After the first battle of Geonosis and the beginning of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker
was very quickly promoted from Jedi Padawan to Jedi Knight, allowing him to lead the 501st
legion in the war.
So why was Anakin promoted so quickly after Geonosis and why was he allowed to become
a knight without passing the Jedi trials?
I’m going to break down exactly why Anakin became a Jedi Knight without passing the trials
and why the Jedi hated it.
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Anakin’s story with the Jedi trials begins in the 2003 Clone Wars series, which is now
Legends, but a lot of the information from the show is probably still true in Canon.
Not long after the first battle of Geonosis, the Jedi council began to receive reports
of a new separatist General that went by the name Grievous.
The council were shocked to learn that this new separatist, General Grievous had fought
5 Jedi knights at once, and was able to defeat every single one of them.
Because of this, Ki-Adi Mundi made a plea to the Jedi council for Grievous to be stopped.
The Jedi council agreed, and began to debate how to increase the numbers of Jedi Knights
in the Galaxy.
Ki-Adi Mundi, Yoda, Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi were all extremely worried at how many
Jedi Knights the council had lost since the beginning of the war and hoped to increase
their numbers significantly before the war started to intensify.
For this reason, Obi-Wan stood up in front of the council and proposed that his apprentice,
Anakin Skywalker, be promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight immediately, without having
to pass the Jedi trials.
Kenobi suggested this because Anakin was both incredibly skilled in lightsaber combat, and
also the Chosen one.
Unfortunately however, some members of the Council were outraged by the suggestion, because
it would destroy a sacred tradition of the Jedi Order and the strong history that the
tradition holds.
Despite this, many members of the council believed that there was no other way for the
Jedi Order to survive.
Following this, the Jedi council split in half, with members like, Kenobi, Yoda, Ki-Adi
Mundi, and Kit Fisto supporting Anakin’s promotion to Jedi Knight, while Mace Windu,
Oppo Rancisis, and Adi Gallia voiced their concern about the throwing away the sacred
tradition.
Kenobi quickly interrupted the debate to defend Anakin, stating that he had technically already
passed most of the Jedi trials, because he had already experienced many things much harder
than the trials.
He had already passed the trial of Skill when he defeated the Sith Assassin, Assajj Ventress
on Yavin-4, which is the battle where Anakin received his famous scar.
Kenobi also argued that Anakin had already passed the trial of flesh, when losing his
arm in the lightsaber duel with Count Dooku on Geonosis.
He had also passed the trial of courage multiple times on the battlefield, fighting side by
side with Kenobi against the droid army.
After a very heated debate about the issue, the council eventually agreed that Anakin
had certainly passed these three trials, but still had one major trial remaining.
This trial was known as the trial of spirit, and involved facing your inner soul and to
deal with any turmoil, anger or hatred left inside of you.
Anakin had certainly not passed this trial yet, still being very reckless and hot-tempered
in some situations, which angered some members of the council, ocne again sending them into
a massive debate.
Yoda then interrupted the debate and quickly put it to an end, stating that Anakin would
become a Jedi Knight, despite not having passed the Jedi trials because of his identity as
the chosen one.
Only a few short days after this, Anakin is urgently called back to the Jedi temple by
Obi-Wan, where he will face the council.
When Anakin arrived, he was not happy with Kenobi, and even told him that he could never
compare to Master Qui Gon.
Anakin of course regretted this only moments later, but Kenobi forgave him and took him
to the Jedi Trial ceremony moon.
Anakin entered the Dark room and waited inside of the traditional circular Jedi markings
on the floor.
The Jedi masters of the council surrounded anakin in the darkness.
After pausing for a moment to reflect on the ceremony, each of the masters ignite their
lightsaber blades at the exact same time, illuminating the room with a bright glow.
All of the masters then lower their blades, while Master Yoda knights Anakin and cuts
off his Padawan braid, with his green lightsaber.
Anakin is now officially a Jedi Knight of the Republic.
Awesomely, C3-PO delivers Anakin’s Padawan braid to Padme after the ceremony, where she
stores it alongside the necklace he made for her many years prior.
Anakin did later go on to properly pass his Jedi trial of the spirit at the Battle of
Nelvaan, after he entered a cave on the planet and began to see visions of himself in the
future as Darth Vader.
Once he returned from the battle, Master Yoda did recognize his passing of the trial, despite
already being granted the rank of Knight.
So that is exactly how Anakin became a Jedi Knight without passing the Jedi trials.
Thanks so much for watching, cheers guys, hope to see you in the next one!