The Jedi's Role in the Rise of the Empire: A Deeper Look

The Republic's Fall: A Metaphorical Couch

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke Skywalker controversially blamed the Jedi for Palpatine's rise to power, yet a hilarious fan illustration may prove that the character was misguided.

Palpatine's eyes from The Rise Of Skywalker loom over some of the prequel-era Jedi.

Undoubtedly the most divisive aspect of The Last Jedi was Luke's character changes, with the Jedi hero of the original trilogy becoming a cynical old man by the time of the sequel movies. While many would argue this was a compelling direction to take the character, others claim it disrespects what George Lucas wanted for Luke Skywalker.

Qui-Gon Jinn and Prequel Jedi

One of the major changes to Luke's character was that he believed the Jedi of the prequels were to blame for Palpatine's rise to power, something that upcoming Star Wars TV shows may continue to support via The Acolyte. Similarly, upcoming Star Wars movies may reveal more about Palpatine's plan through the Emperor's connections to Rey Skywalker. Despite these upcoming teases, the argument of whether Luke's perspective was correct has been prevalent since The Last Jedi's 2017 release date.

Star Wars' Prequel-era Jedi and Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi

The Jedi Aren't Solely To Blame For The Republic's Failure

While the Jedi Order may have been able to do more, multiple elements led to the Empire's rise.

New Rogue Sith and Palpatine in Star Wars-1

The illustration in question imagines the Republic using the simple metaphor of lifting a couch. In this metaphor, the Jedi Order sees the Senate struggling to lift the couch and offers to help. In doing so, the Jedi and the Senate begin a co-dependent relationship with the former holding the back of the couch while the latter holds the front, thus keeping the Republic afloat - emblematic of the High Republic Era. The illustration then switches, signifying the story of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In this second image, the Jedi are angrily holding up their end of the couch, or the Republic, while the Senate overlooks their responsibilities.

Emperor palpatine galactic senate star wars

The image humorously shows a Senate member sitting on the front arm of the couch, drinking in ignorant bliss. The idea conveyed through this section of the illustration is that the Jedi are continuing to do the work they promised, only that it is made much more difficult by the flagrant disregard of the Senate. In the case of Star Wars, the Jedi are upholding their promise by continuing to serve the Republic in the way that only they can and are having to push against the Senate's corruption to keep the galaxy moving forward peacefully.

An illustration of a Jedi carrying the back of a couch and a Senate member carrying the front

The crux of the concept is that, if the Jedi drops their end of the couch, the entire thing crumbles. This signifies that the Jedi are what kept the Republic going amid the Senate's corruption and that Palpatine spotted this weakness before devising a plan to make the Republic fall for good. This section of the Star Wars saga is depicted by the Jedi holding up their end of the couch with one arm, while the other fights off the Separatists, symbolizing The Clone Wars. To make matters worse, the Senate continues to turn a blind eye to the Jedi Order’s struggles at the back of the couch, or Republic.

An illustration of a Jedi carrying the back of a couch while a Senate member sits drinking on the front

In a humorous take on Palpatine's manipulation of the Senate and the Jedi, the illustration shows the iconic Sith Lord jumping up and down on the couch. Eventually, the strain on the Jedi becomes too much and the couch is dropped, exemplifying Order 66, the destruction of the Jedi Order, and the reformation of the Republic into the Galactic Empire. This illustration is an incredibly simplified version of events, though it depicts the fall of the Republic in an interesting, believable way that can tie into Luke Skywalker's journey in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

An illustration of a Jedi fighting off a droid and holding a couch with one hand while Palpatine jumps on the couch and the Senate member sits idly by

Luke Is Wrong About The Jedi... & That's The Whole Point Of TLJ

The Last Jedi's critics often forget that the point of Luke's story is that he was wrong, thus completing his character arc.

Mark Hamill Luke Skywalker as seen in the Star Wars sequels: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi

In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke is shown in self-imposed exile as a response to his failure to restart the Jedi Order. In following the strict teachings of the Jedi from the prequel era, Luke failed to see the darkness corrupting Ben Solo before the latter turned into Kylo Ren and destroyed everything Luke built. Realizing that he had made the same mistakes as the Jedi of the past, Luke turned away from everything and insisted that the Jedi had to end.

Throughout the film, Luke tries to explain to Rey that the legacy of the Jedi is failure. However, the illustration above - and The Last Jedi itself - are made to prove that Luke is wrong in his beliefs. While the Jedi made mistakes, it was the failures of the Senate and the manipulations of Palpatine that drove the Jedi Order to its breaking point. The above illustration depicts this in a much more simplified way than Star Wars: Episode VIII, though many critics of The Last Jedi often forget that the entire point of Luke's journey in the film is that he is wrong about the Jedi.

By the end of The Last Jedi, Luke comes to realize that the Order should not end. Instead, the Jedi need to evolve beyond the mistakes of the past, beyond corrupt governments, and beyond the evil of the Sith to become something new. Luke realizes that this can be achieved through Rey as he inspires hope in the galaxy and the Resistance by facing down the First Order. What the humorous illustration shows is that there were multitudes of factors that combined to lead to the fall of the Republic and that the Jedi were not to blame, something supported by Star Wars: The Last Jedi via Luke's character arc.