Not just you, OP. I try VERY hard to have balanced takes on the Jedi as a whole, because I feel strongly that the Jedi Order =/= the Jedi religion. But yes, my problem with so much Prequels-era Jedi apologist discourse is that it's all-too often coming from those who want to make Anakin look worse by making the Jedi *ORDER* look better. First of all, there’s no need to that—we've already seen Anakin at his worst....it's called RotS! And yet, even so, the story is still clear that Anakin falls through a combination of Palpatine's machinations, the Jedi Order's failure to protect him from said machinations, and his own tragic flaws. There’s no need to make bad faith interpretations to try suggest Anakin is 'worse' than the story actually portrays him. There’s no need to pretend that Anakin was always some ‘bad seed’ or awful person, when it is so easily proven that this is not the case. Anakin's story in the Prequels is a cautionary tale of a fall from grace, not an example of someone who was 'evil all along’. Afer all, you can't have a fall to the Dark Side if the person is already on the Dark Side to begin with.
Likewise, I don't understand why some fans feel the need to claim the Jedi Order had no failings whatsoever. Imo, this story is so much more interesting if you have some actual good, heroic individuals who are nonetheless trapped in a flawed institution that has lost its way. If we look at the Galactic Senate, for instance, we see that it, too, seems flawed and corrupted by the time of the Twilight of the Republic. I don't think anyone would try to say that Padme is somehow a horrible person simply for serving as one of its members. And yet for some reason, some fans of specific Jedi characters see criticism of the Jedi Order as an attack on their faves. For instance, when it comes to Obi-Wan's character, I personally find him so much more compelling as someone who tried to be the most ‘by the book’ Jedi he could be (often at great personal cost to himself), and yet who was ultimately LET DOWN by that very same Order he served. He served the Order for the sake of the Greater Good, but the Greater Good was lost anyway. It's so very tragic. And as part of that Order, Obi-Wan admits that he failed Anakin. (Notably, Yoda, as head of the Order, also admits his failure before going into self-imposed exile at the end of RotS.)
Again, it just feels unnecessary to me to try to pretend the Order is 100% perfect and 'never did anything wrong', because I see the story of the Prequels as one about how both the Sith and the Jedi contribute to the Fall of the Republic. Just because the Jedi do so unwittingly doesn't mean they don't play a role. (I won't go into the specifics of that role here because I don't even think it's something that needs to be 'proven', it's just an intrinsic part of the story. Lucas even says that the Jedi Council were basically passive antagonists.) Where I differ from severely Jedi-critical people is that I don't think the Jedi religion itself is inherently ‘bad’ or that it shouldn’t exist at all. I just think that the Prequels-era Jedi Order had become overly rigid in the interpretation and practice of their religion, and blind to certain realities in their midst. And that they had strayed from their original purpose as defenders and keepers of the peace, instead allowing themselves to become the Republic's military commanders and advance shock troops. (Sidenote: there is a historical parallel here with the Knights Templar, a monastic order that originally started out as protectors of pilgrims to the Holy Land, but by the time of its dramatic downfall was known largely for its military exploits during the Crusades.) I have always felt that Qui-Gon Jinn—a character who was regularly at odds with the Council, who had a less-strict interpretation of the Code that allowed for personal attachments, and who once stated 'I can only protect you, I cannot fight a war for you'—is present at the beginning in TPM as an example of a Jedi who is closer to the true spirit of the Jedi religion. It’s then Luke is who fully embodies that spirit in RotJ, and provides the example for Anakin to return to his True Self.
With Lucas' Star Wars, it always helps to take a step back and look at the visuals, since this is where the majority of the story is truly told. And in doing so, I can't help but notice these two contrasting-parallel shots of Qui-Gon's death scene from TPM and Anakin's final sacrifice from RotJ:
The way these scenes are composed as direct symmetrical reflections of one another suggests they are meant to be read as visual bookends for the six-film saga. First we have the death of Qui-Gon at the hands of the Sith, which is what leads to Obi-Wan training Anakin and all the tragedy that ensues. Then we have Vader's sacrifice to save Luke, in which he returns to his True Self as Anakin in order to protect and defend the result of the love that was once forbidden to him as a Jedi of the Old Order (and which he had so desperately turned to the Dark Side in an attempt to save). In the process, the Sith are finally destroyed. The prophecy is fulfilled. The circle is complete. The true spirit of the Jedi, once lost, has now returned to save the galaxy.
