# "Balancing" the Force? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796 "2004-09-24T01:17:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/21 "2004-09-25T15:41:28Z")
The prophecy said that the Chosen One (Son of the Suns, apparently, whatever that means) would bring “Balance to the Force”. The Jedi hoped that Anakin would somehow correct an imbalance that would push things in the Jedi’s favour. But in fact the imbalance was that the Jedi had lost their edge, their objectivity, their usefulness, by becoming less than they once were - and what Anakin brings is some darkness into the Galaxy, which balances things out again. ‘Good’ is meaningless if there isn’t ‘Evil’ around to compare it to. That’s my interpretation, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/22 "2014-10-14T00:35:15Z")
I didn’t want to start a whole new thread just to bring this up again, but I recently had an idea for a meaningful interpretation of “balancing the Force” that I wanted to toss out: After the defeat long ago of the Sith order, the Sith retreated into the Rule of Two: a master and an apprentice. The Master would only accept the acolyte he judged most worthy, while the apprentice would only replace his master if he proved superior in wielding the Dark Side. Cycle through the centuries: the Dark Side becoming more and more concentrated in a single Sith Lord and one (eventually) even more powerful successor. Eventually you end up with the Emperor: someone who really isn’t a person anymore, more a hollow shell for the Dark Side itself, with plans once a perfect host is reached to replace the Rule of Two with the Rule of One: to inhabit a series of cloned replacement bodies forever. Meanwhile the Jedi are doing the opposite- spreading the Force far and wide, and yet becoming thinner and weaker for it, despite the advantage of numbers. In this context, “balancing” the force meant dispersing the overly-concentrated Dark Side while reconcentrating the Light side into fewer but more effective Jedi. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/23 "2014-10-14T05:34:48Z")
As in [The Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu)? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/24 "2014-10-14T14:18:29Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > As in [The Law of Conservation of Ninjutsu](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ConservationOfNinjutsu)? Taken seriously, perhaps yes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/25 "2014-10-14T14:30:22Z")
> [@Arch\_Trout](#): > > 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. Yes because that’s what that word means. If you mean to say something else, use a different word. You can’t just assign a meaning to a word because you like how it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/26 "2014-10-14T18:31:16Z")
> [@Arch\_Trout](#): > > 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: Tell that to the guy in post #4. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/27 "2014-10-14T19:37:42Z")
I, too, have always assumed that the Jedi (Yoda, Windu, etc) misunderstood the prophecy. I did some reading of the “history” of the galaxy that the Jedi are in: The light/dark force philosophy had been around for 36,000 years, or so, Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY). The Republic had been around for 25000 years by the time of the events in Episode I, with the newly discovered Jedi Order deciding to become the gaurdians of this Republic. Now, while there were some ups and downs (wars) in the intervening 25,000 years, I don’t understand why Yoda assumed that the rebalancing would be to his liking or expectations. I guess it’s the rule of “yesteryear always seems like the good times, and today always seems full of crisis”. See : [Wookipedia](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_galactic_history) for the history. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/28 "2014-10-14T21:37:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Tell that to the guy in post #4. The guy in post #8 fixed his little red wagon. Probably not literally, though. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/29 "2014-10-14T21:50:15Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > I don’t mean to be peevish. But honestly this isn’t just nitpicking; its downright ridiculous. Nitpick: “… it’s downright ridiculous.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2014, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796/30 "2014-10-15T00:01:38Z")
I always hated the way that balancing the Force actually happened. It’s so old and so overused that it was both annoying and completely telegraphed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/balancing-the-force/265796.md?page=1)