Can Jedi get Married?

[Argamoth]

I agree. It's not so much as a law, as more of a guideline. A jedi would have to somehow seem as if he could handle it/get away with it and not wind up like Anakin. Anakin was probably the textbook reason why they didn't want jedi to marry.

[Boomer]

"Seein as how your not a Jedi, the Jedi code doesn't apply to you.

And they arn't really rules, per say, they are more like guidelines."

Quothe the Pirate Captain about the Jedi.
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My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[Jedi Skyler]

Wow, we're good! We've crossed into 6 pages of blah blah blah blah!!

[Demona]

I haven't read any of the EU. So My knowledge of all the special writings is very limited.

But all the same here is my two cents.

I don't think Jedi should be married. When I think of Jedi's I think of the Elite of the Elite. They are more powerful, more noble, more humaine then regular humans/aliens. The Jedi have to me more careful then regular characters because simple thoughts can lead them down a dark path.

Marriage is a very complicated and amazing thing. If its a good marriage then if anything were to happen to their spouse a part of them would die right along with them. The Jedi are the protectors of the universe. They can't protect when they are concerned about their families and loved ones. Yes, they have friendships and they care for others. But friendships don't get burried as deep as the love involved in marriages.

From my limited understanding, younglings are put into the academy at a very young age. So with this the other Jedi's are the only family they know of. So they probably don't feel the need to settle down and make babies like us normal people do. Now in Luke's case he saw his Uncle and Aunt and their relationship together (although Owen looked like a real prize hubby *rolls eyes*).

I guess what I am trying to explain in my own opinion, is that the Jedi are special. Because of being special they can't be apart of some things, they can't have some things because it would eventually jepordize a mission/other jedi/or their own lives. You can't have everything. If you are a jedi and you want a gaggle of babies and a fat and happy wife in the kitchen I think you should hang up the lightsaber and focus on family.

And from a chicks point of view. If I was a chickie back in the clone wars or even in the original trilogy I think the fact some cute guy was a Jedi might be a pretty big turn off. If I was around during the clone wars I wouldn't want a jedi hubby because I would never see him and he would have some punk kid following him around all the time trying to learn stuff. And if I was in ep 4-6 I would be terrified of having a jedi hubby for fear that someone would find out about him, and then about me and the kids.


And on a final note. I don't think Jedi should even be able to marry other Jedi. In the end no matter how many force powers you have and how powerful you are...you are only human (if you are playing a human jedi...cross out human and enter your race). You might be able to hide your emotions or even resist them, but in the end instincts take over and you will do anything to spare your wife/husband/children the pain that really evil people will cause them. And thats the main reason that I don't think Jedi should be allowed to have relationships or marriage.
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So uh...I rolled a 1 on the wild die...is that good?

[Jedi Skyler]

[Kehlin Yew]

after two and a half months... you are still arguing about jedi getting married...

IM BACK!

[worfbacca]

I think Yoda began to realize in the EP III novelzation that the Jedi Order had'nt changed in the past one thousand years while the sith had. Think about Marriage in reality. It can either be a blessing or a curse. I true Jedi..remember what Yoda told Luke in Empire .they are talking about Han, Leia and chewie. How they might die. How can he just let that happen. Yoda responds..with something like..if you honor what they fight for..yes. Sometimes the greatest test in life is to choose the right and not give into the dark side. Even if it means death for those we love or ourselves. It would be more important to choose the right and die rather than fall into temptation and save those we love. Luke struggled with this question during Empire.
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"That was left handed!"

[Endwyn]

Yes and no. Yoda was taking the safe road - he prioritized Luke over the others. At the same time though, Luke would rather save his friends if it meant only sacraficing himself. Luke's approach was to save the larger group and allow them to carry on the fight instead of "hiding" away while he finished training and being the last, only hope for the galaxy.

So yes, you could compare it to marriage, especially in it's complexity of depth, ect; but at the same time it would be hard to say that either Yoda or Luke was wrong, just no in agreement.
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Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Vanion]

I read bits nad pieces of an article about a week ago. I can't remember if it was an interview with Lucas himself, or something else. I think it was in the Star Wars Insider magazine.

This only has a tiny bit to do with the topic, but I thought it was interesting anyway and it shows that the Jedi Order went to pretty great efforts to make sure Jedi had no attachments outside the Jedi Order. In the article, it said that the reason why Luke and Anakin's ages were so importent was because Jedi hopefulls were taken from their parents while they were VERY VERY young (something we all know... but maybe not everyone knows this...). The reason for starting them out at a very young age, was so that they would not become attached to their own parents! Clearly, if the Jedi Order did not want a Jedi to become attached to their parents, then they certainly would not want any of their members to have any sort of mate... no matter what.

