So I was re-reading the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover, and there’s one moment that hits really hard—the first Jedi that Anakin kills when he storms the Jedi Temple. And no, it’s not a youngling or a Council member. It’s Gate Master Jurokk. And honestly? The way it happens makes it even more heartbreaking.
Table of Contents
It All Starts at the Temple Gates
Right after Anakin pledges himself to Palpatine and becomes Darth Vader, he marches up to the Jedi Temple with a legion of clones. That’s when Jurokk, one of the Temple’s security masters, spots him and rushes out.
He doesn’t have any idea what just happened. He sees Anakin and tries to make sense of things. The book says:
“Where is Shaak Ti?”
“In the meditation chambers—we felt something happen in the Force, something awful. She’s searching the Force in deep meditation, trying to get some feel for what’s going on…”
There’s this quiet moment where Jurokk is clearly worried, still trying to believe that everything might be okay. Then he sees the clones.
“Something has happened, hasn’t it?”
The tension builds hard here. He starts asking questions like,
“What’s going on? Something’s happened. Something horrible. How bad is it—?”
He doesn’t even get to finish that sentence.
No Mercy, No Hesitation
Anakin doesn’t give him a speech. He doesn’t even hesitate. He just raises his lightsaber and kills him.
“The last thing Jurokk felt was the emitter of a lightsaber against the soft flesh beneath his jaw; the last thing he heard, as the blue plasma chewed upward through his head and burst from the top of his skull and burned away his life, was Anakin Skywalker’s melancholy reply.
‘You have no idea…’”
That right there was the first lightsaber kill of Order 66, and it wasn’t a duel. Jurokk didn’t stand a chance. He thought Anakin was still on his side.
This moment always hits different for me because it’s so personal. Jurokk wasn’t some nameless Jedi. He worked security for the Temple. He probably saw Anakin every day. He trusted him. And Anakin just… killed him.
What makes it worse is how quiet it is. No fight. Just a calm, cold execution. That’s the moment Anakin fully crosses the line—not in battle, not in self-defense. Just a calm decision to end someone who still believed in him.
It’s Not in the Movie, But It’s in the Novel (Legends)
You won’t find this in the film version of Revenge of the Sith, but it’s in the novel by Matthew Stover, which is still one of the best Star Wars books out there (that lots of fan still consider it canon although it was rebranded by Disney into Legends) if you want deeper looks at scenes like this.
It’s also one of those moments that makes you realize Anakin didn’t just fall—he dove headfirst into darkness. Jurokk wasn’t a threat. He was just in the way.