How the Jedi Order Turned Barriss Offee Into a Monster 

Padawan: [has emotions/differing beliefs] The Jedi Order: and so we took that personally

Speaking of Bariss, there is this great quote about her in the Ahsoka novel: Her criticisms of the Jedi were valid, but the way she went about addressing them was not.

It's interesting the contrast between Barris and Ahsoka: while Barriss is the result of a blind commitment to the Jedi's philosophy, Ahsoka is the result of the "thinking out of the box" approach that started with Dooku.

She is actually a very interesting character, and her master was a terrible mentor that definitely did not help her situation. If she had a master like Obi Wan I actually do doubt she would have done the bombing

I couldn’t believe how fast her master gave up on her in the second battle of Geanosis . She was just like “ok well , they are dead , let’s go meditate. She also got shitty with Anakin for wanting to save them.

"until the baby discovers new things" *shows baby on fire*

“I hate how the Jedi have become war mongers and murderers. That’s why I’ve decided to re-embrace my pacifist Jedi teachings by bombing a hangar full of civilians.”

Luminara was a very powerful jedi: Proceeds to completely underestimate her enemy, loose the fight against a dark assassin and to not even try to save her padawan.

The story begins with Luminara praising her, rubbing in that She and her Padawan go by the book like a good jedi unlike naughty little Ashoka and Anakin. However when push comes to shove it was the black sheep Anakin rescuing them. It must have hit her mentally like a sledgehammer, when she realised her master had forsaken her, the only being that shoud have had her back did not squat a eyebrow when she nearly died, and moved on as it was "the jedi way" not to form a attachment. Realising she was no better than a clones or the droids, just expendable meat to the corrupt senators, and ironically it was Skywalker and Tano that made her see reality. I think the whole attack was because she envied Ashoka over Anakin. Because for all intents and purposes he acted like a brother to Ashoka, denying emotions does not mean you work trough them, it simply eats you from the inside, thankfully most of us have grown into healthy families but for those poor especially human souls kindapped by the baby snatchers this is not so. Sidious wasn't wrong to call the younglings "victims of the jedi" even if he's no better at least he is self aware, for the most part at least.

The part that you point out about the younglings not having a parental connection, bring Yaddle to mind. She was actually one of the very few that nurtured the younglings. She treated many of them like her own children. Despite her and other Jedi, not being allowed to have children, or love connections in general. She was able to be very motherly, and I think has helped many of the children. Which if I'm correct Anakin was young and being trained before the death of Yaddle, and I'm think she may have been part of those who helped Anakin keep himself. Even after becoming Vader.

You know the worst part about her betrayal? She doesn’t even look remorseful about it being Ashoka as the scapegoat. Her beef with the order was one thing, but how do you do this to your own friend who saved your life twice? She doesn’t even look at Ashoka during and after the confession.

One thing I like about Barriss is that during her confession she specifically said “we” Not for one second did she try to argue that she was innocent in all this, nor did she say that she had no choice or any other bullshit that villains usually say. She fully acknowledges that her actions are fucked up and that’s the problem She knows that she’s not any better than the people she’s grown to despise. She’s entirely self aware and she just doesn’t care because life just hit her exactly that hard

Did she have a point, yes. But her point was instantly rendered not credible the second she resorted to terrorism. "The Jedi are corrupt, let me prove my point by bombing the Jedi Council killing innocent Jedi, clones and civilians alike." Hmmm, something ain't right here.

Barriss Offee is a good example of "Some monsters are not born, they were created."

If Jedi had people to talk to half the dark side users wouldn’t exist

After her arrest in the Clone Wars, Dave Filoni decided to keep her alive because he felt like she had potential for future stories. I wonder what that means....

But this led to one question here: Should Barriss Offee be actually classified as fallen to the Dark Side? At first, I thought so. But now that my eyes are opened with the help from this channel, I think not. Like the members of the Jedi Council, she is blinded by the Dark Side. She merely just had a different reaction. If she was actually fallen to the Dark Side, she would have leave the Jedi Order and join Count Dooku already. Heck, she might even be willing to assist Darth Vader and his troops when they marched into the Jedi Temple when Order 66 is executed.

