For a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights
were the guardians of peace and justice in the Republic. These paragons of virtue and
selflessness were tasked with maintaining the supremacy of the Light Side and, thus,
the balance of the Force. But, as we all know full well, not all of the Jedi lived up to those
standards. In particular, the Masters of the Jedi High Council often failed to do what was right,
letting orthodoxy cloud their vision and lead them away from the path of the light. The Jedi
Council was prominent in the Prequel Trilogy and in The Clone Wars, featuring a diverse and
ever-changing array of Jedi Masters. But many of these Masters aren’t really known all that
well, and casual fans might think that they’re all either totally useless or totally unremarkable.
Today, we’ll be delving into the lives of these unknown Jedi Masters, and determining whether
they were true Jedi or just useless figureheads. Firstly, we should clarify that when we talk about
the Jedi Council in this video, we’re going to be talking about the Jedi High Council. There
were actually four Jedi Councils on Coruscant, each of which had a tower on the Jedi Temple. The
other councils, for the record, were the Council of First Knowledge, which oversaw the training of
younglings and the purging of Sith teachings from the galaxy; the Council of Reassignment, which
looked after younglings who weren’t chosen as Padawans and Padawans who failed the Jedi
Trials; and the Council of Reconciliation, a group of Jedi Consulars that maintained the
Order’s relations with external political bodies. These other councils had five members each, while
the Jedi High Council, the one that ran the Order, had twelve. Jedi Masters weren’t restricted to
sitting on only one Council, and several members of the High Council were known to have been
members of the Council of Reconciliation as well. Now, onto the Jedi Masters themselves. The twelve
Jedi High Councillors at the time of the Battle of Naboo, the start of the Order’s fall, were Yoda,
Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Plo Koon, Oppo Rancisis, Even Piell, Adi Gallia, Depa Billaba, Yarael
Poof, Yaddle, Eeth Koth, and Saesee Tiin. Over the years, many of these Masters died or
stepped down, and they were replaced, in order, by Coleman Trebor, Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto, Obi-Wan
Kenobi, Agen Kolar, Coleman Kcaj, Stass Allie, and, lastly, Anakin Skywalker. We know
several of these masters well already; we’ve done full videos on Mundi and Billaba
before, and most of you are surely familiar with Yoda, Windu, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Kit Fisto, and
Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re likely also familiar with famous non-Master Anakin Skywalker. We will
be discussing none of these Jedi today, and if you’re interested in Mundi or Billaba,
we recommend watching those prior videos. Let’s start with Yaddle. This
five-hundred-year-old Jedi Master was a Consular, much like Yoda, and she embodied the Jedi
philosophy of selflessness and self-sacrifice. As a Padawan, she was imprisoned for over a hundred
years by the people of the planet Koba -- trapped in a pit and regularly mocked by those living
above. Despite this, she never allowed herself to become resentful, and she pitied the Kobans
instead. When she eventually escaped the pit after the planet was devastated by earthquakes,
she chose to stay on Koba and help rebuild before returning to Coruscant. Upon returning to
the Jedi Temple, she was made a Master, and she continued to embody everything the Jedi
stood for. She died in 26 BBY on the planet Mawan, where she used the Force to absorb the effects of
a dangerous bioweapon, killing herself but saving the planet in the process. For that, we’re going
to sort Yaddle into the category of True Jedi. Oppo Rancisis, everyone’s favorite snake Jedi,
could have been king back on his homeworld, but he refused that promised life of
luxury in favor of serving the Order. Rancisis was a very tradition-minded Jedi,
prone to influence by the orthodoxy that sometimes crippled the council, but he was
ultimately still a very kind-hearted being, unlike Ki-Adi-Mundi. During the Clone Wars,
he always insisted on sharing his forces’ food stores with local refugees, even when it could
potentially cause logistical problems, as he saw the care of local refugees as his responsibility
when it was his armies that displaced them. Rancisis was also a master tactician and one
of the greatest Jedi Generals of all time. He was skilled in the art of battle
meditation, and the clones who served under him were fanatically loyal to him due
to how completely they trusted his plans. He was killed by fallen Jedi Sora Bulq during the
Siege of Saleucami, shortly before the Battle of Coruscant. He may have been a bit of a boomer,
but Rancisis, too, earns the title of True Jedi. Yarael Poof, the goofiest-looking Jedi Councillor,
is next on our list. Contrary to what Robot Chicken might have you believe, Yarael Poof was
a highly-respected member of the Jedi Council, and was considered to have perfected the art of
using the Force to affect minds. In 27 BBY, he was tasked with protecting Coruscant from a radical
general named Ashaar Khorda, who was in possession of the Infant of Shaa, an artifact capable
of destroying the entire planet. He formed an unlikely alliance with Jango Fett and Zam Wesell,
who were also looking to stop Khorda, and together they cornered and defeated the terrorist general.
