This genius Star Wars fan theory proves that remote working and teleconferences killed the Jedi
Did an over-liberal teleworking policy provoke the Jedi downfall?
When we talk about what ended the Jedi Order in the Star Wars film, the choices seem pretty obvious. The rise of the Sith under Darth Sidious, the betrayal of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and the toll of the Clone Wars all played their part, while the Jedi’s own fading force abilities and bureaucracy prevented them from seeing the danger until it was too late.
However, one imgur user has put forward another theory – that the downfall of the Jedi Order was their overly-liberal teleworking policy, beginning around the time of Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
As he comments in his imgur post:
“Here we see the Jedi Council convening for their monthly strategic alignment meeting at the beginning of Episode II. Like any organization with some semblance of professionalism, everyone schlepped themselves out of bed, sat through traffic on Coruscant, and showed up for work.
“Because the meeting is face to face, there is a sense of accountability and clear delineation as to who is responsible for each action item. This is classic management protocol.”
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However, things soon began to go south when Obi-Wan Kenobi begins “taking advantage” of being able to use holograms to work remotely in episode II.
“The members of the Council really start to take advantage of the policy at the beginning of Episode III. Everyone has watched Obi-Wan hologram-in for months and decides to make up their own bullshit excuse to just hologram into the meeting.”
“All of the sudden the diffusion of responsibility sets in and people start dropping out of this meeting like flies. They're probably all on mute watching the Alderaan 500 Podraces.”
“Even Master Yoda takes up teleworking – leaving him less accessible to the middle managers that form the backbone of the order. His callous distance leaves him out of touch with the day to day activities of the temple.”
The theory finishes with Anakin alone in the council chambers, with every single Jedi assumed to be working from home – and who knows how much this might have influenced his turn to the Dark Side?
“A pleasant conversation at the water cooler probably could have lifted his spirits but everyone is out of the god damn office,” the post concludes.
“He probably keeps getting pre-recorded hologram away messages every time he tries to reach out.”
You can read the full post here, but rest assured – you’ll never look at Star Wars (or phoning into meetings) in the same way again.
Rogue One: A Star Wars story will be released this December
