Katelyn Mathis 
Introduction and Outline – A series of articles about the balance of the Force!
Hello regular reader, and welcome to the first article in what I am calling the Balance series. What will be following is a series of articles about the balance of the Force within the Star Wars universe. This is a long-ignored subject that I will be spending an extended time studying.
During this series, I will be forced to include examples that are no longer considered canon by Disney. Why am I doing this? Unfortunately, Disney has answered very few questions in recent books and films about the Force and the intricacies of how the Force works, how it is used, ways to fight against it, and what this “balance” is they keep talking about. Personally, I believe it’s because Disney is afraid to work themselves into a factual corner by contradicting something they don’t understand the implications of. (they’ve come pretty close a couple times now). Bottom line, if you would like extensive knowledge about the intricacies of the Force, read the original extended universe. Period. But, I digress. If you don’t have time or interest in reading dozens of (amazing) books, I’m here to help.
Let’s start a study of balance at the beginning with a literal translation. Balance is equilibrium “between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements” according to Webster. This is no surprise. We all know what balance literally means. But how does this translate into the Star Wars universe (SWU)?
The main use of balance is the infamous “prophecy of the Chosen One”. We are all familiar with this prophecy, even though we really aren’t. We don’t know what it says, but, we’ll get into the prophecy in a later article. The Chosen One is supposed to bring balance to the Force. The Jedi, in a breach of hypocrisy, seem to think balance means tipped toward the light just slightly. They are looking forward to balance. I think if many of them stopped and thought about it, true balance isn’t what they want. They found and trained as many Force users as possible to fight the darkness and sleep the Republic as stable as possible.
The Sith seem to be wanting to corrupt the Chosen One and tip balance to the dark. I would be willing to argue that the Sith actually understood the true meaning of balance better than the Jedi. The rule of 2 hints at this. There was an order to it. There were always only 2. Any others were hunted and either killed or taken as an assassin and only taught enough to be effective.
Large and overwhelming. Small but deadly. And yet, no balance.
We have a lot of ground to cover.
The plan as of now is to write several deeply investigative articles into balance and the Star Wars Universe. A few of the articles and their subject matter may confuse you as to why they are included but, trust me, they need to be explored. My next articles will cover:
- Sith- philosophies and origins
- Jedi- philosophies and origins
- The Mortis storyline (TCW)- it’s intentions, repercussions, & consequences. Ahsoka and Obi-wan’s visions.
- The Interpretation of The Force from Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Mace, Yoda, Anakin, Maul
- The Jedi Council’s and Palpatine’s Interpretation of the prophecy – character agreement/disagreement – Betrayal of Anakin.
- Was Balance Ever Achieved?- We do not possess the prophecy. Did “balance” mean what the council thought it did? Was “balance” actually The Clone Wars?
So, you can see we have our work cut out for us. I promise I won’t keep you waiting too long between each article.
May The Force Be With You
The Future of the Force. The future of pop culture writing.
Katelyn Mathis is a regular Staff Writer for Future of the Force. She is a passionate Star Wars fan and is the go-to source for Force Knowledge. Follow her on Twitter @ForceKnowledge where she uses the force frequently!
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Katelyn Mathis is a Senior Staff Writer for The Future of the Force. She is a passionate Star Wars fan and is the go-to source for Force Knowledge. Follow her on Twitter where she uses the force frequently!
