Star Wars: Order 66 Wasn’t the First Jedi Purge

The vastness of Star Wars Universe is no joke. With the franchise weaving its story through multiple mediums like TV series, movies, video games, or books, the history is spread wide and is still ever-increasing.

Back when Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, they “deleted” parts (Star Wars Expanded Universe, now called Star Wars Legends) of the Star Wars universe that weren’t as important. They reduced the canonical universe to a minimum.

However, the old stories are continuing to influence the newer continuity. Charles Soule’s canon novel Light of the Jedi has also absorbed bits from those stories and has recently confirmed that the Great Jedi Purge of Order 66 wasn’t the only Purge that Sith has committed.

Star Wars
Star Wars: Light of the Jedi Book Cover

The novel was published on January 5, 2021, by Del Rey Publications. It features a scene in which we see members of the Jedi Council of the High Republic Era discussing their military action plan.

During the discussion, they get sidetracked towards ancient history when Yarael Poof, a Jedi master, mentioned something peculiar. Have a look:

“But we have been a military force in the past,” said Oppo Rancisis. “In fact, our predecessors waged and won the Great Sith Wars. There is endless precedent in the chronicles for this sort of thing.”

“True, but we are not at war now. We are the farthest thing from it,” said Rana Kant.

“Not the farthest,” replied Yarael Poof. “There have been times in our history when the Order was reduced to but a handful of members.”

An excerpt from Light of the Jedi novel

Yarael Poof mentioned that there have been “times” (mind the plural) when the Jedi numbers have reduced. It is a clear indication that there have been more Purges led by Sith against the Jedi in the past.

Of course, the possibility of multiple Purges isn’t the only thing that the currently canonical Star Wars Universe has adapted from the “forgotten” (more like erased) history.

Star Wars
Light of the Jedi

Lucasfilm (the studio) has carefully imbued some bits of the old history into their new continuity. Characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn and even some elements from the Galactic Empire’s history have been successfully absorbed. They have even revived the First Sith War seen in the Knights of the Old Republic games.

Letting that comment out about the multiple “times” that Jedi were decimated, most likely a step towards the canon stories to explore more of the history of Jedi and Sith. Hopefully, more stories about the past may resurface. Stick around for more updates.

About Light of the Jedi (Book)

The High Republic: Light of the Jedi is a Star Wars canon subseries novel written by Charles Souls. The book (series) is set in 232 BBY, the timeline 200 years before the events of the Skywalker saga and 800 years after the doom of the “Old Republic.”

Epic Dope Staff

Epic Dope Staff

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