One thing I’d like to see in SW media is the presence of more fully adult padawans. Obi-Wan was 25-26 in TPM and nowhere is this implied that it is abnormal. In AOTC, Anakin is 20 and mentions that he wouldn’t be the youngest to take the trials successfully, implying that taking the trials at his age isn’t exactly common. But sometimes it feels like being elevated to knighthood is presented like graduating from high school or something. I like the idea of an extended apprenticeship not just to make sure a Jedi is “good at the Force” or whatever, but to make sure they’re able to prove an ongoing, steadfast commitment before they devote their whole life to the order. It also gives them plenty of time to decide if they want to leave to get married or do something else with their life. It shouldn’t just be about raw power.
It still kind of annoys me that the actress who played Barriss in AOTC was about 24 at the time but the writers chose to age her character down to a teenager for TCW (Not to mention other annoying things about what they did to her character but that’s a digression).
they’re able to prove an ongoing, steadfast commitment before they devote their whole lives to the order
YES. Ok so like I agree there should be more adult padawans and I want to quickly go on a tangent about this line.
So in a lot of jedi discourse we see people be like “the Jedi are FORCED not to be in relationships and how EVIL is that they’re taken when their TOO YOUNG to decide” and like fine I get it.
Except jedi obviously have the choice to leave the order if they want. Obi-Wan mentioned he would have left for Satine. Ahsoka leaves and there’s no fighting her on it. We saw the choice Luke gave Grogu in tbobf. So the Jedi are raised in this culture but are given the choice to leave and do other things. Much like a child being raised religious but given the choice to not go to church or temple when they grow up.
But then some people turn around and say “but in the archives Jocasta Nu says only twenty jedi have ever left. Their statues are up in the archives, including Dooku’s.”
But here’s the thing. They didn’t add a statue for Ahsoka and Barriss. And technically it’s stated only twenty Jedi Masters have left the order.
So I think OP is right on the nose. Part of the trials is a Jedi padawan standing up in front of witnesses and devoting themselves to the order. When Obi-Wan tells anakin “you have made a commitment to the Jedi order, a commitment not easily broken” it’s because he, as an adult (20), made an oath to be in the order and follow all the rules. Going through the trials means you’re committing yourself to the life of a Jedi. And he made that oath while in a secret marriage with Padme. Meaning he never really cared about his oath or the rules that came with being a Jedi.
And the reason it’s so important for the padawan’s to be older when they go through the trial is that they fully understand what it means: you stay in the order and you will never get married/ have children. You are letting go of attachments. You are devoting yourself to the code.
And we have canon evidence this is true. Besides the fact that no one takes out the chisel and starts carving an Ahsoka statue when she decides to leave. We know that Padawans aren’t considered full Jedi. But we also know Jedi are always learning. And it’s often the student who teacher the master. So it’s something else that makes you a Jedi besides knowledge: the trials. Which is probably why Luke was able to call himself a Jedi with so little training. Because he was old enough to devote himself to it.
And we see Kanan become a Jedi knight after he promises to follow the Jedi way and not try to control Ezra/ let his attachment and need to protect Ezra get in the way of his duties.
Also adult padawan and master relationships are funny (source: obi-wan and qui-gon just vibing while piloting a submarine away from monsters and knocking Jar Jar unconscious)
