Welcome to Dans on Fandoms. I'm Dan
With the release of Charles Soule’s Light of the Jedi recently, Star Wars fans were able to dive
head first into a brand new and glorious era of the Star Wars timeline-The High Republic.
This time period in the Star Wars continuity takes place roughly 200 years prior to the
events of The Phantom Menace and sees the Jedi Order at their peak and the Republic
in a period of expansion and prosperity. Among the myriad of things I loved about
Light of the Jedi, one aspect of the novel that was rather intriguing was some of the
differences I noticed between the Jedi of The High Republic and the Jedi of the Prequel Era
that became apparent throughout the novel. So, Let’s discuss some of the key differences
between the Jedi of The High Republic and the Prequel Era
that I saw while reading Light of the Jedi. Spoilers ahead for Light of the Jedi, so turn
back now if you don’t want anything spoiled. One of the biggest differences I noticed
while reading Light of the Jedi is how the Jedi Order of The High Republic are much,
much more focused on peacekeeping and that they were more hesitant to use violence.
Light of the Jedi made it very apparent that The High Republic Jedi were far less militarized,
much more focused on peacekeeping, and that violence was a last resort option.
One example of this can be found in the weaponry on the starfighters the Jedi used, called Vectors.
The weapons on Vectors could only be operated with a lightsaber key,
which was a way to ensure that they were not used by non-Jedi,
and that every time the weapon systems were used, it was a well-considered action.
Additionally, the power of the Vector's lasers could be scaled up or down,
which meant not every shot had to be a kill when engaging someone in combat.
This gave Jedi the opportunity to disable or even warn a
combatant or enemy, as opposed to killing them. Another example that showcased how the Jedi of the
High Republic viewed violence as a last resort was in their belief as to when to use a lightsaber.
The High Republic Jedi believed using a lightsaber was the choice of last resort,
meaning violence would only be used to resolve an issue once all other options have been exhausted.
That's a big contrast to the Jedi of the prequel era.
Although the prequel era Jedi did seek peaceful resolutions when possible, they seemed more
willing to use violence to resolve disputes and Anakin is a pretty good example of that.
When using their lightsabers or engaging an adversary in combat,
the Jedi of the prequel era didn't act as if using their lightsaber was a last resort.
Furthermore, there were moments where the Jedi of the prequel era
didn’t seem to attempt to limit or mitigate violence, nor the lethality of a conflict.
One example that seems to hammer that point home is the Battle of Geonosis, and, in particular,
Mace beheading Jango Fett. I mean, my man just looked like he had been
waiting forever to behead someone. Another difference between the Jedi
of the High Republic and the Prequels is their connections and interactions with
everyday citizens of the Republic. The Jedi of the High Republic
seem to be much more engaged and connected to the people of the Republic, which is quite a
big difference from the Jedi of the prequel era. In the Clone Wars animated series, we regularly
saw moments where citizens of the Republic felt like the Jedi had no clue about what's
really happening throughout the galaxy, or moments where citizens thought the Jedi just didn't care.
Furthermore, it’s mentioned and demonstrated in the series on numerous occasions that
the Jedi Order is disconnected from the people of the Republic and their plight.
There’s several examples of this, but Ahsoka’s journey during season 7 of The Clone Wars
illustrates that disconnect quite well. In the episode Gone With a Trace,
Trace Martez tells Ahsoka that she’s better off being on level 1313 and away from the Jedi,
since they’re busy starting wars, policing everything, and that they’ve forgotten
all about the everyday Republic citizen. Additionally, when the battle of Coruscant
breaks out several episodes later, forcing Anakin and Obi-Wan to return to Coruscant and abandon
their plans to assist Bo-Katan and the people of Mandalore, Ahsoka states that the Jedi were
merely doing so for political reasons. As Ahsoka mentions, the Jedi during the
Clone Wars focused more on politics and optics rather than the actual people of the Republic.
Obviously, the Sith and Darth Sidious helped push the Jedi Order that way,
but part of that disconnect between the Jedi and the citizens of the Republic could be
attributed to the fact that Jedi outposts weren't prominent during the prequel era.
