Why were the jedi the way they were? Why couldn't they understand Anakin Skywalker? What the hell went wrong?

These are the questions that I've been thinking about since I caught up with r_j peters excellent '5 minutes of ' series (http://blogs.starwars.com/airyoda/150 sorry I don't know how to hyperlink
) in which he points out every jedi error. It must be said that I agree with his observations so this blog entry is just my attempt to see things from the jedi perspective for a change. Here goes.

The first time we see the jedi council in TPM Qui-Gon Jinn is explaining his belief that the being who attacked him on Tatooine was, in fact, a sith warrior. The council immediately shoot him down for making such a statement, claiming that it was 'impossible' as 'the sith have been extinct for a millenium' and that the sith couldn't have returned without the jedi knowing.
Such an arrogant attitude but why? Bear in mind that we as an audience already know that Qui-Gon is right, yet the jedi, even Qui himself, isn't totally convinced.

Here's my theory. The council believe that the sith were destroyed and I can only assume that they must have some pretty solid evidence to support this belief. With the force nicely balanced as it has been for a thousand years, the council believe that any slight disturbance would be felt straight away. What they don't know is that the force isn't nicely balanced. For the past one thousand years the jedi have been believing a lie fabricated by the sith. It would be impossible for the jedi to sense them. Suckers.
So the council decides to trust history and their own beliefs rather than the intuition of one difficult jedi. That is fair enough. I'd have difficulty trusting someone who told me something contrary to something so deeply embedded.

Back in the council chamber, Qui-Gon goes on to say that he has discovered a ''vergence'' in the force in the form of Anakin Skywalker who, Qui believes, is the chosen one who'll bring balance to the force.
Again the council seem to scoff at him, although now they are starting to worry. The chosen one and the sith both being discovered on the same day? Could this posibly be true or is mr Jinn justing playing an April fool's joke? No, they decide, it's not possible for the prophesised individual who will bring balance to the force to emerge, as, quite logically, the force isn't out of balance. Or so they believe.
Their curiosity is piqued, however, so they do agree to test the boy.

The test itself goes well but Anakin's first meeting with the jedi council doesn't go as smoothly. The jedi hassle him about his feelings towards his mother whom Ani quite naturally misses. The jedi tell the boy that they can sense great fear in him and that such fear leads to the darkside (which they think is something to be feared, ironically). They don't show much compassion or empathy to the boy, which is disapointing considering that they are diplomats and peace keepers primarily. Why?

I think there could be several reasons. Perhaps the jedi aren't accustomed to handling a potential jedi of such an advanced age - it is rather rare after all. Perhaps the jedi are afraid of what Anakin represents and what may become of him.
More probably, I think, the jedi are testing him. They are seeing what makes him tick and how much anger and fear he posseses. This may seem pretty harsh but what good would pandering to the boy do? They need to know what dangers may lie ahead during his training and are being cruel to be kind. If this is true then it is obvious that Anakin failed this test. Although they consider Anakin to be gifted, they also sense great danger in the lad. So they decide that Anakin won't be trained yet

Once the testing is done and Qui-Gon is once more among them, the council seems to have had a change of heart regarding Qui's sith theory. First Qui-Gon must return to Naboo with the queen in order to draw out the mysterious attacker. ''This could be the clue we need to un-ravel the mystery of the sith''. Ahh, so now they are starting to believe.

Sadly it takes the death of Qui-Gon to make the jedi understand their error. The council decides that young Ani will be trained as a jedi under the guidence of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Why Obi-Wan? Firstly, I think it's a logical choice in that Obi-Wan is somewhat familliar to Anakin, which shows some empathy from the jedi. Secondly, Obi-Wan was Qui-Gon's student so the council feel that some of Qui's unique intuition may have rubbed off on his padawan. If that's true then perhaps the council are nodding their respect to the departed Jinn as well as acknowledging their own mistake.

Thus far, the only special treatment the jedi have shown Anakin is putting him with Kenobi rather than someone else. As Obi-Wan would have trained him without the council's blessing, the special treatment can be considered void.

So how does little Anakin feel? He's lost the only person who showed him any affection, been bullied by a group of old men telling him he's not good enough to be jedi and is now the padawan of a recently appointed jedi knight. Do the council care?
It doesn't seem that way. Yet what should they do? They could try and build a bond of friendship and trust with him, perhaps. Or they could encourage him to success. Why don't they?

I don't have any theories for this one except to say that perhaps the council feel that Ani's progression should be a more personal one with a father figure who'll be there for him. Perhaps they are trying to help him transfer his feelings of his mother onto Obi-Wan.

Or somesuch.


Man, this is boring isn't it? I'm going to give this a rest now before everyone falls asleep. I do feel like I want to do a part two, but right now I can't be bothered