I can’t believe the Jedi trials were ever this grueling

All Jedi Padawans must undergo the Jedi Trials to become a true Jedi Knight star Wars franchise, but they were far more brutal than I expected at any given point in the history of the Jedi Order. Although the Jedi are among the most prominent heroes in the franchise, there are many star Wars spectators (and even some star Wars Properties themselves) are quite critical of the prequel-era Jedi Order – and understandably so. In the prequels, the Jedi were complacent, compromised by increasingly corrupt Republic politics, and so dogmatic that they lost touch with the common people of the galaxy.

Still, I don’t think the Jedi “the real villains” of the prequels and I have very real problems with some of the more overzealous criticisms of the Jedi Order from the prequel era. The Jedi of this era as a whole are a deeply flawed but ultimately well-intentioned organization (this is particularly true of Luke Skywalker’s New Jedi Order, of course). However, despite my eagerness to defend the prequel-era Jedi, some of their flaws are indefensible.

The Jedi Trials in Star Wars Legends Explained

The first mention of the Jedi Trials can be found in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menacewith then Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi referring to her after Qui-Gon indicated that he was ready for her. The specifics of the Jedi trials have been examined below Star Wars: Clone Wars Chapter 21with Kenobi mentioning them again, this time on behalf of Anakin Skywalker. Expanded Universe sourcebooks like Daniel Wallce’s The Jedi Path: A Guide for Students of the Force I would go into this in more detail, building on the references made in Clone Wars and stipulating that padawans must complete five trials before becoming knights.

The Trial of Dexterity was a straightforward affair in which the Padawans demonstrated their discipline and combat skills, either in a test at the Jedi Temple or in a real battle, such as Anakin Skywalker’s duel with Asajj Ventress on Yavin IV Test of Courage was more of a personal affair, as the Jedi had to prove their bravery in battle or on a mission, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s encounter with Darth Maul on Naboo. The process of fleshing was the most brutaland while Padawans often had to suffer casualties to pass this test, injuries on the battlefield such as dismemberment from lightsabers were also sufficient.

The test of the mind often involved an elaborate and threatening vision of power. When Anakin Skywalker was already a Jedi Knight, he faced his trial of the spirit on Nelvaan and experienced a vision of the “Ghost hand” folk tale and sees himself as Sith Lord Darth Vader at the end of the story. Luke Skywalker faced a trial of spirit on Dagobah, as shown in The Empire strikes backwith Luke fighting a vision of Darth Vader. The Test of Insight was often an intellectual test in which a Padawan had to solve a complex puzzle.

A generation of Jedi made the trials truly terrible

The Old Republic timeline reveals an era in which the Jedi went much further than I thought. Thousands of years before the birth of the Sith, the Republic was taken over by a human-centered group called Pius Dea. The Jedi Order was also more extreme; I was shocked to learn that the Jedi Order sometimes carried out horrific physical torture on padawans during the Pius Dea era. This even included a technique called “The Burning,” which uses blaster burns to literally melt the flesh from a creature’s bones. Of course, this untenable practice hasn’t existed in the prequels for a long time.

Star Wars Canon made the Jedi Trials make a lot more sense

The Jedi Order of modern canon takes a different approach to the Trials. Not only did the cruel practice of physical torture never exist at any point in known history, They also have a less structured, more personalized approach to exams. Jedi Masters assign tasks to their Padawans to test them (though they consult the Council for each task). In some cases, a Padawan can pass trials retroactively – for example, after the Battle of Geonosis. This reminds me of the informal methods of the New Jedi Order star Wars Legends and seems to be a much better practice.

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Star Wars is a multimedia franchise founded in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (originally just called Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning numerous sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.