Star Wars Pt - Tumblr Posts
I have started to think of the Jedi being blamed for the Fall of the Republic like blaming firefighters for wildfires.
They have been fighting fires (corruption) for years, but the fire is getting bigger and hotter and spreading farther. They're doing their best but there aren't enough of them to go everywhere there are fires. The Senate points them to where really big fires are, but sometimes it turns out they just want their property saved and there weren't that many people in the building. The Jedi still save lives but they have to look at the bigger picture and hope volunteers will put out the little fires because they simply don't have the people for every little fire even though they wish they did. The Senate starts restricting their use of water. Then an arsonist, Palpatine, is made mayor and takes control of their budget.
Dooku and the CIS start lighting fires on purpose. Palpatine let's Dooku know where the most flammable places are.
And the firefighters (Jedi) keep fighting the fire. They can't not fight the fire. People will die if they don't fight the fire. Then the government is like: there are not enough firefighters to fight the fire, but here is a large population of people we will force to fight the fire with you. You shouldn't have qualms, apparently an individual that used to work for you is the one that paid for their training so really they're your responsibility. You'll be in charge of them on the field and get to watch them die, but we control their lives and have decided they're not people so we don't have to pay them. Good deal. We are good at fighting fires.
And the Jedi can't say no because they need to stop the fire and they can't do it alone at this point. Many of the Jedi are killed in their attempts to stop the gasoline fire Dooku lights and it shows how badly they need these new people.
Luckily, the people drafted to fight with them, the clones are also good at fighting fires! It's dangerous many clones will die, but despite having no choice they stand beside the Jedi bravely. The Jedi do everything in their power to protect them. They fight alongside them and try to minimize loss.
There are a few Jedi that get overwhelmed by anger or trauma. They become arsonists themselves, but the number of those that do can be counted on one hand compared to the thousands of Jedi that continue to fight fires.
Sadly, the clones have explosives inside them that Palpatine, the mayor, has the trigger for. Just when it feels like the fire is under control and the people lighting the fires have been stopped, Palpatine sets them off.
Most of the clones are never the same. They think the Jedi had to have set off the bombs inside them, even though they would have never thought them capable of it before. Most never learn the truth. They hate the Jedi for being traitors.
Most of the firefighters die. And their families too. Their children and uncles and aunts and grandparents, and cousins even if they weren't capable of fighting fires they all get burned to death.
The mayor declares it was the firefighters lighting fires and outlaws being a firefighter.
Some of the Jedi survive. Some of them can't bring themselves to fight fires anymore. Some of them keep doing it because it's what they were trained to do. A lot of them are novices who didn't know all the best techniques, but they find their own methods to put out fires and teach others how to do it as well.
And the rebellion begins because when you see fire the logical thing to do is put it out, but all the firefighters are dead or in hiding and being a firefighter is illegal. There's no one to call so the town's people start doing it themselves, inspired by the Jedi.
This becomes extremely important when the mayor makes a device that can light entire cities on fire at the push of a button.
Anyway that's my metaphor and maybe explains my point of view when it comes to the Jedi.
(IB: @momentsthatwestole and reposted from a reblog)
Rex hadn’t connected the dots when he had learned of the infamous Dark Lord of the Sith, Vader, serving the Emperor. He hadn’t connected the dots when Ezra returned from Malachor without his blaster-saber, guiding his then blind master, with Ahsoka nowhere in sight. He hadn’t connected the dots upon seeing the blond haired, blue eyed Jedi named Skywalker wielding his former general’s blue-bladed lightsaber.
It wasn’t until after the Battle of Endor, when the Darth Star II had been destroyed, fireworks lit the sky with resonating booms, the remaining Rebels cheered and celebrated with their Ewok allies, the Empire was as good as gone, and Skywalker had returned in an Imperial ship, carrying Darth Vader’s body with tears in his eyes, did Rex connect the dots.
Darth Vader was his beloved former Jedi General of the 501st Clone Battalion, Anakin Skywalker.
For 25 years, Rex had believed that Anakin had been killed by the blasters of his brothers upon the declaration of Order 66. Perhaps he had survived long enough to have been struck down by the Emperor or Inquisitors he had heard so much about from his newer Jedi leadership. He had never imagined that his general and friend was capable of such terrible things.
Despite his disbelief, nothing would change. His general was dead and Rex would never fight beside him again.
Remembering the countless battles and near-death experiences they had shared, Rex watched from afar as Anakin’s body burned on the pyre. Luke sensed his presence and caught the salute Rex threw his way, only to realize it wasn’t for him, but for his father.
After he had reunited with his friends and celebrated their victory, Luke still couldn’t shake the older clone trooper from his thoughts. Curiously, Luke had asked Obi-wan who the old clone trooper was and how he knew his father. His mentor’s brief explanation prompted him to greet the soldier and introduce himself.
They talked long into the night. Luke had asked Rex about what his father was like during the war. Rex had told him about the Battle of Christophsis and how Anakin became a master to Ahsoka Tano, the liberation of the Togruta from Zygerrian slavers, the countless planets spared from the cruelty of the Separatist’s droid army and influence, and how he would cover for Anakin’s comms to Padmé. He told Luke about his mother and his father, how much they had loved one another, and how far they went to protect one another.
Luke finally felt at peace upon hearing about his parents. He had been reassured that his father was a good person, beyond the expectations the Jedi order demanded from him. He had sensed the good in his father while he still held the name Vader, but hearing it from his father’s old friend was the proof he needed. Rex had told him the things Obi-wan wouldn’t, but it was exactly what he needed to hear, and for that he was grateful.