One scene inReturn of the Jedisuggests that the Jedi still hadn’t learned one major lesson inStar Wars—and it’s possible they still haven’t, even now. Order 66 is undoubtedly one of the greatest tragedies intheStar Warstimeline. However, that doesn’t mean the Jedi Order was a flawless institution; on the contrary,the Jedi made a number of mistakesthroughout the prequel trilogy era.
That doesn’t mean the Jedi were to blame for Order 66, as that was a brutal attack the Jedi certainly didn’t deserve, orchestrated by one ofStar Wars’most powerful Sith. Nevertheless, it is surprising to realize that Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, two of the most prominentsurvivors of Order 66, may not have learned all that they needed to from the downfall of the Jedi Order. Specifically,Return of the Jediproves that Obi-Wan and Yoda were still clinging to one Jedi rule that caused significant issues for them in the past.
How Star Wars Redeemed Return Of The Jedi’s Worst Scene
One scene from Return of the Jedi has been a disappointing one for decades, but, in recent years, Star Wars has improved it significantly.
Obi-Wan & Yoda Didn’t Tell Luke The Truth About Leia
Inarguably, the most shocking twist in the originalStar Warstrilogy was the revelation that Darth Vader was really Luke Skywalker’s father inThe Empire Strikes Back. However, the reveal inReturn of the Jedithat Luke and Leia were really siblings was a close second. Not only did this have some disturbing implications for the twins' kiss inThe Empire Strikes Back, but also, it meant something nearly equally shocking:Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda knew Leia was Luke’s sister, but they intentionally 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 inA New Hope, preventing that unsettling kiss between the two. More importantly, though, either Obi-Wan or Yoda telling Luke that Leia was his sister could have better prepared him for Darth Vader using this fact, and Leia herself, against Luke inReturn of the Jedi.
Specifically, during their final fight inReturn of the Jedi, Darth Vader finally got a rise out of Luke by threatening to try and turn Leia to the dark side. Despite being resolute that he would not fight or kill his father before that moment, Luke lost control, tapping into his anger and nearly losing himself in it. Had Luke been told by Obi-Wan or Yoda that Leia was his sister and trained to let go of this attachment, he may have avoided this outburst of anger and temptation to the dark side.
The Jedi Masters Wanted Luke To Be A Jedi Before Telling The Truth
The decision by Obi-Wan and Yoda 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 had fallen to the dark side because of his inability to let go of his attachments likely contributed to this choice, although that was largely unfair. Luke may have been Anakin Skywalker’s son, but that doesn’t mean he had the same shortcomings.
Luke may have been Anakin Skywalker’s son, but that doesn’t mean he had the same shortcomings.
Had Luke been told the truth, it’s unclear how he would have reacted, but the kind of Jedi he turned into suggests he wouldn’t have allowed himself to be overtaken by the attachment. After all, eventually, he did discover the truth, and although he used his anger briefly in his fight with Vader, he didn’t allow himself to fully 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 this struggle with attachment.
Obi-Wan’s & Yoda’s Fear Of Attachment Continued Even After The Jedi’s Fall
The Jedi Council had long been concerned with attachments. In fact, that was the very reason they initially rejected Anakin from the Jedi Order. They believed that Anakin’s feelings about his mother made him unsuitable 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 on the part of the Jedi, as holding Anakin at arm’s length made Anakin feel all the 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 did fall because of attachments likely only reinforced to Master Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi that attachments really were dangerous and posed too large a threat to the Jedi to be permissible. 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 permit 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 way of life with empathy, understanding that he had been raised in a traditional way and therefore inevitably loved and was attached to her. In Luke’s case, Yoda and Obi-Wan should have trusted Luke with the truth and told him Leia was his sister. Sadly, thisReturn of the Jedimoment suggests that even by the end of the originalStar Warstrilogy, the Jedi hadn’t learned from this mistake.
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Cast
Return of the Jedi concludes George Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy with Luke Skywalker and his allies seeking to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt and facing a renewed threat as the Emperor attempts to obliterate the Rebellion through a second Death Star, broadening the epic battle between good and evil.
