Hi folks

I just wrote this on another thread:

"if I was to have my way with the prequel trilogy, the Jedi order would be a scant few; secretive and aloof - more akin to the wizards in LotR or the witchers from The Witcher."

I was wondering, in a hypothetical re-write, what changes you might make to the Jedi order and the ways in which they operate during that era.

Best wishes

PM3D

I would have not made them all generals in the Clone Wars. I admit that it does a good job in showing how far they have fallen, but I don't see how a group of pacifistic diplomats make natural warlords.

Abilities like Battle Meditation and Foreseeing would be huge benefits to a military force, but those results should be fed into a trained commander so they can make the optimal tactical decision.

If their numbers are truly that few, consider reskining the Sith (post Rule of Two) and make the Jedi a competing faction. Whereas the Sith operate through secrecy, duplicity and cunning, the Jedi operate openly, compassionately and forthrightly.

How about the Jedi operate from a remote planet, the location of which is known only to the Jedi themselves and a few in the political sphere?

1. I would emphasize more of the internal politicking/turmoil between being peacekeepers and being warriors.

I suppose it would depend on how you define "scant" in a setting where you've got a whole galaxy to contend with

Thing is, to me, it seems that the Jedi *were* secretive and aloof, and that was one of the reasons it was so easy to torpedo the Order.

They received so much screen time in the movies because the films are about a single Jedi, for the most part. The prequels tell the story of Anakin's fall, and for that, you need Jedi on screen. But how many times did you see the Jedi mixing it up with common folk? Or even with Senators? They were apart, removed, sequestered in their opulent tower. Couldn't have done much for their public image.

I suppose it would depend on how you define "scant" in a setting where you've got a whole galaxy to contend with

Thing is, to me, it seems that the Jedi *were* secretive and aloof, and that was one of the reasons it was so easy to torpedo the Order.

They received so much screen time in the movies because the films are about a single Jedi, for the most part. The prequels tell the story of Anakin's fall, and for that, you need Jedi on screen. But how many times did you see the Jedi mixing it up with common folk? Or even with Senators? They were apart, removed, sequestered in their opulent tower. Couldn't have done much for their public image.

When Obi-Wan says to Anakin (para-phrasing) that he'll be the poster boy after the whole Dooku debacle, it suggests to me that "the people" are very much aware of the Jedi, that there is a degree of propaganda surrounding them. I'd remove that entirely. I'd have them be distant living legends, with the exploits of an occasional knight-errant keeping the legend alive.

I think that to a lot of the galaxy the Jedi were distant living legends. One of the Dark Horse Republic/Clone Wars comics that took place on Jabiim had some Separatist-aligned troopers trading rumors of the supposed Jedi that were arriving on the battlefield, with little of it being accurate and what was accurate being clearly biased (Jedi steal children, et al). Later, Obi Wan makes a point to Anakin that the prisoners they've taken and are trying to heal have every right to be terrified of Jedi: they've got no actual experience with Force-users outside of story and rumor. Hence the healing; it's not just the right thing to do, it's important to give people a good impression.

Anakin poster boy status for being the superhuman 'Hero Without Fear' probably didn't actually do any favors for the Jedi's image as actual people as opposed to the perception of being scary Force wizards/witches who'll steal your kids and kill you with their brains.

Now, all that being said, if I wanted to emphasize the theme of Jedi being somewhat secretive and somewhat mysterious, I'd show Jedi slumming it. Galactic wars and political intrigue are all well and good, but what are they up to without that sort of stuff? Is the guy asking questions about the local crime lord Just A Guy, or is he one of those Jedi you hear stories about, lurking in the shadows until he uses a lightsaber to banish them?

Now, all that being said, if I wanted to emphasize the theme of Jedi being somewhat secretive and somewhat mysterious, I'd show Jedi slumming it. Galactic wars and political intrigue are all well and good, but what are they up to without that sort of stuff? Is the guy asking questions about the local crime lord Just A Guy, or is he one of those Jedi you hear stories about, lurking in the shadows until he uses a lightsaber to banish them?

Colour me intrigued. I don't know if I'm about to contradict my suggestions up top, or whether this idea works in tandem, but what if some Jedi make a point of infiltrating organisations to more subtly expand their order's influence? A secret Jedi in the senate (rather than secret Sith)... a secret Jedi in CorSec... could lead to interesting possibilities...

