The Jedi (as an Order of Knights, Way Of Life, the Force, Robes, Lightsabers etc)
(info on individual Jedi can be found in the ‘Characters and Biographies | Protagonists and Allies’ category below)
‘The Official Star Wars Technical Journal’ (1995), on Page 75 - states the Jedi numbered in their ‘hundreds of thousands’:-
^ wookieepedia page for the 1995 OSWTJ book: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/The_Official_Star_Wars_Technical_Journal
The full text can also be found on Pages 8, 9, & 10 of ‘A Brief History of The Empire’, in the ‘Starlog - Star Wars Technical Journal, Vol 02 (Imperial Forces)’ book, by Shane Johnson, which can be seen here, via Scribd, or in abridged ‘text only’ form, below:
The 1995 ‘Children Of The Jedi’ novel, by Barbara Hambly, states the following:
^ from the wookieepedia page for the COTJ: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Children_of_the_Jedi_(novel)#Continuity
A screenshot from Chapter 12 of the 1995 ‘Children Of The Jedi’ book:
^ there is more info on Jedi having relationships, marriages, and children etc, in the ‘A few OT•com threads index’ further below.
My personal take on the Jedi; compiled from the Original Trilogy films, novelizations, radio plays, and early pre-PT era materials:
The Jedi Order is an ancient peacekeeping organization unified by its belief and observance of the Force, specifically the light side. For over a thousand generations the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic, defending and protecting the people of it, and became the most well known of the various groups that relied on the Force for their power.
The Jedi lived like many others did in the galaxy; having attachments; family ties, marriage, relationships, and children. And anyone wishing to become a Jedi themselves, whether young or old, could do so as long as they truly understood the deep commitment and sacrifice being a Jedi entailed. That only those with unwavering trust and true belief in the Force, to be able to feel the Force around you - wherever you are - or situation you find yourself in, was central to being a Jedi. An understanding that a Jedi’s strength flows from the Force itself, to be calm and at peace whenever possible. Yet to also be weary of the quicker, easy and more seductive path; of anger, fear and aggression… which led to the all-consuming dark side of the Force.
Led by a series of Jedi Councils, the Order grew over the many millennia despite facing many trials. Most often these threats were engineered by the Sith, the most prominent group of Force sensitives who wielded the dark side of the Force.
However, less than two decades after the end of the devastating Clone Wars (35BBY)… with the Jedi and the Republic narrowly emerging victorious after many years of galaxy-wide conflicts, that only not cost the lives of billions, but decimated countless worlds and systems, and also greatly reduced the numbers of Jedi, both the Old Republic and the Jedi Order were no more…
Aided and abetted by restless, power-hungry individuals within the Republic, and the massive organs of commerce and the avaricious military complex, the ambitious Senator Palpatine caused himself to be elected President. He promised to reunite the disaffected among the people and to restore the remembered glory of the Republic. Yet the time the third term came along, he had corrupted so much of the Senate that they made him Emperor for the rest of his life. Soon after, Palpatine declared the Old Republic over, and announced the formation of new Galactic Empire, under his control, was to replace it.
It was impossible and too late for the Senate to do anything. Palpatine had long manipulated a great many things; in fact, it was he who secretly started the corruption & bureaucracy that had run amok since the Clone Wars, and had carefully manipulated the Senate into doing his bidding because he was seemingly the only one who really had any power to prevent the Republic from deteriorating further. The manipulation was so large there was no other way to get things done; he had paid off Senators to be loyal to him, installed key people in the bureaucracy who were working for him, and were paid by the corporations.
When he became Emperor, the half of the Senate still loyal to the ideals of the Old Republic reacted strongly against the whole thing. There was a rebellion in terms of the Senate against the Emperor; they tried to oust him legally and have him impeached. But many of the Senators who were fighting the Emperor at that time mysteriously died. The Jedi Knights were alerted immediately and they rallied to the Senate’s side. But Palpatine appeared to be one step ahead yet again, and when the Jedi finally rallied and tried to restore order, they were betrayed and eventually killed by Darth Vader and elite Imperial forces.
When the Jedi had tried to restore order, Darth Vader was still one of the Jedi. Vader would catch the Jedi off-guard, having lured many into traps, and then killing them without the Jedi Order realizing what was happening. They trusted him and didn’t realize he was the traitor who was decimating their ranks. The Emperor had also a new elite Imperial military he had amassed in secret with the backing of the military complex and corporations; an army of clone stormtroopers. The same type of clones that had ravaged the galaxy and the Republic had fought against in the Clone Wars. The Jedi were so outnumbered that they fled but were tracked down. They tried to regroup, but they were eventually massacred by elite Imperial forces led by Vader.
