Obi-Wan Kenobi: Order 66 and the surviving Jedi
Obi-Wan Kenobi
The release of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the new Star Wars series available on Disney +, is leading the fandom of the franchise to question how the events told can change some of the cornerstones of the continuity of Star Wars. Setting the series at a particularly important moment in the Star Wars chronology, namely the Rise of the Empire, is showing a galaxy in transition, grappling with the first days of the new order imposed by Palpatine's rise to power and the end of the Republic, as we saw at the end of Revenge of the Sith. There is one aspect in particular of the final chapter of the Prequel Trilogy that has become central to Obi-Wan Kenobi: Order 66.Subscribe now to Disney + for € 8.99 per month or € 89.90 to the year
How does the importance of Order 66 change after the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi?
During the final stages of the war with the Separatists, when Palpatine was discovered as the Dark Lord of the Sith, he decides to activate a dormant mnemonic command in the clones of the Republic, Order 66, which forces soldiers to rebel against the Jedi they have faithfully followed in battle until recently. This move led to the almost total annihilation of the Jedi Order, which on Coruscant was executed directly by Anakin Skywalker, who became Darth Vader, who was responsible for exterminating the Jedi present in the Temple of the capital world, also exterminating the young students in a scene of great pathos.| ); }
However, it should be noted that well before the birth of the Canon, that is the new official Star Wars chronology created at the time of the release of The Awakening of the Force, in derivative works (comics, video games and novels) had been presented several Jedi who had escaped the extinction of the Order, such as Hal Horn or the insane master C'Baoth, thus giving a first glimpse of an extermination far from complete. Yet, in Lucas' original ideas the Jedi must have been practically extinct.
In some dialogues of the Original Trilogy, in fact, it is clear how everything wanted to make Obi-Wan and Yoda the last remaining Jedi, a role that would be then passed to Luke, who was supposed to create a new Order. In a passage from A New Hope, Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) did not hesitate to turn to Vader insinuating that he was now the last vestige of a dead religion, the Force, while in Return of the Jedi, Yoda invests Luke on his deathbed. role as last of the Jedi. - th_culturapop_d_mh3_1 slot id: th_culturapop_d_mh3 "); } Thinking back to the Prequel Trilogy, Lucas wanted to give a precise vision of the Jedi, going beyond the idealized aspect of the Order and the Galactic Republic that had been created there according to what was told by the protagonists of the Original Trilogy. We get a portrait of a sort of privileged caste, sometimes arrogant and complacent, which fails to catch the signs of a phantom threat in time, which will lead not only to the end of the Republic, but also to the extinction of the Jedi. The execution of Order 66, therefore, becomes a punishment, a consequence of the lack of humility and lucidity of the Jedi, which should motivate their absence from the future scenario of the saga.
What was done instead with recent productions of the Canon , seems to want to go against the ideas of Lucas, giving a different interpretation to Order 66. Although intended as a method of extermination of a dangerous enemy by Lucas, this element has found a new definition in works such as Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is now in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Kanan Jarrus, Ashoka Tano and the Jedi mentioned in the third episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi are part of a narrative mechanism that intends to overturn the concept of Lucas, showing a Jedi Order far from being extinct, even if it can be also speculate that these illegal immigrants met an ominous fate prior to the events of A New Hope, as shown by the disturbing chamber of the Inquisitorium Fortress visited by Obi-Wan in the fourth episode. Setting this series in the period of the Rise of the Empire represents a risk, considered as Order 66 and what is told by Obi-Wan in A New Hope seems to go in partial contrast with what is now told in the series, but the strength of the Canon of Star Wars is the portesi expand on more media, in particular in the comic field, thus going to provide explanations that help to bring everything back into a coherent narrative logic.
