Summary
- The Jedi have survived multiple attempts at genocide and near-destruction in both the Star Wars canon and Legends timelines.
- Anti-Jedi sentiment is prevalent in the Star Wars galaxy, even without the influence of the Sith, leading to fear and mistrust of the Jedi Knights.
- Despite the Great Jedi Purge led by Palpatine, the Jedi ultimately return and rebuild, showing their resilience against coordinated attacks from the Sith and other enemies.
The Jedi Knights of the Star Wars franchise have endured multiple Jedi Purges in the canon and Legends timelines. The Jedi are arguably the collective protagonists of both Star Wars continuities, but even with their incredible abilities gained by their study and mastery of the Force, their ancient enemies, the Sith, as well as ordinary of the galactic populace, have sought their destruction many times. The Jedi have come dangerously close to total destruction at various points in canon and Legends, with one Jedi Purge belonging to both timelines. No matter how close they came to being annihilated, however, the Jedi survived each attempted genocide in both continuities.
Most attempts to wipe out the Jedi are led by the Sith Lords, but anti-Jedi sentiment is prevalent in the Star Wars galaxy even without the Sith Order’s influence. From the Core Worlds to the Outer Rim Territories, much of the galaxy’s citizens do not understand the Jedi or their powers, leading to a general fear and mistrust of Jedi Knights. The Jedi are frequently the subject of conspiracy theories and are often scapegoated by those in power, taking advantage of the gullibility and prejudice of ordinary beings. When Sith Lords with enough influence and power attack the Jedi, however, the Order is nearly brought to extinction.
First Jedi Purge
The First Jedi Purge is, as its name implies, the first chronological instance of the Jedi Order’s near-destruction. The First Jedi Purge is exclusive to the Legends continuity, appearing in the 2004 video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and taking place between 3954 BBY and 3951 BBY. The death of Darth Malak and the redemption of Darth Revan at the Battle of Rakata Prime left Revan’s Sith Empire fractured, but it was soon reorganized under the command of the Sith Triumvirate, consisting of Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus, and Darth Traya. The Triumvirate took advantage of the Jedi’s own weakened state in their purge.
The Triumvirate secretly orchestrated events and attacks to further weaken the Jedi Order for a time before Darth Nihilus wiped out the entire populace of Katarr, which included most of the surviving Jedi (who had gathered there secretly). With the few Jedi survivors being gradually hunted down by the Sith Triumvirate’s forces, they formed a group known as the Lost Jedi, led by the “Jedi Exile” Meetra Surik. As shown in Knights of the Old Republic II, Surik defeated the Triumvirate (redeeming Darth Traya in the process) and used the Lost Jedi as the foundation of the restored Jedi Order.
Great Jedi Purge
The most famous Jedi Purge in Star Wars Legends is the Great Jedi Purge, as shown throughout the main Star Wars saga films. Palpatine (Darth Sidious) ascended to Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, orchestrated the Clone Wars, turned the populace against the Jedi, and initiated their near-extinction while putrefying the Republic into the Empire. Thanks to Palpatine’s manipulations, the old Jedi Order was truly destroyed, even with many individual Jedi surviving the Purge. Luke Skywalker did not simply restore the old Jedi Order as Meetra Surik once did, but instead founded the New Jedi Order. While the Jedi ultimately returned, Palpatine did what no other Sith Lord could do.
Since the main Star Wars saga films are part of both canon and Legends, the Great Jedi Purge is part of the post-2014 continuity, as well. Most of the general details of the Legends iteration carry over, including Darth Vader and clone troopers (who, like their Legends counterparts, are compelled to turn against the Jedi through brainwashing) sacking the Jedi Temple, the Empire employing unofficial Sith in the form of Inquisitors, and many Jedi surviving the Purge. The main difference between the two iterations is that the old Jedi Order was not, ultimately, destroyed by Palpatine, as Luke Skywalker would go on to restore it, rather than found its successor.
Destruction Of Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Temple
As shown in the canon-exclusive Star Wars sequel trilogy and its companion materials, Luke Skywalker would act against his characterization in the original trilogy and rebuild the Jedi Order with all its prequel-era failings, rather than grow beyond them as he had in Legends. Luke would construct a new Jedi Temple on Ossus, training only a small number of students, including his nephew, Ben Solo. Solo would, tragically, be manipulated from afar by the resurrected Palpatine, who would disguise his voice as that of Snoke and Solo’s own grandfather (in the form of Darth Vader). It would not be long before Ben Solo fell to the dark side.
As shown in one of Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s most controversial scenes, Luke Skywalker briefly considered killing Solo in his sleep, leading the corrupted Jedi to attack Luke and leave him for dead. In Charles Soule’s Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren, Ben Solo’s anguish resulted in a dark side-generated lightning storm that immolated the Jedi Temple and most of its students, after which Solo fled Ossus to (and soon lead) the Knights of Ren, adopting Kylo Ren as his new name. It is unknown if Rey will rebuild the Jedi or create a new iteration, making the fate of canon’s Jedi Order unclear.
Third Jedi Purge
Although Palpatine’s Great Jedi Purge succeeded in wiping out the old Jedi Order, the Legends-exclusive Star Wars: Legacy comics by John Ostrander show that an attempt was made to wipe out the New Jedi Order. Darth Krayt’s One Sith struck at the New Jedi Order on Coruscant and Ossus, but only managed to wipe out half of their ranks. The remainder of the Jedi, allied with the Galactic Alliance Remnant and Empire-in-exile, fought Darth Krayt's forces on Coruscant once more, this time defeating the Sith (with Cade Skywalker killing Krayt).
The New Jedi Order improved on its predecessor in a multitude of ways, mostly by modernizing the Order’s philosophies and eschewing outdated and overly restrictive practices. The Third Jedi Purge’s spectacular failure to destroy the New Jedi Order shows that Luke’s new iteration of the Jedi was also capable of enduring a coordinated attack by the latest interpretation of the Sith, their resurgent Imperial forces, and numerous bounty hunters hired by them. The New Jedi Order remains active in the latest era of the Star Wars Legends timeline.