Honestly, I couldn't agree more. Much of the problems the Jedi faced when one of their own went off the rails can be pretty much summed up by similar videos. This is never to say those who go bad are fully innocent, but that they've not had the support to keep their heads on straight. There's no sense from the Jedi that they understand psychological needs beyond getting someone to the point of being able to meditate and then trusting that the Force will heal their minds.

One of my biggest problems was the Jedis' half baked response to Barris's attack. They kicked Ahsoka out, the GAR wanted to execute Ahsoka and threw responsibility away from themselves and portrayed it as her "great trial," however, they let Barris back onto the field....

in the new comics, during a battle in the later years in the war, Barriss expressed her disillusion with the Order while watching native sacred sites desecrated by both sides either getting caught in a crossfire, or for the sake of a battle plan.

3:03 Allen, he is _not_ called Potato Head! He’s called _Aubergine_ Head!

Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) is no joke. My wife and I learned about it in our foster parent classes. I never considered it as part of the Jedi. Interesting.

Here's a puzzler: Who trains a Mirialan if there happens not to be an available Mirialan Jedi Knight or Master around to do so? Is that Padawan simply left twisting in the metaphorical wind? Or is the tradition not so rigid as to allow for another species to train the Padawan, at least until a Mirialan Jedi was freed up to take over the responsibility?

Its amazing how the person responsible for the downfall of the order was able to raise a jedi greater than the order. Not in power or strength, but in character and resolve. That as jedi yes there is the warrior and monk aspect, but at the core of both is humanity. A possible balance anakin brought was balance to the personal jedi. That luke and those in his order recognized that they needed to have attachments and families rather than rigid rules.

Casually referring to Ki Adi Mundi as "Potato Head" is the best thing I'll hear all day.

The whole lack of a healthy parental figure was basically Anakin's undoing too. Qui-gon in the duel for Anakin's fate (yes that was a deliberate reference), and he was the one who could have brought him a greater sense of security and stability. Obi-Wan was a "company man" to the Council and therefore wasn't equipped to meet his padawan's psychological needs growing up, causing him to find a fatherly refuge in Palpatine wbo only manipulated and exacerbated his issues until they boiled over. One wonders why Anakin butted heads with Obi-Wan under his tutelage as much as he did, only for them to develop a more full and meaningful relationship when Anakin was no longer a subordinate, but it makes a whole lot of sense when you realize that Anakin was basically being bossed around by his insecure older brother who did the best he could, but didn't know wbat to do with him half the time. Siblings, literal or figurative, don't make for the best parental figures because it's just not the same. It can work, but it's pretty hard to compensate for the lack of a healthy parental bond even with the necessary emotional resources to do the best they can, which Obi-Wan clearly didn't have (which wasn't entirely his fault). Anakin called him a father figure in AOTC simply because he was projecting his own needs onto him, and Obi-Wan simply didn't know how to be what he needed, causing resentment in Anakin for not measuring up. The reason Anakin and Obi-Wan developed a strong friendship and brotherhood is because they actually cared about each other in spite of it all. They just didn't know how to relate to each other until they were the brotherly equals they were always meant to be. While that was great, Palpatine became the surrogate father figure who took advantagr of his psychological needs that Obi-Wan couldn't meet. Qui-gon dying was the one thing that made the rest of the saga possible. With a master who had the balance to both guide and nurture him as a father figure (because he was wise enough to know how to play fast and loose with the Council's inadequate code and knew when it fell short of their ultimate purpose as Jedi) and a brotherly and friendly bond with Obi-Wan, Anakin would have both psychological needs provided for by the right people in their proper place after leaving home. Palpatine would either have a much harder time manipulating him, and that's assuming he would have even had an opening at all. In a lot of ways, in spite of their clear differences in personality, both Bariss and Anakin lost it for a lot of the same core reasons. Ashoka even left for a lot of the same reasons. Ashoka harbored the same complaints Bariss and Anakin did as well, but she had the strength to leave that unhealthy environment and to better herself in contrast to her best friend and her master because I think Anakin was for Ashoka what Anakin never really got, the right person at the right time in the right relational fit. He provided Ashoka with an emotionally safe and constructive environment for her to grow and knew when and how to give her enough leash to think for herself and gradually assert her autonomy as she grew and matured. She turned out alright because Anakin was the kind of person she needed. Plo Koon seemed to have filled more of that parental role (it seemed unique that Plo found her as a child and that they remained as close as they did). That left Anakin to be an older sibling who could both show her the ropes and be a down-to-earth friend and companion. I think the brilliance of both George Lucas and Dave Filoni is that they crafted their respectove stories in a way that these plot lines did such a good job expounding on the familial angle of that all-encompassing theme of the importance of love.

