The Jedi as bad guys

Oh I don't disagree. I just think part of the flaw was their tie to the government in-world. It was part their tie to the government, part their way of thinking (although not remotely to the extreme that the detractors on this thread think IMO), and their hubris at their fate, position of power, and the Chosen One prophecy.

I'm just saying that flawed doesn't equal bad or evil. I'll defend the Jedi with you all the live-long day, but I think it's good to point out their in-world flaws too.

 

If the Jedi were the bad guys, so were the members of the Galactic Republic.

 

I have always felt that the Jedi doomed themselves, long-term, once they committed to being an organ of the galactic government. I have also believed, since learning about him, that Master Altis and his Altisian Jedi were the correct model for the Jedi community rather than some massive monastic order. Something community-based and free-thinking would have been much better and more helpful to the galaxy, the Jedi would have had their ears to the ground and they would never have received the hatred and resentment they in many ways earned from the general population. Finally, something like Order 66 would likely never have come to pass, and even if it did, it would have been vastly more difficult to implement, even for someone like Palpatine.