Star Wars: How Luminara Unduli Hastened The Jedi’s Downfall, Explained

There are multiple instances in Star Wars canon that make reference to the Jedi’s hubris contributing to their downfall. Even Yoda, in all his wisdom, couldn’t prevent it. So too was the same with Jedi Master Luminara Unduli. She appeared in both Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith on film, but we really got to know her through The Clone Wars animated series. One of the most respected Jedi, she was also one of the most nearsighted. That weakness served to hasten the fall of the Jedi.

Luminara Unduli was a devoutJedi. Notwithstanding she, like so many others, failed to strictly adhere to the Jedi Code. Jedi were taught from their young padawan days to avoid attachments. Unfortunately that was one of the first tenets of the Code that Jedi usually broke. For Luminara, that failure came via her relationship with her apprentice Barriss Offee. Her blind trust in her apprentice was a major, contributing factor to Anakin Skywalker falling from grace, and ultimately the destruction of the Jedi.

Luminara Unduli and the Jedi downfall

Following a bombing of the Jedi temple, all, including the Jedi Council, were quick to blame Ahsoka Tano on circumstantial evidence. Only Anakin’s resolve proved otherwise. The real culprit was none other than Luminara’s apprentice, Barriss Offee. Luminara Unduli had trusted her apprentice so fully that she failed to recognize the growing darkness within her. The ordeal led to Ahsoka leaving the Jedi Order for good (in The Clone Wars Episode “The Wrong Jedi”.) That, in turn, left Anakin feeling abandoned once again, disillusioned, and losing faith in the Order. We all know where things led from there.

Adding insult to the injury of her failure with Barriss Offee, Luminara Unduli later serves as a further catalyst to the Jedi’s destruction. The Empire captured her during her mission on Kashyyyk, tortured, and eventually murdered her at the high security prison called The Spire.

Spreading false reports of her captivity, the Empire used the Force still emanating from Unduli’s corpse to lure others to her rescue. (You can see that storyline from Star Wars Rebels in the video above.) Then, Darth Vader’s Grand Inquisitor would destroy any remaining Jedi that attempted to free the Jedi Master.

Even in death, Luminara Unduli continued as a pawn of the darkness to bring about the Jedi’s extinction. An undeserved fate, indeed.