History is written by the victor. It is quite literally his story. And for several millennia, it was written by the Jedi who often painted the Sith from a one dimensional point of view. Their point of view, which, for all their supposed wisdom and ancient teachings, was so laughably limited it's almost scary. My mere saying this may upset some people, but my only question is why?
Why is it perceived as ignorant or even blasphemous to say this? Perhaps it would be better to 'relinquish control', yes? To leave the big matters to wiser minds, like those holier-than-thou goofs on the council who can't grow past their own comfort zones, personal fears and shortcomings? Why are my words sacrilegious while their actions are seen as pure?
Then this hypothetical 'master' takes it upon themselves to train someone else inadvertently, giving the padawan their ideals and perceptions along with some understanding of the force and wielding a saber among other things.
Say you had a whole council of these supposed masters who then deemed that any growth beyond their perception of mastery was purely immoral and simply could not be tolerated. Such prohibited growth is in the sector of emotions, as well as making deep, soulful commitment to another being and pursuing any degree of free will that displays a desire for power.
Power corrupts, they say. Emotions corrupt, they say. We have a duty as Jedi to protect the galaxy from those who do not meet our standards of peace. Anyone that can be controlled, common criminals and innocent civilians and the like, are kept squarely in line. No petty thief will argue with the sight of a lightsaber.
For all their chest puffing about peace and righteousness, the Jedi sure seem to have no qualms when it comes to dismembering someone who's clearly unable to afford cybernetic replacements. What exactly am I trying to say? That the greatest lie you've ever been told is that the light side are the good guys and the dark side are the bad guys. It's never that binary.
Shayla knocked on the bar for another drink. She was a Twi'lek thief and spy the Order had sent me to eliminate, one that I'd decided not to attack. I was sick of being a Jedi hitman under the hypocritical guise of peacekeeping, and as it turned out, she'd had something to show me. Shayla had recovered an ancient tome from the Jedi Temple's restricted section.
How she managed to infiltrate an academy of attuned Force users (myself included), steal a guarded artifact, and escape undetected was still beyond my understanding. Shayla was unlike anyone I'd ever met before or since. Even with her sitting right beside me, it felt like she wasn't even there. The Force seemed to flow around her.
Kaid elbowed me to get my attention, but I'd already sensed their presence before they'd arrived. Bounty Hunters. It seemed that the Order wanted to keep this from turning political. Sending a Jedi to murder another in cold blood would be too messy if word ever got out. But if they sent Republic sanctioned bounty hunters to 'arrest' me and my friends, their hands were clean.
If we resisted and killed these guys, then the Order would have justification to send a Jedi or two. If we gave up quietly, these guys would kill all three of us and call it an accident. Either way, the Order would be rid of us and the threat of exposing them for good.
"Ball's in our court," Kaid muttered, chewing on the stub of cigar he'd had since the day before.
There was only one course of action. Sighing, I calmly pushed back from the bar and stood. Meanwhile, I could feel the bounty hunters crossing the cantina directly over to us. Things were about to get real interesting.