Personally, I like the idea of two Jedi falling in love and passing on their knowledge and ability to their children. It has a great foundation for a good story and a good character background... even if it does clearly go against what's laid out. I just like the drama of it.
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"Life is not measured in years, but by deeds"

[Jedi Skyler]

I have to agree with Vanion. It's a nice story arc... and one that would be fun to write out.

He's correct about the age thing- the Council (at least during the movies era) wanted to ensure that Jedi had no outside attachments that might distract them or be used against them. Yoda told Anakin that he needed to let go of this person he loved, because the fear he was feeling would lead to the dark side. Which of course it did, as we all know.

[Endwyn]

Yes, but there is a main difference between the situation with parents and "loved ones". First, the child doesn't have the resources to disattach themselves emotionally to prevent them from latter having their emotions used against them. Once the jedi has successfully completed training they should be able to control their emotions - marriage couldn't be used against them. Of course, that's just the ones who successfully complete training.

In the end, it's not right for everyone - it's a special case situation.
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Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Jedi Skyler]

That isn't only limited to children, though.
On the Death Star II, Luke, who supposedly had completed his training (except for facing Vader, according to Yoda) still was taunted out of hiding by Vader making threats toward his sister. This wasn't someone he'd grown up with, or been attached to like he would have to Owen and Beru. This was someone he'd only known for a few years, and had only just found out they were related. Luke also wasn't a kid who didn't have the faculties to disassociate himself from his emotions. He went through a good bit of ROTJ maintaining that Jedi detached calm.

I'm not saying you don't have some good points in there. Marriage ISN'T for everyone- Jedi or not. It's just that the Jedi have to be infinitely more careful about it, and more in control of themselves to make sure they aren't put in a leverage position with their loved ones.

And finally, even though ultimately the Force would "find a way," there's the little problem of maintaining a Force-sensitive bloodline. Unless the Jedi was into sleeping around and impregnating women, but not sticking around afterwards (a decidedly UNJedi-like trait) there's going to be issues keeping little Jedi popping up to be trained. SOMEONE'S got to do it, and it falls to the Force-sensitive to make it happen. Therein lies the quandary, no?

[Argamoth]

Can Jedi marry? Yes.
Should Jedi marry? No.

I think a well-controlled Jedi could handle it. But the majority bachelor-Jedi are not that good. And, to be fair to the younger Jedi, the older ones don't get married either. (Which is a real bummer for all you lady-type fans of Mace Windu)

[Jedi Skyler]

Mace wouldn't marry. But the women need not cry. He's a playa!

[Zarm R'keeg]

I believe that Jedi can and should marry. It is a principle allowed by Luke's jedi order, the Old republic Kun/Sunrider era (which is the biggest blow against the false 'attachment/something bad can happen, will lead you to the darkside' fallacy- Nomi Sunrider became one of the greatest Jedi of her era after what, again? Oh yeah- her husband was murdered in front of her. And guess what? No Dark Side. ) In fact, it is clearly such a logical principle that post-TPM, everyone assumed that it would be logical for Jedi to marry- hence characters like Ki Adi Mundai having families.

It was only after GL's clearly unexpected 'no attachments' rule that writers suddenly started scrambling to ret-con their post-TPM, pre-AOTC stories to offer reasons for those portrayals. Sadly, the modern EU has been scrambling to catch up with GL, and ret-conning other eras to take on the prequel Jedi's views (ignoring that those views mostly came from a blind, arrogant, crumbling Jedi order theat, IMHO, are not SUPPOSED to be in the right in the films, but because they are Jedi, most people just assume that they are supposed to be infallible in their beliefs, too)- but I think the evidence of the EU shows that marriage has been a part of the order since the beginning, found restriction by the time of the Prequel era, and was reinstated in Luke's more enlightened, more enduring, less dogmatic era which was free of the flaws that led the prequel Jedi to their doom.

So, absolutely, Jedi should be allowed to marry. Any characters from the prequel era bound to the dogma of the order of the time would say the opposite, of course- but to my mind, logic and the reality of sentient being preclude this fallacious restriction. The notion of Jedi turning to the dark side because of attachments is a cop-out that removes self-control and personal responsibility from the equation, and is clearly contradicted by numerous Jedi who have lost loved ones and not turned to the Dark Side. Anakin was, frankly, a very flawed person who used his losses as an excuse- they were not a cause. And frankly, almost all Jedi have attachments- strong friendships, comrades- even the bond between master and apprentice. Denying attachments by forbidding romance is unrealistic and hypocrtical, because those bonds already exist in tohers- they just fail to acknowledge them or are blind to them.

So, to sum up, the denial of marriage and personal attachments is based upon a false premise, one clearly contradicted by numerous examples (Anakin being the abberation, not the norm), and one that the MAJORITY of Jedi history has not included- only the Prequel era, in which the Jedi were definitively in moral decline (as even Yoda said), and other eras since retconned to fall in line with it. Absolutely, Jedi should be allowed to form relationships and marry, even if anyone surviving the Clone Wars from the order would not believe so.
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