Her assessment of the Jedi and republic was correct her actions where were she went wrong

"And discover new things" shows toy child on fire

Damn these comments make me sad seeing everyone ripping on Luminara because her character got turned into stone cold asshole in TCW compared to her previous warm mentor relationship with Barriss in the EU :(

barriss offee=barista coffee=coffee barista. they even colored her mocha-ish and put coffee beans on her cheeks.

This particular episode if very profound and very well communicated. Your take on the faults of the Jedi are true and plentiful. Yoda finally realizes this at the end of his life and sadly this was the greatest lesson of all. Arrogance is blinding.

Wasn’t it said in Swotor that the Rakatans experimented with humans to create perfect slaves. Zabraks as muscles and Twi‘leks for fun times with a lightsaber

She is still guilty, and lucid, in spite of any reasons she may have had driving her. She is still culpable, and responsible for her actions.

In a very short time she had been emotionally and mentally manipulated and twisted. She would have made either a very good mentor or an excellent villain. So familiar but also tragic.

What do you expect when your master is a sociopath?

Barriss O’ffee, trained in the IRA

Barriss is one of my favorite characters in Star Wars. Even when she went mad with the problem of having the Jedi order as it should be and what she believed the Jedi order to be and what it was in reality. And how blind the council was in all that has happened. All the way to actually using slave soldiers to fight the war .. because .. honestly that is what the clones have been. She must have had a massive case of PTSD and most likely no one to talk to besides other radicals (since I assume that both of her helpers have been on it from the start and ready to besically becoming suicide bombers. One actually doing the bombing and the other in order to set the other part of the plan into motion). The only person she could possibly speak to would have been Ahsoka. And I guess she could not really do this since Ahsoka must have looked like the perfect Jedi to her who still went along with the war without second-guessing it. And don't forget that she was on Umbara too and that was one horrid set of fighting and it broke another Jedi as well. I would think that both her and Krell have seen the same thing coming. But while Krell decided to join what was comming, she decided to try to prevent it (sadly, she might have been already too damaged to think that anything but the most drastic method would have any chance of success). So I guess that Barris wanted to both force the Jedi order to look at itself in a mirror and to make Ahsoka understand what is going on. The problem was, that while no sane person could ever believe that Ahsoka did it, the Jedi council actually did. And just like Luminara abondoned Barriss under the factory, the council abondined Ahsoka and wasn't that willing to actually conduct a proper investigation. Palpatine must have been twitching with glee and thinking that he could not have orchestrated this better. The Jedi council being told right into their faces what they are and shown their own failure by Barriss and what become of her, and yet, no one of them even remotely understanding it. All the great masters of the order unable or unwilling to face the truth. All of them so stuck up in the war that none of them even daring to think about what they are actually doing. With people like Windu acting like a uncompromising warmonger and Yoda seemingly so eager to understand the big picture that he lost sight of what is going on right in front of him. I would also never accept the idea that Barriss actually has fallen to the dark side. I think even with what she has done, she would never stop loving the Jedi order and the ideals it stands for in her mind. The ideal that besically could not hold up in reality and broke her in the end. She did all that she did .. a very wrong idea on how to do it .. to save the order from itself and to make it stop being a part in the war but to get back to being keeprs of peace. Becoming a force for the dark side would be absolutely against every idea that has driven her to what she has done (in my reading of the situation at least). Barriss is a wonderfully tragic character that deserves much more attention and more stories to be told about her.