Further thoughts - if the Jedi order lived on a secret planet, then Anakin's betrayal of them could look a lot like a dark echo of the moment Ulic Qel-Droma led the republic fleet to Exar Kun's back door and they scorched the earth. Could have been far more moving than the cack-handed plot point of butchering younglings.

I like the Jedi as portrayed in canon....but mixing things up is a lot of fun and something I love doing in games.

I believe it's fairly well established that the Jedi Order is a key component to the thousand years of galactic peace. They are the guardians of peace and justice.

And their essential role in this has thrust them into a situation where they are an uneasy and in a not-very-well-defined way (at least to the audience) part of the government.

They appear to be largely funded by the republic and serve it's needs.

So, if I were going to reboot the Jedi as more aloof from the republic all of these things would need to be changed:

The Jedi aren't centered on Coruscant (maybe they have a Temple there they maintain from Old Republic days that consists mostly of some mystics and advisors).

Perhaps the Jedi are still on centered on Ossus. Maybe they grossly exagerated the extent of the irradiation of the system (blaming an actual attack by Exar Kun) and the system is habitable but no one (else) dares go there.

The Jedi need to have a source of funding. Maybe they have some very wealth patrons that established permanent trusts that fund them. Maybe they have some very very rich among their members (like in the KOTOR comic). Maybe there's a Jedi Financial group that manages to "shrewdly" invest funds and make amazing returns on investments. Who knows, but it is a potential source for conflict within the order and stories.

Maybe without their galactic wide reach they may not rely soley on recruiting from families with children born with the "gift" and marriages and families are a normal part of life in the Order.

The galaxy has not experienced a thousand years of peace and justice. Maybe the republic has fractured and reformed a number of times.

Maybe some systems are lucky enough to have a Jedi Watchman to aid them and they have more peace and justice.

Maybe Jedi just appear sometimes out of nowhere and deal with a crime syndicate, pirate gang, or whatever, keeping systems from falling into complete chaos.

The Jedi Order is primarily a knight order - with a big dose of eastern mysticism thrown in - so while they eschew violence as much as possible they aren't really pacifists as much as they avoid being the aggressors in a conflict.

Supposedly the Jedi Order still exists primarily (aside from more mystical and esoteric and inward focused things like knowledge of the force and steering force users away from the dark side) to promote balance, peace and justice so that still needs to be a theme.

Or some other purpose put into it's place. Maybe they aren't really knights anymore - or knights are very small faction within the already tiny Order. Maybe - like the Mandalorians - they've adopted an actual pacifistic ethos and philosophy (and Obi-wan and Satine are married).

Maybe some within the order don't like this - sure it's kept the Order away from the dark side but it "allows" the dark side to have it's way in the larger galaxy (with the pacifist counter argument that more involvement in conflits will only feed them and the dark side).

Here's the glorious thing about this system; given the focus era, and given the possibilities of PC intervention, AND if you ignore everything that's coming and everything that's come before (new canon AND Legends), I'm more curious to see what the PCs come up with for "welp, the Jedi Order failed. How can we make it work this time?"

I always held the Jedi as wandering errant knights, hermit warriors, following the call of the Force to faraway places. I'd hold to the giant Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but I'd keep it rather empty except for the younglings who need a more stable place to grow up. It's not the only Jedi Temple, but it is the main one, at least in the people's eye. After all, it's on the capital planet right?

I'd also take the Force as kind of a religion. People say "May the Force be with you" like they would "Vaya con Dios" without actually ever meaning it. There would be a few Jedi mediators (by "few" I mean a few thousand) kept on Coruscant to handle diplomatic situations as the Republic still has conflict. They're also not exclusively ambassadors but a significant number of them are part of those cadres.

Very similar to canon. Except they don't wear robes worn by moisture farmers from Tattooine. They dress modestly, but the only way to identify a Jedi is by the lightsaber nonchalantly hanging off their belt or strapped to their thighs.

But I wouldn't make them generals. At least, not by decree.

The Jedi Master Council is made up of all the Jedi Masters in the galaxy. It too is a democracy. And the Clone Wars and the Separatists are reflected here as well. The CIS complained about corruption in the Republic, which was very true, and several Jedi would see that as well. Some would take the Chancellor's very cunning offer to lead military forces. I mean what are they to do when all the answers seem right? The Separatists have a point, the Militarists want to make sure the Clones are treated well and limit the damage, and those who want to mediate and keep the peace are correct as well.

