Order 66 was one of the most defining moments inStar Warsmovies and TV shows, but just how many Jedi existed inStar Warsbefore that terrible event, and how many survived?Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sithrevealed that at the end of the Clone Wars, the clones turned on the Jedi, destroying them en masse.
It wasn’t untilStar Wars: The Clone Wars, several years later, that theclone trooper inhibitor chipswere explained, clarifying that the clones had effectively been mind-controlled and had not chosen to murder the Jedi. That provided some comfort, butOrder 66 was still a devastating massacre inStar Wars, and it wiped out nearly all Jedi.
There Were 10,000 Jedi Before The Clone Wars
Prior to the start of the Clone Wars inStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones,there were approximately 10,000 Jedi in the Order. It makes sense that these numbers would do little more than flourish at this time, as it wasn’t untilStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menacethat the Jedi realized the Sith had fully returned.
The Jedi, therefore, were not facing deadly adversaries throughout that period oftheStar Warstimelinein the way they ultimately did in the prequel trilogy. That changed rather quickly following the emergence of the Sith inThe Phantom Menace, particularly with the Clone Wars Palpatine orchestrated.
Though it took some time for this to come to light, Palpatine used the Clone Wars as a tool to take down the Jedi, and even before the slaughter of most of the Jedi during Order 66,the Clone Wars themselves depleted the Jedi Order’s numbers.
Star Warshasn’t confirmed the exact Jedi death toll of the Clone Wars, but it’s safe to assume this number is in the hundreds, if not the thousands, even before Order 66. The event that kicked off the Clone Wars itself proved bloody, as notevery Jedi in the Battle of Geonosismade it out alive—far from it.
Thus, even before the Clone Wars began, the Jedi Order’s numbers had likely dropped quite a bit lower than that previous 10,000 Jedi estimate, but far fewer Jedi survived Order 66. AfterRevenge of the Sith, in fact, the Jedi throughout the galaxy had dwindled to be next to nothing, especially when compared to what the Order had once been.
George Lucas Imagined 50–100 Survivors
It may feel as though DisneyStar Warshas revealed too manyJedi survivors of Order 66, which is a complaint that has been lodged against the franchise in recent years, but this has actually been surprisingly in keeping with what George Lucas envisioned. Specifically,Lucas planned on 50–100 survivorsof Order 66.
We’ve no doubt only seen some of the survivors because so many would have gone deep into hiding. Even so, with the addition of characters like Kanan Jarrus inStar Wars Rebels, Cal Kestis in the canon video gameStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and myriad others, it doesn’t feel unreasonable to estimate that 50-100 is accurate.
This disturbingly means thatOrder 66 killed thousands of Jedi, completely decimating this population and very nearly bringing an end to their existence entirely. Thankfully, Master Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi were among these survivors, and they shored up the future of the Jedi by creating a plan to eventually train Luke Skywalker.
Despite the Jedi living on because of Luke, though, the Jedi are far from recovered, even by the end ofStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. It will be interesting to see whether the Jedi ever return to what they once were before Order 66 inStar Wars.
