Anti-Jedi sentiment

Anti-Jedi sentiment referred to negative feelings, dislike, or hatred of the Jedi Order, a Force-based monastic organization whose members served the Galactic Republic as guardians of peace and justice.^[1]

HistoryEdit

Clone WarsEdit

Some people in the galaxy found the Jedi's custom of inducting Force-sensitives into their Order at infancy controversial. Notably, the Dagoyan Masters of Bardotta regarded the Jedi as thieves and kidnappers because of that practice.^[2] Some Mandalorians, most notably members of Death Watch, held a grudge against the Jedi for their perceived crimes against Mandalore^[3] during the Mandalorian-Jedi War.^[4]

During the Clone Wars, anti-Jedi sentiment further developed in a segment of the galaxy's public opinion. Although the Jedi aroused admiration from those who witnessed them in action, they remained forever mysterious to the Republic citizenry at large. On the other side, the Confederacy of Independent Systems branded them as hypocrites, thanks to firsthand criticism by Count Dooku, leader of the Confederacy and defrocked Jedi Master. That the Jedi led an army of clone soldiers—"slaves bred for war", as Confederate propaganda proclaimed—did not speak well to their character.^[1]

Additionally, the Jedi's deliberate absence from the Republic's wartime propaganda adversely affected their reputation. In the absence of a proper response, disaffected Confederate worlds imagined the Jedi to be cultural elites from the Core Worlds that not only neglected them, but actually advocated war.^[1]

Dark TimesEdit

At the end of the conflict, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine of the Republic shocked the galaxy by accusing the Jedi Order of treason, claiming that four Jedi Masters had attempted to assassinate him and overthrow the Republic. Although his account of a "Jedi rebellion" was an outright lie, Palpatine easily spread that claim by reminding the galaxy that Dooku, the Republic's greatest threat in a millennium, had once been Jedi. He then reorganized the Republic as the First Galactic Empire, and started a purge to erase the Jedi from the pages of history.^[1] In the very early days of the Empire, the newly appointed Grand Vizier Mas Amedda gave a public demonstration on Coruscant—which housed the headquarters of the Jedi Order—to both take advantage and strengthen the anti-Jedi sentiment of the citizenry.^[5]

Post-EmpireEdit

The public's collective view on the Jedi, who were all but extinct, gradually softened following the Empire's defeat in the Galactic Civil War. Under the reign of the New Republic, the Age of the Jedi was romanticized while the Jedi themselves were venerated as gods. Nevertheless, there were those who continued to harbor anti-Jedi views, not the least of which was Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Having failed in his efforts to fully rebuild the Jedi Order, a consequence of his nephew Ben Solo's fall to the dark side, Skywalker grew to believe that the Order's legacy was hubris and failure,^[6] and should therefore end with his eventual death as the last Jedi. Rey, a Jakku scavenger who sought Skywalker's help against the First Order, was disturbed by the old master's jaded views and categorically rejected his arguments, reminding Skywalker of his role in the redemption of Darth Vader.^[7]

AppearancesEdit

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "The Hidden Enemy"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Grievous Intrigue"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Heroes on Both Sides" (Mentioned only)
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Counterattack"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Citadel Rescue"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Escape from Kadavo"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "A Friend in Need"
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Sabotage"
• Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 1: The Chosen One, Part I
• Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 4: The Chosen One, Part IV (Mentioned only)

SourcesEdit

• Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy (First identified as anti-Jedi sentiment)
• Star Wars: Scum and Villainy: Case Files on the Galaxy's Most Notorious

Notes and referencesEdit