I'd focus the prequels on a Han Solo-esque Anakin Skywalker, the straightman Obi-Wan Kenobi who has to flee Naboo with its new Queen. Along the way, some droids are picked up, some new friends made, a giant ship blows up and someone kisses the Queen. It ends with Anakin agreeing to become Obi-Wan's apprentice. We can even have Anakin call Obi-Wan "Ben" as a nickname to get him through some checkpoint, and the name'll stick to the straight-laced Jedi.

I would have not made them all generals in the Clone Wars. I admit that it does a good job in showing how far they have fallen, but I don't see how a group of pacifistic diplomats make natural warlords.

Abilities like Battle Meditation and Foreseeing would be huge benefits to a military force, but those results should be fed into a trained commander so they can make the optimal tactical decision.

See this is something that never made sense to me in the prequels. The Jedi Council says outright in PM that they are only peacekeepers and cannot fight the Republic's war, then somehow in AotC, they are leading the **** war effort with basically no explanation on that shift. And even then, you're like, what makes these monks who spend their time meditating and practicing swordplay so qualified to lead a massive, galaxy wide war? Shouldn't someone from the actual military be doing that? Who is like the Republic's prequel Akbar? It's not like the Jedi Academy is ******* Westpoint. It's more like some hippie college on the west coast.

I hate to start offering rewrite ideas to the prequels because it basically involves rewriting the entire thing from scratch, but I feel like there could have been some conflict between the Republic military and the Jedi Order. You've got the Jedi trying to be peacekeepers and maybe the military labels them traitors. Instead of this weird "Order 66" ex machina, maybe Jedi like Anakin side with the military and start openly challenging the Order creating a massive rift in the Order and the Republic as a whole. Maybe instead of murder via pregnancy (seriously? The future can have hyperspace, but Padme can't get a C-section?) Padme is killed in a terrorist attack; driving Anakin to seek revenge on not only the Separatists, but the rest of the Order. I mean, they chose to remain uninvolved despite having the power to help. Then maybe Anakin's character is more sympathetic because he is passionate about actively protecting people and he's furious with the Order for sitting it out in their temple. So the audience has this idea of Anakin as a good guy, not some whiny prick. Then when his emotions get the better of him, we viewers can understand how it happened; how even a righteous passion can become dangerous with a lack of control.

The Jedi order was no better than the Sith. While the Sith want a dictatorship with power centered in a master + apprentice (president + vice president) the Jedi want a democracy (equality for all Jedi).

The reason they were centered a stone's throw away from the Senate is because with enough Jedi they can sway the vote and control the laws.

The reason they were used as negotiators is because with their mind powers they could ensure a Jedi friendly outcome to any conflict.

They created an army without the Senate's permission and used their control to ensure they were appointed general's, without any relevant experience. Even a Jedi padawan outranked a normal human with years of experience.

It's like a secret society running the republic behind the scenes.

I was wondering, in a hypothetical re-write, what changes you might make to the Jedi order and the ways in which they operate during [the prequel trilogy].

(I hope you don't mind the edit above)

Honestly, not much when I think about it... But,what I would change is based on two points of reference: how rare they are, and my personal reference.

I basically see the Jedi as very similar to monastic orders, fantasy wizards, and professional organizations, and I think that really colors my opinions below.

In a galaxy of quadrillions, I think 1,000 - 10,000 Jedi is reasonable range, but that means over a THOUSAND Earths, there would only be handful of Jedi. The rarity of Jedi (about 1 in a TRILLION; ) would make seeking potentials very important, and potentials would need to be pretty evident to other sensitives, i.e. they can feel each other from like a system over. Sensing each other would be very much like the way wizards in Edding's Belgariad series worked. The risk of one "bad seed" (looking at you, Anakin) would still lead to a lot of arguing about who should be trained.

Anyway, changes:

#1 No formal Jedi council

Because of the relative rarity of Jedi, they'd be spread out over galaxy *way* more than what we see. I'd see a few small monasteries be set up by masters and traditions, but these would only include a handful of knights and masters each. There'd be a few hundred monasteries across the galaxy. Because they're so spread out, it would be difficult to maintain a 'central order' with a hierarchy. There might be a few meetings when issues come up, sabbaticals between temples to maintain relationships, and formal meetings with the Republic, but there wouldn't, there couldn't, be a formal, sitting council like we see. Authority would be disseminated.

