The Jedi are one of the biggest parts of the Star Wars Saga, especially during the Prequel Trilogy. Most of the main characters were Jedi and their actions drove the plot of those three movies. For years, fans speculated about what the Jedi of the Republic were like and the Prequels showed them, warts and all.
Even though they were the heroes and the main characters, there were a lot of times that George Lucas used the Prequels' narrative to show viewers just how bad the Jedi could be, as oftentimes the movies and their events were not on the side of Jedi at all – subverting viewer expectations in a subtle and smart way.
10 The First Time Viewers See The Jedi, They're Glorified Civil Servants Who Get Ambushed
The opening of The Phantom Menace sees Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi board a Trade Federation battleship to negotiate the ending of a blockade, which immediately sets the tone for who the Jedi are – a glorified group of civil servants in the Republic.
Why are two powerful warriors with superpowers being sent on a diplomatic mission to begin with? From there, the two are ambushed by the Trade Federation and though they survive, they're basically powerless to prevent anything from happening and are forced to retreat – killing the myth of Jedi superiority that viewers were given by the Original Trilogy.
9 Their High Ideals Are Kind Of Meaningless
On Tatooine, Qui-Gon and Padme are confronted with one of the starkest reminders of the Jedi's moral failings – the existence of slavery. Qui-Gon's reaction to the whole situation says it all about the Jedi mindset about it: sure, it's wrong but they're outside of Republic jurisdiction and can't interfere. This is a rather big strike against their moral code, one that will be expanded on later.
The fact that slavery exists at all shows that the Jedi are extremely hypocritical. For a group with such high ideals and power to allow such a terrible institution to flourish is one of the Prequels' many ways of showing that the Jedi aren't as great as audiences thought they would be.
8 Their Treatment Of Anakin Created A Self Fulfilling Prophecy
When Qui-Gon brought Anakin before the Jedi, they tested him and found out the Qui-Gon wasn't exaggerating the boy's powers. However, they refused to teach him right off the bat because of his age. Their reasoning was that being raised away from the Order would make him more susceptible to attachment and the dark side, but their treatment of him created a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Jedi Council passed the buck of Anakin's training to Obi-Wan and treated the powerful & tempestuous young man rather badly over the years, creating the perfect environment for Palpatine to swoop in and poison Anakin.
7 They Break Up Families Because They Believe It Will Stop Jedi From Falling To The Dark Side
The Jedi Order are basically kidnappers. One of their main arguments against training Anakin was that he was too old and viewers are told that the Jedi take children from their families to join the Order and begin their training at a young age. While it's conceivable that most parents would be okay with this, there are definitely some who wouldn't be.
Viewers are left to imagine families that didn't want their children taken and having to just deal with it. That is terrible and it's made worse when one realizes that the Jedi kept the children away from their parents because of attachments. It's a bad look all around.
6 The Battle Of Geonosis Show How Ineffectual The Jedi Can Be
The Battle of Geonosis was the first battle of the Clone Wars and its opening stages showed the Jedi in a pretty bad light. For years, fans speculated what an army of Jedi would be like and they got their answer – cool but ultimately kind of useless against another army.
Not just any army either, but an army of battle droids, which weren't even among the smartest of droids. This event shattered the myth of the Jedi for audiences, as what started out as a large force of Jedi were winnowed away to a handful that would have been killed if Yoda hadn't shown up in the nick of time with the clone army.
5 They Led A Slave Army
The Jedi's reaction to slavery was already pretty questionable but their command of the Grand Army of the Republic compounded that stance. The clones were a glorified slave army, bred for the purpose of combat and put under the Jedi's command. While one can imagine some balking at that, it was never shown in the Prequels, with even Master Yoda rolling with it – a showcase of how his time at the top ossified his morality. Leading a slave army into battle made the Jedi look terrible. No viewer could have imagined that the Jedi would be okay with something like this and yet there it was onscreen.
4 They Had Grown Arrogant And Sure In Their Power
One of the most telling scenes about the Jedi was in Attack Of The Clones. Obi-Wan was looking for the planet Kamino in the Jedi Archives and asked Jedi archivist Jocasta Nu for help. Her response was simple, but said a lot, "If it's not in the Jedi Archives, it doesn't exist." This attitude of Jedi supremacy showed just how arrogant the Jedi could be.
Another example was the character of Mace Windu. Mace was a powerful man who never questioned the integrity of the Jedi, even when he should have. He represented the failings of the modern Jedi Order in a stark way, his subtle arrogance the Jedi attitude in microcosm.
3 Their Failures With Anakin Show How Bad Their Teaching Methods Were
Anakin Skywalker was never going to be an easy student but the Jedi's failure with him says a lot about them. Anakin had a lot of strengths and weaknesses and any good teaching system would take those into consideration, changing their methods to match him and subtly change him. However, the Jedi completely failed in this regard.
Obi-Wan tried his best with Anakin, but he was given little to no support by the Order. They treated Anakin like a regular Padawan instead of a special case. This approach would prove to be an unmitigated disaster for all involved, helping Anakin down the dark road.
2 They Got Fooled All The Time
The Prequels seemed to do everything they could to take the notion of the Jedi as infallible guardians of good and turn that belief on its ear. One of the most effective ways they did this was by showing how easily fooled they were. Palpatine had the Jedi wrapped around his finger, fooling them at every turn.
Even the one Jedi who doesn't seem as bad as the others, Obi-Wan, is constantly shown being fooled and led around at every turn, not realizing just how bad everything is until it's too late and nothing can be done about it. Just like the rest of the Jedi, Obi-Wan's failures and how easily fooled he was show the Jedi for what they are – a very mortal group that makes a lot of mistakes.
1 Every One Of Their Actions Led To Palpatine's Ultimate Victory
The story of the Prequels is ultimately a story of the failure of the Jedi. Palpatine spent years building up his plans and when he finally sprung them on the Jedi, they were completely powerless to stop him. The rise of the Empire and the horrors of its reign all occurred because of the Jedi and their failures.
Palpatine changed the galaxy for the worse because the Jedi couldn't see the evil growing right under their noses. Instead of the conquering heroes that viewers had been conditioned to think of the Jedi as, they were made to look like fools and the terrors of the futures were made possible because they were too arrogant and deluded by their own power to see the noose around their necks.
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