Who Or What Were The Jedi Order's "Lost Twenty"
"The Lost Twenty," Jocasta Nu said with a profound sigh. "And Count Dooku was the most recent and the most painful. No one likes to talk about it. His leaving was a great loss to the Order."
-An exert from R. A. Salvatore’s novelization of Attack of the Clones.
This scene where Jocasta Nu and Obi-Wan Kenobi stare at the bronze bust of Count Dooku in the Jedi Archives was ultimately cut from the final film, but remained in the book, so the canonical status of the Lost Twenty was a bit dubious until the 2015 reference book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know reintroduced them into official Star Wars cannon.
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Who or what were the Lost Twenty?
Interestingly enough this is one of the few instances where current cannon provides a bit more information than the former Expanded Universe, now Legends. In this article we will look at both, but the common notion is that the Lost Twenty, or just The Lost as they were called in the era of the High Republic, were Jedi Masters who had left the order throughout the millennia, becoming disillusioned with the Jedi way of life or the Order as a whole.
The Jedi didn’t actively talk about them, but were willing to give information when asked. They set up busts of their lost members in the archives, describing their great deeds, but not their reasons for leaving. At least Yoda didn’t put the blame for their exodus on the ones who left, but on the Order itself.
It is a misconception, that all of the Lost Twenty ultimately fell to the Dark Side and became Sith, as some still believed in light side of the Force and became teachers, while most of the Masters simply vanished into obscurity, never to be seen again.
The Lost Twenty in current cannon
Of course, the best known of The Lost is Count Dooku. A former Jedi who, in his young years, strongly believed in the Jedi code and was even chosen as a padawan by Yoda himself: Later in his life, Dooku became frustrated with the way the Jedi had become just pawns for a more and more corrupt Republic, without even noticing it. Add to this his interest in history and Sith artifacts and it was quite easy for Darth Sidious to lure him away from the Order, when he needed a new apprentice after Maul. Dooku formally informed Yoda about his resignation and later became the leader of the Separatists.
Cavan Scott’s audio drama Dooku: Jedi Lost revealed another of the Lost Twenty: a female Jedi Master called Trennis. Not much more is known about her, other than that Yoda seemed to have known her and was saddened by her leaving. Scott’s The High Republic comic series features a padawan and later Knight called Keeve Trennis. It is unclear if these two are the same person, but it would be plausible, as throughout the still ongoing series Keeve frequently struggles with her own belief in the Force. She was also sometimes at odds with the Order itself and it's possible that that could lead to her defiance from the Order further down the road.
Both Dooku: Jedi Lost and The High Republic comic also feature the third known member of the Lost Twenty in current cannon: Radaki, a former Jedi of an unknown species who had lived roughly a millennia BBY and believed that the Jedi should be allowed to keep their families and wealth. After he left, he fell to the Dark Side and became Darth Krall. Like many Dark Side artifacts, his lightsaber was put in the so called "Bogan Collection" in the Jedi Temple.
The Lost Twenty in Legends
Beside from Dooku, the former Expanded Universe provided information on only one other former Jedi Master: Phanius, an Umbarian Jedi, who was one of the first to leave the Order and later became Darth Ruin. More than 50 other Jedi went with him, roughly 2000 years BBY, but no other Masters. Although not mentioned by name, Ruin is actually featured in Terry Brook’s novelization of The Phantom Menace, where he is described as the founder of the Sith Order. This error was later retconned to the founder of the New Sith. Like many other Dark Side users Ruin’s egomania was his undoing, as other Sith disciples started to plot against him, ultimately leading to Ruin's assassination at their hand.
By 990 BBY, 11 other Masters had left the Order, but there is no further information on who they were or why they exited.
The Lost Twenty-first
Also part of Legends is James Luceno’s book Dark Lord – The Rise of Darth Vader. In this direct sequel to Revenge of the Sith Vader declares himself the Twenty-first of The Lost, still not willing to accept that he had never become a Jedi Master.
But what about…
Throughout the history of the Jedi Order many more had departed or were even expelled, but they were never part of the Lost Twenty as they were either Padawans or Knights, but no Masters. So, neither Ahsoka Tano nor Barriss Offee were counted among this group.
The Besalisk Pong Krell, who fought in the Clone Wars on the side of the Republic, was indeed a Jedi Master when he fell to dark side and tried to kill his clone soldiers. But he too isn’t considered one of The Lost Twenty, as he never left the Order, but was killed by a clone soldier before he could.
Finally, Master Quinlan Vos would also be a potential candidate for this group. Wild at heart and always at odds with the Jedi Code, he became the apprentice of Dooku during the Clone Wars, only to be brought back to the light side by his lover Asajj Ventress. Vos later even rejoined the Jedi Order (and “moved his troops to Boz Pity” in Revenge of The Sith), so he too can’t be one qualified as one of the Lost Twenty.
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Source: Screen Rant
Written by Gerald Petschk
Syndicated from Culture Slate