I think you hit the nail on the head with your video on Barriss and I know you've shared rightful criticism of the Jedi Order a lot more indepth on other videos and you only sumerised that here and Barriss's story but I feel like your whole video could have been a lot more indepth as a whole. You also neglected to mention that she was a trained Jedi Healer and operated on battle injured clones and others. She was an active member of the war for years and combine that knowledge and your video and her youth and I'd say she was suffering from PTSD but didn't know how to handle it. Her master being on the Jedi High Council and the expectations that came with being a Padawan of said person probably didn't help her either. She was also probably suffering from nightmares, insomnia, flashbacks, guilt, and trouble connecting with people. I've always said she was probably suffering PTSD and though I don't think that the Jedi or the Sith using terms like 'light side' and 'dark side' of the force were entirely accurate, I do think that one of PTSD's effects was bothering her. A lot of people with PTSD try to avoid reminders of their trauma and have trouble responding emotionally to others. Kick in the fact that the Jedi were about no emotion; which is BS and you have a person who purely cracked. If you consider that she may have thought that killing her friend and trying to get Ahsoka killed may have even been a blessing for them and releasing them from the pain of the war and death. I don't think she fell to the dark side per se, rather she went looking for answers and used the dark side. The Jedi weren't helping her and told her to not feel anything so she did but she couldn't shake that the whole situation was wrong so she went looking else were. She was trapped in her mind and didn't know what to do. Like all people in a high stress situation, they have a breaking point. That's why militaries send people on leave. The Jedi never seemed to get that fact and in the end Barriss snapped like any normal perosn would have. It just didn't end well for her and a lot of other people.

I think it would be interesting to see Barris Offee as a inquisitor

The Jedi remind me of the Templars, formidable but eventually brought down by their own fanatical idealologies

I have to wonder, what would have changed if Barris and Ahsoka had died at the second battle of Geonosis?

This is by far my favorite video you guys have come out with. I love the insight into the psychology of it all

Alan, one question I’ve always had was why Jedi retained their last names if clinging to one’s past was so discouraged? Yoda doesn’t have a surname (at least to my knowledge), but even the traditionalist and conservative Mace Windu continues to keep the family name. It just doesn’t seem fitting for an organization like the Jedi Order.

If I remember correctly, Barris' original fate was to be knighted and then die during Order 66 on Felucia. She was there I think to aid Aayla Secura or something like that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's one of the VERY few criticisms I had about The Clone Wars S5; they altered her fate. I really liked Barriss and thought she deserved to be knighted, even if it meant she'd die. Alas......

That burning baby was so unexpected 😜 it caught me so off guard 😂

When I was a kid, I always called her "Barris Coffee"

We know she was welcomed back to active surety in Legends as she died in the field during Order 66. Would what argument was used for her to not only remain in the Order but allowed out in the field. I believe she was highly skilled at Force healing but Council was willing to let Ashoka die so would love to hear the argument that spared Barriss life.....at least for a few months

If Jedi were allowed to marry and love people in general, everything after episode 1 wouldn't have happened

Their failure was an - haha - em *BARRISS* ment :)

Psychological factors are something rarely looked into in Star Wars, it's awesome that you did.

Why is Allen so damn easy to agree with. He seems sincere but also objective when he talks about things in the world or star wars.

Barriss Offee was ahead of her time. She saw the corruption of the Jedi Order.

"Potato Head" he says. Classic!

The fact Barris was made a Jedi Knight and not Ahsoka show's how biased and stupid the council was. Windu and Mundi probably hated her for being Anakin's padawan, smh.

So given all this is there any wonder why uncle Palpatine had an easy time converting padawans to the dark side & becoming inquisitors PS still waiting on my ewok roast.

