Thoughts on how the Jedi's misconception of the Sith (such as how their characteristics and values have evolved over time) influenced their actions (during the prequels)?
I think it might be even simpler than that. For most of the time, the Jedi didn’t even know the Sith still existed so it’s hard to fault them for not understanding something they believed no longer existed.
People take for granted how much time is a 1000 years is. Just image everything that happened in the last 1000 years of human history. It’s quite a long time, more than enough for so much stuff to be forgotten or lost.
The Jedi fought the Sith head on and won. Then they spent the next 1000 years being sure they won. So considering how the Sith was adapting wasn’t a big concern of theirs.
The problem is what happened *after* they realized something was definitely wrong. Someone told them to their face the sith was back, that they controlled the senate and they refused to believe because it did not sound like the sith they knew from 1000 years ago. We can’t fault them for not knowing an enemy who had mastered the ability to hide from them existed. What they can be held accountable for, in terms of fighting the sith, is their actions once they realized the Sith was back.
“My failure, this was. Failed the Jedi, I did.” He spoke to the Force. And the Force answered him. Do not blame yourself, my old friend. As it sometimes had these past thirteen years, when the Force spoke to him, it spoke in the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn. “Too old I was,” Yoda said. “Too rigid. Too arrogant to see that the old way is not the only way. These Jedi, I trained to become the Jedi who had trained me, long centuries ago—but those ancient Jedi, of a different time they were. Changed, has the galaxy. Changed, the Order did not—because let it change, I did not.” More easily said than done, my friend. [Matthew Stover. Revenge of the Sith]
The Sith was still evil and the Jedi still go but where the Sith adapted to fight a different kind of war, the Jedi order kept doing everything exact the same. that the problem with conservatism, by holding strong to their traditions they failed to adapt to a world that was constantly changing. When you have group proudly sticking to the rules and traditions created thousands of years ago, of course there’s going to be a disconnect from modern society. That’s why the public opinion were so easily turned against the Order. It’s cruel, but people do have the tendency of mistrusting and disliking what they don’t fully understand.
Luke, I think, understood this perfectly:
In 28 A.B.Y., Luke Skywalker established a new Jedi Council that consisted of politicians as well as Jedi. Like its previous incarnations, this Jedi Order found that its survival depended not only on adherence to rules of conduct but on a certain degree of adaptability as well. [RYDER’S WINDHAM’S JEDI VS. SITH: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE FORCE]
I’ve said this before but there’s a reason we don’t keep people in power for a long period of time. Now, imagine someone being in charge of anything for centuries. Of course they were going to struggle adapting to new ideals. when you’re suddenly faced with something you no longer understand, fear is a natural response. And that’s how the Sith got the upper hand. They learned to explore the Order traditions, disconnect form the public and fear of losing Republic. And because the jedi didn’t have a lot training in adapting fast to political and social changes, they struggled greatly to keep up with palpatine. to put simply, they were out of their depth.
