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unless you have an enormous amount of Jedi - and seriously, you're talking a heck of a LOT of Jedi here - they're not going to be any use as a 'warrior class' in their own right. With the support of a large conventional army, yes, but not on their own.
Well...yes. I agree. I don't think there were Jedi armies; I think, they were regarded as a type of elite force that would augment the force of a conventionl army - thus the idea of them being an "elite guard" and not just ordinary soldiers. Also, I would point out, since we're talking about a technologically advanced society, the actual number of people they need to fight a war might not be nearly as high as we might think (although, I'm probably not justified in making that statement since it's almost completely contradicted by the
massive clone army). But then again, if you have a huge army of expendable clones, you probably wouldn't need very many Jedi, if one were so inclined to hire Jedi mercenary services.
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This means that unless they were involved in major wars all the time over a thousand generations, which seems vastly unlikely, the Jedi probably wouldn't have done all that much actual fighting.
Agreed. But, you have to allow some time for the Jedi movement to develop a following and a purpose. To cite an example that may or may not be analogous, you've got Catholicism, which begins as sect of Judaism in the Roman Empire, and eventually the Catholic Church becomes a major player in European politics; but at the earliest, Catholicism is just beginning to be accepted after 100 years, and it doesn't become legitimate until about 300 years of existence (Constantine); and it's after this point that the Church actually begins to gain a lot of political power (forgive me if this timeline is a bit flawed, I'm just making some rough estimates without really checking dates).
So, while I agree that over a thousand generations the Jedi wouldn't have done much fighting, I don't think they were fighting from day one. But, even allowing a couple of hundred generations to establish a base, that leaves 700 or 800 generations to account for, which is a long time for the Jedi to be fighting and doing nothing else. But that doesn't mean they weren't acting in other capacities; such as royal guards, etc.
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Also, remember Yoda's comment about how 'wars do not make one great' and his attempts to show Luke that violence isn't always the best solution? I get the impression that while Jedi are certainly trained to fight, and have been vital to the Republic in times of war, they see it as a last resort rather than as their primary function.
Yeah, I agree with you there. And, being reminded of that, it seems less likely that the Jedi would have thought that hiring themselves out as mercenaries was a good idea. But, I would suggest that not all Jedi felt the same way as Yoda. We know there were different beliefs and morals within the Jedi order, so, while Yoda's school of thought might have frowned on mercenary employment, that doesn't mean that an opposing school of thought doesn't exist.
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The OT tells us practically nothing about their role within their Old Republic, except that they 'protected' it and that Obi-Wan once acted as a general. That's fine for wartime, but you have to consider what they may have been doing in peacetime as well.
Well, to get back to the issue of how many Jedi there actually were and if they were adequate for defending the Old Republic, if the OT tells us that the Jedi were the guardians of the Republic, then, that would suggest that either: a) there were a lot more Jedi than we thought (to be an effective military force); b ) if it was only a small number of Jedi then they served to protect the Republic through military means as small units in a larger conventional army and/or military advisors; or c) the Jedi were the "guardians" of the Old Republic in a different capacity than as a military force (what if the Jedi were the guardians of the history, culture, and knowledge of the Old Republic?).
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Yay! No more analysis! While I still think that the idea of Jedi serving in multiple functions is kind of problematic (mostly because from what we see in the PT, they're not very adept at participating in politics or diplomacy and I don't see why any responsible government would want to employ them, aside from the power of the Jedi reputation) it's easier to explain that, based on what we know about the Jedi, than it is to argue that the Jedi were purely a warrior caste.
So yeah, lots of possibilities I never thought about before, so thanks for posting Helena. After looking at everything a second time, I'd have to say that I agree with you.
johnnycancer
This post has been edited by johnnycancer: 31 August 2006 - 05:38 PM