The Jedi Order - Changes

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

(There is no chaos, there is harmony.)(*)

There is no death, there is the Force.

This post will explain the various changes that have been made in this continuity/universe in how the Jedi Order works......

Why the changes? Well, as we all know, after Order 66 (Episode III) the Jedi Order was nearly wiped out. And yet, in our game, less than 20 years later, the Jedi Order is almost at the same size as it was during the Clone Wars. There has to be a reason for this - and the answer is that the Jedi Order decided to make some radical changes, to ensure that the force would never be "balanced" (or unbalanced) as it was again.

The first change is in how Jedi are identified and selected. Before, members of the Jedi Order would go throughout the galaxy and during their journeys, when they found a kid who was force-sensitive, they would talk to the family. If successful, they would then take the kid (without reimbursement to the family) to Coruscant for training. Now, a machine has been created to determine if a kid is force-sensitive or not. While the mechanism itself is kept secret, Jedi on recruitment drives will often go to city areas and do massive checks on thousands of citizens at once. Those who pass the test are offered a sum of credits for the child, who is then taken to the nearest academy or the academy that the recruiter feels is best for the padawan.

Most academies have one Jedi who permanently searches for new recruits using these devices. These recruiters have regulations, but often are left on their own. This has many impacts, the most beneficial being that parents are now much more willing to give up their child to the Order. While being in the Order was always seen as something as an honor, it still hurt to lose a child. Now... not so much. It also makes it easier to recruit in areas where the Jedi aren't so popular, as, to these people, the concept of buying a child makes the Jedi Order more "real". In addition, it is easy to identify which padawans have the most potential with this machine. There are drawbacks, of course - some slave owners focus on children to try and sell them to the Jedi; some Jedi Recruiters abuse their position; there are fake Recruiters out there and this means that many candidates are accepted who would normally not be considered Jedi material (take a quick look at Tav and Sseyax for example). But this has allowed many more Padawans to be identified and recruited quickly and efficiently.

The second major change deals with how a Padawan is trained. Before, all padawans did their initial training in Coruscant, and then became attached to a Jedi Master for several years (as seen as in the Prequel Trilogy). Once the Padawan was considered ready, he would build a lightsaber of his own, and become a Jedi Knight when it was completed. Now, instead of everyone training in one central location, there are dozens of small Academies throughout the Galaxy, each of them containing anywhere from 50 to 1000 Padawans. Jedi master and Council Member Petro has implemented a recommended training guide that all Padawans should follow and should be followed by all Academies. These training lessons last anywhere from 10 to 25 years depending on the Padawan and how the Academy Leader feels and/or desires. However, as with recruiting, the Academy Leaders are given some leeway on how to train the Padawans they are assigned. As stated, every academy has a Recruiter - but the Recruiter is randomly forced to send chosen Padawans to other Academies as a control. In addition, Petro and other High Jedi Leaders do the occasional tour checking on the standards of the academies. This more streamlined but independent system allows for the Academies to train many more Padawans at a faster rate than the Previous Jedi Order - but again, it's dependent on the integrity and competence of the Academy Leaders themselves.

The Main advantage of this idea is that Padawans are learning what they need to do at a much faster pace - allowing the organization to grow rapidly. However, many Padawans who, in the old system, would have been kicked out are still in the Order. This is a slowly growing perception that younger Jedi are a bit more arrogant and there are reports of abuses of power. While this is not an issue yet for most, it is an issue of concern for those in the know.

The third change is how a Padawan becomes a Jedi Knight. In the old system, a Padawan would build a lightsaber when a Master felt he was ready. Now, when the Academy Leader feels the Padawan is ready, the Padawan is sent on a Pilgrimage. This pilgrimage is a mission for the Jedi Order that the Padawan is expected to do with minimal help from outsiders or the Jedi Order. Officially this can be anything from getting to know a system, helping agriculture on a desert world, to catching a criminal. Unofficially, there are rumors that Academy leaders use their Padawans for their own needs, which can lead to some abuses. A problem with the system is that Academy Leaders are solely responsible for deciding if a Padawan is ever ready to become a Jedi Knight...so the Padawan must be overly respectful/loyal to the Academy Leader. Padawans normally worked with Padawans from other Academies, so seeing two Padawans work together from the same Academy is abnormal. The idea is to ensure that the Padawan can work well together with those of different ideas. Normally, unless a Padawan dies in the pursuit of the mission, both Padawans are denied the right to become a Jedi Knight if one of them is deemed to be unworthy, so there is much incentive to work together.

A minor fourth change is that Padawans no longer have to build their own lightsabers. These are normally given to Padawans when they join. It is said that lightsabers are now produced in an Outer Rim world, but this is a Republic Secret - no one really knows where the lightsabers are built.

There are some older Jedi who do not approve of these changes and refuse to participate in the new system. While they are allowed to remain with the Order, as punishment they are not assigned to any Academy or Base Location - they are forced to continually meander throughout the galaxy on whatever mission(s) they have. These Jedi are normally allowed to have only one Padawan under them, but they can teach that Padawan in whatever fashion they like. These Padawan must still complete a Pilgrimage, in addition to whatever other requirements their Masters would like.

There is a rumor of Jedi Inquisitors. They are said to be the elite of the elite of the Jedi, numbering around a couple of hundred, specialized to fight other Jedi and other major disturbances. It is unknown if these exist or not, since it is a secret, if it exists. It is said that either Ayla Bloodleaf or Jedi Master and Council Member Joseph Gunner runs this organization.

There are some things that remain the same: Coruscant is still the primary base of operations, the Jedi Council leads the Order, and the Jedi still act as a great force in the galaxy, mainly for good. And in recent years under the guidance of Jedi Council Member Joseph Gunner, the Agricultural Corps and the Research Corps of the Jedi has recently been reborn, though they are small in number for now. The Jedi Order has overcome much to unleash a resurgence, but it relies on the integrity of the new Recruiters and Academy Leaders to be just and fair. And as in any organization that grows quickly, there are always those just waiting to take advantage for their own power.....