The last remaining few Jedi then went into exile and hiding, but over time nearly all were hunted down by Vader. Hope only remained in the form of a small number of systems and even smaller number of brave people scattered throughout the galaxy who rebelled at these events; those who saw through the Emperor’s scheming and stood against his reign of oppression, fascism and terror. Declaring themselves opposed to the Empire they began the long battle to try and restore the Old Republic.
Kenobi, Vader’s old tutor and master, who had defeated the Dark Lord years prior, waited patiently in hiding along with Master Yoda, for the right time to help the fledging Rebellion defeat Vader, the Emperor, and the Empire… and for the Jedi to return.
^ click on the ‘Expand’ button above to view the text.
^ A screenshot of the ‘Jedi Knights & Jedi Master’ sections of ‘A Guide To The Star Wars Universe’ book, 2nd edition (1994):-
^ From the same ‘A Guide To The Star Wars Universe’ book, 2nd edition (1994), on ‘The Jedi Code’ & ‘Jedi Holocrons’:-
^ and from the same ‘A Guide To The Star Wars Universe’ book, 2nd edition (1994), on ‘The Force’:-
^ a 2013 article at the Huffington Post, promoting JW Rinzler’s ‘Making Of Return Of The Jedi’ book.
As the screenshot below highlights, the following conversation is from the July 1981 story conference for “Revenge of the Jedi”, covering a number of topics, including the Force:
Obi Wan Kenobi describes The Force to Luke, and also what happened to Luke’s father:
^ A screenshot from Chapter 5 of the 1976 novelization of Star Wars.
wookieepedia page for the 1976 novelization: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_A_New_Hope_(novelization)
Imagine, if you will… a world without love. For the Jedi - this was made so for the Prequel films. Another time, another galaxy…
^ An official promotional poster for Episode II: Attack Of The Clones - “A Jedi shall not know anger, nor hatred, nor love”.
A few OT•com threads that feature some comprehensive information on the more widely known facets of Pre-Prequel era lore:
- Wars, organizations, relationships, and galactic history before the Prequels
- Putting The Original-Original Trilogy’s Prequel Story together
- The Prequels as Envisioned by the (Pre-PT) Expanded Universe
- What if The Prequels were based on the Pre-PT EU and were more “OT Accurate”
- Implied starting date of the Empire from OT dialogue (+ character ages + when certain events take place)
- What did you think the Clone Wars were gonna be?
- The Jedi Purge | a general discussion
- Were the Jedi supposed to not be allowed to get married, have children or any possessions when the OT was made?
- On Jedi and Attachment
- At what point did Tatooine robes become Jedi uniforms?
- OT lightsaber colours; (and some waffling on about the various colours used across the OT & Expanded Universe)
- Did G. Lucas ever intend to portray the Jedi as a flawed institution in the Prequels? Or was it added later in the EU?
- What Luke’s father and Darth Vader would have been like had Lucas kept them as separate characters?
- Original Trilogy vs The Prequels: inconsistencies, retcons, plot holes and discrepancies… (a ‘50+ issues’ list)
• Some OT film drafts and character threads for the OT era can be found in An Index for Original Trilogy Discussion
• Some EU material covering the Pre-Prequel era (before the PT films) can be found in An Index for the Expanded Universe
• More threads on the Jedi (and the Force) can be found in the An Index of Relevant Threads category.
A Thread Index:
• Introduction
• A quick note on ‘Canon’ (yep, I know…)
• Timelines: Story Events and Alterations
• Settings, Planets and Systems | Organisations and Governments
• The Jedi (as an Order Of Knights; their Way Of Life, the Force, Robes, Lightsabers etc)
• Characters and Biographies | Protagonists and Allies (including changes of persona or origin story)
• Characters and Biographies | Antagonists, Adversaries and their Allies (including changes of persona or origin story)
• Miscellaneous
• Blank Post (a spare post for possible future use; if ever required)
• A list of ‘Suggestions, Claims, Memories, and Posts’ on more pre-PT era material: to be checked and confirmed
• Index of Relevant OriginalTrilogy.com Threads
• Credits