Jedi General

Jedi Generals were high-ranking Jedi military officers in the Grand Army of the Republic. Originally informal, the title was officially created in 22 BBY shortly into the Clone Wars, being reserved for Jedi Knights, Jedi Masters, and the Jedi High Council—the governing body of the Jedi Order. As generals, the Jedi were responsible for leading the Galactic Republic's clone trooper army against the forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

By 19 BBY, the Jedi were spread thin across the galaxy. As the war drew to a close, Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine ordered the clone army to initiate Order 66—a military protocol authorizing the annihilation of the Jedi Order, which the clone troopers were programmed to obey without question. As a result, many unsuspecting Jedi generals were summarily executed by their own soldiers, although a few survivors managed to escape into exile, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Grand Master Yoda.

Having liquidated most of the Grand Army's Jedi officers, Palpatine—whose secret identity was Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith—declared himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire. Anakin Skywalker, himself a Jedi General who turned to the dark side of the Force, became the Emperor's apprentice and enforcer, and assumed the identity of Darth Vader. Despite Sidious's victory, the legacy of the Jedi who led legions on behalf of the light would haunt his reign, the few survivors and their students eventually shattering his hold over the galaxy.

Powers

Under the Jedi Military Integration Act,^[7] the rank of general provided the Jedi with the authority to lead the Grand Army of the Republic. A Jedi general was the commanding officer of a battalion of clone troopers^[8]—elite soldiers cloned from the template of Jango Fett and conditioned to follow orders with absolute obedience.^[1] As generals, the Jedi had various wartime responsibilities such as leading troops on the battlefield or coordinating strategy with the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.^[3] Jedi Generals also dealt with mundane administrative decisions regarding staffing, equipment and resupply, promotions and training, and even budget requests.^[9] As the governing body of the Jedi Order,^[10] the Jedi High Council directed the Jedi in their role as military leaders. However, the High Council could also make forays onto the battlefield, serving alongside their troopers as Jedi Master Mace Windu demonstrated during the campaign to liberate Ryloth.^[11][12] Directly fighting the enemy was understood as an expression of bravery.^[13] Many Jedi expressed respect for their charges and a hope for them to grow, Master Koon repudiating their idea that Clones were expendable,^[14] and Yoda telling Clones that though in body they looked alike, he saw them through the Force with unique traits.^[15]

The clone troopers were subject to the authority of their Jedi Generals.^[6] They were loyal to the Jedi and the Republic,^[16] although there were instances of disobedience among the rank-and-file. In such cases a Jedi could exercise their authority as a general by ordering the arrest and court-martial of an offending clone. If the offense was treason, it was within the general's authority to have the prisoner summarily executed. The execution could be carried out either by a firing squad or the general.^[6] On the other hand, a Jedi General could choose to let the normal gears of justice turn when dealing with those who were accused of treason.^[17]

History

Background and origins

A day to come

Throughout its history, Jedi Order found itself obliged to wage war against a range of enemies, such as the Sith,^[19] the slaver empire of the Zygerrians,^[20] and Mandalore.^[21] Afterwards, some members of the Jedi Order resolved to never again become warriors,^[22] instead hoping to merely remain keepers of galactic peace despite their close ties to the Galactic Republic.^[1] On the other hand, Jedi like Porter Engle and those serving with him on Elphrona when the Nihil began to be a known threat considered the role of a Jedi as a warrior as natural as that of being a mentor, discovering new places, and mediator of disputes.^[19] As the Nihil conflict dragged on during the High Republic Era, the Jedi grew increasingly close with the Republic at the government's urging^[23] in the name of opposing the Nihil marauders.^[24] Although the Jedi would fight alongside and lead the Republic Defense Coalition^[25] and its Galactic Republic troopers^[26] in the name of destroying the Nihil threat, Jedi Master Stellan Gios made it clear to Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh that the Jedi were not going to become her soldiers.^[22] All the same, the Outer Rim Territories were effectively consumed by war over the course of the Nihil conflict, which many Jedi had trouble adjusting to.^[27]

While the Nihil were eventually defeated with the Battle of Eriadu and mission to Planet X,^[18] the tightened bond between the Republic and Jedi, something that had been useful when fighting the Nihil, did not end with the conflict's conclusion; instead, the Republic seemed, in the opinion of Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh, to be a demanding entity that wanted access to Jedi affairs and hoped turn the Order into a branch of Republic policy, instead of leaving it an independent follower of the light side of the Force.^[24] Jedi Master Keeve Trennis, too, feared for the future of the Jedi Order after the Nihil conflict;^[18] having been named marshal of the Republic's Stormwall Defense Fleet and helped to lead what had been a war effort against the Nihil,^[28] Trennis pondered if she had actually been serving "light and life," as she told her followers, as a marshal or if taking a part in the conflict had prevented her from saving those who could have been rescued. Fearful that, one day, the Jedi would uncover a threat worse than the Nihil and dive even deeper into a war mentality, Trennis decided to leave the Jedi, taking up the life of Speaker of the Beacon instead.^[18]

