I saw SW Episode 3 a few days ago. Overall, I was pleased. The dialogue was certainly lacking in several places, but the visual effects were nice, and I thought the film did a good job wrapping up the story. (I was also intrigued by
the new trailer for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; it looks pretty. Let's hope the other production aspects live up to the visual effects.) But one thing about the series has puzzled me for some time now, and it is this confusion which I will address in the remainder of this post.
**Fair Warning: Spoilers Ahead. If you haven't seen Episode 3 and don't want to know the details (since you probably know how it ends), you might want to skip this post. End Warning**Supposedly, Anakin's duty as the "Chosen One" was to "bring balance to the Force." It was often suggested that this "balance" would be achieved only when the Sith lords were destroyed.
Here's my first question: If the Jedi and the Sith are polar opposites (as was frequently implied), then how does wiping out one side bring "balance"? Wouldn't "balance" be achieved only when (a) all Jedi and all Sith were gone, or (b) the Jedi and Sith were equal, either in power or in numbers?
Regardless, Anakin had clearly failed to wipe out the Sith by the end of Episode 3. Indeed, he had done just the opposite by nearly wiping out the Jedi instead. Does this mean that he failed to fulfill the prophecy? Obi-Wan certainly thought so. But what if the Jedi were wrong; what if they misinterpreted the prophecy?
We now have a few possible explanations that I can think of:
(a) The Jedi were right, and the prophecy was fulfilled when Anakin (as Darth Vader) killed Emperor Palpatine and then died himself, thus eliminating the Sith.
(b) The Jedi were wrong: "balance" means no more Sith and no more Jedi, and the prophecy was not fulfilled because Luke (a Jedi) is still alive.
(c) The Jedi were wrong: "balance" is achieved when there are no more Jedi, and the prophecy was not fulfilled because there was always at least one Jedi around (as long as we consider Luke a Jedi once he's finished his training under Yoda)
In every piece of fiction that I can remember reading/seeing, prophecies come true. The characters don't always realize it, but prophecies always come true in the end. I see no reason to suspect that
Star Wars is any different, so (for now, at least) I will assume that possibility (a) is correct: Anakin fulfilled the prophecy by killing the Emperor and then dying himself, thus destroying the Sith. But this brings me back to my previous question: doesn't this leave the Force unbalanced by the presence of a Jedi?
Chancellor Palpatine goes to great lengths in Episode 3 to point out that the Jedi and the Sith are not so very different from each other as the Jedi like to suggest; both sides seek power and both sides are willing to use drastic methods to get it. Anakin replies that the difference lies in the fact that the Jedi work for the good of all people while the Sith are concerned only with themselves. Yet the Jedi we see don't usually come across as compassionate souls; they tend to be rather cold and aloof, and such postures are encouraged (note Yoda's advice to Anakin to throw away everything to which he might become attached) (an oddity considering the frequent emphasis on following one's feelings, but that's another matter).
The conclusion I draw from this is that the Jedi are not, as I previously assumed, primarily a force for Good. Rather, they are a force for Order; they are a stabilizing factor in the universe, ensuring that order, law, and peace reign in the galaxy. The Jedi come across as "good" compared to the Sith because the Sith use anger, agression, and chaos as their weapons of choice. The Sith use conflict as a tool, while the Jedi strive to suppress and avoid conflicts. The Jedi as an order are not concerned with "others" on an individual basis, but with "others" in the sense of galactic society as a whole. Individual Jedi may be exceptionally compassionate, but the order does not exist to help individuals (note Qui-Gon Jinn's comment to Anakin in Episode 1: "I didn't come here to free slaves").
So, although the Jedi appear to be "the good guys," the Jedi leaders have their own agenda, and they are willing to use unsavory means to accomplish it. Witness Mace Windu's attempt to kill Palpatine. While his point ("He's too dangerous to be allowed to live") may be valid, his desire still contradicts what the Jedi claim to stand for; the assassination of a democratically-elected official is virtually guaranteed to cause turmoil. Windu himself admits this when he says that the Jedi Council will have to step into the void left by the Chancellor's death. And, as Anakin says more than once, "That's not the Jedi way."
This blurring of the lines of "good" and "evil" is, of course, a rather significant factor in Anakin's conversion to the Dark Side. He is upset (and rightly so) by what he perceives as the hypocrisy of the Jedi; they claim to be champions of justice and order, but they plan to assassinate a public official rather than put him on trial. What's more, they move to block Anakin's "promotion" through the ranks at every turn, despite his repeated demonstrations of loyalty and prowess. On the other hand, the Sith (e.g. Palpatine) have given him nothing but acceptance and the promise of help. And, after all, Palpatine is after the same thing as the Jedi; peace in the galaxy. The fact that Palpatine will preside over that peace and the methods he will use to achieve it are acceptable to Anakin when the alternative is a scheming, hypocritical, treasonous Jedi Order.
Discuss.
