#dawn of the jedi

[david-talks-sw]

What are your thoughts on the je'daii? Do they even work, like I find myself irritated by the concept because people often use them to validate/prove the notion that "balance = both sides of the Force"

If you stick to what George Lucas said, in Star Wars a person being "balanced" is someone who accepts their inner darkness and resists its pull nonetheless.

When fans mention the Je'daii, it's usually in the context of:

"The Jedi downgraded from the Je'daii, limited their studies of the Force, refusing to study the Dark Side was a mistake. It was an original sin that caused them to create an imbalance within them."

Which is weird, to me, because the whole point of the comic's narrative is that:

the Je’daii Order’s way was doomed to fail.

Introduced in the Legends comic series Dawn of the Jedi (2012), the Je'daii are the predecessors of the Jedi. They are an order of Force users who studied and practiced both the Light Side and the Dark Side in hopes of finding Balance.

The reasoning is simple: everyone has a bit of good and bad in them, you learn to master the good and the bad sides inside of you, indulging them equally. But while this method seems sound on paper… it didn't work.

Consider that they’re already dabbling with the Dark Side...

... but hey, at least they’re aware of its dangers, they’re trying to be responsible about it.

There's a support system where they all warn each other when they're about to cross a line. But even then, there's many who've fallen and been exiled to a moon, to be rehabilitated.

Suddenly, circumstances compel all of them to use the Forcesaber, a weapon that only activates when you draw on the Dark Side.

And that does something to them. Over the course of a year, they all become increasingly aggressive.

Soon, a faction breaks off because they no longer want to stop using the Forcesaber. They’re addicted to the Dark Side.

A war ensues, at the end of which the Jedi Order is born, a group of Force users who:

acknowledge and accept their inner darkness,

while also striving to overcome it rather than give it power.

So that’s the moral of the whole Je’daii story.

Their idea of "Balance by wielding both" was actually so fragile and difficult to maintain that all it took was a little push for them to become vulnerable to the Dark Side's temptation.

Hell, even after the Jedi Order was established, one of its founders, Master Rajivari - who in Dawn of the Jedi (2012) is framed as a wise ex-general who, albeit strict, spends his days meditating and philosophizing - he goes to the Dark Side too! 

Because that's how the Dark Side works.

The Dark Side isn’t just "negative feelings" or a "bad guy superpower" that you can mix with a "good guy superpower" to unleash the ultimate 'Force blast'. This isn’t an anime.

The Dark Side is a drugs/smoking/drinking addiction.

It's selfish, temporary pleasure. The more you consume it...

... the more you get addicted...

... and the more it consumes you right back...

... until nothing remains.

Jon Ostrander, who wrote Dawn of the Jedi (2012), echoed this sentiment multiple times:

“As I see it, those working on the light side work with the Force, channeling it, open and sensitive to what it tells them. They serve it. Those on the dark side try to impose their will on the Force, to make it do their will, to make it serve them. The Je’daii believe in a balance between the light and the dark side and so attempt to use both. Problem is, a balance is hard to maintain and the dark side is so very seductive.” - John Ostrander, LA Times, 2012

“The Je'daii aren't light side or dark side, although they know and are aware of both. Instead they seek a balance in the Force between light and dark. Balance, however, is a difficult thing to maintain and there is always the danger of falling wholly to the dark side — and some Je'daii have done so.” - John Ostrander, Newsarama, 2012

And this is a recurring theme throughout all of Ostrander’s comics, by the way. Be it with the Je’daii, but also with Quinlan Vos or Cade Skywalker, the point remains the same: 

"Yes, wielding the Dark Side gives you great power, and you get to show off some badass new tricks...

… but it ultimately destroys you and everyone around you."

Remember: if it weren’t for Cade or Quin’s loved ones, neither of them would have come back from the Dark Side. They aren't badasses because they can use Force Lightning, they're badasses because they found the strength to give that up.

So if you genuinely think the Jedi "downgraded" by refusing to give the Dark Side more power than it already has on them... you're missing the point.

