5 Most Tragic Jedi Deaths In Star Wars, Ranked

A common trope in the Star Wars franchise is that Jedi die ... a lot. In the first film, the only Jedi known to be alive, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), dies when he faces off against his former pupil. Jedi deaths continued with Yoda's (Frank Oz) in "Return of the Jedi," and the trend reappeared in the prequel trilogy. After Darth Sidious (Ian McDiarmid) issues Order 66, the Great Jedi Purge quickly unfolds across the galaxy, amounting to a Jedi genocide.

While there were some Jedi who survived Order 66, most didn't. The handful who escaped the Empire were hunted down and slain by the Inquisitors or Darth Vader. When any Jedi dies, it's a tragedy, as they're incredibly rare and were so valuable to the Republic, but some deaths are harder to take than others. These are the Jedi that audiences got to know over time, making it harder to accept a "Star Wars" franchise without them.

When Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), and Yoda die, it's sad, but not necessarily tragic. They become Force Spirits who continue to help their still-living Jedi allies after their passing. For a Jedi's death to be truly tragic, it needs to be someone the fans care about a great deal, or they must play such a significant role in the overarching story that their death has a major impact. Of the many Jedi who've fallen in Star Wars canon, these five are the most tragic, ranked by how truly awful their loss hit.

Movie audiences barely got to know Jedi Master Jocasta Nu (Alethea McGrath), as she only appears briefly in "Attack of the Clones." Her scene sees Jocasta speaking with Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) in the Jedi Archives, making her seem like little more than a librarian or scholar. In truth, Jocasta was a powerful Jedi Master who played a significant role in the final days of the Jedi Order, even going so far as to sacrifice herself to save the innocent from harm. 

Jocasta survives Order 66 with the intention of giving her knowledge to a new generation of Jedi. She returns to Coruscant to retrieve a Jedi holocron that's hidden within the archive. The holocron contains the names of all the Force-sensitive children known throughout the galaxy. Not only does she need the holocron to find potential students, but she also understands that it cannot wind up in Imperial hands. Unfortunately, Darth Sidious had already dispatched Darth Vader and the Grand Inquisitor to retrieve the holocron.

When she's unable to escape, Jocasta attempts to sacrifice herself, but Vader steps in and saves her. They talk about the holocron and Sidious' plans for the children, convincing Vader to destroy it. But that doesn't save her life, as he quickly dispatches Jocasta. Years later, Jocasta's work would have a strong impact on the Jedi, as the information she hid ends up in Luke Skywalker's hands. He uses her stored knowledge to restart the Jedi Order, making her death mean something in the end.

After Darth Sidious issues Order 66 in "Revenge of the Sith," the audience is treated to a brief montage showing powerful Jedi Masters being struck down by the Clone Troopers under their command. These include Ki-Adi-Mundi (Silas Carson), Plo Koon (Alan Ruscoe), Stass Allie (Lily Nyamwasa), Zett Jukassa (Jett Lucas, George Lucas' son), and many more who the audience cannot identify. One of the most tragic Jedi to fall on that fateful day was Jedi Knight Aayla Secura (Amy Allen).

While all of the Jedi deaths that day were tragic, hers was more so due to the manner in which she's killed. Her death scene is barely 25 seconds long, and it begins with Aayla leading a unit of Clone Troopers through dense vegetation. As the commander, she's at the front of the formation and doesn't suspect any sort of betrayal from her men. Aayla pauses momentarily as they all raise their blasters and fire, striking her in the back.

Aayla is likely dead, as she's lying on the ground after being shot, but the Troopers don't stop. They continue to unload blaster fire on her corpse until the scene shifts. Not only was she turned on by the people she trusted, but they brutally fired into her lifeless body as if they could somehow kill her more than once. It's a tragic end to a great character, and while she's not delved into much in the film, Aayla Secura is much more fleshed out in "The Clone Wars."

One of the most painful Jedi deaths to watch in the Star Wars franchise comes not in a film, but in the "Star Wars Rebels" television series. The show's primary lead is Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray), who is taken in by Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze Jr.) and several others. Kanan is a former Jedi who escaped Order 66 after his master died in front of him, so he's initially reluctant to train Ezra.

Eventually, he reassembles his lightsaber and becomes Ezra's master, teaching him the ways of the Force. Kanan has a strong character arc with development throughout the series, and after facing off against Darth Maul (Sam Witwer) on Malachor, he's blinded. After this, he often wears a blast shield to cover his eyes, and he uses the Force to guide him. In Season 4, after Hera's (Vanessa Marshall) capture, her friends head out on a rescue mission to save her.

They find and retrieve Hera, but as they're making their escape, a massive explosion threatens to engulf them all. Seeing this, Kanan rushes forward and uses the Force to hold back the inferno, giving his friends time to escape. Kanan looks toward his friends and, just for a moment before he succumbs to the fire, his eyes clear, and he sees them one last time. Kanan's death is tragic and all too familiar, as master who dies to save his apprentice. That's what his master did for him, and he does the same years later.

The approximate number of Jedi killed following the execution of Order 66 is around 9,900, and if you think that's relatively low considering the size of the galaxy, you'd be wrong. Force-sensitivity is so rare that the Jedi Order only had around 10,000 members when the Galactic Civil War began, so the order resulted in the deaths of 98.9% of all remaining Jedi. Seeing Jedi killed by the Empire is horrible, but one group's death crossed the line of what's acceptable.

In "Revenge of the Sith," after Anakin Skywalker falls to the dark side, he carries out his new master's command and brings the Jedi Order to an end. To do so, he marches the 501st Legion into the Jedi Grand Temple on Coruscant, slaying anyone who stands in their way. While the Troopers do most of the killing from a distance, it's the newly renamed Darth Vader who walks into a room and finds a bunch of children. Seeing him, one child asks what they can do since they're outnumbered.

Vader's only reply is igniting his lightsaber, causing the child to take a surprised step back. While the audience is blessedly free from seeing Vader kill the Jedi younglings, there's no doubt that he does so. The total number is unclear, and while one is too many to begin with, he likely slaughters at least half a dozen kids after the scene shifts. 

The nine main feature films in the "Star Wars" franchise are known as the Skywalker Saga, and at their center is one man: Anakin Skywalker. Of all the Jedi deaths to arise from the Great Jedi Purge, Anakin's is the most tragic. While his body lives on as Darth Vader, this was only possible because Anakin chose to follow the dark side of the Force, effectively killing his former self so a new one could replace him. In "Obi-Wan Kenobi," during their second massive lightsaber battle, Vader himself confirms this.

As Kenobi looks upon his injured former Padawan and sees his scarred face and apologizes, Vader tells him, "I'm not your failure, Obi-Wan. You didn't kill Anakin Skywalker. I did." The tragic story of Anakin begins at birth, when he's born of the Force itself, having no father. He's then enslaved, but rises up and becomes a powerful Jedi who's respected throughout the Order. Anakin chooses to follow the dark side is to save his wife, but in doing so, he becomes the instrument of her death.

In trying to save her, he turns on everything he swore to protect, and her perceived betrayal pushes him further from the light. He completely falls to the dark side to become Darth Vader, and he's only redeemed moments before his literal death. Up to that point, Anakin remained deceased, and he only returns momentarily to tell Luke (Mark Hamill) that he was right and there was still good in him.