The Chosen One, Balance to the Force, and my son Connor

[Hypersmurf]

Balance, from a certain point of view...

"A certain point of view!?"

-Hyp.

 

[demiurge1138]

"A certain point of view!?"

-Hyp.

Slightly off topic, I thought that George did an excellent job of covering himself on inconsistencies between the prequels and the original trilogy, for things like not having heard himself called Obi-Wan since "long before [Luke] was born" and the like.

Obi-Wan in his old age obviously became a pathological liar.

Demiurge out, who uses "a certain point of view" more often than he should in daily conversation.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Slightly off topic, I thought that George did an excellent job of covering himself on inconsistencies between the prequels and the original trilogy, for things like not having heard himself called Obi-Wan since "long before [Luke] was born" and the like.

Obi-Wan in his old age obviously became a pathological liar.

Demiurge out, who uses "a certain point of view" more often than he should in daily conversation.

Actually, I don't believe he says "long before"...I think the line's "Oh...before you were born." in that 'I'm old and can't remember exactly' voice. Considering what's known about RotS at this point, its only a couple days or so off at most.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Slightly off topic, I thought that George did an excellent job of covering himself on inconsistencies between the prequels and the original trilogy, for things like not having heard himself called Obi-Wan since "long before [Luke] was born" and the like.

On that note - one thing I really appreciated about Phantom Menace was how well Ewan McGregor pulled off a young Alec Guinness. He had the vocal mannerisms right, somehow.

But one thing I keep meaning to check - has McGregor-as-Kenobi ever actually said "Obi-Wan" in any of the films?

Everyone else pronounces it to rhyme with 'con', but Guinness pronounced it to rhyme with 'can'... and I was hoping McGregor would have picked up on that.

-Hyp.

 

[Eosin the Red]

I have my own odd view of "balance" to the force.

Most immediately assume that the Jedi of the Old Republic were actually "light-siders." I disagree, they were grey -siders. Only two Jedi measure up to the ideals of the force - Qui Gon and to a lesser degree Luke. All of the other Jedi fall short to thier own ideals and the ideals of the Jedi order; they become stagnatly bound to a set of traditions and rules that keep them safe from the darkside. It is their fear of the darkside rather than their devotion to the light which prompts them to do as they do. The crowd favorite Yoda is the best example of this "force bankrupsy" - even as time moves on and we enter episodes 4-6 he is still so blinded by tradition that he cannot adapt, nor does he hear the will of the force.

The Jedi in 1-2 are a LN society whose entire organization is devoted to keeping its members free of the Darkside. It has putrified from within until it only has the trapings of "goodness" even though individuals within it still strive to do good. Rules replace reason, tradition replaces adapting, and they have come to believe that - no fear, no anger, no hate are the opposites of fear, hate and anger. Luke intuitively uses Love, Loyalty, and Compassion to redeem his father against the advice of his Master and the most famed Jedi Master in the history of the order. The return of balance is not the return of the Darkness that was the Sith [they never went anywhere], nor was it the winniowing of the numbers of Jedi, the return to balance was to replace the murky twilight of the Jedi with a pure and clean light that embraces the human condition and is willing to risk loss and willing to risk love.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

As Ankh-Morpork pointed out, "balance" is a terrible way to describe the situation. I can't stand that Lucas decided to use that term and present it as some kind of quasi-mystical prophecy as one of the defining ideas behind the prequels. It ranks up there with "midichlorians" in terms of useless explanation. At least call it something besides balance, if you're going to use it. Getting rid of the dark so there's only light isn't balance, not by the definition of the term.

Really should have come up with a better term for precisely what Vader's prophesied role is.

 

[Raven Crowking]

I have my own odd view of "balance" to the force.

Most immediately assume that the Jedi of the Old Republic were actually "light-siders." I disagree, they were grey -siders. Only two Jedi measure up to the ideals of the force - Qui Gon and to a lesser degree Luke. All of the other Jedi fall short to thier own ideals and the ideals of the Jedi order; they become stagnatly bound to a set of traditions and rules that keep them safe from the darkside. It is their fear of the darkside rather than their devotion to the light which prompts them to do as they do. The crowd favorite Yoda is the best example of this "force bankrupsy" - even as time moves on and we enter episodes 4-6 he is still so blinded by tradition that he cannot adapt, nor does he hear the will of the force.

The Jedi in 1-2 are a LN society whose entire organization is devoted to keeping its members free of the Darkside. It has putrified from within until it only has the trapings of "goodness" even though individuals within it still strive to do good. Rules replace reason, tradition replaces adapting, and they have come to believe that - no fear, no anger, no hate are the opposites of fear, hate and anger. Luke intuitively uses Love, Loyalty, and Compassion to redeem his father against the advice of his Master and the most famed Jedi Master in the history of the order. The return of balance is not the return of the Darkness that was the Sith [they never went anywhere], nor was it the winniowing of the numbers of Jedi, the return to balance was to replace the murky twilight of the Jedi with a pure and clean light that embraces the human condition and is willing to risk loss and willing to risk love.

Excellent analysis!

RC

 

[Klaus]

The Dark Side (in the OT and the Prequels) thrived on negative emotions, on fear, anger and hate.

The Light Side (in the Prequels) thrived on... no emotions at all!

Which led, in the Prequels, to the Dark Side winning.

Through his love for his son, and his son's love for him, Anakin managed to bring balance to the Force, by allowing the Light Side to thrive on positive emotions (love, compassion, forgiveness). That emptied the Dark Side of it's fuels.

So not black-and-white, but gray.

 

[Desdichado]

No one said how long the balance would last.

And the boy's theory is just as good as some of the really convoluted ones out there. Is he right? I dunno. But sometimes the simplest answer is the best answer.

Indeed. Like, "he killed Darth Sideious" is the simplest answer.

After all, rewatch Attack of the Clones and keep an ear out for when Yoda talks about how the Dark side is clouding their abilities, and all that. The presence of Darth Sidious caused the imbalance. That's really quite clear.

 

[Taelorn76]

Indeed. Like, "he killed Darth Sideious" is the simplest answer.

After all, rewatch Attack of the Clones and keep an ear out for when Yoda talks about how the Dark side is clouding their abilities, and all that. The presence of Darth Sidious caused the imbalance. That's really quite clear.

Maybe what was clouding their abilities was their lack of Love, Compasion, and Forgiveness. Thus they could not sense the Dark side rising in power.