"We will not train the boy. He's too old."

[Kor]

The fact that the Sith didn't seem to have any trouble teaching people how to wield the Force at an older age kind of made the whole thing even more ridiculous. Sure, the Dark Side is "easier," but come on.

Who did the Sith ever "teach how to wield the Force at an older age"?

When the Emperor converted Anakin, Anakin was already a trained and experienced Jedi knight.

And it was the same with Count Dooku.

As for Darth Maul, we don't know when he started training unless we go to the Expanded Universe.

Kor

 

[Arrrrgggh]

I actually think it makes perfect sense, once you reached a certain age you will feel more anger at the world than you have as child, training a frustrade (or nearly) teenager in the way of the force is dangerous!

But ignoring them and letting them do whatever with all the power they have is fine and dandy? Especially for someone who's clearly been described and understood to be one of the most potentially powerful Force users ever conceived? No, that really doesn't make any sense at all.

Also, that sort of thing happens all the time in the real world, particularly in martial arts, ascetic monks, certain fields of the military and government like the Secret Service, and other areas that require a high degree of discipline.

You don't spontaneously become unable to learn to control yourself after you hit a certain age. If anything, you become better at it because you know why you're being trained to do it and how important it is to learn.

It was just a really terrible idea Lucas had, and it shows.

Who did the Sith ever "teach how to wield the Force at an older age"?

I mispoke. They have no problem teaching others the way of the Sith for people over the age of 10 or however young Anakin was in the Phantom Menace (he certainly hadn't hit puberty yet and wasn't much older than any other "youngling" -- what a horrible choice of words -- shown in the movies). As opposed to the Jedi Council who thought he was too old to train as a Jedi, not just how to manage his Force.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Yoda is pretty tiny, it helps him rob cribs.

Why am I imagining, late at night, Yoda sneaking into cribs to secretly breast feed on unsuspecting mothers too tired not to notice how their actual baby is not green?

some day someone strong with the force would restore balance after a dark time.

Nope. The Jedi Council didn't know when the prophecy was set to strike, and probably doubted that the prophecy boy would show up "now" in the current Golden Age since from their ignorant and untimely viewpoint, there was no imbalance in the force that needed for correction. Was there a deeper apologist explanation in a novel?

(From the real world)

In the Year 1999 and the seven months

The Great King of Terror will come from the sky

He will bring back Ghengis Khan

Before and after War rules happily

(Century 10 Quatrain 72).

The Phantom Menace was released in 20 countries in July 1999.

Is it possible that Nostradams was a Star Wars Nerd too?

This might explain Viceroy Nute Gunray's ridiculously racist choice in accent.

 

[Ithekro]

Younglings that don't get picked to become padawan go to one of the other Jedi services. The Agro Corps for one. They tend plants and such. There are other uses for Force Sensitive types other than being trained as a Jedi.

When the Jedi fell, it is said that those that were not Jedi were given the option to join the Empire under Palpatine...or die. This is were some of the Inquisitors came from.

 

[DonIago]

^Source?

 

[Iamnotspock]

^Source?

That would be the old, non-canon, EU.

 

[DonIago]

While I'm definitely a fan of portions of the EU (Thrawn is one of my favorites), I have some trouble with the idea that Palpatine would let Light-side users survive unless he actively intended for them to become Dark-side users at some point in the future.

 

[Ithekro]

Well it was join or die. Those that joined would learn the ways of the Dark Side. The rest would reject the Empire and be killed.

Palpatine keeps his dark side users under a tight leash. Even tighter than he does with Vader.

 

[Guy Gardener]

While I'm definitely a fan of portions of the EU (Thrawn is one of my favorites), I have some trouble with the idea that Palpatine would let Light-side users survive unless he actively intended for them to become Dark-side users at some point in the future.

A Jedi who does what he's Told or a Sith brooding about when it's going to be hir turn to take charge.

To assume total power "Sheev" didn't have to destroy the Jedi, and if he hadn't been playing silly buggers with Anikan, no one would have known he was Sith, while still claiming the job title as Master's of the Universe with the galactic institutionalism of the Imperial domination.

Vader walked around proudly as Sith, so it would seem.

Did Palpatine come out as he buried the Jedi?

 

[DonIago]

From a certain point of view Palpatine just wanted peace for the galaxy. He just happened to consider himself the best person to be the leader in the government that created that peace, and felt the Jedi would be anti-conformist and threaten the peace he created.

Granted it was peace under the threat of planetary annihilation, but you can't make a galactic omelet without breaking a few planetary eggs.

 

[Kor]

Palpatine and Vader wanted order.

I would say that brutal, totalitarian "order" is not quite the same thing as "peace."

Kor

 

[ancient]

Palpatine and Vader wanted order.

I would say that brutal, totalitarian "order" is not quite the same thing as "peace."

Kor

They just wanted to stop the trolling.

 

[USS KG5]

What was the council's alternative plan to training Anakin? He's too old to start training to be a Jedi, but he still has the potential to be a very powerful Force user one day.

What would they do if not train him? Send him back home and hope for the best?

I'll give Lucas some credit, and say he deliberately makes the Jedi Council a well meaning group of brilliant people who nonetheless make terrible decisions due to tradition, hubris and there being no real power to challenge them.

Because Lucas remembers Vietnam, amongst other things.

Not training Anakin opens the possibility of someone else finding and training him, like someone else did with Darth Maul. As they already know his power, essentially saying "screw it, he's too old, send him back to Tatooine" is pathologically stupid.

 

[ancient]

I like the idea that the Jedi order was in decline, that they had become obsessed with tradition, they were complacent, they were losing their ability to use the force even.

Lucas is a good idea man...he just needs to hire humans to write the drama.