This month marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the concluding chapter in the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. The film was released on May 19, 2005, and it would end up being the final Star Wars film guided by George Lucas before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney seven years later.
Fans knew going into Revenge of the Sith that this was where we’d see Anakin Skywalker turn to the Dark Side of the Force and become Darth Vader, but a big question was what exactly happened to all the other Jedi. The film’s answer was Order 66, a diabolical part of Palpatine’s plan in which he would have all of the Clone Troopers who had fought with the Jedi throughout the Clone Wars suddenly turn on those Jedi and execute them. But with several thousands of Jedi in service at the time, it stood to reason that some would slip through Palpatine’s fingers – and not just the couple we knew had to because they were still around in the Original Trilogy.
So amongst the few dozen Order 66 survivors who’ve been introduced in canon Star Wars stories by now, we’ve decided to rank the top 10 that have made an especially big impact. Some of them would only survive for a short time longer, while others managed to make it much further into the timeline – and in a few cases, their final fate remains unknown. Regardless, all of these Jedi at least lived on to fight one more day after Palpatine declared “Execute Order 66.”
Some ground rules: The criteria for this list is that these characters had to have spent some time, prior to Order 66, under the jurisdiction of the Jedi Order, whether their final rank was Padawan, Jedi Knight, Jedi Master or even simply those among the very young Jedi Initiate. So that means we’re not counting Force-users like Maul (nor his former Master, Palpatine himself). Nor would it include then-young Force wielders like Jod Na Nawood who never were officially taken in by the Jedi Order and certainly never stepped foot in the Jedi Temple, even if they received a modicum of training from a Jedi.
That being said, we did have some inner angst about whether Asajj Ventress should make it on here. After all, she spent over 20 years alongside a Jedi, Ky Narec, who declared her to be his Padawan as he trained her in the ways of the Force while he was stranded with her on the planet Rattatak. Yet, during that time, Ventress never traveled to Coruscant or encountered any of the Jedi Council, nor any other Jedi, prior to Ky Narec’s death. That, plus her turn to the Dark Side as Dooku’s apprentice, makes her a bit of a murky element in regards to her official Jedi status. So consider her an honorable mention. Though speaking of that, let’s also deal with…
(Dis)Honorable Mention: Darth Vader and the Inquisitors
Anakin Skywalker’s first act as Darth Vader was to follow Palpatine’s orders and personally take part in Order 66… but yes, before he turned murderous traitor, he was a remarkable Jedi. And we should also acknowledge all those who ended up joining the ranks of Vader’s vicious Inquisitors, who then hunted down and executed their own fellow Jedi survivors. Some, like the Grand Inquisitor, seemed eager to help; Barriss Offee and the Thirteenth Sister (Iskat Akaris) had grown disillusioned with the Jedi Council and what they saw as that group’s corruption; the Second Sister (Trilla Suduri) and the Ninth Sister (Masana Tide) were tortured into submission; and the Third Sister (Reva) planned to eventually get revenge on Vader for killing her fellow Jedi younglings, even as the exact reasonings for several others to join up remains unknown. But whether they were Inquisitors only briefly or for years, they spent time participating in some notably dark and brutal acts.
…Ok, maybe not Barriss so much. She seemed to leave pretty quickly, really.
10. Gungi
Sometimes adorableness gets you extra points. Because sure, we could have chosen former Jedi Council members like Oppo Rancisis or Eeth Koth for this tenth slot, given they also survived Order 66 (at least for a while), but in the end we had to go with the Padawan known as Gungi. Because look at this dude – he’s a young wookiee with a lightsaber! That power is undeniable.
Gungi was introduced on Star Wars: The Clone Wars as part of a group of young Padawan during a storyline that once was envisioned as a potential Young Jedi spinoff. Then, on Star Wars: The Bad Batch – set in the immediate aftermath of Order 66 – we learned he had somehow survived, though sadly it’s not likely his Padawan friends could say the same. We last saw Gungi back on Kashyyyk, joining a new tribe who fought alongside him after he discovered his original tribe had tragically been killed by Trandoshans.
9. Jocastu Nu
“Jedi Librarian” isn’t exactly the most intimidating title, and the Chief Librarian of the Jedi Archives was introduced in Attack of the Clones in a fairly annoying fashion, representing the arrogance of the Prequel-era Jedi through her insistence that “If an item does not appear in our records, it does not exist!” (Spoiler alert: She was wrong.)
