our polestar still shines.

such is the nature of jedi

– Star Wars Insider #81, Ask the Master Q&A, by Pablo Hidalgo I’M CRYING, THE CANON CODENAME FOR THE JEDI COUNCIL IS “THE OLD FOLKS’ HOME”. Legit canon is, when they have an extra important message to get through, they say, SO I HAVE A MESSAGE FOR THE OLD FOGIES IN THE RETIREMENT HOME, this is a thing that has been approved of by the Jedi Council.  In canon.

OBI-WAN KENOBI (2022)

THE JEDI HIGH COUNCIL MEDITATING TOGETHER | S06E11 VOICES

“You’re allowed to love people, but you’re not allowed to possess them.” —George Lucas

1. STAR WARS: REBELS 4.13 A World Between Worlds 2. MIDNIGHT HORIZON (2022) by Daniel José Older 3. STAR WARS: ATTACK OF THE CLONES (2002) dir. George Lucas 4. STAR WARS: REBELS 4.10 Jedi Night 5. THE RISING STORM (2021) by Cavan Scott 6. STAR WARS: REBELS 1.08 Gathering Forces 7. STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS 7.09 Old Friends Not Forgotten 8. LIGHT OF THE JEDI (2020) by Charles Soule 9. STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS 1.13 Jedi Crash 10. STAR WARS: REBELS 4.15 Family Reunion - And Farewell

Star Wars: The High Republic: The Fallen Star by Claudia Gray

CLONES APPRECIATION WEEK 2021 Day 7: Free Choice

CLONES APPRECIATION WEEK 2021 Day 3: Favorite Dynamic? → Clone Commanders/Captains & their Jedi Generals.

sometimes i think about the parents

the parents from coruscant to the farthest reaches of the galaxy, who have just become new parents, or perhaps are welcoming their third or fourth

it’s subtle at first, so subtle it’s easy to miss

their baby is different

maybe they’re worried. ‘what’s wrong with my baby? will they be ok? are they sick? they don’t cry like my others, doctor.’

maybe they’re amazed. ‘he has such a way with animals. she always seems to know when it will rain. what amazing reflexes! i’ve never seen a child with such a green thumb!’

it only becomes more apparent as time passes. seasons change, children grow, people talk, and the reality that their beloved child has been gifted with something beyond their comprehension becomes a reality that can no longer be ignored

and then, one day, the jedi arrives

they arrive on the doorsteps of homes both humble and opulent, armed with a soothing demeanor, a benign smile, and an explanation that simultaneously relieves and terrifies

sometimes i think about the horrid realization that, despite a willingness to lay down their own life for their child, despite their attempts to provide to the best of their ability, it is not enough. it never will be

sometimes i think of the tearful goodbyes - goodbyes that are not made any less painful with the knowledge that their decision is in the best interest of their baby

‘will they remember me?’ a parent wonders as they gaze with blurry eyes at the retreating form of the jedi, who carries away their entire world, swaddled in fabric that still smells of home. ‘will they remember my lullabies? my voice? will they remember how loved they were?’

years pass. the absence is a gaping wound that never truly heals. they follow the news, daily, scouring titles and clips for information- hoping to catch a glimpse or the smallest assurance that their child is well, growing, prospering

and then, one day, the news stops. everything changes, and nothing could ever prepare them for what follows

governments fall, an empire rises, and parents across the galaxy are rendered immobile, breathless, and shattered at the uttering of one simple sentence:

the jedi are no more

sometimes i think about the parents.

The parents who didn’t believe Palpatine’s lies and got arrested and/or killed for trying to find out the truth about their child.

The siblings who were old enough to remember their baby brother or sister being accepted into the Order and meet a survivor who wasn’t their sibling but may have known them and could tell them who their sibling was, what they were like, that they were loved by their brothers & sisters in the Order.

The family members who never give up hope that maybe they survived.

Kanan The Last Padawan #2 Obi-Wan Kenobi makes an appearance. Was crying from page 1 of this issue but THIS oh THIS made me cry harder

oh no, oh no, oh no, oh NOOO.

I remember seeing the clip of this recording from Rebels, and I still think this is one of the most important Obi-Wan moments I’ve ever seen.

In Revenge of the Sith, I always figured Obi-Wan just changed the beacon broadcasting out of the Temple from “come home” to “stay away,” like a simple coded signal that Jedi would recognize, a string of…beeps, or Morse code, devoid of details or any real context.

But instead, it was this.  And this is everything.  This is why I see Obi-Wan as a teacher, a consummate teacher, a teacher at heart, a teacher to the bone. Because yes, this message is meant for any surviving Jedi, but it’s phrased for the children, for the ones who can’t take care of themselves and don’t know what to do next.  Look at it - Caleb is just a child, and Obi-Wan’s message is structured for people like him.  Adults would know what to do regardless, would recognize immediately the need to disappear, to stay hidden. Adults would be disciplined enough to heed even a simple string of “stay away” beeps.  

But children - children, confronted with the total and utter disintegration of everything they know, and most likely the elimination of the person who is supposed to take care of them - children who heard a simple and unexplained “stay away” would never listen and obey.  They couldn’t.  They would try to come home.  They wouldn’t know what else to do.

Obi-Wan knows that.  That is what teachers do; they anticipate what their children need, what their children are going to do next.  That’s why he says what he does, that’s why he’s so explicit, that’s why he shows them his face and tells them exactly what to do next, that’s why he steps in where their fallen teachers can longer provide direction.  He knows those children know his face. For all he knows, he may be the last adult figure those children have to look to. And so he gives them their last assignment, in terms they can understand; he gives them a last benediction, a last breath of familiarity, he gives them one last utterance of the short string of words that probably mean more to Jedi children than anything else in the world.

His message tells them he knows they are out there.  His message tells them he still believes in them.  His message tells them to have faith, and reminds them - they, the decimated people - that their teachers have not forgotten them.  That someone is still thinking of them first, that there is an adult out there who remembers them, who knows that they need direction.  His message tells them that they are not alone, no matter how dark the coming years will be.

I just…I’m imagining how important that would be.  For any Jedi, but for the children especially.  For the horrified and shell-shocked Caleb Dume’s of the world.  That holoplate is a lifeline, and of course Obi-Wan is the one who threw it, because Obi-Wan is a teacher first, last, and every bit of himself in between. His life is for the Jedi, and their children, and while he, like any teacher, knows he can’t save all his people’s youth singlehandedly, he knows he can at least give them a fighting chance.  

DISASTER LINEAGE APPRECIATION WEEK

Day 5: Favourite Quote –> via Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope

REVENGE OF THE SITH - ORDER 66 / THE JEDI PURGE

war-born child, you were made to hold brawls between your knuckles and bury old friends and old memories between your ribs - (j.p.)