I’m not asking you to assume that you are Luke Skywalker, although “rule the galaxy as father and son” sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.
If you wish, you can assume that you already have access to the Force in your current daily life. After turning to the dark side, you could do things like choke your boss from across the room when you find his lack of faith disturbing.
You don’t have to assume it’s permanent. Redemption is possible, even for a Sith Lord whose body and soul have become twisted and evil. Or you could just try it out for a week to see how it goes.
Falling to the dark side isn’t a choice. It’s a consequence of your actions and feelings - though seriously, mostly your actions. All observed (currently canonical) falls to the dark side that I’m aware of require you to kill somebody in unjustified anger. I’m not the killing people type, so I wouldn’t end up falling.
That said I’d be a pretty crappy jedi, because jedi are all about chopping up anything and anyone that gets in their righteous way.
Damn, that ruins it for me. What if I cut off a mattress tag in unjustified anger? I really want one of those robes! And the blue lightning thing is so cool! And no more concerns with political correctness or suntan lotion!
I’ve already, specifically, made the choice to use my powers on the side of good. Everybody has powers/talents/skills which can be used for good or for evil, you don’t need to be able to choke people at a distance to have that choice. The evil people I’ve known led lives I found very tiresome: always looking for double or triple meanings, always looking for traps, always assuming everybody is out for blood. So like I said, I already took a pass.
The Jedi are too monastic and blinded by their ideology. I disagree with a few of their ideals and actions.
The Sith are too focused on anger and power. Anger and Hate ultimately come from Fear. I cannot imagine basing my power on anger and fear, although Anger can be used as a tool at times. I also have no interest in ruling.
I would be who I am, without falling into terror and the dark side if I got pissed off and force lightninged some jackwad or used the force to bounce a scumbag off a few walls.
So technically speaking, a Grey Jedi, although I dislike the use of the word ‘Jedi’ there.
Although I’ll agree it seems to be a rite of passage, I don’t know that the kill is required so much as thinking independently/acting selfishly. Recall Anakin’s status was in jeopardy just because he was swiving Padmé and he hadn’t yet slaughtered anyone like an animal. Even as a kid he wasn’t right with Yoda just because he harbored a strong, protective bond with mom that could potentially relieve him of his senses (which it ultimately did). I’m assuming one is either light or dark and that there is no gray, although I’ve never been clear just where Dooku lived–was he a Sith or just an outcast?
As for me I’d go Dark almost immediately because I have a strong distrust of authority. The prequils demonstrate the Jedi to be pawns, slaves to doctrine largely devoid of free thought, and paradoxically no better than the Sith in their revulsion to any objective “balance” in the force that isn’t tipped entirely in their favor. They stick to the script and are predictable, making them easy targets for anyone who thinks outside of the box. A dead Jedi can do no good, and so a true Jedi is no good. They are the Yang that disregards the Yin.
I recognize a necessity for merciless evil that is just as prevalent as selfless good. Small virtues must sometimes be sacrificed to further great ones. As an implement of power I believe it would be the height of irresponsibility to entrust my abilities to some other person or organization who might seek to corrupt my purpose if not me. My actions will be mine, and I will be wholly responsible and accountable for them.
Count Dooku was a Jedi Master (HA! In your face Anakin Skywalker!) who left the council and the Jedi after becoming disillusioned with the government’s corruption.
He was Yoda’s Padawan. Yeah, those “Great Jedi” (Yoda, Obi-Wan, Luke) don’t seem to have the greatest record with their padawans.
I know too little of Star Wars lore to follow a technical discussion of its processes. From the thread title, it wasn’t apparent this was meant to be a Star Wars thread; the phrase “to the dark side” in lowercase occurs in lots of different story universes and it didn’t even originate with Star Wars. À propos of going dark side, what does work for me is the memory of Dark Willow in season 6 of Buffy. Willow turning dark from grief and pain, not a sinister plot to seize world domination but a rampage of rage born of pain. Over the arc of a season, things got pretty ugly for Willow and it took her a long difficult process to come back from that. That’s something I can relate to like a lot of survivors can.
If you had asked me in my twenties, I would have said yes.
Not now though. Because I’m smart enough to realize that even your “friends” are eventually going to want to kill you. And why sith lords would want to train an apprentice when they know full well that they are just going to use those skills you taught them to kill you is beyond me.
That rule about only being allowed to have one apprentice seems beyond stupid to me.
Dooku was on the Dark Side, but he was not a Sith. The two are not synonymous: A Sith is a kind of Dark Side user, just as a Jedi is a kind of Light Side user, but there are others. Chirrut and Mazz are both Light Side Force-sensitive without being Jedi, and Dooku, Snoke, and Kylo Ren are all Dark Side Force-sensitive without being Sith.
Are you sure? Wookipedia, the movies and the Clone Wars series insist that he was a Sith Lord. He was Darth Sidious’ (Palpatines) apprentice, replaced by Anakin Skywalker/Vader.
And as noted, the real problem with being on the Dark Side is that everyone else sees you as a rival to be killed off.
Nope. I’m just too nice of a guy. Besides, Force Push and Force Persuasion are light-side spells. And even Luke used Force Choke. (Granted, he was in danger of falling to the Dark Side at that particular moment early in Return of the Jedi.)