“It’s not about ripping things out of the sky using the Force or Force Lightning. A lot of people, they think “oh look how powerful Vader is, look how powerful the Emperor is, I want to play be the bad guy because I get these powers”. It’s an empty feeling, at the end of the day, after the moment. [...] The Dark Side is a spiral downward that you’re trapped in.” - Dave Filoni, “Force of Rebellion”, 2018

It was an upgrade.

Framing "balance" as "equal Dark and Light Side" is like consuming one (1) salad a day and one (1) whole bottle of vodka and calling that "balanced". No, buddy, that'll kill you. Because:

The vodka is better at being destructive than the salad is at making you healthy.

It's won't stay just one bottle per day. It'll eventually become two, three, etc.

Because as George Lucas stated time and again, resisting the Dark Side is a constant struggle.

So that's my two cents.

You've probably already heard about the recent announcement of a Dawn of the Jedi feature film, a biblical epic that will be directed by James Mangold.

And truth be told... it scares me SO much that we came THIS close to an Episode IX: Duel of the Fates that framed "balance" as - you guessed it - giving equal power to your light and darkness.

Like, how did this ⬆️ get as far as it did? Did nobody think to sit Colin Trevorrow down and explain to him that he fundamentally misunderstands how the Force works?

So all I can do is cross my fingers and hope James Mangold has a better grasp of - if not the lore (I wouldn't be surprised if the words "Je'daii" or "Tython" aren't uttered once in the film) - at least the message.

[hermesdoesthings]

Hi my favorite thing star wars does (knowingly or accidentally) is create their jedi characters and put them in the wrong era.

Like tell me jedi like Osha or Anakin wouldn't fit perfectly in with the Je'daii/Dai bendu era (being able to have attachments/families and being able to utilize both the light and dark sides). Tell me Dalien Brock and Torbin wouldn't be perfect in the Clone Wars era (Dal would have a field day with a hyperdrive and torbin would love the missions on different planets). Obi Wan just fits the vibes of the High Republic so well.

[killsandthrills]

i’m crying… a film about the first jedi?!?! that is literally what i’ve always wanted. and directed by james mangold too?!?! ahhhhh

[longtimespentinagalaxyfaraway]

Continuing Dawn of the Jedi with Volume 2: Prisoner of Bogan! Feat. bad photo of ashla and bogan donut holes, lol

[betterboxd]

Beau Willimon (ANDOR) will co-write James Mangold's Dawn of the Jedi Star Wars movie.

• Follows the origins of the Jedi

• Set 25,000 years in the past

(via THR)

[inquisitor-apologist]

The Je’daii dumb as shit tbh. Oh, we see you’ve fallen to the Dark Side. Sad. We will now send you to Evil Dark Side Moon, where it is always dark, you are completely isolated, and the only other people on the moon have also Fallen. This will bring you back to the light somehow. Our civilization has remained in perfect balance for 10,000 years.

[legends-expo]

Happy National Siblings Day!

Love Star Wars Legends? Join us for LegendsCon in Burbank, CA on September 9th & 10th 2023!

[mrfandomwars]

If the dawn of the jedi movie doesn't have a running gag where the founder is constantly correcting non-jedi on the meaning of attachment, is it even worth it?

On that note, they should DEFINITELY meet someone who supports them to make the Order who either suspiciously looks like George Lucas (if it isn't him - though lbh, I think he would probably only do a cameo in the final, maybe as a maintenance worker looking at the new temple or something) or has a name REALLY similar (Jor'ge Luke or something), as a nod to the man who started this all

[rakatan]

tim lebbon, dawn of the jedi: into the void claudia gray, the high republic: into the dark

[star-wars-forever]

Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi #0 (Variant Cover)

by Jan Duursema

[fellthemarvelous]

So since they are making a Dawn of the Jedi movie that's set 25,000 years in the past, does this mean we are going to be seeing baby Huyang in the early days of the Jedi Order??

David Tennant's contract with Star Wars can essentially last forever since his droid has 25,000 years of Jedi history to cover.

