Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars delved deeper into the hypocrisy of the Jedi; something that would ultimately lead to their undoing.
While George Lucas wanted to show the wisdom and grandeur of the Jedi in the Prequel era, he also decided to depict their folly in failing to recognize the Sith and drowning in the politics of the Clone Wars in a race for more power and influence over the Galactic Republic. Dave Filoni’s hit animated series has always done a great job of portraying these darker sides of the old Jedi, but since the seventh and final season must tie into the events of Revenge of the Sith, this plot thread is bolder than ever, especially now that the story is focusing on Ahsoka Tano after she left the Jedi Order due to realizing the same hypocrisy.
The latest episode, “Deal No Deal,” has cleverly called back to one such instance in previous seasons to interpret it in a different light and show the trail of bodies that these warriors of peace and justice leave behind throughout the galaxy. As it came to pass, Rafa Martez revealed to Ahsoka that her parents were caught in the crossfire of Jedi Knights chasing criminals on Coruscant. The Jedi had to make a choice between driving a transport freighter to a crowded platform or crashing it into a portal wall. Unfortunately, though, the other side of that portal wall housed the Martez family.
Afterward, the Jedi who made this decision came to the children but didn’t offer an apology. Instead, she claimed that their parents dying was the will of the Force and all was well if they were to keep having faith. Rafa is referring to the incident in the 22nd episode of season 1, “Hostage Crisis,” where Jedi Master Luminara Unduli chased Cad Bane across the planet city of Coruscant.
Filoni has employed a powerful play on different viewpoints to get his point across; even when we cheered them on in the earlier seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Jedi weren’t always the good guys in this war, and we’re sure that the producers will further explore this thematic resonance with Revenge of the Sith as we get closer to the series finale in the upcoming weeks.
