What Does "Balancing The Force" Mean To You?

[Timothy Hunter]

Anakin Skywalker was hailed as the Chosen One, prophesied to bring balance to the force. As far as I'm aware there are two interpretations of the concept of balancing the force actually means.

The first perspective is George Lucas's view that the dark side of the force was like a cancer and to bring balance to the force means the total supremacy of the light side. Anakin brought balance by killing Emperor Palpatine.

The second viewpoint held by certain EU writers and fans is that the dark and light sides of the force are two sides of the same coin and to balance the force is for both sides to be in equilibrium of one another. Anakin brought balance by destroying the Jedi Order and killing Emporer Palpatine.

Which camp do you fall into?

[Ulysian_Thracs]

Anakin Skywalker was hailed as the Chosen One, prophesied to bring balance to the force. As far as I'm aware there are two interpretations of the concept of balancing the force actually means.

The first perspective is George Lucas's view that the dark side of the force was like a cancer and to bring balance to the force means the total supremacy of the light side. Anakin brought balance by killing Emperor Palpatine.

The second viewpoint held by certain EU writers and fans is that the dark and light sides of the force are two sides of the same coin and to balance the force is for both sides to be in equilibrium of one another. Anakin brought balance by destroying the Jedi Order and killing Emporer Palpatine.

Which camp do you fall into?

Definitely the latter. I see it as you don't necessarily need the Jedi and the Sith to represent the two sides, but you need the two sides. Otherwise you cannot even define the one left existing. What is light without darkness? What is good without bad?

I think a better exploration of this concept was the Shadow War in Babylon 5. The Vorlons vs. the Shadows and how they were manipulating lesser species to pick a side, and the answer was always that order and chaos are both necessary and we need to pick for ourselves how much of each rather than dogmatically hate one or the other.

[thwhtGuardian]

I definitely fall in the latter camp, you can't have balance if one side out weighs the other. It reminds me of the concept of Yin and Yang.

[Frontier]

I agree with the latter.

The Jedi and the Light had grown too complacent and dogmatic which let the Sith grow in power to the point that they decimated the Light but the Chosen One (Anakin) eventually helped balance the scales by defeating the Sith (with the help of his son).

[Ascended]

The latter for me as well. As others have said, you can't have yin without yang, light without shadow, etc.

I think everyone in-universe believed the Chosen One prophesy was about destroying one side and "removing the cancer." Certainly nobody seemed to realize that balancing the Force also required the destruction of the two organizations that had put it *out* of balance in the first place.

Well, I think Qui-Gon knew. Or at least suspected that the prophesy wouldn't be as nice and clean as "Anakin will destroy the Sith and the Jedi will live happily ever after." No real reason for me to think that, just a gut feeling.

[ZeroBG82]

The former, because it's the one the movies use, and thus the only correct one.

People like to think about balance as "equilibrium," and thus start conflating this idea that you need both light and dark. Which is true enough.

But "bringing balance to the Force" doesn't actually have anything at all to do with light OR dark. Bringing balance entails destroying Palpatine. And thus, the Sith. So it's actually the Sith that are the problem, not the dark side, per se.

Why? Because the Sith reject the natural order of life and death. They seek absolute immortality of the flesh, and thus defy the very natural world which births and sustains the Force. The Sith, effectively, represent UNDEATH. This being those powers that Palpatine explicitly calls out as "unnatural" in ROTS (and echoes in RoS, but the less said about that film the better). They stand in opposition to what Qui-gon would call "the living Force," deeply connected to life, nature and people (as opposed to the Cosmic Force the rest of the Jedi worship, which is partly why they have become so disconnected).

Anakin himself is representative of this imbalanced state during his life. His rejection of loss, and thus his quest to conquer death, mark his fall to the Dark Side. He literally ends up wearing a life sustaining suit to keep himself alive in defiance of the natural order as Vader. But then in the throne room aboard the DS2, he accepts his own death in order to save Luke, his progeny. This is the natural form of immortality open to all living beings. Legacy, family. Vader's acceptance of the end of his own life, and in self-sacrifice for another no less, is why Anakin is redeemed. He has returned to the path of nature and no longer stands outside the Force.

You even see this picked up on in newer material. Most notably in Rebels, and echoed in TLJ, where our heroes receive aid from otherwise wild animals. The Lothwolves of Lothal and the crystal critters of Crait, respectively. This reflects their alliance with the light and their service to the natural order.