"It is more complicated than saying 'I don't know'. It is the trial of having to take responsibility for my part in a cataclysmic failure, accept that responsibility and risk placing myself back in the same position."
Obi-Wan took a deep breath, and reached for the tea pot.
"Please, make yourself comfortable, Juhani. This is going to take awhile." Pouring himself a fresh cup, the man sat back and with a deep breath, began to talk.
"Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo, at some point in his life discovered the power of the Dark Side and the galaxy gave birth to the first Sith to come along in over a thousand years. Not only was Palpatine the first Sith Master to rise in all that time, he is by far the most gifted manipulator the Sith have ever seen." Truly, what the man had orchestrated, even with the assistance of the Dark Side of the Force, was ... impressive.
"My fate became entangled with his, through my master and through his master. My master was Qui-Gon Jinn, who had been a Padawan apprentice to Dooku, who in turn had been the Padawan apprentice to our Order's Grandmaster, Yoda." He glanced up at her, apologetically, since he understood the names would mean little to her. Yoda's title might be useful, but at this point in the story, the names wouldn't mean much. His expression said be patient with me, it will make sense as I go along.
"Qui-Gon was considered a maverick by the Jedi Council and the Jedi Order. He was very powerfully aligned to the Living Force and he believed strongly in the will of the Force, rather than the will of the Council, which he saw as the will of the Senate. And he was not wrong. Qui-Gon was also a student of the Jedi Mystics and the prophecies. This often put him at odds with the Council, they would tell him to do X and he would proceed to do Y."
Obi-Wan's expression, as he relayed this, was one of fond exasperation.
"Yoda actually apprenticed me to Qui-Gon, he did not choose me. We figured out, down the road that this had probably been a deliberate move on the part of the Council, as I was extremely rebellious and independent as a young Initiate. Yoda, no doubt, realized that I would rebel against any master I was partnered with, so he partnered me with Qui-Gon, who was the Order rebel, knowing that I would then become the perfect follower of the rules. Which is pretty much how it went."
Meddlesome troll.
"Qui-Gon and I were master and apprentice for twelve years. During that time Palpatine was slowly rising in power and putting his pieces into motion on the board, right under the Jedi Council's nose. I had been Qui-Gon's apprentice for about two years when Dooku left the Jedi Order. Though he was never as flagrant in his disregard for the Order's rules and regulations, he was utterly disillusioned by the Order and ultimately he walked away.
I believe he tried to convince Qui-Gon to leave, a time or two but Qui-Gon's belief in the Force and in the role of the Jedi as servants to the force, stayed my master's hand. It also probably signed his death warrant."
Move along Obi-Wan, move along.
"I was about twenty-five when Palpatine began to move more overtly in the galaxy. One of his favorite gambits was the set up two sides of opposing figures, and then place himself in positions of influence on both sides. In this case, he -as Darth Sidious- had manipulated the Trade Federation," Obi-Wan paused gave his head a shake and tried to clarify for her. "Neimoidian's held primary control of the Trade Federation. Sidious coordinated for them to blockade the planet of Naboo."
Palpatine's home planet. Obi-Wan gives Juhani a moment to connect all those dots.
"Master Qui-Gon and I were sent to negotiate with the Trade Federation to remove the blockade. While we were on their command ship, they made an attempt to assassinate us." From his tone, she can no doubt surmise about how well that went for the Trade Federation. "But there was a second part to Sidious's plan. The Trade Federation, using a droid army, invaded Naboo and captured the democratically elected queen."
Now it was time for a tea refill, and he gave her another apologetic look. He had promised this was long.
"Qui-Gon and I freed the queen and overran the blockage to get her out with the intent of bringing her to Coruscant. Our ship was damaged, too greatly to make it back to Coruscant and we were forced to hide on the planet Tatooine. While we were on that planet, seeking to repair the ship, two things happened. Qui-Gon discovered a young boy, Anakin Skywalker, a child with the highest midi-chlorians count we had ever encountered. We also encountered Sidious's apprentice, the Sith Darth Maul."
Obi-Wan moved quickly over the next parts of the story. The return to Coruscant, Qui-Gon insisting that Anakin Skywalker was The Chosen One, of prophecy, and that he be taken into the Temple, despite his age of nine. Perhaps this might help Juhani understand some of the changes the Order had gone through; the fact that the Council would have rejected a nine-year old as 'too old'. Palpatine manipulating Padme into calling for a vote of no confidence in Valorum and thus securing the Chancellorship for himself. Finally, Qui-Gon's repudiation of Obi-Wan in the Council chamber and claiming Anakin as his new Padawan Learner, and then it was time to go back to Naboo.
