Jedi Knights: Graceful Even When Fighting Is Unavoidable
“Wars not make one great.” — Master Yoda
Falling In Love
This blog is about love, the love for Star Wars. Before love, there is “falling in love”.
For the generation before me, that moment was seeing the first shot of Star Wars, before it was “A New Hope”. The gigantic Star Destroyer pursuing the Tantive IV.
In that moment, viewers were struck by its marvel. By the symbolism that it represented. The oppression of the big against the small. The infinite capabilities of the Empire. The never-ending spaceship.
For me, though, watching the Original Trilogy on TV never caught my eye. I never connected to it right away as a kid. I remember finding the speeder bike chase in Endor boring. I remember finding the droids wandering in the desert boring. Here’s a secret: I still do.
Then, in 1999, some friends invited me to watch Episode I. I didn’t know much about Star Wars. Just went for the fun of going out with friends.
My Moment
As for the generation before me, my moment of awe happened early on in the movie, and it starts as soon as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ignite their lightsabers, after holding their breath to survive the dioxis assassination attempt.
The action sequence that follows is graceful.
“Who are these guys,” I asked myself.
They held their breath for a long time to survive the gas.
They moved quickly. They could deflect laser shots with their swords.
Their swords. I never thought the famous lightsabers could be used like that. It was like a ballet.
They were telekinetic. With the wave of a hand, they pushed those droids away.
“They move to deflect a blaster bolt even before the droids shoot. How,” I wanted to know more right away. These guys are superheroes. Nobody told me there were superheroes in Star Wars before!
They ran like Flash to escape the Droidekas.
They could jump amazing heights.
All of those demonstrations happened within the first 10 minutes of the movie.
To close up the movie, what some fans view as the best duel in all films: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan versus Darth Maul.
I was caught. The Force would be with me. Always.
Force Powers
Of course, afterwards I got to learn more. At that moment, I did not even know exactly what the Force was all about.
All my Internet research after the movie was dedicated to the Knights. Also, I ran to see the Original Trilogy right away.
“How come I have missed this,” I kept asking myself, regretting all the lost time.
To my disappointment, the Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi fought like I would if I became a Jedi today. Waving his saber side-to-side. No grace. No technique. Today, I understand why, but it was disappointing to see the Original Trilogy Jedi Knights, especially compared to how they were shown in Episode I.
Apart from what I had seen in Episode I, there was more, much more:
- Jedi Mind Tricks to influence the weak-minded.
- Force Healing.
- Sensing what was going on nearby, or on the other side of the Galaxy.
- Precognition, to see the future.
- Telepathy, to communicate through the Force.
- Beast Domination, to tame animals and get them under your control.
And that is only what you can see in the movies. The Expanded Universe goes even further.
What Have I Learned
Jedi Knights are the superheroes of Star Wars. You don’t need to be physically strong to be one.
Even when fighting is unavoidable, it can be done with grace.
In Star Wars, the heroes must crave peace, calmness, detachment, discipline and self-defense. No brute force is involved.
Very different from the traditional heroes.