Alan, I think this was one of your best videos. I really liked the psychological theories and effects you mentioned as well as the real world correlations. I myself am a war veteran, medically retired police officer, and a student of criminal justice, philosophy, and psychology. This video and the issues you mentioned really resonated with me. Great job and good luck to your wife on pursuing her degree!

That's MR. Po-Ta-To Head, to you.

11:20 -11:44 That's a good point, in fact at the beginning of the clone wars film just before meeting Ahsoka, Anakin literally said to Obi-Wan "Do you really think it's a good idea to bring a Padawan learner into all of this?"

I just watched Bariss' fight with Anakin yesterday.

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." -Barista Coffee, probably.

I enjoyed this video. I found the psychological assessment very informative and I agree that it's lazy to think that she just fell to the dark side. More likely she saw something wrong with the Jedi order and because of her emotional detachments she felt it was her duty to force others to look at the Jedi Order the way she did, albeit in a more extreme way. But luckily for us Ahsoka who did form attachments was able to walk away instead of trying to enact change at the level that Barriss Offee did. .

I do hate how almost every psychological of emotional problem with Jedi gets boiled down to the “Light Side/Dark Side” dichotomy in much of franchise. The Jedi way, at least as we saw in the prequel era, is so flawed that it isn’t hard to realize why so many of them did actually go Dark when they faced external problems and got so little emotional support.

She was an awesome character in the medstar books.

Ashoka brought up the point that as Jedi they’re taught to be compassionate, yet attachment is forbidden

*Casually sneaks Mike Tyson in...*

I think this was a very well thought-out discussion on Barriss's motivations. Her entire storyline reminds me of some terrifying real-world examples of soldiers returning from overseas so messed up from PTSD they don't even resemble the people they used to be.

I love it. “I’m gonna show it’s wrong for the Jedi to kill, by killing people!”

I think a Mistake they did with Barris is Palpatine should of made her an Inquistor. Instead gave her a full pardon and when order 66 came she was infront of one of the clone walkers and made the mistake of saying "FIRE!" Well they did alright 😂

Star wars the clone wars is fantastic! I loved her story arc, it was so interesting.

I like those stretched letter signs between the sections of the video. It's so 80s!

So you are saying Anakin was showing the younglings mercy?

Common psychology doesn't always apply to jedi since they have the force, and the force connects them to the entire galaxy, affecting the way they psychologically develop. I think Barriss had other problems too, she probably started turning to the dark side due to the influence of the war around her, and in the process she probably went through the veil of the emperor. Palpatine blinded actively the perception of the jedi but dark force users were able to feel through that barrier, better or worse. Most of the jedi that felt the other side of that veil turned to the dark side, Krell being another example. They got exposed to the huge presence of Palpatine, they felt how the jedi would fall, and SPECIALLY noticed their mistakes.

We need to cancel the Jedi. I did not know they stole potato head from my local park.

The answer may be that she fell to the dark side, but the question that should be asked is how and why. the jedi order never asks them the questions and if they do, it is only in the council

"Victims, aren't we all?"

“A lot of the blame lies in the Jedi Oders” probably the best split second mix up of words I’ve ever heard

She can’t be deemed as justified considering she framed Ashoka, who we can all agree isn’t the problem with the Jedi order

Although the initial prequels had their issues, it did showcase how not every aspect of the Jedi order was perfection...far from it, there were fundamental flaws in their ideology, particular during the time prior and during the clone wars. While some jedi at that time were suspicious yet skeptical of something being "off" with the force and events leading towards the clone wars, others that had a deeper spiritual contention to it, knew there were some dark presence that was taking place behind all the events during that time...Yoda, Qui Gon, Ashoka, and the jedi in question for this vid, Barris. This reveal of her and her actions later on in the Clone Wars series really caught my attention. Showing how what seemed to be "good" for the jedi, was in fact unbalanced in many ways. I feel that her actions, and her speech during her trial showed exactly why the strength of the ideology of the jedi order at the time, was also it's biggest weakness. And why they did not see the entire picture of the actual evil that was taking place, until it was too late. Don't get me wrong, Barris's actions, who she betrayed, killed and framed are in no means a justification to her pivotal warning to the order, it did show that even with all that was happening, many jedi were still blinded by their own traditional thinking that they didn't see the actual threat in front of them...until...well you know. Glad to see Generation tech divulge in this character.

