Events in the Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace there had been an extended period of around 200 years known as the Great Peace. While new media related to the High Republic era is likely to complicate this, it is fair to suggest that there were no large-scale conflicts involving the Jedi Order during this period.
That would certainly be enough to justify Qui-Gon Jinn’s statement to contradictions at the heart of the Jedi Order.
This provokes an intriguing question: how would events have played out if the Jedi had refused to fight in the Clone Wars? The machinations of Darth Sidious/Palpatine would have certainly shifted, although his aims would have remained the same. The effects of this would have been profound for Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi Order, and also for the history of the galaxy. With the wealth of media that has been created about the Clone Wars, an informed guess at what would have happened has become possible. Here's what would have happened if the Jedi refused to fight in the Clone Wars.
Palpatine’s Larger Aims Would’ve Stayed The Same
Sheev Palpatine was undoubtedly the greatest tactical mind in all of Star Wars. Given that Star Wars: The Clone Wars that he was happy to take as long as was needed to achieve them.
Ultimately, Palpatine’s aims would not have changed if the Jedi had refused to fight in the Clone Wars. Instead, how he controlled and manipulated the galaxy would have shifted. As he was not only the leader of the Republic but also the secret leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, he would have had complete control over manipulating events in the war to invoke maximum negativity towards the Jedi.
Another one of his plans that would not have been altered was making Anakin Skywalker his tragic, dark side apprentice. Even though Anakin would not have developed the same level of military experience during the years of the conflict, his immense raw power in the Force was something Palpatine could not have ignored. The potential for turning Anakin Skywalker to the dark side would have been too great. In this way, the Jedi’s lack of involvement in the war combined with Anakin’s marriage to Pe Amidala would have been particularly useful things to exploit.
When the Clone Wars began, Palpatine was already acting as a friend and mentor to a young Anakin. Although with an obvious ulterior motive, he offered him warmth, comion, and humanity that the Jedi seemed incapable of, and there was little to suggest that their friendship would not have continued. This would have allowed Palpatine to continue grooming Anakin and sharing his disappointment at the Jedi’s lack of help. At the same time, he could have also offered seemingly wise counsel suggesting the possibility of leaving the Jedi Order to end the secrecy of his forbidden marriage to Pe.
Pe Would’ve Been A Member Of Palpatine’s War Cabinet Before Being Killed By Separatists
As a prominent member of the Republic Senate, with first-hand experience winning the Battle of Naboo, Pe would have been an obvious choice to assist Palpatine and the Republic in istering the war. However, with his control over proceedings unchecked, Palpatine would have had the opportunity to use her as a sacrificial pawn in his plans, and the prequels even offered a precedent for this in the events at the beginning of Attack of the Clones. As a result, there would have been little surprise if the Separatists targeted Pe for assassination again.
While allowing the Separatists greater and more brutal success in the war, putting more pressure on the Jedis’ principled stance, Palpatine would have Pe murdered by the Separatists. The torment for Anakin would be extreme. The inevitable grief, anger, and hatred would consume him because he had again failed to save someone he loved and had broken the promise he made at his mother’s grave on Tatooine. The need to place the blame would be all he was left with, and that could be shared equally between the Separatists who murdered his wife and the Jedi who did nothing to stop them.
Ahsoka Wouldn't Have Left The Jedi Order But Anakin Would
As Star Wars: The Clone Wars illustrated, all was not right within the Jedi Order and their code during the conflict. The contradictions at the heart of the Order, their arrogance, and short-sightedness were effectively what brought them into the conflict. This led to several examples of cognitive dissonance among Jedi. The Umbara arc of The Clone Wars season 4 showed Jedi General Pong Krell going rogue and turning toward the dark side. However, the most obvious example of the war turning the hearts of the Jedi was seen in the actions of the Mirialan Jedi Barriss Offee.
In The Clone Wars season 5, Barriss bombed the Jedi Temple before framing her friend Ahsoka Tano for the crime. Despite a popular theory that Barriss Offee would've become an Imperial Inquisitor, her explanation for the attack was not entirely unreasonable, as she believed the Jedi were responsible for the war. She explained herself by saying that her “attack on the Temple was an attack on what the Jedi have become. An army fighting for the dark side. Fallen from the light that we once held so dear.”
Before standing trial, Ahsoka was expelled from the Jedi Order, but when her innocence was proven, the Jedi Council did not acknowledge their mistake. Instead, they reframed her expulsion as being part of her training trials. For this reason, and despite her great friendship with her master Anakin Skywalker, the Padawan refused their offer to become a Jedi again.
Naturally, if the Jedi had never fought in the Clone Wars, this sequence of events would not have occurred, and it stands to reason that Ahsoka Tano would not have left. However, her presence is unlikely to have been enough to persuade Anakin to stay. He would have perceived the failure of the Jedi to act against the Separatists as having caused Pe’s death, and his anger at that would have been directed at the of the Jedi Council like Mace Windu, Yoda, Ki-Adi Mundi, and even Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin’s grief would have brought him to very similar conclusions about the Jedi Order that Barriss Offee came to, although for completely the opposite reason. Perhaps inevitably, the outcome of Anakin leaving would have been deeply significant for the Jedi and the rest of the Galaxy.
Anakin Would’ve Been Easier To Turn To The Dark Side
Without the guidance of Pe, Obi-wan, or Ahsoka in his life, Anakin would have been easier for Palpatine to influence and control without needing to mention Darth Plagueis the Wise. This increased influence would have initially been imperceptible. His first action would have been to the war against the Separatists, which he would already have believed was what the Jedi should have been doing all along. Leading the Clone Army would also have been a way for Anakin to channel his anger and pain while moving him closer to his inevitable fall to the dark side.
The final step would have come with his inevitable face-off against Count Dooku. In the death of his wife, Pe. Not only would he have struggled to control his hatred, but there would also have been little reason left for him to even try. Isolated and alone, with only his need for vengeance and Palpatine left to trust, his turn from the path of the Jedi to the way of the Sith would have been complete.
The Jedi Purge Would’ve Still Happened Because The Jedi Were Seen As Traitorous Cowards
Having turned Anakin Skywalker to the dark side and won the war, all that would be left for Palpatine to do was to wipe out the remaining Jedi. By this stage, the weight of manipulated public opinion against the Jedi would have meant it was far too late for them to react. Added to this was the fact that the Jedi had been cut off from the Force, and any move against Palpatine would have been portrayed, as it was in Revenge of the Sith, as a move to take over the Republic. This would have meant that the best idea for most who remained would be to go into hiding or fall in line behind Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.
Even though there would have been no practical use for Order 66, a Jedi purge would have still occurred and would probably have been even more brutal than the one that occurred between Revenge of the Sith and Ahsoka Tano would not have inspired a rebellion. They would not have been the inspiring light of hope against the tyranny of the Sith. Instead, they would have been treated as appeasers who had abandoned the Republic when it needed them most.
There has been some suggestion that the Jedi lost from the moment they chose to fight in the Clone Wars. In some ways, this is correct, although the issues at the heart of the Jedi Order went much deeper. Star Wars media, in various forms, has shown that they had lost their way and had become entrenched in dogma and a narrow, hubristic view of the galaxy and their place within it. This ultimately meant that choosing to engage with the pacifistic principles of the Jedi teachings is unlikely to have been enough to save them from the cataclysmic events of the Clone Wars and its aftermath.
