Just what is this they keep going on about in SW 1 & 2? Is it that the Force has both a light and a dark side, and that the Jedi have been a little too successful in squashiing the dark part? So the “balance” is that the Dark side will have to break loose and run rampant for a season?
I think the whole thing was a big mis-judgement on exactly what the prophecy meant. The Force is an energy force that flows through everything, so the concept of Balance to many Jedi could have meant a balance in a universal sense. There was a lot of chaos in the galaxy still, so it’s possible many believed that by “Balancing the Force”, the chosen one would bring harmony to the galaxy.
Of course, what it turns out to mean is that the Jedi would be decimated till both sets of followers were nothing more than remnants, possibly non-existant.
That’s one thing that bugged me when I saw the movie. If the light side of the force currently has the advantage(And apparently there were very few sith running around), somehow I don’t think Balancing the force is a good thing.
Or maybe that’s why they were concerned by Anakin.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Ep 1, so I can’t remember the counciel scene well.
[nitpick] decimated means reduced by one tenth, the jedi were more than decimated they were virtually wiped out. [/nitpick]
Since the force flows through everyone and everywhere maybe the jedis (and the sith) were bad for the force as they would effectively hold some of it in them (as they could control it).
Is it possible that balancing the force actually meant destroying all those that could control it leaving it unchecked as the organic force of nature that it should be?
Or is it that Lucas has totally lost it and episodes one and two are a mockery of the original?
Medi-clorins(or whatever the hell they are), pah.
I also go for the misjudging the prophecy. I think the Jedi thought balancing the force meant that you would get the uber-Jedi who would bring harmony to the universe (like a Budda to the galaxy ;)) So, I’m in complete agreement with El Elvis Rojo.
The balance ended up being the dark side would come back in full force, instead of harmony coming to the galaxy.
As I understand it, the balancing of the force is meant to get rid of this “dark side” and “light side” crap. There is only one force and it does not really care how you act. By the time of TPM the Jedi have all become a bunch of stagnant-Bhuddist-monk-like-wussies who’s powers are fading. Anakin comes along and sorta shakes things up by, well, killing them all. Luke brings balance to the force by not really being light or dark, just rational and creating a new order of Jedi that don’t have to fall into either trap of being evil bastards, or ivory tower wusses.
Muaddib, that is an odd interpretation. I think that being an ivory tower wuss is exactly what you’re supposed to be. Yoda’s the one who expresses it best, right? And he’s always meant to be in the right, and Luke follows his advice as much as possible.
That’s what the word meant originally, but that meaning has been, heh-heh, decimated in favour of “to reduce drastically, especially in number”.
As for things like balancing the force, or there being only two Sith at a time, I think Georgie-boy is writing by the seat of his very expensive pants.
Well, as one (not entirely serious) Star Wars comic story put it, the two main interpretations seem to compare the balancing to one of two things: adding cream to coffee to make it not as dark and less bitter, or balancing a pair of salt grains against a whole pile of salt by blowing away all but two grains in the pile.
Damn you, Leaper! You beat me to it!
BTW, that’s one of my faves from the Tales. Rubio rocks.
Double nitpick: Decimation wasn’t the outcome of a battle, it was a punishment inflicted on poorly-performing Roman troops. If a Roman legion or century performed terribly in battle, e.g. if they chickened out and ran away at the first sign of trouble, they were punished after the battle by having one out of every 10 of their members summarily executed.
So to say that your army was “decimated” didn’t mean that 1/10 of them had been killed in a battle, it meant that they had been so thoroughly defeated that they deserved decimation.
tracer: Thank you so very much for pointing out that “decimated” does not mean “a thorough ass-kicking” or “complete destruction”. That’s been one of my long-standing pet peeves.
[engineering geek]
It means George Lucas took a Statics class.
[/engineering geek]
Well, the Jedi had grown rather weak and really sort of out-of-touch. Meanwhile the dark side had grown strong through their foolishness.
I agree with the salt-theory. The force got balanced by eliminating everything that had previously existed.
I disagree. Yoda was wise and he was often right - but not always. Yoda made three mistakes: first he refused Luke (on the most ridiculous grounds) until Ben showed up and gave him the pure-hearted spirit-being version of a vicious tongue-lashing. Then, he kept Luke’s parentage hidden (it was Ben’s mistake, too, perhaps, but Luke was defitely not ready in ANH); it was information he needed to know before facing Vader then. Lastly, he tried to stop Luke. That was a pointless waste of effort an doomed to failure. Yoda should have gotten the bloody point that Luke was not Yoda’s apprentice or servant, but his student. But I think it was also neccessary for Luke’s growth to face Vader then.
Yoda was very good at advising others, but he wasn’t flawless. His understanding of the force was superior to Lukes or Ben’s, but he failed to comprehend the direction Luke - and the Force - was headed. It was no acident that Yoda’s lifespan ended right when he had finally given Luke all the basics - and nothing more.
I don’t mean to be peevish. But honestly this isn’t just nitpicking; its downright ridiculous.
So what your saying is that you can only ever use the word decimate if it means the execution of 10% of your armed forces due to their cowardice.
I had no idea it couldn’t be used in a general sense to mean a reduction by a tenth.
Must remember, always use words with their exact literal meaning. Never use metaphors, maybe stay clear of analogies as well.
Wow, you live and learn.
:rolleyes:
Decimate just sounds so much cooler than, “my Lord, our troops are being millimated!”
“What? Call out the reserves, we’ll centimate them!”
I heard recently that this was also the official interpretation of Lord Doku (did I spell that right?). He left the Jedi because he did not believe in the light vs. dark view and believed that he would be the chosen one to tear down the false dichotomy.
Er…I always thought everyone was mistaken and that Luke not Anankin was the one the prophecy was about.
I also always grinned about the ‘balance’ part. I find it funny that everyone talks about how great balance was. It would be terrible. Exactly as much death as birth, as much suffering as joy, as much pain as pleasure. If the force was ‘balanced’ 1/2 of all Jedi would have to be Dark. I’m glad so many dopers seem to have that idea as well.
Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet, huh?
“Decimated” meant “reduce by one-tenth as punishment”, dare I say it, a long time ago in an Empire far, far away (unless you’re Italian, in which case it was pretty close).
Languages evolve. Deal with it.