One scene in Return of the Jedi suggests that the Jedi still haven’t learned one major lesson in Star Wars– And it’s possible that they still haven’t, even now. Order 66 is undoubtedly one of the greatest tragedies in the Star Wars Timeline. However, this does not mean that the Jedi Order was a flawless institution; On the contrary, the Jedi made a number of mistakes during the prequel trilogy era.
This does not mean that the Jedi were to blame for Order 66, as this was a brutal attack that the Jedi certainly did not deserve, orchestrated by one of Star Wars Most powerful Sith. Nevertheless, it is surprising to realize that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, two of the most prominent survivors of Order 66, could not have learned all they needed to from the fall of the Jedi Order. especially, Return of the Jedi Proves that Obi-Wan and Yoda are still clinging to one Jedi rule that caused significant issues for them in the past.
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Obi-Wan and Yoda didn’t tell Luke the truth about Leia
Arguably, the most shocking twist in the original Star Wars trilogy was the revelation that Darth Vader is really Luke Skywalker’s father The empire strikes back. However, the reveal in Return of the Jedi That Luke and Leia were actually siblings was a close second. Not only did this have some disturbing implications for the twins kiss in The empire strikes backBut it also meant something almost equally shocking: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Lord Yoda knew that Leia was Luke’s sister, but they deliberately kept it from him.
Both Jedi had every opportunity to tell Luke the truth, and it would have made a considerable difference. For one, Obi-Wan could have told Luke in A new hopePreventing that uneasy kiss between the two. More importantly, however, Obi-Wan or Yoda telling Luke that Leia is his sister could have better prepared him for Darth Vader using this fact, and Leia herself, against Luke in Return of the Jedi.
Especially, during their final fight in Return of the JediDarth Vader finally got a rise out of Luke by threatening to try and turn Leia to the dark side. Despite his determination that he would not fight or kill his father before this moment, Luke lost control, tapping into his anger and nearly losing himself in it. If Luke had been told by Obi-Wan or Yoda that Leia was his sister and trained to let go of this attachment, he could have avoided the outburst of anger and temptation to the dark side.
The Jedi Masters wanted Luke to be a Jedi before he told the truth
Obi-Wan and Yoda’s decision to wait to tell Luke undoubtedly had to do with their fear that Luke would turn to the dark side because of an attachment to his sister. The fact that Luke’s own father fell to the dark side because of his inability to let go of his attachments probably contributed to this choice, although it was largely unfair. Luke may have been the son of Anakin Skywalker, but that doesn’t mean he had the same faults.
Luke may have been the son of Anakin Skywalker, but that doesn’t mean he had the same faults.
If Luke had told the truth, it’s unclear how he would have reacted, but the kind of Jedi he had turned into suggests he wouldn’t allow himself to be overtaken by the attachment. After all, he eventually discovered the truth, and although he used his anger briefly in his fight with Vader, he didn’t allow himself to completely turn to the dark side. Presumably, though, this was by design. Obi-Wan and Yoda no doubt wanted Luke to be a full-fledged Jedi before he faced the struggle with attachment.
The fear of Obi-Wan and Yoda’s attachment continued even after the fall of the Jedi
The Jedi Council has long been concerned with attachments. In fact, this was the reason they initially rejected Anakin from the Jedi Order. They believed that Anakin’s feelings about his mother made him unfit to join the Order, as his love for her threatened to turn into fear, anger and hatred. In a way, this was a self-fulfilling prophecy of the Jedi, as holding Anakin at arm’s length made Anakin much more isolated, worsening his attachments to those outside the Order (yes, his mother, but also Padmé).
The Jedi never learned from their mistakes in how they handled attachments.
The fact that Anakin fell because of attachments probably only reinforced to Lord Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi that attachments were indeed dangerous and posed too great a threat to the Jedi to be allowed. However, this proves that the Jedi never learned from their mistakes in how they handled attachments. The issue wasn’t that the Jedi didn’t allow romantic or familial attachments—it was the way they addressed the issue..
Specifically, the Jedi failed to have compassion, both with Anakin and, evidently, with Luke. In Anakin’s case, he simply needed the Jedi to help him transition to the Jedi life with empathy, understanding that he was raised in a traditional way and therefore he was uncomfortably fond of and attached to her. In Luke’s case, Yoda and Obi-Wan should have trusted Luke with the truth and told him that Leia was his sister. Unfortunately, this Return of the Jedi Moment suggests that even by the end of the original Star Wars trilogy, the Jedi did not learn from this mistake.