LET ME YELL ABOUT WHY I LOVED THIS MOMENT from Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi | "Brotherhood". I have long argued that the "Jedi Code" is more of a meditation mantra, because almost every single time it comes up in supplementary material (it doesn't exist in the movies or TCW) it's used during a moment when a Jedi is trying to calm themselves down or meditate in the Force. And I have long argued that I don't think it's a literal guideline for how to live their lives, but instead a description of the Force. Because the prequels Jedi taught two different versions of the "Jedi Code": There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force. The second is from the Kanan comic, where Depa is leading a meditation with the younglings, while Obi-Wan and Mace and Yoda watch over them. So, if both of these versions are taught by the prequels Jedi, how can they both be applicable? Because they're not describing Jedi--they're describing the Force. They're describing what it's like to interact with the Force. That's why they use it as a meditation mantra! The Force itself has no emotion, it has no ignorance, it has peace. The Force has no passion, it has serenity. The Force has no chaos, it has harmony/ The Force has no death, it is the Force. Yet, when a Jedi interacts with it, they have emotion but they seek peace. They have ignorance yet they seek knowledge. They have passion yet they seek serenity. They have chaos yet they seek harmony. They have death yet they seek the Force, they become one with it when they die. Then this short story is about Anakin becoming one with the Force when he dies-- A warmth without temperature. An embrace without touch. A belonging despite isolation. A quiet that revealed. It's so evocative of the Jedi's description of the way they interact with the Force via the "Jedi Code"! It's the Force versus what you're bringing to the Force, it's about what a Jedi seeks in the Force--Anakin has no temperature, but he seeks warmth. Anakin has no touch, but he seeks an embrace. Anakin has isolation, but he seeks belonging. There is quiet in the Force. This is what the Force is, this is how the Jedi interact with it, they bring their own experiences to it and work to shed those things to find what they need in the Force, this is why the "Jedi Code" is structured the way it is and Anakin experiences that exact same thing when he steps into it. And I am legit emotional because I think of how much comfort and warmth and clarity the Force can bring when you let it move through you, when you let it embrace you, rather than trying to dominate it.
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