#3 Jedi go out of their way to disguise that they're Jedi

During the prequels, Jedi don't seem to go out of their way to to hide that they're Jedi. But if you're literally one-in-a-trillion, you're gonna get a lot of harassment, and go out of your way to avoid that. People want healing, advice, etc.

SImilarly, the locations of the monasteries described above wouldn't be well known to non-Jedi, otherwise they'd be getting harassed all the time. The locals would know there's a Jedi monastery up on the mountain, but they don't make that public knowledge, and the Jedi help the locals in return for their discretion.

#4 Republic funds the Jedi, quietly, to deal with dark-siders.

The Republic would have formal ties with the Jedi, but mainly to make sure dark-side force users are kept under control. After the Hyperspace Wars, Revan & Malak, the SIth Empire, etc etc the Republic would be stupid to not have a way to handle the threat of Sith, et al. I don't really *like" the Sword of Truth books, but there's a great analogy: "Magic against magic, steel against steel." The republic is good at military might and governing (Steel against steel) but they know it takes a Jedi to deal with a Sith. Jedi should basically be dealing with evil where they find it, anyway. The republic just helps them do it monetarily because they understand how much they benefit.

#5 Jedi wouldn't go anywhere NEAR organized warfare.... officially

The Jedi would stay the **** out of organized combat. There's 10,000 total, and a fraction of them are suitable for direct combat. Losing a few individuals in a population as sparse as the Jedi has a huge impact. As noted above, a few would serve, but almost none would flag/general officers, unless leadership really was their strength.

Dang. Where to start - there are so many approaches you could take.

First Idea: Scrap the Jedi Order as a political force. Obi-Wan never eludes to them being some sort of all-powerful political order that were the generals and foremost soldiers of the Galactic Republic, at least not in the Original Trilogy. Uncle Owen didn't hold with "[Anakin's] ideals; he felt he should have stayed here and not gotten involved." And I feel like it fits more with the OT to have them be a looser organization. Why would they spend all their time in a temple? Why wouldn't they be parts of their communities, parts of their worlds, parts of the movements and ideals they struggled to uphold? Why wouldn't they be pilots and diplomats and guides and miners and real people, not just some distant monastic order?

So get rid of the stuffy temple. Some would undoubtedly be ascetics, as Kenobi became; some would be more involved. Maybe many of them got involved in the Clone Wars, as exceptional people tend to get involved in any matter of galactic importance. Their visibility within their communities would still be reason enough for them to be targets of the Empire; their eclectic ways reason enough why their numbers were never huge in the first place. And then when they vanished, there was no huge outcry, no weird, "Wait, the guy who keeps voting himself more power said that the organization was evil and blew up their temple and now is painting everything black and grey and red? I guess I trust him."

How long would it take you to notice if the Mormons stopped coming by your door a couple times a year? That's how I imagine the disappearance of the Jedi order felt.

I imagine them as decentralized, training others as Yoda trained Luke, and then letting them go. No strict orders to follow, no council, no self-prescribed celibacy and mandatory robes. Those who fought for good were Jedi, those who fell to the dark side were Sith. The dark side was anger, and doubt, and rage, but the good side wasn't the emotionless state that the Jedi have been forcing themselves into of late. It was choosing to do the right thing, as Luke did, fighting for the right causes, as Luke did.

So they were what they were - trained in their abilities by those Force users who discovered them, doing what good they could do in the universe. When the Clone Wars happened, many got involved; when the Empire won, or subsumed whatever organization had existed before it, they were targeted and killed, and rooted out from their planets and killed, and only those the Empire couldn't find survived. The order was shattered not in one massive strike by some guy with a rattail and guyliner at the head of a thousand brainwashed troopers, but pulled out more subtly, and the galactic community barely noticed amidst the turmoil and mass arrests.

That's my ideal. Keep the Force as a guide, and Jedi as powerful but intelligent and compassionate warriors, not the space wizards they've become.

Second Idea: If you want it to be the spectacle it became - why wouldn't the Clone Wars be fought with force-sensitives? (I know they added in explanations later, but we're rebooting here.) The wars would have been catastrophic, and quietly, Palpatine could be killing off actual Jedi, gradually letting attrition do his work for him. At the end, the battered remnants of his force-sensitive army were easy to dispose of, and only those Jedi who didn't get involved and hid themselves survived.

