You do indeed rock! :)
Thanks again!

You bet! :) And I can't recommend Lois McMaster Bujold, either her science fiction or her fantasy, highly enough. So glad you like the quotes!

Oh my, of course! Her science fiction series is called the Vorkosigan series. It's simply brilliant, to my way of thinking. I'd highly recommend reading it beginning with SHards of Honor and Barrayar; also, the two are now combined into a single volume called Cordelia's Honor, with a new introduction by LMB. There are more than a dozen books in the series, and I think the best are actually some of the later ones. She's one of the only authors whose works I always preorder, no matter what.

Her newer works are fantasy, and though I prefer SF to F, I adore her Chalion works, as well. There are two novels now with a third on the way. I highly recommend the first, The Curse of Chalion. (In fact, that's the book I kept referencing when I went off on my "Qui-Gon as pure vessel" meditations last year.)

Yell if you have any questions. A friend of mine nearly had to force-feed me one of LMB novels before I took the plunge, and I am so grateful that she did. I'd be glad to follow up on any of this if you like!

What a wonderful icon! LOL!

As an adult (particularly, I suppose, because of the presentation of the Jedi in I and II) they seem much more like guardians of an established order that is not necessarily a great order, much more political, somewhat self-satisfied, and even arrogant. Of course, in I & II, there's no Evil Empire to destroy so the there's no beneficial contrast. In the prequel presentations, I can't help getting the feeling that the Jedi are something like the UN - well intentioned but bureaucratic and mostly ineffectual.

Well, my feelings have been very convoluted, but your description goes miles towards helping me understand my own thoughts. Thank you indeed! The UN parallel is particularly effective. I do get, in Episodes I and II, a sense of a once-challenged organization now going through the motions, comfortable in the rhythm of galatic politics, satisfied in its own bureacracy and, yes, power. It is hard for me to see how Qui-Gon would have fit on the Council, and if in fact he would even have remained in the Order as things progressed, or perhaps gone another way -- not Dooku's, although the fascinating thing about Dooku in II is that some of his criticisms were right on the mark -- and tried to find another, more effective path. He was chafing at standard policy even in Episode I. And he, of all of them, seemed most to recapture what I loved about the Jedi as a child, though I won't say he's without his own bundle of issues and contradictions.

At any rate, I agree 100%; the article was meant to provoke, but there is a bit of truth behind some of the points. Thanks for a terrific post!

Well said indeed! It seems that self-protection and self-perpetuation as an institution was the main goal of the Jedi Council by Episode II, didn't it?

And they seem incapable of understanding that it's not a good idea to become the secret police of a corrupt government.

Well said indeed! Most troubling.

I am still incredulous at the way the Jedi have treated/are going to treat (what is the proper tense when talking about an as-yet-unveiled prequel, anyway?) Anakin. Considering how worried they were about him and his remarkable potential at the beginning, you'd've thought they would have used the kid gloves, or at least some good old Psych 101, when guiding him to adulthood, wouldn't you? The "he's dangerous, so let's alternately ignore and poke the bear" doesn't seem like a very rational, not to mention compassionate, strategy. I hesitate to blame Obi-Wan much, though, since he was thrown into the deep end rather unceremoniously himself...

The film hasn't even debuted yet, and I already have a love/hate relationship with it! LOL!

But I feel rather vindicated, by the way the book stressed that compassion was the key to Qui-Gon's figuring out how to exist after death -

I just got the book this morning, based on your post, so I'm anxious to see how it deals with the whole issue. I assume this also responds to the "why didn't Qui-Gon disappear" debate, yes?

it means that Luke's decision to go and rescue his friends is a sign that the new Jedi Order will be driven more by genuine care for people than by a cool desire for detatchment. In other words, the new Jedi will be more like Qui-Gon than like Yoda :)

Excellent indeed!

I'm reassured that my particular interpretation of what it all meant can still stand up to canon :) How selfish is that!

Hey, it makes perfect sense to me. Since I like what you've written far more than what Lucas has written lately, the fact that his canon still works with yours is a mark in his favor! LOL!

Well, I didn't manage to participate nearly as much as I wanted to, but there's always next year! And thank you for your kind words. I really must finish this original fiction manuscript I'm working on now (novel length), but while I'm making no promises, I must say that I really do feel the urge to write and share another story or two. :) Your encouragement is greatly appreciated!