The script says that they’re arrogant, they’re naive and skeptical in regards to the Sith being back (understandable), and you have the Jedi librarian being a little bit arrogant, but everything else is better explained by simple lack of intelligence and poor detective work.
Being skeptical, to me, would be closer to, “I’m not sure.” I’m not saying they’re bullheaded or whatever, but arrogance, for me, doesn’t have to mean they’re utterly pompous about things.
Mace was not killing an unarmed man. It’s impossible to disarm him as he can (and does) shoot fatal lightning bolts from his hands, not to mention his extremely powerful telekinesis. Mace was 100% right, he was too dangerous to be left alive and had a stranglehold over every branch of the government. This was their last chance and Anakin bungled it. It’s a cool moment of ambiguity and internal struggle where Anakin starts out with “it’s not the Jedi way” and ends up with the more honest “I need him!”
Palpatine’s capacity for evil or actions I don’t see as a justification for preemptive action.
I know that’s a callback to Palpatine saying the same thing about Dooku to Anakin, but in this case it was right even if the script is countersignaling it.
Who says it was right? Who decides that?
That’s exactly what they say though. Ki Adi Mundi says “they’ve been extinct for a millennia,” Mace says “I don’t think they could have returned without us knowing.” They don’t get angry or anything. They believe Qui Gon is making an accurate report and effectively say “whether or not this guy is a Sith, definitely investigate further and draw him out so we can make that determination. We’ll do what we can on our end with our resources too.” Qui Gon does, then they immediately accept that Darth Maul was a Sith and decide to be on the lookout for the other half of the duo. Just going off of what happens, their flaw is their lack of followup for whatever reason, not arrogance or disbelief.
It isn’t just his capacity they’re worried about. They know that he controls the senate through corruption. By figuring out that he’s the Sith they were looking for (what Anakin just told them) they know that he had a hand in starting the war, which also means backing the Trade Federation and the Separatists, training Darth Maul and Count Dooku and being responsible for all the people they killed or attempted to kill. And whatever vague business happened with Sifo Dyas. Bare minimum he’s committed high treason and conspiracy to commit murder, and we know it goes way beyond that.
And pretending like everyone has to follow the political Rules of Engagement where you have to be shot at before you shoot back in a situation like this is silly. The Jedi objectively have psychic powers that let them intuit the truth. When Mace says “I sense a plot to destroy the Jedi” and “we must act quickly if the Jedi order is to survive,” it’s not just his paranoia or hubris or some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy talking, it’s literally true. It’s almost an understatement. Palpatine is squarely in the middle of enacting a centuries-long plot specifically to genocide the Jedi. They fail to stop him, and he does. Palpatine didn’t kick off a genocide he was planning his entire life in self-defense lol
The plausible deniability politics elements are there to help explain Anakin’s frame of mind and why he can make excuses for himself. “It’s not the Jedi way,” “I saw Master Windu attempt to assassinate the chancellor,” etc.
Yes, “from a certain point of view,” Palpatine is just a poor widdle member of a religious minority group, who was just SO popular that he was able to maintain power for longer than usual in a time of crisis, and his enemies are just jealous. As the audience we’re privileged to have enough information to know that that’s ridiculous and he’s evil incarnate, aesthetically framed as both secular Satan (Hitler) and literal Satan.
The fact that people want to retroactively blame Mace Windu for this and say “well, you didn’t know for SURE that he would genocide you YET” is sadly predictable, but still insane.