“The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It is an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.”
Those few words spoken by Sir Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi instantly made the Force and the Jedi something enigmatic and yet very accessible. Over the years, really dedicated Star Wars fans even put Jedi down as their chosen religion on Census Surveys. Over the years, the ways of the Jedi have become a popular way of life, and one of the most popular fictional order of characters in science fiction.
Thanks to the Expanded Universe of comics, novels, video and role-playing games, the Jedi have expanded their order way beyond the handful we’ve seen in the movies. Creators have formed many guidelines for the Jedi Order to follow, too. Like any religious order or just a plain old club, when you don’t follow the rules, you risk being excommunicated from the Jedi Order. Or worse – you can fall to the Dark Side Of The Force.
How well do you know the Jedi Order and their limitations? What makes a Jedi Knight and what can lure them astray to the Sith? From Yoda to Rey and all Jedi in between, here are 25 Things The Jedi Aren’t Allowed To Do In Star Wars.
“No Time For Love Dr. Jones”
Once we all saw what an abysmal film Attack Of The Clones and its love story would be, we found out why Jedi can’t love. It’s just way too boring and plodding and groan-inducing the way George Lucas tells it.
In all seriousness, Jedi not only shouldn’t fall in love. They are forbidden from it. Unless you’re in love with the Jedi Order, there’s too much drama in love that can derail your training and possibly lead you down the Dark Path.
Leave The Past Behind
While it might seem cruel, there is a good reason that Jedi hopeful are taken from their families while they are very little. The older they get, the more attachments they’d have and that can possibly consume a Padawan or even a Jedi Knight.
All Anakin could ever think about during much of his training was his past and his mother on Tatooine. Hearing his mother’s pain, he headed home to visit and the consequences were dire. He annihilated the tribe of Sand People who had taken Shmi out of hatred and vengeance.
Revenge Of The Jedi
As George Lucas was gearing up to make the concluding chapter of the Star Wars saga, Return Of The Jedi, the story was originally called Revenge Of The Jedi. Posters were made up, action figures were produced, and all kinds of other media was in the middle of being manufactured, all with the Revenge branding.
At crunch time, Lucas decided that vengeance was not a Jedi concept. While it made sense, there was no storyline reason given. But thanks to that decision, the Jedi have one more path to the Dark Side and collectors had a new line of merchandise to seek out.
Can’t Have More Than One Padawan At A Time
The Sith have a rule of two to keep the stabbings and the betrayals to a bare minimum. Otherwise, you’d have about 87 Sith Lords constantly jockeying for position. The Jedi have a similar rule of two – a Jedi can’t take on more than one Padawan at a time.
There isn’t much reason given for this rule. Perhaps it’s the best way for a Padawan to get all of the attention and training he or she needs on their way to becoming a Jedi.
No Material Possessions
If you didn’t already realize, the Jedi are like the monks of the galaxy, meditating and sharing their wisdom wherever they go. They all work very hard to achieve their ability to be one with the Force and utilize its power to do tremendous things.
In the parlance of our times – they don’t have any time to own possessions. All a Jedi needs are the robes on his back, a lightsaber, and the occasional Jedi Starfighter. You’re not going to be seeing Jedi palatial estates any time soon.
Can’t Fight The Future
Some Jedi actually have the ability to look into the future. The two that the movies have shown do this are Luke and his daddy. Both times, more or less, Yoda tried to stop the Skywalker boys from doing anything stupid. Both times the little green guy failed.
Thanks to trying to fight the future, Anakin fell to the Dark Side trying to save Padmé. Luke bolted for Bespin trying to save his friends and wound up with a frozen Hansicle and a severed hand in the process.
Shouldn’t Use Certain Techniques
Both sides of the Force can do phenomenal things depending on how someone channels their energies. Since the Jedi were bound to keeping peace and unity throughout the galaxy, many techniques are forbidden by the council.
A good rule of thumb is if it leads to the Dark Side or it alters the rules of time and space is that the technique is probably forbidden by the Jedi Council. Manipulating midichlorians, creating Force Bombs, and many more attacks not only shouldn’t be used, but they’re also forbidden by the Jedi Council.
Go Against The Council
Once you’ve achieved the rank of Jedi Master, you might find yourself invited to have a seat on the Jedi Council. To go against Council rulings is something that is not easily forgiven. Qui-Gon had achieved the rank of Master, but his frequent knocking heads with certain rulings meant he was never going to have a seat.
Anakin has repeatedly gone against the Council, strangely enough – he was usually in the right to (re: Ashoka Tano). It’s a catch-22, if the Council has admitted their folly, then they would have admitted they’re not infallible. But how they reacted to Anakin also was part of what drove him to the Dark Side.
Too Old For Training
When Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan crashed on Tatooine and found Anakin, Jinn thought that the two Jedi had found a powerful young boy. One who might bring balance to the Force; whatever that means.
