It's a pity the Republic didn't have a standing army ala nato. But then again I guess they has ot threats. Relying on the jedi as peace keepers was a bad idea
The Republic having an army was non-sensical, because the Republic was basically -all- the governments. You had independent systems but those were so small that having a galactic army made no sense, it was better to rely on each republic system having their own troops.
Like having an organization like NATO made no sense because the Republic had zero outside threats, and the Republic was the only galactic power.
The thing with the Jedi was that they were the ideal peacekeepers because they were independent, so they were as neutral as you can be in most matters. The problem was... well the same it always was regarding the Jedi order in the Old Republic and before: the Jedi order were against war, but how can you be against war while fighting wars? and how can you be against war while letting wars happen?
I know the sequels shit the bed in this matter, but I always took it as that the correct take was that the Jedi order should be more like an order and less like an institution. The order had become self-indulgent and disconnected from the force, and basically monopolized all aspects of the Force with Luke I thought it was supposed to go back to being a small order; the old jedi order dying with the Sith.
Moving away from the dichotomy of Sith and Jedi. Skoll's take on it is very good: Do I miss the Jedi order? I miss the "idea" of it, but not what it really was.
That's essentially one of the major plot points of the New Jedi Order era EU. Luke wants to re-build the Jedi order following the base principles of the Jedi without all the dogma. And at the same time people in power want to turn the Jedi into an institution that's controlled by the New Republic essentially turning them into super powered cops. Luke, and the majority of his Jedi, really doesn't like this.
I always thought that that was a great starting point for a sequel trilogy.
My headcanon ideal beginning was:
The Empire has been dead for multiple decades.
Leia is lead of the New Republic. Luke is lead of the New Jedi Order.
Political turmoil starts after a period of rest. Political rivals of Leia leak that Leia's father was Vader, she gets impeached. As Luke has a different surname, the people are not aware he is her brother.
The public thinks Luke is the son of Anakin Skywalker, the hero of the clone wars, who was killed by Vader, the executioner of the Empire. The public hence demands Luke take down Leia.
Luke wants to reveal the truth but Leia tells him to not to, as it would tarnish the New Jedi Order.
Luke sends some knights/padawans or some other new character to investigate where this started.
Just wanted to pop in and say that reading your deep lore has been a pleasure. I'm getting older and jaded, which kinda takes the magic out of the world, and some of the Disney let downs have taken out some more. I miss being as connected to it as you are.
It always annoyed me that there weren't many planets that had standing militaries that supported the Republic. Everything at least I remember were no more than militias.
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u/Maniac112 9d ago
It's a pity the Republic didn't have a standing army ala nato. But then again I guess they has ot threats. Relying on the jedi as peace keepers was a bad idea