I've got more, but those are the two that I've given some thought to.

Another way to look at it is to look at the know history of the jedi order and walk back to where you want the change and walk forward from there down a new path with likely new stuff.

I like the looser organization idea of the Jedi (as I envisioned before seeing the prequels). Basically wandering knights that helped out where they could. Kind of like superheroes.

You are the wind beneath my wings.

#1 No formal Jedi council

#2 A lot more laxity in what it means to be a Jedi

#3 Jedi go out of their way to disguise that they're Jedi

#4 Republic funds the Jedi, quietly, to deal with dark-siders.

#5 Jedi wouldn't go anywhere NEAR organized warfare.... officially

Actually, one thing I would change from Ep I (yeah... the one thing...) is that when the Jedi start talking about the "the prophesy of the one that will bring balance to the force," at least ONE guy looks around and says:

"Hey, you know... the Lightside is really rocking it right now. No Sith sightings for a thousand years.

So, 'bringing balance to the force' would be more dark side... OH WAIT THAT BAD!

Don't train the brat."

And then everyone goes to get ice cream and throw little orphan annie off a bridge.

NEver get tired of posts like this, though.

You are the wind beneath my wings.

#1 No formal Jedi council

#2 A lot more laxity in what it means to be a Jedi

#3 Jedi go out of their way to disguise that they're Jedi

#4 Republic funds the Jedi, quietly, to deal with dark-siders.

#5 Jedi wouldn't go anywhere NEAR organized warfare.... officially

You must unlearn, what you have learned. ... and then teach me how to embed video. LOL "Kids!? Help grandpa Yoda attach the YouTubes!" Seriously, though, I'm sincerely glad people liked my crazed, Jedi fever-dream.

Crap, apparently I forgot to use the term "Jedimoot" for the occassional meetings in the post above.

So, for my part, I don’t like to think so much about trying to fix the past. I like to try to think about what I might do differently going forward.

So, Jedi as “Peacekeepers”, not so much. That has too much of a militant feel for me. More like people who tend to allow, encourage, and enable the establishment and maintenance of peace. They are force multipliers — they don’t create or keep the peace purely on their own, but instead primarily through their positive influence on others.

I also don’t like the idea of treating them as a Religion, or using Morality as the “One True Guide”. Instead, I believe in Ethics, and being a Jedi as a “way of life”.

Jedi certainly wouldn’t be Generals or otherwise serve in the military. Some might serve as Advisors to military officers, towards the goal of minimizing unnecessary casualties while maximizing effectiveness and efficiency, but that would only be in very extreme cases — e.g., where the health and wellbeing of the galaxy at a whole was at stake, or where entire worlds were threatened.

Jedi certainly would avoid politics wherever possible, but they wouldn’t just idly stand by while innocent people are harmed. OTOH, just because you and someone else oppose a third person/group, that doesn’t necessarily mean that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” or that the “ends justify the means”.

Jedi certainly would not necessarily take a vow of chastity or be monks secreted in a high tower separated from the rest of the world, but they would need to remember that becoming overly attached is a quick ride to the dark side.

Consular types would be respected counselors, advisors, mediators, mentors, consensus builders, negotiators, etc… and they would tend to work for the benefit of the common person on the street over that of any oligarchy or other entity in power, and for the needs of the many over the needs of the few. They would tend to work towards the long view, and avoid distraction by short-term gains or losses.

Of course, Jedi would also understand that there comes a time when each individual has to stand up for what’s right, even if that comes at great personal cost. You have to do what’s Right.

Let me also add a few of my favourite quotes which I think help best define the Jedi:

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

“You will know (the good from the bad) when you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”

“Yes, a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

“You must unlearn what you have learned.”

“When you look at the dark side, careful you must be. For the dark side looks back.”

“Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.”

“A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things.”

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”

“Ohhh. Great warrior. Wars not make one great.”

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.”

“If no mistake have you made, yet losing you are … a different game you should play.”

“To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In this war, a danger there is, of losing who we are.”

“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.”

I was wondering, in a hypothetical re-write, what changes you might make to the Jedi order and the ways in which they operate during [the prequel trilogy].

(I hope you don't mind the edit above)

Honestly, not much when I think about it... But,what I would change is based on two points of reference: how rare they are, and my personal reference.

