The Gray Jedi Code

[Germaine Greenweig]

It's been the consistent position of the LucasFilm Story Group that the "Grey Jedi" do not exist in Star Wars canon. What's more, Pablo Hidalgo debunked this rumour specifically on Twitter in May 2017:

The Jedi Order was all about peace until the Clone Wars. Though a few Jedi survived Order 66 and the purge that followed, the Order as it was in the days of the Galactic Republic is no more. Their symbol of wings and what looks like a shining light represents their role and beliefs.

It's a fairly long-standing symbol in Star Wars lore, which appears to have been borrowed by some fan groups for their "Grey Jedi order" fanon1. The symbol, and its association to the Jedi Order, dates back at least to the 2006 New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology:

1 I can see this symbol being attached to a "Grey Jedi" organization only in places like Tumblr. This isn't a section of the fan community I engage with, so I don't know much about the history of this usage, but it's certainly not official; a Google image search for "grey jedi code logo" reveals that different groups of fans have applied different symbols to similar concepts.

In fact, even in Legends (where "Grey Jedi" did exist), the idea of a unified "Grey Jedi Order", with their own symbol and code and everything, doesn't make a lot of sense; the term "Grey Jedi" is a blanket one, used to broadly refer to "Not Jedi, but also not Sith"

Recently I have seen the existence of what I believe to be some misconceptions that people seem to have about the Force, especially about the so-called "Gray Side" or as it is called in KotFE and KotET "growing beyond Light and Dark". It is my view that, within the Star Wars universe and the way the Force works, it's impossible to truly ever become something more than Light or Dark. Being able to follow a middle path between Light and Dark isn't something that can be achieved and those that do try such weaken themselves and their connection to the Force, Darth Gravid and his insanity being an example of this. It is why I believe Valkorion tried to teach the Outlander a supposed "more than Light and Dark" side, so that he would have an easier time breaking our will and taking control over our body. Because an individual that is aligned to either the Light Side or the Dark Side could be seen as someone devoted to its teachings, therefore having a stronger will than someone who is aligned to neither and therefore rests in a limbo of apathy. And we know what Kreia said about apathy...

It's why I want to invite everyone who is interested in this subject to watch a video that was made by a Youtuber about this particular subject in aftermath of a wonderful and elaborate dissection of Kreia's philosophy. He explains the lore surrounding how the Force works with the Light Side and the Dark Side perfectly and also masterfully points out why the Gray Jedi are extremely flawed, as well as why achieving "balance" by growing beyond Light and Dark is impossible within the Star Wars universe.

Well, I bet there are more of such examples in all the Star Wars material out there I personally always associated it with the word "gravis", which means "severe" in Latin. In fact, until today I hadn't known that "gravid" means heavily pregnant xD

He's (Valkorian) trying to *Weaken the Players *Resolve. A Light or Dark sided Character would fight towards, make decisions in line with their beliefs (Sith or Jedi), *Not, the decisions Valkorian wants you to make so he's trying to Wean you away from your beliefs. Add a couple "Ego Building Compliments" *Above "Light or Dark" and a Less Firm individual may change.

Also with this (In the Movie Sense) an Individual that had no commitments, no direction , no directives to achieve would be easy to change their course. People aligned to the Light side will fight for those ideals, People aligned to the Dark side will fight for Sith Ideals but the Non Commited have little direction, no set destination and results are undefined; < Much "Easier" to sway, change or stop altogether. The Grey, Above or Undecided (Again in the Movie Sense) have doubts to their original ideals, this is the first step in corrupting ones mind to break with their commitments....and side.

Characters like Mara Jade, Qui-Gonn, Mace Windu, Jolee Bindo and others who play fast and loose with the gray label have been in official media. Ahsoka Tano carries white lightsabers and is not aligned with either the Jedi or the Sith. In the game there are numerous orders - the Knights of Zakuul, the Order of Shasa, the Voss Mystics, the Revanites - who do not limit themselves to using one side of the Force or the other. Their liberal use of both sides is again canon.

