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- Dec 17, 2019
It's funny that you mention that, because I just finished reading Dawn of the Jedi a short while ago (I've refrained drumming up the effort to write any new coverage posts, given the shaky and uncertain air lingering over this site as of late), and there seemed to be an underlying idea that the Jed'aii Order, in their pursuit of literal balance between usage of the Light and the Dark Side, employed exiling unbalanced individuals to the Moon of Bogan because they simply wanted to run away from the problem. When the Jed'aii banish Xesh to the moon of Bogan, they're not painted as being in the right for doing so; the young apprentices who found Xesh loudly protest against this move, saying they should solve the problem of Xesh's Dark Side indoctrination rather than simply exile him to the moon and hope the problem solves itself. This misguided tactic on the Jed'aii's part literally explodes in their face when the other Dark Sided exile marooned there, Daegon Lok, takes Xesh under his wing and starts to groom him in a very proto Rule of Two relationship, in which they feed off each other's knowledge and power parasitically. The narrative established by the writers literally paint this as an inevitable outcome of the Jed'aii just banishing their problems away in their feverish obsession to retain the balance on Tython.
And while Dawn of the Jedi's final story arc was rushed to completion (another casualty of the 2014 Canon Purge, sadly), we also are shown that the while Jed'aii make a point of allowing minor Dark Side dabbling, they fear using Dark Side abilities like Force Lightning--something that the Masters admonish Se'knos for using to impress some female apprentices, since it relies wholly on "giving oneself to Bogan", and tapping solely on the Dark Side. It doesn't help when the proper war against the Rakata begins, and both Daegon Lok's influence and the widespread utilization of Force Sabers (which require excessive Dark Side use just to activate) sees the Jed'aii ranks using the Dark Side more and more carelessly, with masters constantly commenting on how all this liberal Dark Side use is turning the Order into something it isn't.
Due to the series' lack of completion, we don't know what transpires to create the splinter faction of Dark Jedi who eventually flee to Korriban and start that whole shindig, but the comic seems to strongly imply that these events--and the Jed'aii's willingness to let Dark Side influence permeate their ranks to such a degree--spun that defection into existence.
And while Dawn of the Jedi's final story arc was rushed to completion (another casualty of the 2014 Canon Purge, sadly), we also are shown that the while Jed'aii make a point of allowing minor Dark Side dabbling, they fear using Dark Side abilities like Force Lightning--something that the Masters admonish Se'knos for using to impress some female apprentices, since it relies wholly on "giving oneself to Bogan", and tapping solely on the Dark Side. It doesn't help when the proper war against the Rakata begins, and both Daegon Lok's influence and the widespread utilization of Force Sabers (which require excessive Dark Side use just to activate) sees the Jed'aii ranks using the Dark Side more and more carelessly, with masters constantly commenting on how all this liberal Dark Side use is turning the Order into something it isn't.
Due to the series' lack of completion, we don't know what transpires to create the splinter faction of Dark Jedi who eventually flee to Korriban and start that whole shindig, but the comic seems to strongly imply that these events--and the Jed'aii's willingness to let Dark Side influence permeate their ranks to such a degree--spun that defection into existence.
So I don't think the point of Dawn of the Jedi was ever to paint the Jed'aii as some kind of lost, perfect variant of the Jedi Order that "had it all figured out" when it came to balance, and embodied a way of life that could've prevented the failures of future Jedi iterations. If anything, Ostrander and Duursema seem to depict the Jed'aii as cracked in their foundations, first with their flawed pursuit of "balance" which ends up creating problems like Daegon Lok, as well as their liberal incorporation of the Dark Side into their behavior as the war goes on.
The Jed'aii are never depicted as the perfected variant of the Order...not with the way the series magnifies their blunders, how intrinsically different those blunders are from the Jedi of the future.
