Question: sinister side of the Jedi? (Bob Brown's lost essay

seeker001 · Post by **seeker001** » 2007-12-30 02:09am

I'm new here, and I'm very interested in technical analysis of the Jedi. Thus far, Bob Brown (available only on archive.org) has proven the best source.

But, before his updates stopped--at least, on archive.org--he was working on a essay, "The myth of the dark side". Does anyone know if he ever completed it? I can only find a tagline:

"The Jedi have guarded peace and justice in the galaxy for a thousand generations. But what was it like MORE than 25,000 years before 'A New Hope' ? Explore the true nature of the force, and of its most famous adherents, the Jedi, who may not be as virtuous as you think!"

Basically, the Jedi kidnapped children by fiat in order to breed out beings capable of interfacing with the Force.

The empty page where the essay would have been:

http://web.archive.org/web/200208062127 ... rkside.htm

However, there are already initial hints of the contents here:
http://web.archive.org/web/200109020503 ... ragedy.htm
and in an interview:
http://www.mrpoesmorgue.com/swds/bbrown/bbrown.html

I'm almost sorry that I got into Star Wars too late to personally contact Bob Brown for either his thoughts, or to goad him into finishing that essay. I understand there was a mailing list that he used to frequent...

Does anyone know where he was going with this?

Or was the essay completed, but archive.org never caught it?

I'm new here, but I eagerly await any tidbits!

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2007-12-30 11:26am

Mr. Brown won't be completing any Star Wars related material. He's done with it.

seeker001 · Post by **seeker001** » 2007-12-30 02:45pm

No, I know he has no plans to return to SW--

I'm asking whether anyone, either by knowing him from before, or by reading his forum or mailing list postings, knows where he was going with this "no dark side"/"sinister jedi" line of thought.

Also asking whether the essay was completed and posted somewhere archive.org didn't catch, like his forums or mailing lists he frequented.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-12-31 06:09pm

It's not hard to find flaws in Jedi ideology. Why do you need to go hunting for hints on what Bob Brown might have said about the subject, when you could easily try to think of such flaws yourself?

seeker001 · Post by **seeker001** » 2007-12-31 11:46pm

Well, I discovered and read his site because of analysis that I otherwise wouldn't have thought up by myself. For instance, I'm a very casual fan and I have no way of knowing that the first lightsaber-crystal reference was talking about just a decorative jewel...or that the Stormtrooper grenade may have been the first lightsaber.

That is, I'm not so much curious about Jedi ideology flaws--because there are so many, and so many obvious ones--but rather, I'm curious about what analysis Bob Brown and other (relative) purists came up with. You/they have access to many more sources than I do, and have read/watched these sources infinitely more times than I ever will...and as such are in better positions to come up with interesting angles.

Jim Raynor · Post by **Jim Raynor** » 2008-01-01 01:06am

seeker001 wrote:I'm curious about what analysis Bob Brown and other (relative) purists came up with.

I wouldn't exactly call Brown a "purist" when it comes to this essay on the Jedi. Yes, he's a purist in that he holds the movies first (as they should be) and has little regard for the EU. But here, he pretty much made stuff up. He even admits it, openly calling what he wrote a "speculative essay." This whole thing is part fanfic, and part cynicism. He basically made up a bunch of stuff about how the Jedi were a jealous dogmatic order that "monopolised" the Force and "crushed" competing groups of Force users - including the Sith. It's all there in those pages you linked to.

I guess Bob Brown was trying to think up a way to make the Jedi more gritty, less noble, and more "realistic." Because in real history, people and groups have done a lot of shitty things to seize power. But none of this stuff is supported by actual canon sources AFAIK.

seeker001 · Post by **seeker001** » 2008-01-01 01:20am

Jim Raynor wrote:
seeker001 wrote:I'm curious about what analysis Bob Brown and other (relative) purists came up with.
He even admits it, openly calling what he wrote a "speculative essay." This whole thing is part fanfic, and part cynicism. He basically made up a bunch of stuff about how the Jedi were a jealous dogmatic order that "monopolised" the Force and "crushed" competing groups of Force users - including the Sith.

Very true, but I don't mind this kind of speculation-speckled analysis. Coming to this forum for this is wise on my part because I know what answers I will get from larger SW communities much deeply steeped in the EU--they will claim that there is only Light and Dark, because the Power of the Force sourcebook and the essential guide states so, period. That's....boring. Bob Brown and Mike Wong provides much more interesting analysis by being willing to point out logical flaws in the canon, and then taking the ball to keep on running.

Less noble is neither good nor bad, just more interesting. In fact, I wouldn't mind ANY essay on alternate Jedi interpretations by Mike Wong or otherwise...I centered my question around Bob Brown because he had a direction he was going when he stopped writing.

PainRack · Post by **PainRack** » 2008-01-01 03:59am

From what I remember , he did complete and put up the essay.....

Unfortunately, the only thing I can remember is the abduction of babies angle, something echoed in the Holonet website as well as this Darth Maul novel.

seeker001 · Post by **seeker001** » 2008-01-01 07:52pm

PainRack wrote:From what I remember , he did complete and put up the essay.....

Wow. This is great news--this means that any mirrors that contain this essay may also contain other of Bob's finished essays (SW tragedy and SW myth).