"It is my belief, after all this time, that Sidious knew Qui-Gon was the greatest threat to his plans and that Darth Maul was under orders to destroy Qui-Gon. We fought Maul, I was separated from them and Maul struck Qui-Gon a fatal blow." Again Obi-Wan moves quickly over his own role in the remainder of the dual, as if it were unimportant to him; which ... it was.
"As Qui-Gon lay dying, he charged me to train Anakin, insisting with his dying breath that Anakin was The Chosen One, and would bring balance to the Force."
There was a pause here, a long pause as Obi-Wan relived Qui-Gon's death, and the jump from Padawan Learner, to Master. Looking back, he knows that there was no way he had been ready for that responsibility. Qui-Gon had meant it for the best, Obi-Wan believed that, but his master had unintentionally set both Obi-Wan and Anakin up for failure.
Obi-Wan topped off his tea and began to explain, in as high a level as he could, the challenges that Anakin had faced in the Temple as a Jedi Padawan. Not only being separated from his mother, but the resentment from the other Initiates and even the thinly veiled hostility of some Knights and other Masters -looking at you Windu-. Forget the burden of being "The Chosen One."
The two of them had tried their best, Anakin proving to be just as powerful, but also kind, compassionate and good as Qui-Gon had believed. Obi-Wan brought the story along quickly, to the events that would occur when Anakin was around nineteen. The return of Padme into their lives, and Anakin's love for the strong young Senator from Naboo. The steps that would put Anakin and Padme in close proximity, while Obi-Wan was sent to find the planet Kamino and the clone army that appeared to have been commissioned by Jedi Council member Master Sifo Dyas.
At this point, it was time for another pot of tea. Obi-Wan unfolded himself from his kneeling position and walked over to the kitchenette set the kettle back to heating.
"At some point, after Darth Maul's 'death', Sidious got to Count Dooku and made him his next apprentice. Dooku and Sidious took over control of the clone army and once again, Sidious set up both sides against the middle."
Turning to lean on the counter while the kettle heated, Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his stomach.
"Dooku was in command of a growing Separatists movement of planets and star systems that wanted to break away from the Republic. Sidious, under the guise of Palpatine, was of course the head of the Republic and used the Separatists actions, orchestrated between himself and Dooku, to thrust us into war. The Clone Army, under the command of the Jedi at the behest of the Republic Senate, against the droid armies of the Separatists, lead by Count Dooku."
Looking back, the red flags seemed so very prominent that Obi-Wan could barely remember why he never saw it. Why Yoda, Plo Koon and other members of the Council, never saw it. Eyes cast up towards the ceiling, the look far away he expressed these thoughts after a long moment of silence.
"The Order was so corrupted by our own inflated sense of self-importance and hubris that none of us saw how we were being manipulated. We were Jedi, keepers of the peace and we blindly allowed ourselves to be made into Generals, put in command of battalions of soldiers, leading a war we should never have supported."
He paused, eyes coming back to her, old and haunted as he continued without giving himself any mercy.
"I sat on the High Council during that time. Sometimes I argued against what we were doing, what was happening. Sometimes I didn't say a word. Merely took my battalions out on the front lines and fought. Never once did I stop and really question the orders we were taking from the Senate; from Palpatine. Never once did I raise the alarm at the freedoms we were giving up, the loss of the impartiality of the Jedi Order."
All things Qui-Gon would have been shouting from the rooftops. Things that even Dooku tried to warn Obi-Wan about.
"Even Satine tied to remain neutral. Her perspective ..." he began before shaking his head. That was a side tale to the main events and one that Juhani did not need to be taken down at this time.
The kettle whistled and Obi-Wan turned to indulge in the soothing ritual of making a fresh pot of tea. Carrying the warm little pot back to where they were sitting, he knelt and set the pot down, giving Juhani first rights of refusal.
"Concurrent to everything I have told you, is the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker." He took a deep breath and then backed up events for her. Going back to the beginning of the war, back to when Sidious orchestrated the capture and murder of Shmi Skywalker and Anakin's slaughter of the Tuskens. Back to Anakin and Padme's secret marriage -the worst kept secret- Anakin's graduation to Jedi Knight, and the slow, cunning seduction Palpatine wove around the young Jedi.
"I tried to talk to him about his relationship with Padme, to share some of my own experiences with attachment, but I never got the words right. I should have tried harder, I let my anxiety get the better of me and … I should have been more direct.
Sidious used my blindness, my dogmatic adherence to the Jedi Code, to the Council as an in to Anakin’s deepest fears. He was able to position himself as a father figure, where I was never comfortable in the role, and was long whispering in Anakin’s ear; seducing him with the promise of powers that the Jedi would not condone.
Like the way, Sidious was on both sides of the war, so too was he on both sides of Anakin’s greatest fears, stoking them and soothing them in turn. Then fate stepped in and handed him the final piece he needed to put all his plans into motion. Padme became pregnant."
no subject
Obi-Wan took a deep breath, and reached for the tea pot.