During The High Republic, The Jedi had outposts strewn throughout the galaxy, giving them a
larger presence across the Republic, allowing them to have a greater sense of the struggles
that people during that time were facing and providing protection to vulnerable populations.
By the time of the prequels, several Jedi outposts had fallen into ruin and, although it hasn’t been
stated yet, clearly the Jedi Order’s priorities shifted, they stopped operating out of outposts,
and their presence throughout the galaxy was limited to the small number of Jedi temples strewn
throughout the Republic and Unknown Regions. I’m assuming this will be explored the more we
delve into the High Republic, and we’ll eventually learn why the use of Jedi outposts were fazed out.
Another difference, which was very apparent when the High Republic was initially announced,
is the ornate outfits and lightsabers that the Jedi of the High Republic rock.
According to Jedi Padawan Bell Zettifar, outfits that consisted of hooded robes,
such as what the Jedi during the prequel era wore, was a style that
felt like a nod to an earlier era. This makes me wonder if the prequel
era Jedi started to view and interpret the force in a more rigid and orthodox way,
and that seems to be reflected in the garb and lightsabers of the Jedi of the Prequel era.
Another difference I noticed is that the Jedi during the High Republic
seemed to be more attuned to the Force and its connection to nature and the galaxy, and various
Jedi viewed the force as different entities, such as a song, a sea, or even a wroshyr tree.
Light of the Jedi sees Jedi using the force to create a rain storm,
as well as utilizing a technique called Force Meld, which is where a number of Force users
joined their minds together through the Force, drawing strength from each other.
You could argue that they possibly had a stronger and deeper connection to the force,
since we know that the precognitive abilities of Jedi during the prequels had been weakened,
in part, by the Sith and the Sith Shrine that was under the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
At very least, however, there definitely seemed to be a difference in how the Jedi of the High
Republic used, utilized, and viewed the force. Even a technique such as a Jedi mind trick was
referred to as something different. Instead of being called a mind trick,
the technique was called the mind touch during the High Republic,
which definitely gives off a different connotation to the technique, and it’s implied that the
mind touch was used far less often. There were some Jedi in the Order,
such as Jedi Master Avar Kriss, who preferred not to use such a technique.
While on the topic of Avar Kriss, throughout Light of the Jedi, it’s heavily implied that
she and fellow Jedi Master, Elzar Mann, harbored romantic feelings for one another.
During the epilogue of the novel, it’s again heavily implied that the two had feelings for
one another and were dwelling on their time together as Padawans.
Here’s what Elzar thinks while he’s speaking to Avar, “He suspected [he and Avar] were thinking
about the same thing. Shared moments as Padawans, tolerated and understood and
common-but things to be left behind once one ascended to become an adult in the Order.”
Which, wow, that sounds very much like the Jedi Order had no qualms with Padawans having
relationships and getting down and dirty and freaking, until the Padawans became Jedi Knights.
If that’s the case, that is staunchly opposed to how the Jedi of the prequel
era viewed romantic relationships. This brings us back to my thought earlier
regarding the hooded robes being a throwback to an earlier era-the Jedi’s views and beliefs of
the Force seemed to evolved to be more rigid and orthodox by the time of the prequels,
and, as we can see, they weren’t always opposed to Padawans getting freaky.
I mean, look at what Anakin and Padmé had to go through in Attack of the Clones.
In short, this is all to say that the Jedi during the High Republic definitely differed from the
Jedi of the prequel era, which makes sense. The purpose of the prequels and the Clone Wars was
to showcase how Darth Sidious was able to topple the Jedi, rise to power, and how he was able to
manipulate Anakin into turning into Darth Vader. Because of this, it stands to reason that,
when the Jedi were at their zenith during the days of the High Republic, their ideals, beliefs,
and practices would differ from the Jedi who were closing in on the day of their near destruction.
As we continue to explore more of the High Republic, I’m sure we’ll learn more about the
differences between the Jedi of the High Republic and the prequel era Jedi, and that’s something I’m
very interested in learning about. But What do you guys think?
What are some differences you’ve seen between the Jedi of the
High Republic and the Prequel era Jedi? And what are your thoughts about some of
the things discussed in this video? Let us know down in the comments.
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