system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Wars] What exactly were the Jedi hoping would happen when the Chosen One showed up?

In Episode I, at the end, the Jedi express surprise that there was a Sith (Maul) running around, believing them extinct.  The Jedi couldn't have been hoping the Chosen One prophecy was about destroying the Sith, then, because they didn't think there were any Sith.  

If "balance the force" meant clean up the decadent Jedi Order, couldn't they have tried to reform themselves?  Yoda, Windu, et. al., are quite proficient force users, diplomats, and leaders; I find it hard to believe they couldn't focus some of their time on reforms to the Order. Unless they didn't see themselves as needing reformation, in which case why would they be hoping for a Chosen One that reforms?

Not only that, but the Jedi were basically at the height of their power and influence around the time of Episode I.  The Chosen One couldn't, then, be a great leader who will bring relevance/greatness/influence to the benevolent Order, right?  The Jedi were already the preeminent peacekeepers and renowned diplomats. 

So what exactly did they think the prophecy of the Chosen One would bring?
gpt
Before Qui-Gon speaks to the Council about Anakin and floats his Chosen One theory (which is immediately dismissed as batshit nuts), he reports that he was attacked by a Sith with a lightsaber. At no point were the Council considering the idea of a Chosen One without also entertaining the notion that the Sith had returned.