"Please, make yourself comfortable, Juhani. This is going to take awhile." Pouring himself a fresh cup, the man sat back and with a deep breath, began to talk.
"Senator Sheev Palpatine of Naboo, at some point in his life discovered the power of the Dark Side and the galaxy gave birth to the first Sith to come along in over a thousand years. Not only was Palpatine the first Sith Master to rise in all that time, he is by far the most gifted manipulator the Sith have ever seen." Truly, what the man had orchestrated, even with the assistance of the Dark Side of the Force, was ... impressive.
"My fate became entangled with his, through my master and through his master. My master was Qui-Gon Jinn, who had been a Padawan apprentice to Dooku, who in turn had been the Padawan apprentice to our Order's Grandmaster, Yoda." He glanced up at her, apologetically, since he understood the names would mean little to her. Yoda's title might be useful, but at this point in the story, the names wouldn't mean much. His expression said be patient with me, it will make sense as I go along.
"Qui-Gon was considered a maverick by the Jedi Council and the Jedi Order. He was very powerfully aligned to the Living Force and he believed strongly in the will of the Force, rather than the will of the Council, which he saw as the will of the Senate. And he was not wrong. Qui-Gon was also a student of the Jedi Mystics and the prophecies. This often put him at odds with the Council, they would tell him to do X and he would proceed to do Y."
Obi-Wan's expression, as he relayed this, was one of fond exasperation.
"Yoda actually apprenticed me to Qui-Gon, he did not choose me. We figured out, down the road that this had probably been a deliberate move on the part of the Council, as I was extremely rebellious and independent as a young Initiate. Yoda, no doubt, realized that I would rebel against any master I was partnered with, so he partnered me with Qui-Gon, who was the Order rebel, knowing that I would then become the perfect follower of the rules. Which is pretty much how it went."
Meddlesome troll.
"Qui-Gon and I were master and apprentice for twelve years. During that time Palpatine was slowly rising in power and putting his pieces into motion on the board, right under the Jedi Council's nose. I had been Qui-Gon's apprentice for about two years when Dooku left the Jedi Order. Though he was never as flagrant in his disregard for the Order's rules and regulations, he was utterly disillusioned by the Order and ultimately he walked away.
I believe he tried to convince Qui-Gon to leave, a time or two but Qui-Gon's belief in the Force and in the role of the Jedi as servants to the force, stayed my master's hand. It also probably signed his death warrant."
Move along Obi-Wan, move along.
"I was about twenty-five when Palpatine began to move more overtly in the galaxy. One of his favorite gambits was the set up two sides of opposing figures, and then place himself in positions of influence on both sides. In this case, he -as Darth Sidious- had manipulated the Trade Federation," Obi-Wan paused gave his head a shake and tried to clarify for her. "Neimoidian's held primary control of the Trade Federation. Sidious coordinated for them to blockade the planet of Naboo."
Palpatine's home planet. Obi-Wan gives Juhani a moment to connect all those dots.
"Master Qui-Gon and I were sent to negotiate with the Trade Federation to remove the blockade. While we were on their command ship, they made an attempt to assassinate us." From his tone, she can no doubt surmise about how well that went for the Trade Federation. "But there was a second part to Sidious's plan. The Trade Federation, using a droid army, invaded Naboo and captured the democratically elected queen."
Now it was time for a tea refill, and he gave her another apologetic look. He had promised this was long.
"Qui-Gon and I freed the queen and overran the blockage to get her out with the intent of bringing her to Coruscant. Our ship was damaged, too greatly to make it back to Coruscant and we were forced to hide on the planet Tatooine. While we were on that planet, seeking to repair the ship, two things happened. Qui-Gon discovered a young boy, Anakin Skywalker, a child with the highest midi-chlorians count we had ever encountered. We also encountered Sidious's apprentice, the Sith Darth Maul."
Obi-Wan moved quickly over the next parts of the story. The return to Coruscant, Qui-Gon insisting that Anakin Skywalker was The Chosen One, of prophecy, and that he be taken into the Temple, despite his age of nine. Perhaps this might help Juhani understand some of the changes the Order had gone through; the fact that the Council would have rejected a nine-year old as 'too old'. Palpatine manipulating Padme into calling for a vote of no confidence in Valorum and thus securing the Chancellorship for himself. Finally, Qui-Gon's repudiation of Obi-Wan in the Council chamber and claiming Anakin as his new Padawan Learner, and then it was time to go back to Naboo.