Still, this massive faux pas aside, she was in fact an incredibly knowledgeable Jedi who also had access to secrets about the Jedi and the Force no one else did – which is why Palpatine actually wanted her brought in alive when it was discovered she survived Order 66. Ultimately, she was instead killed by Darth Vader, in an early, secret act of defiance against his Sith Master, after she told Vader she knew he was actually Anakin Slklywalker and that Palpatine would use her information to find and corrupt more Force-sensitive children to the Dark Side. Years later, Anakin’s son, Luke, would gather information Jocasta collected as he attempted to rebuild the Jedi Order.
8. Quinlan Vos
Existing on the periphery of the Prequel trilogy – he’s glimpsed as a background character on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace and name-dropped by Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith – Quinlan Vos first got a lot more focus in Star Wars Legends stories that were not canon. However, we would then get a better idea of the true history of the character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and other stories, as we learned he was a Jedi who often dealt with the criminal underworld, such as the Hutts and Cad Bane.
From becoming the lover of Asajj Ventress to temporarily being turned to the Dark Side of the Force by Count Dooku, Vos lived an eclectic life – and then managed to narrowly avoid being killed when the Clone Troopers turned on the Jedi while he fought alongside them on Kashyyyk, though he was wounded in the process. Whether he made it to the era of the Original Trilogy is unknown, but Vos was at least around for several more years, with Obi-Wan Kenobi eventually finding his name amongst other surviving Jedi and Force sensitive beings who had joined and used the secret network known as the Hidden Path to stay safe during the time of the Empire.
7. Baylan Skoll
Though the most recently-introduced character on this list, with many details we don’t know about him as yet, there are a lot of intriguing elements to former Jedi Knight Baylan Skoll. Skoll has a decidedly world-weary demeanor, recalling Order 66 by explaining “I watched everything I knew burn,” and noting he came to believe that the fall of the Jedi and rise of the Empire were simply the latest iteration of history continually repeating itself.
Though we don’t know how exactly he survived Order 66, Skoll neither stayed on a righteous path nor seemed to actually turn to the Dark Side, as others like the Inquisitors appeared to. Instead, he used his Jedi skills as a mercenary for hire, and eventually took on an apprentice, Shin Hati. The actor who originated the role of Skoll, the great Ray Stevenson, has sadly passed away since filming Ahsoka Season 1, but the character will return in Season 2, now played by Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann – and perhaps we will learn more of his backstory in the process.
6. Caleb Dume / Kanan Jarus
Padawan to the Jedi Depa Billaba when Order 66 began, Caleb Dume was unable to save his Master’s life, but managed to survive himself thanks to some assistance from Clone Force 99, aka the Bad Batch. Going on the run across the galaxy, Dume changed his identity to Kanan Jarus, and for a long time, forsook all of his Jedi ways. Eventually though, he decided to begin fighting against the Empire, joining with the group of heroes at the center of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, where he passed on his knowledge of the Force to young Ezra Bridger, even though Kanan had never completed his own time as a Padawan.
Their adventures would eventually lead Kanan and his fellow crew members on the Ghost to fully join the growing Rebel Alliance, but Kanan’s sacrifices would be many along the way, as he first lost his eyesight in a battle with Maul and then lost his life to protect his friends. But Kanan’s legacy carries on both through his apprentice Ezra, and through Kanan and Rebel pilot Hera Syndulla’s son Jacen.
5. Grogu
The mega-cute, oh-so merchandise-friendly, breakout character from The Mandalorian, Grogu was introduced as a baby in the post-Return of the Jedi era of Star Wars, eventually becoming the adopted son to Din Djarin. However, due to his mysterious species’ notably long lifespan, it turns out being a baby is a decades-long process for Grogu, which is why it made sense that he had in fact been a Jedi Initiate who was present at the Jedi Temple the night Order 66 occurred. In Grogu’s case, another Order 66 survivor, Ahmed Best’s Kelleran Beq (whose ultimate fate is unknown), was able to get him away from Coruscant in the midst of the Jedi massacre.
Despite his (relatively) young age and toddler-like demeanor, Grogu is clearly innately strong in the Force to a notably impressive degree, already capable of levitating large objects and even using Force healing abilities. All of which insinuates that when he finally grows up, he has the capacity to be as powerful as another well known member of his species we’ll be talking about more below.
