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Forgive me a moment as I wax geek-esque, but I’ve been thinking about Star Wars lately and have to get something off my chest. (KC, you can jump off here, cause this is gonna be way too deep for you.)

In the Phantom Menace, we are told that adorable little Anakin, although destine to become über-bad-dude Darth Vader, will “bring balance to the Force.” This is just kind of dropped on us without explanation and generally, everyone pretty much accepts it without question. Lucas himself made it clear that this prophecy applies directly to Anakin – and he is the one who fulfills it – not his offspring.

Who made this prophecy? We don’t know. How exactly is the Force currently out of balance? We don’t know that either. How does he accomplish this task? Most people assume that by eliminating the Sith, Anakin fulfills the prophecy – both master and apprentice die in the end of Return of the Jedi, so there is no one left to perpetuate the dark side. But how does eliminating one side bring balance? I would think that would knock thing off kilter more than anything. Of course he also killed everyone on the light side of the equation too, so maybe bringing balance is an ironic euphemism for cutting both sides down to nothing.

Well, here is my theory: Anakin brought balance to the Force by clearing the slate and passing the best of both sides on to Luke.



The Sith are evil – everyone can see that. They have pasty complexions, bad teeth and wear black. They are brutal and selfish and nasty. What positive traits could they possibly possess that future Force-philes could benefit from? Well, they feel.

At every turn, Anakin is told to control his emotions. Qui-Gon stoically and unapologetically takes him away from his mother and leaves her in slavery and poverty. His love for Amidala is forbidden and Yoda tells him to sever all ties to anything that would bind him to life.

This philosophy is preached to Luke as well. Yoda and Obi-Wan both plead with him to let his friends die instead of risking a rescue attempt at Cloud City.

On the other hand, the Sith embrace their passions. They hate. They love. They feel. They don’t deny the emotions, good and evil, that make us human.

So now Luke has a clean start and can start the Jedi order from scratch, but this time the Jedi can be allowed to love. If you follow the novels or comic books, you know that Luke marries and has a child.

So how is that for an interpreation of ancient Jedi prophecy? Be sure to tune in next episode as I evaluate the characters Scrappy Doo and Hello Kitty as archetypes of Fruedian theory.