Before his fall and transformation into the tyrannical Darth Vader
Anakin Skywalker despised the Jedi. He believed that the Order had become corrupt and hypocritical, taking advantage of the war to gain political power. For Anakin, the Jedi Order was evil. However, after reading this Star Wars Legends comic, it's hard to deny that Vader was right about some things. Maybe the Jedi were evil?
Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison – by W. Haden Blackman and Agustin Alessio – is a comic book from the Legends era that takes place in the childhood moments of
Galactic Empire
. Investigating a nefarious Jedi conspiracy he discovered during his time in the Order, Darth Vader brings together a small cell of unlikely Imperial allies to uncover the Jedi's secret.
Unknown to all but the Council, the Jedi maintained a top-secret prison where they hid their personal enemies away from the eyes of the Republic. Just as Darth Vader thought, the The Jedi believed they were above the law.
Darth Vader was right to distrust the Jedi Council
Darth Vader and the Phantom Prison #1-5 – Written by Haden Blackman; Art by Agustín Alessio; Lyrics by Michael Heisler; Cover art by Dave Wilkins
Before the fall of the Galactic Republic, deeply rooted in
the ongoing Clone Wars
Anakin Skywalker noticed that his deadliest prisoners of war, all lieutenants and officers under Dooku's command, had inexplicably disappeared. He forced the Council to explain why their prisoners conveniently disappeared from Republic records after being handed over to the Jedi, only for their concerns to be ignored. Until Obi-Wan kept Anakin in the darkminimizing your concerns, practically enlightening your apprentice before pushing him out the door. In secret, the Jedi ran a private prison, keeping exclusively high-ranking soldiers of the Confederacy.
Anakin would not have the chance to discover the truth about the Jedi's secret prison, commonly called the “Prism,” until after the formation of the Empire and his transformation into Darth Vader. Yes, Darth Vader was heavily
influenced by the Dark Side
and was a puppet of Emperor Palpatine's machinations, but his original distrust of the Jedi Order it was good. The Jedi believed that the Republic was incapable of dealing with Dooku's angry soldiers, when in reality the Prism was explicitly designed to stop the enemies of your religious order.
The Council's reliance on secrets defined Anakin's distrust
Darth Vader was right. The Jedi Council were liars and traitors, conspiring against due process and transparency.
The Jedi Council
no better than the Republic or the Empire, it was a corrupt organization that practiced the “Do as I say, not as I do” leadership mentality. From them dependence on secrets and subterfugesending his best to die in a political war was what finally defined Anakin's distrust of the Order. Even Obi-Wan was unaware of the prison's location at first. As long as it was “for the sake of peace”, theThe Council justified its actions which, had it been the Republic or the Confederacy, the Order would normally have condemned.
Darth Vader was right. The Jedi Council were liars and traitors, conspiring against due process and transparency. Upon entering the prison for the first time, Vader feels immediate revenge. It is revealed that of the 208 prisoners, more than half were captured by Anakin. It is difficult to look at this information and not see the unjust cruelty in the Council's actions towards Anakin.
Obi Wan
admits that Anakin is better suited for battle, but clearly isn't trustworthy enough to know where his prisoners were going. The Jedi Council, including Kenobi, treated Anakin as nothing more than a tool of war.
The Jedi never served the Republic or Democracy, they served themselves
It's difficult to maintain the democratic process when your organization is based on secrecy
Although the prison and prisoners were kept in impeccable conditions, something that, admittedly, the Republic would not have been able to maintain, this does not alleviate the problem inherent to the Council's secrecy. The Jedi Order was supposed to be a religious organization that served as a peacekeeper. Instead, they trained their sons to fight in war and maintained secret prisons out of the eyes of the legitimate government. The Jedi believed they were above the lawabove due process, and above the galaxy. Prisma wasn't designed to help the Republic, it was designed to silently remove
Dooku's influence and power
.
No, I can't exactly justify
everything Darth Vader did
. His version of “peace” does not justify his means. However, he was right about the Jedi Order and the Council. Who's to say that if the Empire had never formed, the Jedi would have informed the Republic about the Prism? One justification leads to many others, another flaw Anakin saw in the Order. The Jedi didn't serve the Republic, they served themselves and your own goals. The Jedi have turned into nothing less than a tribal war council, propagated by their lies and secrecy, something Darth Vader I knew it from the beginning.