STAR WARS: The Jedi Council Lie That Caused Its Downfall

The Jedi Council must have lied to the Republic Leadership about the miraculous readiness of 200,000 clone troopers. Their decision to lie instead of telling the truth and revealing their blindness resulted in their ultimate destruction.

Summary Of The Clone Army’s Creation

In Star Wars Episode II – Attack Of The Clones Obi-wan Kenobi learned of the secret creation of a clone army. Allow me to summarize the events that led up to this. The Jedi Council assigned Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to protect Padme Amidala after learning of a failed assassination attempt. Kenobi eventually linked a second assassination attempt to Jango Fett and tracked him to Kamino. Upon arrival, the Kaminoans invited Kenobi to inspect an army they were creating for the Republic. They told Kenobi that a decade earlier, Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, representing the Jedi Council, commissioned the army. After this exchange, Fett told Kenobi that a man named Tyranus recruited him to be the genetic template for the clones. After learning all this, Kenobi reported his findings to the Jedi Council.

This means that the Jedi Council knew the following:

1. Sifo-Dyas (or someone claiming to be him) commissioned and funded the army’s creation unbeknownst to the Council or Senate.
2. Someone named Tyranus also participated in the army’s creation, at least to the extent of choosing the genetic template.
3. The man whom Tyranus chose for the genetic template was also involved in the plot to kill Amidala.

At this point, the Jedi council must have suspected that the Separatist Alliance was somehow connected to the army’s creation. After all, Nute Gunray, known separatist leader, was the most likely person to order Amidala’s assassination. And Jango Fett’s role both as the assassin and the genetic template for the clone army provides evidence of the link.

The Jedi Council Lied To Hide Their Vulnerability

When the Jedi Council learned of this, they admitted to themselves that their ability to see events was compromised. They had to have known that their enemies had a hand in the army’s creation. But how they handled this revelation ultimately led to their demise.

“I think it is time we inform the senate that our ability to use the force has diminished.”

Mace Windu

“Only the Dark Lord of the Sith knows of our weakness. If informed the senate is, multiply our adversaries will.”

Yoda

It was uncanny timing that Palpatine was granted emergency powers to create an army to combat the Separatist threat. But were a clone army ordered at that moment, no troops would have been ready for at least 10 years.

How did the Jedi explain to the Senate that they already had a 10-year old army of growth-accelerated clones?

The films don’t answer this question, but I see only two possibilities. 1) The Jedi Council lied that it had the foresight to predict the conflict, and commissioned the army 10 years earlier. 2) The Kaminoans serendipitously already had a standing army available for purchase. Either way, the Jedi must have lied about the fortuitous availability of the clone army.

This lie was directly responsible for the initiation of the Clone Wars. And the Clone War was a necessary cover for Darth Sidious to frame the Jedi Council for treason and execute Order 66. Had the Jedi been honest about the mysterious creation of the clone army, perhaps the senate would not have agreed to use it. A non-clone army would not have been susceptible to the organic inhibitor chips that caused the clones to turn on the Jedi.

Luke’s Criticism Of The Jedi Is Accurate

In Episode VII: The Last Jedi, Luke correctly taught Rey that, “if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure. Hypocrisy, hubris.” It was hubris that compelled the Jedi Council to lie to the senate to hide their vulnerability. And this lie ultimately brought about their own destruction. Perhaps it was time for the Jedi to end.