# Would you turn to the dark side? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2018, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502 "2018-06-05T23:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/41 "2018-06-07T18:14:33Z")
Perhaps Ahsoka was turned in one of the books, but she was never turned in the two TV series or the newer books. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/42 "2018-06-07T18:54:18Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Perhaps Ahsoka was turned in one of the books, but she was never turned in the two TV series or the newer books. Ahsoka was _very briefly_ turned in a single episode of the Clone Wars series, while the main three were on that weird planet with the incarnations of the force. She was _super creepy_ as a darksider - and demonstrated the appearance alterations typical thereof. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/43 "2018-06-07T19:03:49Z")
Also - Ahsoka’s brief turn was an excellent demonstration of the fact that turning to the dark side doesn’t merely grant you access to neat party tricks like force choke and lightning - it also fundamentally changes your personality. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/44 "2018-06-07T19:15:07Z")
I don’t know. Seems like picking _any_ side leads to a lot of extra responsibility. Is there a Switzerland of The Force somewhere? ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/45 "2018-06-07T19:44:29Z")
The whole villain thing in movies and TV always bothered me. Basically you see Palpatine enforce a totalitarian government just because he’s eeeeviiiil. He setting himself up for the fall. If he was really as smart as they claim he is he’d offer some kind of Utopian government whose flaws are only evident when seen up close. If turning to the dark side makes you as stupid as Palpatine I’ll take the light side. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/46 "2018-06-07T19:48:50Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I don’t know. Seems like picking _any_ side leads to a lot of extra responsibility. Is there a Switzerland of The Force somewhere? In Star Wars Rebels the main character runs into a “grey” side Jedi. In Knights of the Old Republic 2 the mentor of the main character claims you shouldn’t chose the dark side or the light side. Of course at the end of the game you have to defeat her because she has her own evil agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/47 "2018-06-07T20:57:40Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Ahsoka was _very briefly_ turned in a single episode of the Clone Wars series, while the main three were on that weird planet with the incarnations of the force. > > She was _super creepy_ as a darksider - and demonstrated the appearance alterations typical thereof. Ah, thanks. I’ll have to go back and watch that episode, since I have them all on iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/48 "2018-06-07T21:00:18Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > In Star Wars Rebels the main character runs into a “grey” side Jedi. Are you talking about [Bendu](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bendu)? (Voiced by Tom Baker) He always felt like a special case. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/49 "2018-06-08T13:06:10Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > 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. …or being a Jedi librarian. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/50 "2018-06-08T14:09:19Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > …or being a Jedi librarian. “Where is the book I need?” “Close your eyes. Open your mind to the force. Feel the presence of the book you need” “Goddamnitsomuch, just tell me where the fucking book is, ok?” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/51 "2018-06-08T14:48:20Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > Episode VI. Luke vs. Palpatine. He doesn’t even try to defend himself, seemingly on the theory that merely trying to defend himself against the emperor would have made him turn to the dark side. I think that’s a case of Luke not knowing about Force lightning, and not knowing how to defend himself. Remember, Luke only got partially trained before he ran off, and when he returned to Yoda, Yoda died and then sent him back to face Vader rather than training him more. (Side note: Yoda could still have trained Luke more being dead. That whole visible after death thing that he and Obi-wan had would totally make it possible. He _chose_ to send Luke then rather than train him more.) Anyway, Luke was as surprised by the Force lightning as us audience members. And remember how weak he was in Empire when he first confronted Vader and Vader pulled the “throw things at him” method. I think Luke doesn’t do well with new challenges. Me, I do like the ability to force choke or lightning someone without repercussions. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/52 "2018-06-09T08:22:49Z")
Do they still have cookies? ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/53 "2018-06-09T13:56:13Z")
I dunno, I can think of a road rage incident that occurred about 20 years ago where a bit of Force Lightning (at the guy’s car) would have been… excusable. Friend and I sitting in the left turn lane joking around and having an animated conversation on our way back to work. Guy in front of us keeps looking at us in the rear view mirror. Light turns green, we go, he pulls into the left lane going about 20 in the 45 zone. I pull into the right lane and just drive. Guy blows a gasket, flipping us off and yelling out the window at us. I can only presume he thought we were laughing at him at the stop. :rolleyes: Cuts me off (I go around him), follows us off the county road onto the side road, keeps getting next to me and screaming at us. (That’s where some FL would have ended the game). I pull into a gas station and park. He pulls up behind me, jumps out of his car and screams threats at us. People at the pumps are literally diving for cover. This is where FL would NOT be safe - around gas pumps. My friend and I get out of the car and I just growl at him to leave and point at the road. He sees that the two of us are not intimidated or afraid of him and decides to leave. So yeah, a little Force Lightning to disable the asshole’s car on the road and the world is a better place. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/54 "2018-06-10T01:37:29Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > **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. I do not think redemption is possible. In 99% of cases it would be a losing proposition. A similar question is “Would you use Heroin just once?” The answer is NO. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/55 "2018-06-10T01:39:54Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > 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. IF such power existed, the side effects would have been an order of magnitude worse then for hallucinogens. Turning to Dark Side is similar to turning to drugs/crime. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/56 "2018-06-10T01:54:59Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Again? Sure, if I slip back to the light side some day. If the Dark Side is real then it is as difficult to quit as alcohol/drugs/crime. Indeed, it is almost 100% a losing proposition. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/57 "2018-06-10T02:04:10Z")
I have asked [would you sell your soul to the devil](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=781074). One of the options was selling your soul for one doze of drugs. Very often a drug user commits a crime for his/her last doze of drugs. It is a part of the downward spiral which begins with trying once for fun. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@MonkeyCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyCat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2018, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502/58 "2018-06-10T17:44:54Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > Poll to follow. > > 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. The more Sith that exist, the thinner the power is spread. Assuming I’m not planning to wipe out everyone else, I’ll be a walking target. Kind of a vicious lifestyle. I don’t have enough anger and insecurities to get titillated by the constant stress of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-turn-to-the-dark-side/815502.md?page=2)