Well, that's just it: the emotions and impulses are associated with the Dark Side aren't inherently a bad thing...nor are the abilities or powers associated with it, if employed tactfully. It's whether or not the Jedi can trust themselves to, as you eloquently put it, indulge in it as a part of themselves without becoming an "excess." Most Jedi can't, which is why these impulses are either regulated, or outright forbidden by certain iterations of the Order. Because while the Dark Side of the Force is natural, drawing from it excessively can make it harder to slip back with your identity intact. Most talented Jedi can't walk back from using an excess of Dark Side powers...much less master the wisdom to draw on it to the same frequency as notable exceptions like Quinlan Vos and Kyle Katarn. Most trip and fall in...or, as disastrous incidents like Ulic-Quel Droma's exploits in Tales or Luke Skywalker's in Dark Empire showcase, overconfidently believe they have the restraint and composure to walk both sides.
It's not that it's impossible, just extremely difficult and often unlikely, given how prolonged gestation in the Dark Side turns you into something you're not.
Dark Nest shows a version of the Jedi Order where the entirety of its participants are using Dark Side abilities willy-nilly, and are growing comfortable using them casually alongside Light Side ones....very much like how the Jed'aii do by the end of the Dawn comics. The difference is that Luke Skywalker realizes quickly that the Order will collapse if it stays on this trajectory, and that not even most of the Jedi can really trust themselves to excessively use the Dark Side without pulling themselves back. For this reason, he ultimately abandons Vergere's teachings that were so effective against the Yuuzhan Vong but prove disastrous for long-term use, and reforms the Jedi with a proper council and regulation of Dark Side use.
If there are instances where Jedi are trusted to do Dark Side things or walk that path, it's often because they're trusted to make the shift back, or otherwise not be corrupted:
- Quinlan Vos was permitted to walk both paths because he'd demonstrated to the Council he could re-emerge uncorrupted when most Jedi couldn't--and was given specific missions that no other Jedi could be trusted with as a result.
- Kyle Katarn, freely used powers from both due to not just his own personal philosophy, but because he was gifted with the restraint to not let either ability corrupt him...which is why he was so suited to be the Jedi Order's Battlemaster
- Jaina Solo in particular had demonstrated such profound efficiency in engaging in cold and uncompromising battle scenarios without being corrupted, that she was assigned to essentially carry out all assassination and black ops missions that would surely corrupt any other Jedi, even Luke Skywalker himself...but she could be trusted to pull off without ever turning dark. Essentially allowing the Jedi Order to operate without turning overly militant like the PT Jedi, by saddling all morally-complex assignments to an unshakable oak of a person, an unwavering tool they could trust to refrain from ever breaking. A "Sword of the Jedi", if you will.
It's why specimen like Jaina and Vos are considered so awe-inspiring in-universe, and are afforded so much more lenience and admiration than the average Jedi...they're doing what the rest of the Jedi can't.
I think whatever faults Attack of the Clones has as a film, the one leg up it has over most Disney Drivel is just how much it adds to the Star Wars universe at large.
There is an endless amount of creativity on display in that film, from the new species like Kaminoans to Geonosians, to little technological advancements like Jango's Seismic Charges, to the ensemble of beasts seen at the Geonosis Arena, and the jaw-dropping breadth of new ship and vehicular designs seen in a battle fought on a scope that, let's face it, Star Wars fans hadn't seen before. Whether you love or hate the film, it gave the universe enough iconography and concepts to feed off of through multimedia projects for years to come.
Shows like Andor can't even reproduce existing concepts or iconography from the OT Era without fucking them up.
Speaking of which...
Jakku, Hosnian Prime, and Operation Cinder were all namedropped in Andor, and narrative threads to set up the Empire's laughably-inept downfall in canon (where they're defeated within a single year thanks to Aftermath and Dicefront II's horrenous worldbuilding), as well as the New Republic's yeeting in TFA, are being woven in.
Just in case the Doomcocks of the world were still clinging to that copium about "the shows distancing themselves from the Sequels"...the prequel series set before A New Hope is already setting the Sequel Trilogy up.
