Join The Infernal Brotherhood of the Scruffy Looking, Nerf Herders as they explore Star Wars lore via their own personal Holocron. This episode will focus on the Second Great Schism of the Jedi Order.
Show Notes
Cold Open
The Jedi Order has stood for seventeen thousand years as a pillar of peace. But beneath the surface of the Republic, a dangerous curiosity has taken root. A group of Knights has looked beyond the light, discovering that the Force can do more than protect—it can twist, it can reshape, and it can create life itself. The Council calls it a corruption. The dissidents call it an evolution. And as words turn to blades, the galaxy stands on the precipice of a century of shadow. This is the Second Great Schism.
Intro
Greetings, my fellow Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herders, and welcome back to The Infernal Brotherhood! For millennia after the defeat of Xendor and the Legions of Lettow, the Jedi lived in relative harmony. But in 7003 BBY, the Order was torn apart once again. This wasn’t a war sparked by an outside invader, but an internal fracture caused by the pursuit of forbidden knowledge. Today, we look at the rise of the High Dark Jedi, the forbidden art of Shadow-Alchemy, and the exile that would eventually lead to the birth of the Sith Empire.
Discussion
The Legacy of the First Schism
To understand why the Second Schism was so devastating, we have to remember the First. Centuries earlier, the Jedi had fought Xendor’s Legions of Lettow. That conflict taught the Jedi that the Dark Side was a virus to be quarantined. For seventeen thousand years, they were successful. But legends of the “forbidden” have a way of resurfacing. By 7003 BBY, a new generation of Jedi began to question why certain aspects of the Force were off-limits. They didn’t see themselves as villains; they saw themselves as pioneers.
Bending Life: The Forbidden Alchemy
The spark that ignited the Schism was the discovery of Shadow-Alchemy. A group of Jedi, led by the charismatic and brilliant Ajunta Pall, began experimenting with the Force at intensities never before seen. They discovered that the Dark Side could be used to manipulate the very building blocks of life. They created monsters—beasts of war and twisted abominations—that served as extensions of their will. To the Jedi Council, this was a perversion of the Living Force. To Ajunta Pall and his followers, it was proof that the Jedi’s refusal to use the Dark Side was holding the galaxy back from its true potential.
The Arguments of Ajunta Pall
The Schism wasn’t an immediate war; it began as a debate. Pall and his fellow dissidents sought to convince the Council that the Dark Side was simply a tool—a source of raw power that could be mastered through discipline. They argued that the Jedi Code was a cage for the mind. However, the Council saw the physical toll the Dark Side was already taking on these “High Dark Jedi.” They saw the cruelty in their experiments and the arrogance in their hearts. The debate turned into a deadlock, and the deadlock turned into a decree: The Jedi Order would not tolerate those who practiced the “Art of Life.”
The Exile and the Prelude to Darkness
In 7000 BBY, the tension finally snapped. The Jedi Order officially cast out Pall and his followers, branding them Dark Jedi. But these were not “common thugs” or lone criminals; these were masters of the Force with an army of alchemical monsters at their command. They refused to go quietly. This ideological split provided the foundation for what historians call the Hundred-Year Darkness. While we will cover that brutal century-long war in our next episode, the Second Great Schism remains the defining moment of betrayal—the day the Jedi Order proved it could not remain united in its pursuit of the Light.
Outro
The Second Great Schism was more than just a disagreement; it was the moment the shadow truly took form. By seeking to “bend life,” Ajunta Pall and his followers ended up breaking the peace of the Republic for a hundred years. And though they were eventually driven into the wilds of the galaxy, their journey was far from over.
If you enjoyed this look into the fractures of the early Jedi Order, be sure to hit that like button and subscribe. You won’t want to miss our next entry, where we follow these exiles into the Hundred-Year Darkness and witness the eventual rise of the first Sith Lords.
A huge thank you to my Creator Patrons Aaron Hardy & D. Robert Handy, Developer Patrons Chris Androu and Sam Ruiz, and all our YouTube Members. Your support keeps the Holocron glowing!
Until we convene again, my fellow Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herders… May the Force be with you.