The Jedi Apprentice books and Legends-era stories introduced to the Star Wars universe an interesting idea of what happened to Jedi initiates who weren't chosen as Padawans: the Jedi Service Corps. Made up of the AgriCorps, the MediCorps, the EduCorps and the ExplorCorps, these were established as funnels for failed Jedi younglings who were not chosen as an apprentice by their thirteenth birthday, rather like the Star Wars version of a dystopian Hogwarts.
In the Jedi Apprentice books, Obi-Wan Kenobi actually wasn't chosen as a Padawan in time and was shipped off to be a farmer with the AgriCorps, which could have massively shifted the whole Star Wars story. Even worse, the particular farming colony Obi-Wan was sent to ended up being an elaborate ruse and a massive slave operation that the Jedi were unknowingly supporting and staffing. Although Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan ultimately teamed up, exposed the fraudulent operation, freed the slaves and solidified their partnership, had Obi-Wan been assigned to a regular farming detail, he might never have become the famous Jedi he is today.
In The Rising Force, the first book in the Jedi Apprentice series, Obi-Wan is facing his thirteenth birthday and struggling to control his temper with a peer and bully, Bruck Chun. During a sparring match between the two supervised by Yoda, Obi-Wan lets his anger get the better of him. Though Obi-Wan ultimately wins, Bruck taunts Obi-Wan after Yoda leaves into fighting more and later tells the Jedi medics that Obi-Wan had beaten him so badly, he lost consciousness. This setup convinces the Jedi that Obi-Wan is not fit to be a Padawan, so they assign him to join the AgriCorps.
Yoda, however, wants to give Obi-Wan another chance, and he organizes one more sparring match for Qui-Gon to monitor, hoping to convince the Jedi to take Obi-Wan as his apprentice. But Qui-Gon had been burned before by his former apprentice, Xanatos. That apprentice had ultimately turned to the Dark Side and also shared a similarly angry, aggressive fighting style with Obi-Wan. So, Qui-Gon declines and Obi-Wan is sent off to be a farmer on the planet Bandomeer. He resigns himself to his fate, saying goodbye to his friends, including his sometimes rival, Siri Tachi, who wishes him a begrudging farewell.
As fate would have it, however, Qui-Gon is sent on a mission to, coincidentally, Bandomeer. Upon their eventual arrival to the planet, Qui-Gon soon realizes that the Bandomeer government has not called for help itself; rather, it was a trap set by Qui-Gon's former apprentice, Xanatos. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan continues his work with the AgriCorps, though something is certainly amiss. Obi-Wan and an enslaved miner he befriends do some investigating of their own, and uncover a plot by Xanatos to blow up the planet, effectively killing his former Master. Eventually, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon come together to save the world and free the enslaved, with Qui-Gon finally accepting Obi-Wan as his apprentice. In the end, Yoda maintains that the two Jedi ending up on the same planet was not planned, but was the will of the Force coming through.
As one of the greatest Jedi of all time, it's amazing how close Obi-Wan came to being a simple farmer instead. The Jedi Service Corps themselves, and the Order's strict adherence to funneling teenage labor into them, does remain a bit of a questionable action, too. Though it ensures that failed Jedi initiates have a path after training and still serve the galaxy, the whole thing feels rather unethical. With a hard deadline of a Padawan's thirteenth birthday and a predetermined service sector queued up, the Jedi very nearly robbed themselves of one of the only Jedi to survive Order 66 and help ensure the eventual return of the Order and the Light Side of the Force.
0 Comments