The Jedi and Sith Temples
In the first and last episodes of the Skywalker Saga, the audience is introduced to the temples of the Jedi and the Sith. Their locations, architecture, and most important rooms suggest the contrasting values of these competing religious factions.
The Jedi Temple, introduced in The Phantom Menace, is located on Coruscant: a densely populated planet in the heart of the galaxy that is home to the Galactic Senate. In Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker says, “The Jedi are selfless. They only care about others.” The temple’s location testifies that the Jedi aspire, at least, to be where the people are and serve them through supporting democracy.
The Sith Temple, introduced in The Rise of Skywalker, is located on Exegol: a barren planet hidden beyond the edge of the known galaxy, and from which Emperor Palpatine plots to take his revenge and wipe out the defenders of democracy. The emptiness and isolation of the planet and Palpatine’s purposes for being there confirm Anakin’s statement that the Sith “think inwards, only about themselves.”
The Jedi Temple is designed to direct eyes to the skies and to make people ascend many levels to reach the most important room, the chamber of the Jedi Council. The temple’s architecture reflects the Jedi belief that a person’s head should be in the clouds, drawn upward by a pursuit of knowledge.
The Sith Temple resembles the Jedi Temple – if it were turned upside down and plunged into the ground. It is designed to direct eyes to the caverns below and to make people descend many levels to reach the most important room, the throne room of the Lord of the Sith. The temple’s architecture reflects the Sith belief that a person’s head should defer to the belly, drawn downward by a pursuit of the passions.
But a comparison of the most important rooms of the two temples reveals the relational implications of these two ways of living. The chamber of the Jedi Council has many seats of honor, with none having greater honor than any of the others. But the throne room of the Lord of the Sith has only one seat of honor. Whereas the members of the Jedi Council face one another as equals, Palpatine is surrounded by subjects who bow to him. Moreover, from his throne room he waits to confront either a challenger he can defeat or a host he can possess.
When a person lives for knowledge, company is welcome. The wise know they are not all-wise and there is greater truth to be found in the insights of many counselors. But when a person lives for the passions, company is unwelcome. Everyone else is either a means or a threat to one’s own pleasure.
To attain the highest privilege of the Jedi is to join a circle of friends in the sunlight. But to attain the highest privilege of the Sith is to wait to die alone in a dark corner of the universe.
EXPLORE FURTHER…
Characters: Palpatine
Films: Episode I: The Phantom Menace / Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
GO DEEPER INTO THE ARCHIVES…
Concepts: ascent and descent / democracy / friendship / Jedi / knowledge / passion / Sith / temples / underworld / wisdom
Interpretive Tools: Tripartite Soul Theory
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Not to mention that the Jedi Temple was also built on the foundations of a Sith Temple...