I doubt Anakin wanted to return to face anyone he had once known after all the dark stuff he’s supposed to do. If he doesn’t know for sure that he has kids, all the more reason not to go looking.
But Obi-Wan starts training Luke before Vader even meets him. Vader doesn’t even recognize that Luke is even force sensitive until the end of the Ep4. How is he going to feel Luke being trained half a galaxy away when he doesn’t sense it even when Luke is on the same Death Star with him?
It just seems odd. If Luke is the last best hope, why neglect him for so long? He’s obviously very very powerful. How could they not know that he’s their last hope? Did Obi-Wan lose his midi-cholorian detector?
Oh I also think the notion that Vader brings balance by killing everyone is silly. Dopers! You’re being too logical in Lucas’s world Balance=Good=Light Side of the force. Not Balance=real logical balance=Actual Light Side/Dark Side equivalence.
Note: I disagree with the common Dark Side vs. Light Side theory. I don’t think the two are equal at all, and “balancing them” is not what wat the prophecy is about. The Dark Side, ALONE, is the unbalancing factor, a pollution on the living Force. Wiping out the Jedi was not required (though helpful in setting a new beginning). Destroying the power of the Sith was.
Yoda is clearly no longer concerned with minor things, like the death of millions. He and Obi-Wan have been living in hiding while the Emperor gained power, both politically and spiritually. I don’t think it’s at all clear that he intended to do anything but live out his remaining years in seclusion.
I think Obi-Wan decided to force the issue by sending Luke to Yoda, and Yoda was genuinely surprised to see him. (or suddenly sense him in orbit and guide hime down, as is more likely. I mean, what are the odds that you’d crash land on a planet a quarter mile from the one guy on it?) Yoda was struggling with the decision. “Train the last Jedi and risk creating an even worse monster than Vader, or sit in my hut and eat snake soup?”
Yes, that’s it, blame the stupidity of the prophecy on the writer, as opposed to people who have no clue what they are talking about when they are “interpreting it.” :rolleyes:
Padme dies at the end of Episode III holding Leia in her arms. Of course this isn’t possibly enough time for an infant (even one who is the daughter of the most powerful force user in history) to form “just images, really, feelings,” and this will lead to a thread here on the boards about how Padme dying before her daughter could form memories is the greatest atrocity in all of movie history. :rolleyes:
Perhaps he was playing the Good Cop while Yoda was playing the Bad Cop?
That I hadn’t considered. He obviously knew where Luke was (at least most of the time) and that Vader and the Emporer would need to be taken out eventually. I might have a better explanation for that one after I see Episode III.
All and all, its hard to be impressed with Yoda at this point. For all his supposed wisdom and sageness, he’s seemed singularly clueless and something of a hermetic jerk throughout the series. He failed to catch on to any aspect of Sidious’ plot, and when he does catch on, he apparently just gives up. Obviously, he gets taken down a peg by Sidious, perhaps even in physical combat, but why is that enough to allow him to just hide away as the Sith crush the galaxy under their heel?
::spoiler for a vague memory of the books:: Back in High school, I read a few of the books. I seemed to recall one of them claimed:
There is no light side or dark side, just people who are using an impersonal force to their own ends.However, my own thought is that Lucas has no idea of what he is doing, and simply thinks the idea of a balance sounded cool.
I think the imbalance in the force is implicit in the Jedi/Sith dichotomy. There is only one Force, that contains both good and evil, light and dark, growth and destruction. It’s not the Force itself that is unbalanced, it is everyone who practices it, because they only embrace one “side” of it and scorn the other. So Anakin truly is the one who restores balance to the force by mastering the light side, and then the dark side, and then returning to the light side. He’s balanced when he dies, because he contains all of the Force within him, not just one half of it or the other. This would be more in keeping with the Eastern philosophy from which Lucas cribbed most of his Jedi wisdom.
We aren’t supposed to be impressed with Yoda or the Jedi. Many people seem disappointed because in the prequels they expected to see these godlike beings who kept peace in the galaxy through their mastery of the Force.
But then we saw the prequels and discovered that they Jedi weren’t all that impressive. They aren’t infallible, they aren’t all knowing, and they aren’t invincible. They are now at the mercy of the Senate. They do not have the authority to do anything without permission. They have lost touch with the spirituality of the Force and have become far too focused on political and bureaucratic matters.
Qui Gon is the only Jedi who really gets it. He is in tune with the Living Force. He dwells in the “here and now.” Funny how Yoda scolds Luke for always “looking ahead, to the future, never his mind on where he was, what he was doing” when that is exactly what Yoda and the council are guilty of in the prequels. This is not a continuity error by Lucas. The Jedi have lost touch.
Now you add Anakin into the equation; the boy who should be bringing balance back to the Force. Rather than nurture this incredibly important individual, the Jedi fear him, and push him away. Even when they reluctantly decide to train him, he is looked upon with suspicion and never fully trusted.
Funny how a little trust and care could have kept him from falling into the hands of Palpatine.
Spoiler on Anakin’s turn:
[spoiler]Anakin’s decision occurs in Palpatine’s office. Having just been bested by Mace Windu in a saber battle, Palpatine lies at the Jedi Master’s mercy. Anakin is present. Palpatine claims that he can give Anakin the power to save Padme. Anakin has been having dreams of her death, and seeing as how they came true in his mother’s case, Anakin is afraid that Padme will soon meet her demise.
Anakin’s choice becomes:
-Save the man who claims he can help him save the only person who really seems to love and trust him (Padme).
-Save the Jedi master who has been nothing but uncaring and suspicious towards him since he became a Jedi.
Pretty clear to see what Anakin’s decision will be. And then it’s too late. There is no longer any turning back for Anakin.[/spoiler]
It’s only after all is said and done in Episode 3 that Yoda will realize the error of his ways, and spend the next 18 years meditating on all of the councils mistakes. Mistakes that, if given the chance, must not be made again…
Wouldn’t it be funny if Lucas reads these boards? I can just see it, a few months from now: In interviews, Lucas is saying what some of y’all here are saying… “That’s exactly what I was trying to do! I had that all figured out in 1976. Yeah, that’s the ticket!”
As said before, remember Anakin is just put forward by Obi-Won as the one who fulfills the prophecy. He may not be the ‘one’. It may be Luke who really restores the balance. If Anakin is said to be the prophesized one, perhaps his turn at the end is what brings balance to the Force.
In the trailer to Ep 3:
remember Obi-Wan tells Anakin before they fight “You WERE the chosen one!”. Does that mean that Obi-Wan realizes at that point that is not the chosen one anymore?
Yoda takes Qui-Gon Jinn as a master(Yoda is the padawan so to speak) and studies new levels of the Force, which allows him, Obi-Wan(who he trains with this knowledge), and Anakin somehow to maintain life beyond death.
Wasn’t there something about the Jedi serving the young apprentices white wine in emptied out Coke cans and trips to Disney World on private jets? Or am I thinking of something else?