But Anakin was already a young boy with a heap of attachments to his mother and bad memories of growing up surrounded by sand. Most, if not all young Jedi are whisked away from their homeworlds at very young ages. They do that for the exact reasons that the Council did not want Anakin to be trained.
Can’t Have Children
If Jedi can’t have attachments, then it should go without saying that children are pretty huge attachment to have – yet there are some kids who can look to a Jedi as their one or both of their parents.
In the now-Legends, there have been plenty of Jedi kids, there’s even a book, “Children Of The Jedi.” But so far in the films, only Luke, Leia, and Ben Solo are the only kids who had a Force sensitive parent.
Cannot Hold Titles
Jedi cannot own a lot, if any material possessions and that most of them are training since very early on their lives. They might not even know how anything about their home or home world.
That would make it pretty hard for Jedi to hold any societal titles except for Padawan, Knight, etc. But when Dooku left the Jedi Order due to his dissolution, he headed to his homeworld, where he learned he was a Count. He got his inheritance and began to train under the Sith.
Can’t Know The Truth
When Anakin turned to the Dark Side, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Bail Organa whisked away his offspring and concocted a story that while truthful, was just fanciful enough to keep the exact truth hidden away so his children wouldn’t want to follow in his footsteps, or be hunted by Vader.
“From a Certain Point of View,” is one of the film’s most famous lines, but it’s also proof that the Jedi aren’t always so honest if it’s not in their best interests to be so.
No Fear
Yoda said it explicitly in The Phantom Menace. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to dislike, and dislike leads to pain. It is the path to the Dark Side and Anakin was allowed to walk it by the Jedi. For some reason, Yoda allowed Obi-Wan to train the boy, even though plenty of Jedi knew it was a bad idea.
There was a whole heap of fear inside the boy for what would become of his mother back on Tatooine. It was when he went home that the fear turned towards anger.
No Anger
Anakin headed home to find his mother. But she was taken by Sandpeople and harmed for who knows how long. Instead of controlling his emotions, Anakin let his emotions control him and in a fit of rage and anger, he cut down the whole tribe.
Some might argue that he was in the right to, they did take his mother. But he went beyond saving her and annihilated women and children. Had he felt remorse, it might have been a forgivable act, but the Padawan allowed his anger to turn to hate.
No Dislike
As the dislike boiled up in Anakin, he grew more and more tired of how the Jedi treated him. He grew frustrated with the limitations of the Jedi and the restrictions they would place on him. His friendship with Chancellor Palpatine allowed him to vent about it to someone.
He didn’t know that Palpatine was a Sith Lord at that time. Between Palpatine egging him on and his own issues with the Council, it was prime fodder for Anakin to become Darth Vader.
No Emotion
It’s the very first line of the Jedi mantra – “There is no emotion, only peace.” Jedi traditionally have to do their best to keep their emotions in check. When they don’t it’s death or the Dark Side for them.
Mace Windu was powerful enough to defeat Palpatine in battle (or Palpatine allow himself to lose?), but the second his emotions for how dangerous and evil he was began to cloud his judgment, he let his guard down and was fried right out of the window on Coruscant.
Can’t Be Selfish
With all of the things a Jedi can’t do, it seems like a no-brainer that being selfish should be at the top of that list. It really does go against everything the Jedi Order stands for. Selfish people only think about and act for themselves.
The Jedi, of course, don’t do any of that, they’re allegiance is to maintaining peace in the Republic and the democracy of the galaxy. There’s no place in that to try and use the Force for personal gain.
Be Close-Minded
“Only a Sith deals in absolutes, I will do what I must,” Obi-Wan had said to his former student, friend, and brother right before the greatest lightsaber duel in Star Wars history. Like a lot of lines in the films, it seems throwaway at first, and then fans and creators expound on it.
Jedi, unlike their Sith counterparts, have to be able to discuss and hash out their issues inside the walls of the Council. If they couldn’t do that, in order to refine their laws and customs, the Order would be lost.
Tell Lies
There’s telling someone a truth from a certain point of view and then there’s outright lying. However, from another point of view, the Jedi have told a lie or two, or have been deceitful in order to gain a leg up.
Dooku was so vilified by the Jedi that even when he was telling Obi-Wan the truth about Sidious, the Jedi Knight did not believe his former friend. That is because only the Sith deal in lies and deceit.
Be Political
Obi-Wan jokes about he isn’t a fan of politicians or politics, but it was much more than a quirky one-off joke. Since they are sworn to uphold peace throughout the galaxy, they don’t partake in politics. Like a lot of do-gooders in our own world, the Jedi know better than to get into the muddy waters politicians like to play in.
The one time they were forced to was when Palpatine requested that Anakin be placed on the Council. That was the final spark Sheev needed to gain complete control of the Senate and create a Galactic Empire.