4. Cal Ketis
The protagonist of the games Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Padawan Cal Ketis had a similar background to Kanan in that he and his Jedi Master were away from Coruscant when Order 66 was declared, with Cal making it to safety while his Master did not. Though he also went into hiding in the aftermath, Cal ended up on the radar of the Inquisitors, which sent him on a journey that led him to take an active role against the Empire much sooner than Kanan did.
A notably skilled lightsaber combatant, Cal also stands out for attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order far earlier than others like Luke Skywalker would. From teaming with the militant Saw Gerrera to assisting the Hidden Path in protecting other Jedi and Force-sensitive survivors, to making it through an encounter with Darth Vader himself, Cal kept plenty busy during the reign of the Empire – though it’s not yet known what his final fate is or if he was still around by the time of the Battle of Yavin.
3. Ahsoka Tano
Yes, she technically left the Jedi Order and would even go on to memorably declare “I am no Jedi,” but Ahsoka Tano’s skill and courage sure mark her as a great Jedi, even if she wasn’t calling herself that any longer. The Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka was a big part of the Clone Wars (the war) and a big part of The Clone Wars (the series), as we saw her grow from a sarcastic teenager into a confident and centered young woman who fought with honor in many notable battles. Eventually though, she felt compelled to leave the Jedi after they tried her for a crime she did not commit, even after they attempted to bring her back into the fold with their version of “Our bad.”
Reunited with her Clone Trooper friends as the war was coming to an end, her Jedi status in their eyes was clear when Order 66 was declared, as those same Clone Troopers then attempted to kill her. She would survive, though it pained her to do so at the expense of men she had fought alongside for so long. Helping the burgeoning Rebel Alliance through the years that followed, Ahsoka would make it through the Galactic Civil War, with her current adventures, on her own live-action series, now bringing both her and her apprentice, Sabine Wren, to an entirely different galaxy far, far away from the one she’s known.
2. Obi-Wan Kenobi
The former Padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn and a hero of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan’s adventures and accomplishments are many, though it’s his relationship with Anakin Skywalker that would perhaps define him, for better or worse. As Anakin’s Master, Obi-Wan did all he could to impart wisdom and knowledge to his Padawan, only to see him fall to the Dark Side and become Darth Vader.
Offworld when Order 66 was declared, Obi-Wan managed to escape when his Clone Troopers, led by Commander Cody, turned on him. He would go on to confront Darth Vader on Mustafar, winning their battle and leaving his former friend and surrogate brother horribly maimed yet still breathing. While he spent most of the next two decades quietly watching over Luke Skywalker on Tatooine, he would temporarily leave the planet to protect Luke’s sister, Leia Organa, which in turn brought him into conflict with Vader again. And while their third and final lightsaber battle, onboard the Death Star, would end in Obi-Wan’s death, he had already begun Luke’s Jedi training at that point. This set Luke on a path towards redeeming Vader and ending the reign of the Empire, with Obi-Wan’s Force Ghost sometimes appearing along the way to give Luke guidance.
1. Yoda
Arguably the most powerful Jedi we’ve ever seen, the diminutive and thoughtful Yoda is not one to make a show of just what he’s capable of accomplishing unless he has to. But it was clear he was someone of great wisdom and knowledge from the moment Luke met him on Dagobah – after he drops his funny “I’m just a weird swamp creature” bit with Luke that is – who is able to feel and tap into the Force in a way that is deeply profound. Is his mysterious race innately tied to the Force? Given the only three we’ve met who represent these beings – Yoda, Yaddle and Grogu – are powerful in the Force, it seems possible.
As we finally saw during the Prequels, Yoda could both duel with a lightsaber and harness the Force and its abilities like few others – even deflecting Force Lightning when the formidable likes of Anakin and Obi-Wan were incapable of doing so. This was why the Clone Troopers who tried to take him down on Kashyyyk when Order 66 was declared truly stood no chance. Come on, Clones… this is freaking Yoda!
Confronting an opponent unlike any other when he battled Emperor Palpatine soon after, Yoda survived that battle but was forced into hiding, deciding caution was the best approach for the time being and with so few Jedi now left alive. After years alone on Dagobah, Yoda would finally be joined by Luke Skywalker, giving Anakin’s son the crucial training he needed to eventually become a Jedi himself. Though Yoda’s hundreds of years of life finally came to an end shortly before the Galactic Civil War came to its conclusion, he would still maintain a presence as a Force Ghost – even returning to give an older Luke one more bit of sage advice decades later.
Who do you think the most noteworthy survivor of Order 66 is? Let’s discuss in the comments. And vote in our poll above!