Poof was badly wounded in the fighting, however, and he sacrificed the last of his energy to
disable the Infant of Shaa, giving his life up for those of trillions of Coruscanti. Yet again,
we’re gonna have to declare him a True Jedi. Next up is Jedi Master Saesee Tiin,
the greatest pilot in the Order, at least until Anakin kicked him off his pedestal.
Tiin was a natural telepath, which alienated him from his fellow Jedi when he was younger,
and led him to become quite introverted. He was also an incredible pilot with an affinity
for spacecraft, with Adi Gallia once noting that he spoke more to the Sharp Spiral, his
personal starfighter, than he did to her. Despite his seemingly antisocial nature, Tiin was
incredibly compassionate, and he put his piloting skills to use saving lives on countless occasions.
His compassion even extended to his enemies. In one encounter with a trio of enemy battleships,
he only went around destroying weapons systems and rendering the vessels immobile, despite only being
in a starfighter and having no reinforcements. Even when it probably wasn’t tactically prudent
to do so, Tiin prioritized saving the lives of as many of his enemies as possible, and
that, we deem, is the mark of a True Jedi. We’ll be discussing Jedi Masters Even Piell and
Eeth Koth at once, as they had similar skills, which they put to similar use. These two
are probably more well known than Yaddle, Rancisis, or Poof, but despite this,
they don’t have any real notable stories. Even Piell was a fearsome warrior
with decades of combat experience, one of the fiercest fighters on the Council.
Eeth Koth was a great warrior as well, known for his mastery of Crucitorn, a Force technique that
allowed him to endure incredible amounts of pain. Both of them put their talents to good use
in the Clone Wars, but despite these skills, they never made much of an impact. Neither
seemed particularly self-sacrificing or particularly cruel, so we’re gonna be classing
both Piell and Koth as Mostly Useless. Jedi Master Adi Gallia was born to a pair of
Corellian diplomats, and she followed in the footsteps of her parents as a Jedi, mastering
the art of diplomacy and putting it to good use. Her negotiation skills were crucial
in maintaining peace in the Republic, at least for a time. She helped put an end to
the Stark Hyperspace War, and she also ensured a peaceful end to conflicts on Malastare and
Kiffex. Despite her best efforts, peace failed, leading to the Separatist Crisis, but Gallia
didn’t give up on preserving the Republic. In the two years leading up to the Clone
Wars, she forged agreements with pirate bands, convincing them to stop preying on Republic
worlds and to start working as privateers. Her work with the pirates of Karthakk was vital
in the Republic’s victory on Geonosis in the first battle of the Clone Wars, and the alliances
she built were a godsend for the Republic in the first months of the conflict. For her cunning
and her dedication, we deem her a True Jedi. Next up, we have Agen Kolar, who replaced
Eeth Koth after the start of the Clone Wars. Kolar’s talents were similar to those
of his predecessor and fellow Zabrak, but he put them to much better use. During
the Clone Wars, he led armies to victory on Geonosis and Brentaal IV, and he also attempted to
apprehend fallen Jedi Quinlan Vos on Nar Shaddaa. He was loyal to the Republic and to
the decisions of the Jedi Council, but not to the point of callousness. Even though
he was naturally aggressive due to his Zabrak heritage, he always tried to restrain himself
and seek peaceful ways of resolving conflicts, even when dealing with supposed Darksiders, as he
showed in his encounter with Vos on Nar Shaddaa. Agen Kolar wasn’t perfect, but he
was still, we believe, a True Jedi. Stass Allie was the last Jedi Master
to be appointed to the High Council, and the unremarkable successor of Adi Gallia.
In fairness to her, she didn’t really have much of a chance to shine, as she was on the Jedi
Council for only a year, starting after the death of Adi Gallia, and we know little of her career
beforehand. Nonetheless, she apparently didn’t do anything noteworthy aside from failing
to stop Grievous from kidnapping Palpatine and getting shot by clones on Saleucami.
We’re gonna consider her Mostly Useless. Lastly, we have Coleman Trebor and Coleman
Kcaj. The two Colemans, or just the Colemen, if you prefer, were even more unremarkable than
Stass Allie. They did little more than sit in comfy chairs in the High Council Chamber,
at least as far as we know. Coleman Trebor, the Vurk Jedi Master appointed to replace Yarael
Poof, was considered a skilled orator, but aside from talking a lot, all he really did was come
up with atrocious tactics on Antar IV during the Separatist Crisis and die trying to kill Dooku
on Geonosis. Coleman Kcaj, on the other hand, did literally nothing as far as recorded lore goes.
We deem both Colemen to be Completely Useless. So, that’s our quick overview of the
Jedi High Council as it was during the prequel era. Would you like to see
longer videos on any of these Jedi? Feel free to post your
thoughts in the comments below.