Coming of the Clone Wars

Over the following two centuries,^[29] the Jedi continued to see themselves as peacekeepers and worked with the Republic.^[1] In that time, however, the Jedi had grown increasingly reliant on their traditions^[30] and seemed to grow more and more isolated from the galactic community, focusing more on the future of the Republic than more individual, planetary matters. Rather than maintain their High Republic Era-network of outposts, the Jedi largely kept themselves cloistered^[31] on the Republic capital world of Coruscant in their main temple.^[32] Citizens across the Outer Rim Territories held a distrust for the Jedi, whom they had come to regard as agents of the Republic first and foremost.^[33] Finally, it was the advent of the Clone Wars in 22 BBY^[34] that totally threatened the Jedi Order's position as "peacekeepers" as they found themselves called to fight for the Republic against the breakaway Confederacy of Independent Systems.^[1]

At the First Battle of Geonosis that kicked off the war,^[1] the Jedi did not hold a military rank in the newly-formed Grand Army of the Republic. Despite this, high-ranking Jedi acted as de facto generals, commanding more than 80 regiments of clone troopers. Under the Jedi High Council's skillful leadership, the clone army was able to achieve both air and ground supremacy against the forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.^[8] Following their victory on Geonosis,^[1] the Jedi Order's role in the Republic's military forces remained in effect, with Jedi Masters and Jedi Knights acting as high ranking officers, but their position was remained informal. The term "general" emerged as an informal designation from the clones, who felt confused about the Jedi's role in military affairs.^[7] The title was respected by other Republic officials.^[35] Several weeks into the Clone Wars, the Jedi Military Integration Act was passed, which officially made Knights and Masters into holders of a formal rank, Jedi General, while Padawans were made into Jedi Commanders.^[7]

Official generals

Throughout the Clone Wars, the Jedi generals commanded the loyalty of the clone troopers who followed them into battle across the galaxy.^[16] These generals led their men to many victories, liberating worlds^[12] and taking care of their troopers, though not without losses.^[14] General Jedi Iskat Akaris led a force of clone troopers into the mission to Thule, which ended why many of her clones killed in action. The losses weighed heavily on her, but Clone Captain Spider urged her not to apologize general for actions made in the heat of battle, reflecting that otherwise apologizing would be all a general ever did. Nonetheless, the mission helped to pave the way to her fall to the dark side of the Force.^[36]

For the war's end, however, the clones turned against the Jedi and executed them as enemies of the state in accordance with Order 66^[2]—a military protocol^[37] that authorized the liquidation of the entire Jedi Order.^[2] Unknown to the clones, secret behavioral modification biochips had been designed and integrated into them to compel them to follow Order 66 without hesitation as part of a Sith plot to destroy the Jedi^[38] and gain control of the galaxy. Although the generals Yoda, Quinlan Vos, Oppo Rancisis, and Obi-Wan Kenobi survived the initial purge, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious proclaimed himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire in the wake of the Jedi Order's fall^[2] in 19 BBY.^[34]

Legacy of service

After decades in exile, Kenobi was sought out by Princess Leia Organa. Knowing of the former Jedi general's service in the Clone Wars through her adoptive father, Bail Organa, she delivered a message imploring General Kenobi to help the Alliance to Restore the Republic in their struggle against the Empire. Kenobi agreed that the time was right to openly fight the darkness again, but his quest was cut short when he gave his life fighting on the Death Star.^[40] Ultimately, both Kenobi^[39] and Yoda^[41] aided the Alliance by serving as a mentor, in turn, to the aspiring Jedi Luke Skywalker^[39][41]—son of the fallen Jedi General Anakin Skywalker, who assumed a new identity as Darth Vader, apprentice of the Dark Lord of the Sith.^[2] Luke and Anakin Skywalker would eventually bring about Sidious's first fall from power, the son inspiring his father to hurl the Emperor to his death.^[42]

While they did not hold the formal rank of general after the Clone Wars, adherents to the Jedi path such as Luke Skywalker and Rey continued to lead in the battles against the Sith and their puppet factions as their predecessors once did.^[43][44] Similarly, though they likewise never formally held the general rank, Ahsoka Tano and Kanan Jarrus provided high-level leadership to the rebels against the Empire.^[45] Master Skywalker, in the book he wrote after meeting Rey, praised the Jedi who defended the Republic, calling them noble warriors and holding them as inspirations in the Jedi way.^[46]

Behind the scenes

The concept that Jedi served as generals was first mentioned in Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, the first Star Wars film, where Obi-Wan Kenobi is introduced as such by Leia's message.^[40] Jedi were first seen leading the Grand Army of the Republic in the 2002 film Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones of the prequel trilogy.^[1] At the time, however, the Jedi only acted as de facto generals because the rank of Jedi General had not yet been established in-universe, according to the 2016 canon reference book Star Wars: Complete Locations.^[8] When High Republic Era Jedi Master Stellan Gios remarked that the Jedi should never become warriors in the novel The High Republic: The Rising Storm,^[22] it was intended by author Cavan Scott as a reference of the Jedi Order's eventual fate of becoming generals.^[47]

Appearances

Non-canon appearances

• LEGO STAR WARS: Celebrate the Season — "All I Want For Life Day"
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Sources

Notes and references