"Too old I was," Yoda said. "Too rigid. Too arrogant to see that the old way was not the ONLY way. These Jedi, I trained to become the Jedi who had trained me, long centuries ago - but those ancient Jedi, of a different time they were. Changed, has the galaxy. Changed, the Order did not - because LET it change, I did not."

~Revenge of the Sith novel, Matthew Stover

Alrighty, then....if some of you have kept up with the recent blog threads lately, you know that I had "joked" about blaming Yoda for Anakin's turn to the dark side, and for the fall of the Jedi Order.

Now that I think about it some more...it actually was - in part - Yoda's fault!!! *ducks as bantha poodoo is being flung my way.*

Now, nothing against Yoda personally....but as you can see from the quote above, he even takes some responsibility for what happened.

Here's a quote from Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, outlining Yoda's thoughts....It was when he was considering why Anakin turned to the dark side. Yoda understood that Anakin was not born to be a Sith, but was made one by his circumstances. Here he is describing to Bail Organa the hope that Luke and Leia offer to the galaxy:

Yoda appeared to have had a change of heart regarding the Temple as providing the best crucible for Force-sensitive beings. The steadfast embrace of a loving family would prove as good, if not better.

Well, better late than never, I suppose.....

So, I said Yoda was a catalyst for this - "in part" - obviously other factors were at work here, too.

...Also lookie at what Padmé said to Anakin in ROTS...

"This war represents a failure to listen."

So here's my theory:

The Jedi Order fell because they were too set in their ways to allow for necessary changes to take place.
No flexibility was afforded to its members, and thus, everything with which the Jedi were involved suffered as well.

Now, I'm not saying that we should abandon tried-and-true methods of doing things (ever hear the phrases "don't reinvent the wheel??" and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it?")....however, things change and evolve. If people are not willing to make the needed changes along with it, then bad things can happen.

...Even the tallest of skyscrapers need to be able to sway in the wind....

Imagine what our society would be like if people were not willing to try new approaches to medical treatments and technology? We could very well still be using "bleeding" techniques to rid ourselves of illness, and using an abacus to do math...and none of us would be blogging right now! Sad, eh? Talk about WITHDRAWAL!!

If only the Jedi Order had allowed for things like love and marriage, perhaps Anakin's fall could have been prevented. Nejaa Halcyon was married (secretly), and Ki-Adi Mundi was allowed to be married for species-preservation purposes. They were fine Jedi! I'm sure there were other Jedi who were "attached" to others by love as well, but their situations were not public, either.

When Luke re-built the order, as we all know, he married Mara Jade and had little Ben. Was Luke an "inferior" Jedi because he allowed himself to love, marry and have a child? NOPE!!! My opinion is that he was a much better Jedi and a much better man. The New Jedi Order was stronger and more flexible at the same time.

So, in a nutshell (why do these nutshells keep popping up?!?), that's why I blame Yoda.....sort of...!

(Sorry if I seem "stuck" on the whole marriage/love issue...I'm a woman - whaddaya expect? )

Thanks, Viagoangelicious for inspiring this Mamlicious blog entry!

Comments? Opinions?
As always, MTFBWY!!!