He's going to have a lot of stories to tell while he's stranded in another galaxy far, far away with Ahsoka, Sabine, and a tribe of pacifist turtles who spent the past ten years with Ezra Bridger.

[moraiwings]

If the Force is the dream, you are the dreamer, and sometimes you have to wake up. Sometimes you are all you have.

Tim Lebbon, Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void

[knightotoc]

First they made a Tales of the Jedi series, now they're making a Dawn of the Jedi movie. Confusing time for the tiny number of people who are obsessed with the wonderful Dark Horse comics with those names.

[longtimespentinagalaxyfaraway]

Hello there! I am alive!

Health issues kicked my butt last year, hence my not updating (or continuing) this challenge in a really disappointingly long time. But, the fog seems to be clearing, and I am once again able to focus on things I enjoy, so I am very happy to get back into this.

Entries 7 - 10 of my Star Wars Legends challenge are Dawn of the Jedi: Force Storm issues #2 - 5, written by John Ostrander and art by Jan Duursema, Dan Parsons, and Wes Dzioba. All four issues take place in 25,793 BBY, and were released in 2012.

Thoughts and images beneath the cut so as not to flood your feed.

Issue #2 introduces (who I assume will be) our main cast of characters from here on out - Shae Koda, Tasha Ryo, and Sek'nos Rath, all three Je'daii Journeyers from Tython.

Is it just me or do all three of them have maaaaaajor OT3 energy. I desperately need to see the three of them… er, kriff. And as I am assuming this is not going to happen on page, I WILL be turning to AO3 when I am done reading this series and y'all had better not let me down.

Willing to extend that to OT4 and let Xesh in on the kriffing as well.

(This part of the post is not getting posted on instagram xD for the most part what I post there and post here will be the same but people I know follow me on instagram xD containing the horny posting to tumblr for now bc I am not brave enough to… the mixed metaphor that popped into my head was "put my pussy where my mouth is" but that sounds like a physical impossibility and now I've gotten confused and distracted.)

Aaaaaaanyway.

Sexual tension between Shae, Tasha, and Sek'nos is palpable. All three having a tense force vision about a mysterious, dangerous bad boy dark force user? I am restraining myself from looking on Ao3 until I've finished reading this arc to avoid spoilers, but y'all I am going to be so kriffing mad if you disappoint me on the fic front. PLEASE tell me there is fic here. I DON'T want to be the one who has to write it.

For the most part, I am engaged with the three (four if you count Xesh) main characters. Their dynamic is engaging (yes, beyond just sexy lmao) and each of them are interesting on their own as well. I am looking forward to seeing them continue to develop over the course of the series.

Then, let's see. Things that annoyed me...

Boob armor is always annoying. Jedi Emma Frost has some incredible shoulder armor but the boob top is sigh. She must be using the Force to keep her titties from shooting out the gaping hole in her shirt. Like. I love good cleavage as much as the next bisexual, but c'mon, man.

On the other end for costumes that make me happy, I'm in love with Tasha's look. It is one of the few not over-the-top sexualized twi'lek costumes I can think of, and that is a breath of fresh air on top of just being a really cool skirt that I would absolutely wear.

I think that's it for now. Hope to read more of the series this week and will continue to update as I go! I might start posting reactions as I read here? Not sure yet. Sometimes it can be fun but sometimes it can distract from the actual reading xD

[hermesdoesthings]

brb about to go stand on a box and scream about the dawn of the jedi era for the foreseeable future until Lucasfilm gives me the movie

[wixelt]

Just finished reading Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void as part of a push to try & get into the classic Star Wars EU/Legends...

I’ve rarely been more annoyed a book didn’t get a sequel. I loved Lanoree Brock & Tre Sana’s dynamic & hate that I won’t see more of the former or the end of the latter’s arc.

...Lanoree lost her sword. Given what I've been lead to believe about the DotJ comics (haven’t read yet but they’re next on my list), you can’t tell me this wasn’t a set up for her to get a forcesaber (precursor to any type of lightsaber in the setting) & all the baggage involved (which she’s the perfect character to explore that with).

The urge to write Legends fanfic has never been stronger. :P