Within the expansive Star Wars universe, various species are trained to become Jedi Masters. Yet, across the seemingly infinite universe, the films and spin-off series’ offer only glimpses of the 40 women Jedi. What’s more, only a handful of women Jedi Knights achieved the highest rank as Jedi Master and sat on the Jedi High Council. Comparatively, the dominant Jedi Masters are men or the males of their respective species. Of course, women Jedi like Rey and Ahsoka are mighty and fearless, but are often depicted as only going so far in their training. For them to remain as Knights is especially archaic.
As the Star Wars saga continues, the doors are open for more women Jedi Masters to be featured. Even if the story follows a known woman Jedi Knight’s journey to Master, it would be a more compelling story than Luke Skywalker coming out of retirement. One main reason for more women Jedi Masters is that more male Jedi Knights have been swayed to the dark side than their women peers. Thus far, the two women who could have been Masters have either left or refused training due to bad visions or a misalignment with the Jedi ORder, which is a limiting storyline. Leia is one of the most powerful characters in the franchise, yet her connection with the Force remained untapped. As such, here are four reasons why the Star Wars franchise needs more women Jedi Masters.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
4 Our Only Hope
Lucasfilm Animation
With the recent Star Wars Disney+ series’ filling in the gaps of the Skywalker saga, one aspect of these stories that is lost among the cute characters like Baby Yoda and child Leia is the women. Despite directors like Bryce Dallas Howard leading the new era of the galaxy far, far away, women Jedi remain as props for the male protagonists. Jedi Masters like Stass Allie and Luminara Unduli were killed off despite their dedication to the safety and vision of their fellow Jedi. Unfortunately, these two Jedi Masters died fairly young and, for that matter, were only featured in small supporting roles. Comparatively, Jedi Masters like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda are able to star in multiple story arcs, always growing and always front and center. To see a woman Jedi Master who grows old and is as significant to the franchise as Obi-Wan or Yoda would be epic.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
3 More Than Just Political Leaders
Lucasfilm
Screen Rant postulates that Padmé was Force-sensitive based on her empathic abilities. Yet, as the mother of a Jedi Master and an almost-Jedi, she was given as much thought as Jar-Jar Binks in the space she occupied in the Prequel trilogy. She proved herself a formidable force in politics as well as fighting alongside Jedi Knights and Padawans alike. Then, her driven and courageous daughter, Leia, stopped her training due to a bad vision. Despite the contemporary social attitudes and gender politics during the time Leia was originally written when Episodes IV to VI were released, her continued story had her following in her mother’s footsteps: estranged from her husband but a political powerhouse. It seems that both Padmé and Leia served as political leaders simply because it’s easier to put women away in a place of power to confirm their strength rather than making them warriors.
2 Women in the Audience
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The new path Hollywood is forging by casting more women in prominent roles like superhero or space adventure films is still fairly narrow despite women in the audience for these films being present from the beginning. The Mary Sue explains how gatekeeping happens by Star Wars fans online by asking the most obvious question, “What is the point of being angry that people like the thing that you like?” Whether the surge in women audience members is because of Leia or Inquisitor Reva, when women see themselves on screen, they’ll show up in the most amazing cosplay outside Comic-Con.
1 Combat Scenes
Lucasfilm Ltd.
The latest installments to the Star Wars universe, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, have explored more characters in the Skywalker Saga. Talking about Star Wars without the action sequences would be an abomination. In Episodes 4-6, Leia would use a gun in her fighting sequences, leaving the rest of the fighting to the Jedi Knights or Masters with their awesome lightsabers. Who can forget that iconic Darth Vader scene where he reveals his presence by activating his lightsaber in Rogue One? Many live-action lightsaber fight sequences have predominantly focused on the men fighting, that is, until Rey appeared in the Sequel trilogy and, more recently, when Obi-Wan Kenobi presented fans with the fierce Inquisitor Reva, portrayed by Moses Ingram. Her fight scenes are especially brutal and filled with rage. Seeing more fight sequences like Reva’s in the Star Wars universe would be especially epic.
