“Understanding is a three-edged sword.”
Idk where this came from other than my general syncretic brainmash, but I really want to work this into my SWTOR fic now, ideally in the mouth of a Jedi since they’re about as close to the Vorlons as Star Wars has (albeit more genuinely benevolent and generally less aggressively paternalistic).
In particular, I want to use it to explore (via yet another alternate sci-fi franchise’s cosmology and philosophy) the conflict between Light and Dark in Star Wars. After all:
“Your side, their side, and the truth”
Sounds a lot like light, dark, something in between, with that “in between” having the privileged “truth” status. But that’s not how it works.
Although the Force is ultimately unitary, light and dark don’t have an equal claim on its true nature. As we’re shown in the movies, the Force as a whole, as the unifying energy of the galaxy and especially of all living things, has much more to do with the “light side,” most manifestly expressed through compassion, than with the dark side, which corrupts what exists already and warps what, and who, it touches to the point of self-destruction.
And it’s in the nature of the light that the conclusion of Bablyon 5 (”Get the hell out of our galaxy!”) swings away from the themes of Star Wars. The Vorlons aren’t creatures of compassion above all, they are creatures of Order; the Shadows are likewise creatures of Strife rather than selfishness, but the dark side is pretty firmly associated with conflict along with a dozen other destructive characteristics.
(Ironically, B5 here directly contrasts my favorite Light/Dark SF system: Destiny’s Light is “the growth and preservation of complexity,” while the Darkness disparages it as a creator of eldritch perversions and urges, “the universe is chaotic, bring order to it.” More on that another time, maybe.)
Order and Chaos stand in the sort of symmetrical relationship that a lot of people want the light and dark side of the Force to share, but the exact point is that the Vorlons, for all that they call themselves allies of life, don’t have a shred of compassion for others. The gods of Babylon 5 are ultimately narrow-minded tyrants; the Force, on the other hand, is a genuine metaphysical power that can, in response to one’s own intentions, enhance and enlighten or darken, distort, and destroy. Against the former, a third option makes sense; in dealing with the latter, one eventually chooses a side.
So where does all of this random nonsense leave Jedi Master Kosh?
Obviously, the Vorlon saying can be a useful dictum generally; a Jedi consular or sentinel might consider it in the course of fractious negotiations or a complex investigation. But it has a general applicability in Star Wars, as well as in its source:
Never think yourself beyond rational doubt.
Not all arguments are created equal.
Both of these principles are important to the Jedi. The Jedi fall apart, individually or collectively, when they allow themselves to be lured into the Vorlon position of equating a broadly superior moral position with general infallibility (think of Nomen Karr vs. the LS Warrior, or complacent elements of the Council before the rise of the Empire). At the same time, the Jedi recognize that, for all its promises of power, the dark side isn’t an equal mirror to the light side, differing merely in abstract moral philosophy, and those who forget this (coughAnakincough) fail in far more devastating ways.
The Jedi have their philosophy of compassion and inquiry and service.
The Sith have their philosophy of conquest and acquisition and fear.
And then there is the Force, surrounding and penetrating and binding everything in the galaxy into an indivisible whole, and guess where the balance falls in the end.