I basically see the Jedi as very similar to monastic orders, fantasy wizards, and professional organizations, and I think that really colors my opinions below.

In a galaxy of quadrillions, I think 1,000 - 10,000 Jedi is reasonable range, but that means over a THOUSAND Earths, there would only be handful of Jedi. The rarity of Jedi (about 1 in a TRILLION; ) would make seeking potentials very important, and potentials would need to be pretty evident to other sensitives, i.e. they can feel each other from like a system over. Sensing each other would be very much like the way wizards in Edding's Belgariad series worked. The risk of one "bad seed" (looking at you, Anakin) would still lead to a lot of arguing about who should be trained.

Anyway, changes:

#1 No formal Jedi council

Because of the relative rarity of Jedi, they'd be spread out over galaxy *way* more than what we see. I'd see a few small monasteries be set up by masters and traditions, but these would only include a handful of knights and masters each. There'd be a few hundred monasteries across the galaxy. Because they're so spread out, it would be difficult to maintain a 'central order' with a hierarchy. There might be a few meetings when issues come up, sabbaticals between temples to maintain relationships, and formal meetings with the Republic, but there wouldn't, there couldn't, be a formal, sitting council like we see. Authority would be disseminated.

#2 A lot more laxity in what it means to be a Jedi

The Jedi order we see in the PT is very homogeneous, very uniform. WIth the dissemination I've described, I think there'd be a lot more variety in dress, in attitude, in thought. As long as a monastery doesn't go all "red-sabery" I think the Jedi as a whole wouldn't care much.

In the movies, there seems to be a very "As goes the order" lock-step vibe that just wouldn't fit. The whole order wouldn't go to war; individual Jedi could answer the call though, and the others wouldn't think anything of it. Those that did rally to the Republic would serve as they were best fit, as soldiers, diplomats, spies, etc. But it would be clear they were there on behalf of the republic.

#3 Jedi go out of their way to disguise that they're Jedi

During the prequels, Jedi don't seem to go out of their way to to hide that they're Jedi. But if you're literally one-in-a-trillion, you're gonna get a lot of harassment, and go out of your way to avoid that. People want healing, advice, etc.

SImilarly, the locations of the monasteries described above wouldn't be well known to non-Jedi, otherwise they'd be getting harassed all the time. The locals would know there's a Jedi monastery up on the mountain, but they don't make that public knowledge, and the Jedi help the locals in return for their discretion.

#4 Republic funds the Jedi, quietly, to deal with dark-siders.

The Republic would have formal ties with the Jedi, but mainly to make sure dark-side force users are kept under control. After the Hyperspace Wars, Revan & Malak, the SIth Empire, etc etc the Republic would be stupid to not have a way to handle the threat of Sith, et al. I don't really *like" the Sword of Truth books, but there's a great analogy: "Magic against magic, steel against steel." The republic is good at military might and governing (Steel against steel) but they know it takes a Jedi to deal with a Sith. Jedi should basically be dealing with evil where they find it, anyway. The republic just helps them do it monetarily because they understand how much they benefit.

#5 Jedi wouldn't go anywhere NEAR organized warfare.... officially

The Jedi would stay the **** out of organized combat. There's 10,000 total, and a fraction of them are suitable for direct combat. Losing a few individuals in a population as sparse as the Jedi has a huge impact. As noted above, a few would serve, but almost none would flag/general officers, unless leadership really was their strength.

There's a lot of interesting ideas in there.

One slight variation would be to go back to the way the Order is described (in some sources, like the Saga Edition KOTOR guide) during the Old Republic where there was a formal Jedi structure with a Jedi High Council and multiple Jedi Councils spread across the galaxy but Jedi Knights had a lot of autonomy and it was expected that they could take or leave the "decisions" of the "local" Jedi Council or Jedi High Council.

Actually, one thing I would change from Ep I (yeah... the one thing...) is that when the Jedi start talking about the "the prophesy of the one that will bring balance to the force," at least ONE guy looks around and says:

"Hey, you know... the Lightside is really rocking it right now. No Sith sightings for a thousand years.

So, 'bringing balance to the force' would be more dark side... OH WAIT THAT BAD!

Don't train the brat."

And then everyone goes to get ice cream and throw little orphan annie off a bridge.

NEver get tired of posts like this, though.

Yeah, that whole exchange has always confused me. What are you trying to balance? Have too much CGI in the Jedi, need some wooden actors in there too?