ulic Qel-Droma, were denied the ancient Sith holocrons stored there.

Forty years would go by before the Mandalorian Wars would cause another and greater rift in the Order, when some of their most exceptional Jedi left to aid the Republic in the fight. The most notable were that of Revan, Malak, and the Jedi Exile. The Jedi master Arren Kae would be exiled ten years before this, but would go on to help, with aid from her husband Yusanis of the Echani. Jedi Master Kreia would also be exiled, as the Jedi Council felt her 'gray' stance on the Force had lead her students (most notably, Revan) down the path of the dark side.

In the aftermath of it all, the Jedi Temple on Coruscant was completely obiterated and the Jedi Academy on Dantooine was nothing but a hollow shell. It would also see the destruction and death of the order, though Kreia stated that the Lost Jedi - those that would travel with the exile - would come together to re-establish another Jedi Order.

The Jedi-Sith conflict resumes
In 32 BBY, the presence of the Sith once again became known to the Jedi. Two Sith Lords, the master Darth Sidious, and the apprentice Darth Maul supported the blockade of Naboo. After Darth Maul was killed, the Jedi knew that somewhere in the galaxy there was still one member of the Sith active, but they were unaware of the identity of Sidious. During the next ten years, former Jedi Count Dooku fell to the dark side, and became the new apprentice Darth Tyranus. Tyranus and Sidious arranged the Clone Wars as a way of consolidating Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's hold on the galaxy. In actuality, Sidious secretly governed both sides of the Clone Wars; effectively assuring his rise to power. Toward the end of the Clone Wars, the Jedi discovered that Palpatine was Darth Sidious, and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker switched to the dark side. During a battle with his master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin suffered grievous injuries. After the fight, the majority of Anakin's body had to be replaced with mechanical implants, including a breathing apparatus to keep him alive. Anakin became known as Darth Vader, Sidious' final apprentice, and thus the bloody Galactic Civil War began.

The dark times, the Empire
At the onset of the Galactic Civil War, the Jedi were almost completely wiped out by followers of the Dark Side, led by the Sith lord Darth Sidious, also known as Emperor Palpatine. The corrupted Anakin Skywalker (who, as Darth Vader, initiated the Great Jedi Purge along with Sidious), Obi Wan Kenobi (Anakin's own teacher), and Yoda were among the few survivors. Other survivors include Empatojayos Brand and Vima-Da-Boda. A limited number of Jedi other than Skywalker were turned to the Dark Side and became servants of the Emperor, such as Jerec and the Inquisitor Tremayne.

The Empire took steps to exterminate the Jedi and any family members. Corran Horn's grandfather was a Corellian Jedi named Nejaa Halcyon, who had died in the Clone Wars. Halcyon's friend Rostek Horn married Halcyon's wife, adopted Corran's father Valin "Hal" Horn, and altered the records concerning the Halcyon family. He did this to protect Hal and his mother from the Empire's Jedi hunters. Hal kept the knowledge of Corran's true grandfather from him, because revealing that knowledge would have made Corran a target as well. As a result, Corran only learned of his true heritage when Luke Skywalker discovered his past, and shared that discovery with Corran.

The Emperor also trained a number of "Hands," or those who had the potential to use the Force as his personal agents. Through the Force, he was able to relay orders to his agents. Mara Jade was one such agent. She had been discovered to be Force sensitive at a young age and trained by the Emperor. Several of the Hands were eventually redeemed by Luke Skywalker and became part of the new generation of Jedi.

Obi-Wan had the order to watch Luke Skywalker, Anakin's son, and perhaps the true Chosen One, as he grew, and teach him about the Force in order to keep the tradition alive, and perhaps, to restore the Order. Indeed Luke became Yoda's last student who would come to play a pivotal role in the history of the Order.

After the Galactic Civil War
After the Galactic Civil War, Luke set out to reestablish the Jedi order by training a new generation of Jedi Knights. Because the Emperor wished to completely destroy the order, almost all of the information on the Jedi was erased. Only a few histories remained, and they were propaganda pieces used to paint the Jedi in an unfavorable light. Almost all the material on instructing Jedi was eliminated, save a few documents on how to turn potential Jedi to the dark side of the force.

Four years after the death of the Emperor at Endor, Luke had discovered the wreck of the Chu'unthor on the planet Dathomir. The Chu'unthor was a starship that had served as a mobile Jedi academy, which had crashed on Dathomir. Dathomir was the home of Force sensitive "Witches," who were the descendants of a fallen Jedi banished to that world. Master Yoda had left the instruction materials from the ship behind with the rest of the ship. 400 years later, after defeating Witches that had fallen to the Dark Side, one of the natives gave Luke the instruction materials that she had kept safely since the time of the crash.

Due to Luke's lack of knowledge with the old ways of the Jedi Order the new generation of Jedi were very unorthodox. He established an academy for teaching many students the way of the Jedi which is much different to the "one student, one master" way used by the old order. The academy was established in the old temples on Yavin 4 that the Rebels once used as a base until the Battle of Yavin. He allowed his students to have personal possessions and had no rule against a Jedi having emotional attachments to friends and family, which was forbidden by the old order. Also, students were taken in at a much older age than previously. Most members were already well in to adulthood before they began training.

Luke was unaware that Yavin 4 had been a base for the Sith Lord Exar Kun during the Great Sith War, and that Kun's spirit had been trapped in the temples all that time. Kun was able to influence one of Luke's students, Kyp Durron, who eventually fell to the dark side for a time. Durron destroyed several star systems with the Sun Crusher. The students at the academy were able to finally destroy Kun's spirit. Freed of Kun's influence, Durron surrendered. He returned to the Light Side of the force, and became one of the first new Jedi.

Luke eventually turned the academy into a center that would provide basic training for potential Jedi. He began pairing Jedi who had gone through that training with a more experienced Jedi, much like the master-apprentice system used in the old order.

The New Jedi Order
This new order grew slowly but steadily. Some Jedi from the first class Luke taught&mdash;such as Kyp Durron&mdash;became Jedi Masters. The Order eventually become large enough that Luke Skywalker considered reinstating the Jedi Council. Suddenly, an extragalactic Force-dead alien species, the Yuuzhan Vong, declared war on the galaxy. Many Jedi died fighting this new threat, but the order did survive the war and continues to grow in strength. One of the Jedi casualties of this war was Anakin Solo, the youngest son of Han Solo and Leia Organa-Solo. Before his death, it was widely felt that Anakin would eventually become one of the greatest Jedi of his generation, and that he would eventually take Luke's place. Since Anakin's death, it has been assumed that Luke Skywalker's son, Ben Skywalker, has the most force potential of any living being.

After the war with the Yuuzhan Vong was over, Luke realized that the order would have to further adapt in order to survive. His experiences had led him to believe that the Force was not rigidly divided into a light and a dark side. Strong emotions, including anger, were not intrinsically evil&mdash;instead it was the intentions of the Force user that mattered most. Luke came to believe that nearly everyone, regardless of their heritage, had some ability to touch and use the Force. He also felt that individual Jedi (and other Force users) would need to discover their own paths: that some could be called to contemplative life, while others would feel a need to take a more active role in galactic affairs. Because the Jedi had no single goal, he felt the Jedi order as a whole should remain careful aloof its allegiance to the New Republic or any succeeding government.