It’s a shame we couldn’t see luke’s Jedi order in canon.

I thought the Rakadan Infinite Empire spread Selkath, not humans. Interesting

Humanity first, thats why, keep up the great work Allen! 1st btw

As a parallel to your argument about PTSD, the very first Mobile Suit Gundam depicts teenage protagonist Amuro Ray as clearly suffering from PTSD at one point in the series.

Cuz we all know how they did that (partially) with Anakin

Of all the Jedi likely to suffer an identity crisis as a result of Jedi hypocrisy it was Baris. From childhood, she worked alongside Master Luminara as part of the Jedi Medical Corps; a role which was rooted in true Jedi values. Keep in mind that Ahsoka and Baris were barely in their teens when they were sent off to war so the emotional impact of that cannot be understated. But for Baris, going from being a healer to a killer, it was the kind of reversal of values was always going to create a very confused and traumatized young woman.

Next Video : Every Religion in Star Wars Galaxy

Okay, I lost it when you referred to Ki-Adi Mundi as Potato Head. XD XD

Barista Coffee

Very insightful and very interesting analysis of the psyche of a character we haven’t had much to learn about. Brings a lot of depth and contemplation to her character arc in the Clone Wars.

That's some real insight into the psychology of basically a child soldier, and why it's really difficult for them to interact with their environment in a way that is perceived as positive. Also, you're married to a developmental psychologist? Cool

This makes a lot of sense to me it brings her character into Focus, never thought of the upbringing and training part of the padawans

Hello there

Her motivations for betrayal were so stupid. Horrendous writing. Just nonsense. They should have tried a tiny bit harder. If she was making a statement, framing some random Jedi and killing randoms without any message or identified grievance (until she actually managed to get captured) doesn't match her ideals or rationale Its just bad writing. Plain and simple. People who attack people or blow something up to make a point don't just hide and do nothing. They use that fear as motivation against continuing that course of action by their victims. She didn't do this. She just killed someone, framed a friend who doesn't have anything to do with her grievence really and then planted a bomb. And her grievence was that the jedi believed in "violence" Bad writing. If she were trying to protect some particular group from the jedi (like maybe the war victims?) then she her bombing of innocents on corusaunt may have made sense. But she didn't say this because the writing was bad. It could have been revenge for the Jedi constantly putting her in danger including on Geonosis. She makes no mention of this. She could also have just had a lust for the power of the dark side and she somehow believed that this killing would assist her on this path but she also makes NO MENTION of this. Again. Stupid. There were plenty of reasons to commit general violence but not because she objects to the Jedi's general violence. This could have been fixed with one line. For every win Star Wars seems to have there is an unfathomable fail in the writing right around the corner.

7:26 I always liked the example of padawans becoming nights at too young of an age kind of like kit fistos mon cala former Padawan. It was clear that he was inexperienced. So they kept making inexperienced Jedi, knights too young and giving them padawans when they weren't experienced enough thereby further continuing the chain of a weaker Jedi order finally culminating with all of the Masters being gone and primarily younglings, inexperienced nights / padawans and no council members defending the temple when order 66 came down

I’d tell the younglings to grow up, but they never can

Barris is a really interesting character and I would love to see her return in the upcoming ahsoka series

So war plus teachings equal extremists. The jedi are needing therapy. Lots of it.

I hate that Jedi can only sense each other when the plot needs it to happen

Every time he says “Mirialan” I go, “WHERE’S BARRY ALLEN? WHO SAID BARRY ALLEN?!” Like if you’re a true Flash fan XD

I really hope they bring her back, she has potential to be as well written as Ahsoka

who is this Mary Allen????