“Don’t lecture me, Obi-Wan! I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the Dark Side as you do.” (Anakin Skywalker in Revenge of the Sith)
„If once you start go down the dark path, forever it will dominate your destiny.” (Jedi Master Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back)
Did anyone ever suspect that even Grand Master Yoda might not be quite right?
Are the Jedi entirely good? Is the Light Side meant to be “goodness”?
The Jedi we get to know in the prequel trilogy are neither free from flaws nor are they perfectly wise. They like to believe they are so, but looking at the facts they often don’t see what’s going on under their very noses. As Luke himself pointed out many years later, it was their hubris that led to their downfall.
We are speaking of a Council that had a Sith Lord among them for decades without realizing it.
Yoda wanted to preserve peace, but by teaching Jedi adepts for centuries to choose the Light Side, he unwittingly created an unbalance which favored the ascent of the Dark Side users, the Sith.
Besides, what was it with taking small children from their families, forcing them to become Jedi (i.e. having to live a life of sacrifice) whether they wanted it or not? And why did they equip children with a deadly weapon?
Both Obi-Wan and Yoda wanted to push Luke to commit patricide, Obi-Wan even telling him an obvious lie (that Vader had been Anakin’s murderer) for the purpose. In the Mos Eisley cantina, Obi-Wan cut off the arm of an importune although he had not attacked him, displaying an unnecessary cruelty.
When he still was Anakin’s teacher he suppressed him, belittled his ideas and his need for approval, even denied him the right to worry about his own mother. Yoda did not take his fears seriously either. The Jedi’s code of non-attachment was fatal because it made their commitment to compassion hollow. They were so far off from “mortal” issues in their ivory tower (it literally looks like one) that they no longer saw what was really important.
Are the Sith entirely evil? Is the Dark Side meant to be “evil”?
We are led to think that the Dark Side is all evil, but looking closer, it’s not: while Obi-Wan and Yoda try to manipulate Luke, Vader is always brutally honest.
Anakin never was in denial. He got married despite the Jedi code. He decided to embrace his feelings, including his sexuality. Not only was he obviously calm and serene (balanced and strong) after his marriage;
had he not married Padmé the children who would later bring down Palpatine’s Empire would not have been born. These children suffered a lot in their lives, but they never stopped reaching out to others. So, from something that is or may seem bad, good can come, and vice versa.
Looking back, my impression is that Anakin was not “consumed by the Dark Side” as was said by Obi-Wan and Yoda. Half of his descent to darkness began with his training as a Jedi; when we see him again in Attack of the Clones he is already teetering on the edge, he is no longer the pure and idealistic boy he used to be. Palpatine manipulates his weakness, but that weakness was - albeit not consciously - caused by Jedi’s efforts to stunt him emotionally. They wanted to force him to make a choice, but Anakin couldn’t; he instinctively felt that it was wrong and that the Force is naturally made of both sides. He was told over and over that it is wrong to care for others, but that was the one sacrifice he was not willing to make in order to become a Jedi.
Darth Vader’s “creation” visually illustrates this, too. Anakin is almost killed by Obi-Wan, the Jedi, and Palpatine the Sith creates Vader from his miserable remainders.
It is my belief by now that Anakin Skywalker was not consumed by the Dark Side: that was what the Jedi Obi-Wan and Yoda said, but as I said, they might well have been wrong. My impression is that, being the strongest Jedi of all and the central figure in the conflict, he got between both sides and was crushed. The fact that beneath all of his power he was indeed physically and psychically broken would emphasize this.
Vader did come back from the Dark Side in Return of the Jedi; and his son could feel the conflict inside of him. But if there was a conflict, this obviously means that Vader had not chosen one side once and for all.
Luke said to Palpatine “I will never turn to the Dark Side.” However he did so, if briefly, when he contemplated killing his own nephew. A further proof of the fact that with the Force, one cannot make a decision and pretend to stick to it for the rest of one’s life. Temptation can come at any time.
Kylo felt so torn apart by the conflict that he was willing to commit patricide to finally join the Dark Side for good. To no avail; he was obviously traumatized, regretful and deeply hurt, proving that there still was good in him despite the horrible deed.
It may seem the most natural thing to do, and also a great honor, to become a Jedi (or a Sith) if one has the Force; but so far, we have never seen any Force user, Skywalker or not, finding happiness with this choice, whether he made it himself or whether it was thrust upon him.
I assume there must be a way that someone can learn to use the Force without having to choose to be a Jedi or a Sith. Both of these extremes do not ensure peace and happiness, neither for the Force user nor for the ones around them. Only a balanced Force user can find happiness, and bring fulfilment to others, too.
Leia would be a very good example for this: she always used her power for knowledge and defense, and she embraced her desire for belonging and her sexuality, too.
So, what does this mean for Episode IX, the ending and culmination of the saga? Since the classic trilogy ended with the victory of the Light Side and the prequel trilogy told us the victory of the Dark Side, it can only end with Balance.
However, I am not sure that Ben Solo and Rey will “bring Balance to the galaxy” with their union. They must first and foremost find balance within themselves, and thus be the first of a new kind of Force users.
Rey was not tempted by the Dark Side yet; I am positive however that it is an important experience she must make, and her approaching the ruins of the old Death Star, where Palpatine is most probably lying in waiting, would hint at something like that.
Ben Solo, on the other hand, must prove that he has overcome the resentment in his heart. He needs to be an example for the fact that someone can go down the dark path, come back to the light and survive, and still want to reach out to other people. He needs to find forgiveness and new life despite his sins, not to be punished for them and forgotten.
Ben and Rey need to show the galaxy at large that Balance is possible; that a Force user, whether he is a Skywalker or an absolute nobody, needs not choose one side but that he or she can very well use the best from both sides; and that to preserve peace and justice one does not need to become a Jedi, but that anyone can do so who is balanced inside.
Because in the end, the Force is neither simply Light and Dark, nor is it grey; it creates diversity and binds everything and everyone together.
“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” (Yoda in The Phantom Menace)
Logically this must also mean that trust leads to serenity, serenity leads to love, and love leads to happiness. The old school Jedi may have been wise, but we never saw them display affection for anyone. Their fear and philosophy of detachment was literally their doom; they feared Anakin Skywalker too much to show him the love he so desperately wanted.
To value love enough was perhaps the hardest, but most important lesson the Chosen One had to learn, and which he passed on to his successors.
annaxmalina
yousharknotpass
ellievsbear
stormborns
prguitarman
discoholicmusic
romaincrisis