"It is my belief, after all this time, that Sidious knew Qui-Gon was the greatest threat to his plans and that Darth Maul was under orders to destroy Qui-Gon. We fought Maul, I was separated from them and Maul struck Qui-Gon a fatal blow." Again Obi-Wan moves quickly over his own role in the remainder of the dual, as if it were unimportant to him; which ... it was.
"As Qui-Gon lay dying, he charged me to train Anakin, insisting with his dying breath that Anakin was The Chosen One, and would bring balance to the Force."
There was a pause here, a long pause as Obi-Wan relived Qui-Gon's death, and the jump from Padawan Learner, to Master. Looking back, he knows that there was no way he had been ready for that responsibility. Qui-Gon had meant it for the best, Obi-Wan believed that, but his master had unintentionally set both Obi-Wan and Anakin up for failure.
Obi-Wan topped off his tea and began to explain, in as high a level as he could, the challenges that Anakin had faced in the Temple as a Jedi Padawan. Not only being separated from his mother, but the resentment from the other Initiates and even the thinly veiled hostility of some Knights and other Masters -looking at you Windu-. Forget the burden of being "The Chosen One."
The two of them had tried their best, Anakin proving to be just as powerful, but also kind, compassionate and good as Qui-Gon had believed. Obi-Wan brought the story along quickly, to the events that would occur when Anakin was around nineteen. The return of Padme into their lives, and Anakin's love for the strong young Senator from Naboo. The steps that would put Anakin and Padme in close proximity, while Obi-Wan was sent to find the planet Kamino and the clone army that appeared to have been commissioned by Jedi Council member Master Sifo Dyas.
At this point, it was time for another pot of tea. Obi-Wan unfolded himself from his kneeling position and walked over to the kitchenette set the kettle back to heating.
"At some point, after Darth Maul's 'death', Sidious got to Count Dooku and made him his next apprentice. Dooku and Sidious took over control of the clone army and once again, Sidious set up both sides against the middle."
Turning to lean on the counter while the kettle heated, Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his stomach.
"Dooku was in command of a growing Separatists movement of planets and star systems that wanted to break away from the Republic. Sidious, under the guise of Palpatine, was of course the head of the Republic and used the Separatists actions, orchestrated between himself and Dooku, to thrust us into war. The Clone Army, under the command of the Jedi at the behest of the Republic Senate, against the droid armies of the Separatists, lead by Count Dooku."
Looking back, the red flags seemed so very prominent that Obi-Wan could barely remember why he never saw it. Why Yoda, Plo Koon and other members of the Council, never saw it. Eyes cast up towards the ceiling, the look far away he expressed these thoughts after a long moment of silence.
"The Order was so corrupted by our own inflated sense of self-importance and hubris that none of us saw how we were being manipulated. We were Jedi, keepers of the peace and we blindly allowed ourselves to be made into Generals, put in command of battalions of soldiers, leading a war we should never have supported."
He paused, eyes coming back to her, old and haunted as he continued without giving himself any mercy.
"I sat on the High Council during that time. Sometimes I argued against what we were doing, what was happening. Sometimes I didn't say a word. Merely took my battalions out on the front lines and fought. Never once did I stop and really question the orders we were taking from the Senate; from Palpatine. Never once did I raise the alarm at the freedoms we were giving up, the loss of the impartiality of the Jedi Order."
All things Qui-Gon would have been shouting from the rooftops. Things that even Dooku tried to warn Obi-Wan about.
"Even Satine tied to remain neutral. Her perspective ..." he began before shaking his head. That was a side tale to the main events and one that Juhani did not need to be taken down at this time.
The kettle whistled and Obi-Wan turned to indulge in the soothing ritual of making a fresh pot of tea. Carrying the warm little pot back to where they were sitting, he knelt and set the pot down, giving Juhani first rights of refusal.
"Concurrent to everything I have told you, is the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker." He took a deep breath and then backed up events for her. Going back to the beginning of the war, back to when Sidious orchestrated the capture and murder of Shmi Skywalker and Anakin's slaughter of the Tuskens. Back to Anakin and Padme's secret marriage -the worst kept secret- Anakin's graduation to Jedi Knight, and the slow, cunning seduction Palpatine wove around the young Jedi.
"I tried to talk to him about his relationship with Padme, to share some of my own experiences with attachment, but I never got the words right. I should have tried harder, I let my anxiety get the better of me and … I should have been more direct.
Sidious used my blindness, my dogmatic adherence to the Jedi Code, to the Council as an in to Anakin’s deepest fears. He was able to position himself as a father figure, where I was never comfortable in the role, and was long whispering in Anakin’s ear; seducing him with the promise of powers that the Jedi would not condone.
Like the way, Sidious was on both sides of the war, so too was he on both sides of Anakin’s greatest fears, stoking them and soothing them in turn. Then fate stepped in and handed him the final piece he needed to put all his plans into motion. Padme became pregnant."