Who Were The Gray Jedi Orders That Sought TRUE Balance In the Force?

Who were the Gray Jedi Orders That Sought True Balance In the Force?


As the Jedi and Sith understood it, the force was divided between the light side of the force and the dark side, with there being little room between these two extremes. However, as we’ve explored in past videos, other force groups such as the aing-tii monks saw the force more like a rainbow, with many different variations and varieties.

The so-called “grey Jedi” also viewed the force in a different way to the Jedi and sith, believing that it was possible to follow the light as well as the dark. Whatsmore, the beliefs of different grey Jedi orders were very varied. While these groups did not adhere strictly to the Sith or Jedi teachings, the variation between the different gray Jedi groups was almost as extreme as the opposing views of the Jedi and Sith.

This video will briefly explore the various groups that followed the middle path and how they differed from both the Jedi and the Sith as well as one another.

A common theme between many of the Gray Jedi groups is their devotion to some kind of utopian ideal of the greater good. Like the Sith they were often willing to allow innocents to die to achieve their goals but like the Jedi would also be willing to lay down their own lives for their higher purpose. This was certainly the case for the first group we will discuss today known as the imperial knights.


The imperial knights were an organisation that existed around 100 years after the events of the Galactic Civil War. The imperial knights served the Fel Empire, the successor state of the imperial remnant in the Legends timeline. However, unlike the Empire under Palpatine the Fel Empire rejected the dark side, believing it to be a corrupting influence. However, they also rejected the Jedis interpretation of the will of the force, maintaining the beliefs of centralized power, monarchy and above all stability.

The imperial knights were the elite fighting force of the empire, serving the Fel emperor rather than the force itself as the Jedi did. They believed that the will of the force was served through the will of the emperor, as he was the embodiment of order, the greater good and therefore the force. However, there were some caveats to this. If the Fel emperor was to fall to the dark side, it was their duty to bring him back to the light side of the force or remove him from power.

As previously stated though, this interpretation of the light side of the force was very different to the Jedi, who described them as a grey order. Unlike the Jedi, the Imperial knights believed the loss of innocent lives was sometimes necessary to achieve their goals. However, this was never to be done in the pursuit of selfish desires, only if the Fel Emperor's orders required it.

It was this strict adherence to orders and code of honour that prevented them from falling completely to the dark side. They did not contemplate on the will of the force or their own selfish desires, the force was a tool to be used in service of their emperor. While they did not drawing upon dark side abilities, they were also not considered adherents to the light side either as they did not follow the will of the force, placing them firmly in the gray.

Another similar order of gray Jedi that served an authoritarian government were the mandalorian knights. Like the imperial knights, they believed the will of the force was not served well by democracy which they saw as corrupt and irredeemable.

The Mandalorian Knights fought for Mandalore the Ultimate against the Republic, almost 4000 years before the events of the clone wars. These knights were led by Dorjander Kace, a Jedi master who had once sat on the Jedi high council.

Dorjander Kace had lost his wife and unborn child in a Republic bombing and this tragic experience soured his view of the Jedi and democracy. He came to believe that the Republic was corrupt beyond redemption and that a Mandalorian victory was inevitable. He believed that the Mandalorians philosophy of order, honour and self-sacrifice for the greater good of the Mandalorian people was more intune to the force than the self serving elite in the Galactic senate ever could be. However, this view also meant embracing the authority of Mandalore the Ultimate and turning a blind eye to the various atrocities that the Mandalorians were committing.

In this way, the Mandalorian Knights were similar to the imperial knights of the Fel Empire; embracing authoritarianism over democracy, believing this was more closely aligned to the will of the force and a better way of achieving stability in the galaxy.

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