What are your thoughts regarding the “Lost Twenty” of the Jedi Order?
I think it's significant that the Jedi not only create busts to remember them, but display them in the library where anyone can walk right by them--a reminder to everyone, adults and children alike, that it's possible to leave the Jedi life and that path is perfectly valid, the Jedi won't stop you, they'll remember you fondly. When Jocasta is talking with Obi-Wan about Dooku in the deleted scene, she literally strokes the bust of him and speaks with such a fond smile about how his politics took him on a path away from the Jedi:
Or there's a scene in Dooku: Jedi Lost (Disney supplemental canon, so take it as you will) where Yoda and another Jedi Master are walking a bunch of children through the Archives and they ask about the busts. Yoda takes the time to point out that asking about the Lost Twenty is a good thing for the kids and speaks highly of them, that many of them went on to become leaders of some kind, some chose to teach, but most simply vanished, and the whole scene is speaking well of all of those choices.
The Jedi aren't ashamed that some Masters chose to leave, they're not afraid of teaching their children about that even, which says a lot about how they're not forcing this life on others, how they're not trying to hide that other paths are available for Jedi, they're supporting that. And I like that it's specifically the Lost Twenty Masters over the course of their history, because it makes sense to me that there would probably have been far more Jedi who left as younglings or even Knights, when they were still figuring themselves out, because being a Jedi takes a huge commitment, that's one of the things Star Wars as a whole emphasizes, that the Force and the Jedi way is a very serious thing, it takes a lot of dedication, it's not just a whim. And being able to touch and use something as powerful as the Force should require a huge commitment, especially because of how it works based on your thoughts and feelings, you have to be mentally stable to use it, that's literally just how it works. But by the time you're a Master, you've had time to really consider your life, you've had time to question whether you really want this, you've had time to commit yourself truly to this path--and you can still leave! They'll still give you a bust in the library! It just doesn't happen very often because, by that point, a Master would have been asked to undergo several Trials to make sure this is what they want, to make sure this life is right for them, and given a lot of time to consider it. So, that we know the Lost Twenty were a thing in the Jedi Order, that it was significant enough to include in the worldbuilding and specifically how it was included (in a positive way), says a lot about who the Jedi are and how they treat those who leave. I mean, look at Dooku in AOTC, Mace and Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke positively about him right up until he was revealed to be a Sith Lord, because they trust Jedi who decide this path isn't for them. And if you go by Padawan (and possibly Tales of the Jedi), Dooku was STILL VISITING after he chose to leave:
Not only that, but he was there to talk with the Council because they still valued him:
Or in Tales of the Jedi, he was there during the events of The Phantom Menace because he asked Qui-Gon about the Sith he ran into, showing that he was still welcome:
He was also there after Qui-Gon's death, by which time he was already under Sidious' tutoring, so he would have had to have left the Jedi by the time of Qui-Gon's funeral:
Take Disney era canon as you will, of course, but even without it, the Lost Twenty speak well of the Jedi and how they treat those who decide to leave, even the ones that have spent decades committing themselves to this path. The Jedi are open about how you can always walk away, you can always change your mind. They ask that you be serious about it, but they make sure even the younglings know that it's always an option!
