This Jedi Council Love Triangle Proves How Badly The Jedi Failed Anakin

One Jedi Council love triangle in the High Republic Era proves how badly the Jedi failed Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. When George Lucas returned to Star Wars for the prequels, most viewers assumed they would get to see the Jedi Order at its height. In reality, though, he was far more interested in showing how flawed and fragile the Jedi had become. This was particularly true in terms of their views on attachment, with the Jedi struggling to empathize with Anakin Skywalker as he wrestled with his love for Padmé Amidala.

The last few years have seen Lucasfilm Publishing step back further in time to the High Republic Era, an age when the light of the Jedi and the Republic shone brightly across the galaxy. Attentive readers will already have picked up countless hints of the Jedi Order’s coming fall; there are hints of darkness in the light. But it’s undeniably a much healthier time for the Jedi, and that’s even the case in the views held on attachment. In fact, a surprising love triangle involving the Jedi Council itself shows how badly the prequel order failed Anakin and Padmé.

Star Wars Has Confirmed Jedi Younglings & Padawans Had Relationships

Although the Jedi forbade attachment, they weren’t afraid of love

Jedi Master Avar Kriss is a celebrated hero of the High Republic Era, known across the galaxy for saving an entire planet when she coordinated every Jedi in the galaxy in a staggering display of Force power. Charles Soule’s Light of the Jedi revealed she had a relationship with a fellow Jedi when they were younger, Elzar Mann, who’s another key player in this ongoing story. Avar and Elzar still care deeply about one another, as became abundantly clear when Avar was trapped behind enemy lines after a group of space pirates cordoned off a sector of the galaxy.

But there’s a surprising twist in the romance between Avar Kriss and Elzar Mann; they seem to have actually been part of a love triiangle. As Younglings and Padawans, Avar and Elzar were inseparable from a third Jedi, Stellan Gios. Daniel Jose Older and Dave Wachter’s Trail of Shadows #3 reveals that Avar and Stellan were once an item too. In one scene, Stellan – now a high-ranking member of the Jedi Council – meets with Jedi Master Emerick Caphtor. They trade banter about Emerick’s current partnership with a female investigator, and he responds by poking fun at Stellan’s current working relationship with Avar.

“Speaking of people growing quite close,” Emerick teases. “That was a long time ago, Emerick,” Stellan responses. It all but confirms that Stellan and Avar were once in a relationship, and that Emerick – who grew up alongside them – knew all about it. Even the banter is staggering, because these two Jedi are so openly discussing love lives past and present.

The High Republic Jedi Would Have Helped Anakin So Much

There’s a freedom here that Anakin needed

Looking back, it’s fascinating to imagine how Anakin would have flourished in this kind of environment. It’s likely he wouldn’t have had any relationships with fellow Padawans – he was always infatuated with Padmé, after all – but he’d have been able to openly talk about his feelings. Part of the problem, for Anakin, was that he buried these so deep that he didn’t really know how to vocalize them (perhaps explaining his awful attempts at flirting when he was finally reunited with Padmé).

Meanwhile, this would have given Anakin a support network – one where he was free to discuss his feelings. In the “real” Star Wars timeline, Anakin wound up caught between two opposing attachments, one to Padmé and the other to the Jedi. In this kind of freer, more supportive environment, other Jedi would have felt comfortable asking probing questions that would have potentially exposed the secret marriage – and they wouldn’t have responded in a judgmental manner. Anakin’s inner conflict could have been resolved in a far less violent manner.

All in all, then, Star Wars has made it clear that the Jedi Order failed Anakin. Regardless of the rights or wrongs surrounding their views on attachment, the way the Jedi handled the matter was bereft of any compassion or empathy; they had so discouraged attachments that they had lost their humanity, making them unable to help Anakin as a human being. Given that’s the case, it’s no surprise Anakin struggled with his feelings.