If a player or RPer chooses to take a black and white view of things, that's certainly valid, but it doesn't mean that those who don't are misunderstanding anything. I know there are those who are very dogmatic about this and stubbornly feel you have to pick a side, and if that is how they choose to play and interpret things, great, but I do not agree and that is never how I will play my Force users.

None of those organisations, people or orders are truly detached from either side of the Force. The Order of Shasa for example has members leaning both to the Light as well as to the Dark, their key ideals being peace and defense: "Shasa and the other Sith-trained Selkath developed a doctrine of peace and defense, creating an organization initially known only as the Order" (Quoted from Wookiepedia). That exhibits clear Light Side alignment or at least leaning towards the Light Side.

"The Knights of Zakuul served to protect the Emperor of the Eternal Empire and enforce justice throughout the Empire. Unlike the Jedi or Sith, the Knights of Zakuul neither rejected nor rigidly adhered to either the light side or the dark side of the Force, emphasising the importance of a Knight exploring their personal connection to the Force. Eschewing the strict codes of the Jedi and Sith, no area of the Force was deemed too weak for a Knight to pursue further knowledge in, and no areas of the force were off-limits for Knights to study in the pursuit of power. However, whilst the pursuit of umlimited power drew natural comparisons between the Knights of Zakuul and the Sith, Knights were encouraged share their findings with the rest of the order, rather than hoarding information for themselves."

Basically a Knight of Zakuul could study the Dark Side and remain committed to it but the same going for a Knight wanting to study the Light Side. So the organisation itself isn't on any "neutral" side of the Force, they merely do not forbid their members from adhering to one side of the Force or the other. Their only code is to serve and protect Zakuul's royal family and the Immortal Emperor. Whether they do it as Light Siders or Dark Siders is unimportant.

"The Voss Mystics were considered to be gray by the Jedi and the Sith for their non-standard perspective on the nature of the Force, as they belonged to neither order nor fully embraced either the light or dark sides of the Force."

I will admit, the Voss seem to come closest to a "Gray Side" of the Force, yet because of this very fact their connection to the Force is weak. All we see them do is getting visions, but they do not exhibit any greater usage of the Force and behave rather apathetically towards the Jedi and Sith and the galaxy, which aligns with the flaws of the Gray Jedi as explained by the video. The Voss seclude themselves and want nothing to do with the greater galaxy, behaving exactly like the other Gray Jedi who exiled themselves and remained apathetic, like Jolee Bindo or Luke Skywalker in the Last Jedi.

As for Jolee Bindo, he is one of the examples used in the video to point out the major flaws of the Gray Jedi. He exiles himself and detaches himself from the galaxy, because he tries to remain on a "Gray Side" he becomes apathetic, wallowing in self-pity on Kashyyyk. The moment he is spurred on by Revan to come into action he starts leaning more towards the Light Side again, therefore never reaching a true middle path.

Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn do not fit into the typical role of the Jedi Knight, but within the Force they were still aligned with the Light Side, they didn't follow a neutral gray path. Ashoka Tano fits the latter description as well, I believe, because she still expresses traits of selflessness in her usage of the Force, which puts her on the Light Side of the spectrum of Force alignment.

The Youtuber in question also made another interesting video, in which he says the following: many people believe the Light Side of the Force to be an aspect of it, yet in fact, the Light Side is actually the ground state of the Force, the state in which it's supposed to be. Achieving "Balance Within the Force" means the complete eradication of all the Dark Side users by letting the Light triumph. It's why the wars in Star Wars are cyclical, every few decades darkness rises and the Force lets the Light Side rise to meet it and destroy it. That is also one of the main reasons why I believe and the Youtuber in question with me that a "gray side" cannot exist within the Star Wars universe because the existence of the Force itself prohibits that because its ground state is the Light Side. If you're interested in the video in which it is explained, here is the link:

To conclude, naturally, the Force and its nature have many interpretations. However, I do think George Lucas had a few base intents that can be discerned by examining the lore around the Force in the Star Wars universe the way the Youtuber in question has elaborated. Not saying his view is infallible, but to me it seems like the most logical explanation as to what the nature of the Force is

Jolee was just frustrated and wanted to get away from everything (I can personally understand that myself) and at first Didn't want to care but after being around and listening to Revan did do the right thing and join the cause (for the Light side).

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