I think it’s worth pointing out that the ultimate outcome here is “Jacen becomes a sith lord and has to be put down by Luke and his sister Jaina to save the New Republic/Galactic Alliance.”
In order words, in the Star Wars universe, as usual, technology never works all that well for solving real problems, philosophy is dangerous for anyone who questions received wisdom, and human minds can’t handle the complexity of reality or of using any non-Jedi philosophy for relating to The Force. Even an avowed pacifist will fall if they stray from the received path, even based on correct understanding and insight, even if it’s only to learn other traditions that are already out there. The Light and Dark sides are closer to order/chaos than good/evil, change is chaos, and chaos corrupts, even when the change is otherwise good.
In other words, Jacen has more humility in the “I still have a lot to learn, I’m not a hero” sense, more growth mindset, and more tsuyoku naritai than possibly any other Jedi in the EU, and it destroys him.
To be clear, I think your subsequent analysis is good and insightful. Just, be very careful using anything from Star Wars as a guidepost, because more often than not the lesson is “Problems are caused by not following the established traditions, and even the plucky rebels are mostly only good when they’re trying to restore what already once was, so don’t reach for much more than you’re granted.”
Jacen Solo became an evil Sith because the people in charge of the Star Wars franchise at the time thought having the brother named Anakin Solo be the one to do it would be too ridiculous. The rest is writers trying to make the decisions of a Pointy-Haired Boss make sense.
I think it’s worth pointing out that the ultimate outcome here is “Jacen becomes a sith lord and has to be put down by Luke and his sister Jaina to save the New Republic/Galactic Alliance.”
In order words, in the Star Wars universe, as usual, technology never works all that well for solving real problems, philosophy is dangerous for anyone who questions received wisdom, and human minds can’t handle the complexity of reality or of using any non-Jedi philosophy for relating to The Force. Even an avowed pacifist will fall if they stray from the received path, even based on correct understanding and insight, even if it’s only to learn other traditions that are already out there. The Light and Dark sides are closer to order/chaos than good/evil, change is chaos, and chaos corrupts, even when the change is otherwise good.
In other words, Jacen has more humility in the “I still have a lot to learn, I’m not a hero” sense, more growth mindset, and more tsuyoku naritai than possibly any other Jedi in the EU, and it destroys him.
To be clear, I think your subsequent analysis is good and insightful. Just, be very careful using anything from Star Wars as a guidepost, because more often than not the lesson is “Problems are caused by not following the established traditions, and even the plucky rebels are mostly only good when they’re trying to restore what already once was, so don’t reach for much more than you’re granted.”
Jacen Solo became an evil Sith because the people in charge of the Star Wars franchise at the time thought having the brother named Anakin Solo be the one to do it would be too ridiculous. The rest is writers trying to make the decisions of a Pointy-Haired Boss make sense.
Fair enough. I still think it aligns well with the overall vibe and ethos of the setting.