Anakin Skywalker: The Chosen One for Neither Side

“You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. You were to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi was sadly mistaken when he yelled in anguish to his fallen brother. Not because Anakin was not the Chosen One, but because of a universal misunderstanding of the Force. The Force is neither light nor dark, but a natural balance between the two. Anakin Skywalker was not the Chosen One because of the level of midichlorians flowing through his blood, but because he was the Force’s physical manifestation of that balance.

The Jedi believe that the true nature of the Force is the light side. Thinking themselves the guardians of the Living Force, many of the Jedi refer to the light side simply as the Force. There is no doubt that a true Jedi Knight uses the Force to promote honesty, compassion, mercy, love, and self-sacrifice. The dark side, however, links itself with greed, corruption, hatred, fear, and anger: a perversion of the Force.

Yet, to either side, there is no middle ground. When a Jedi makes the conscious decision to turn, they forsake all love and peace for the extreme attitudes associated with the dark side. There is only good and evil. When Obi-Wan Kenobi says, “Only Sith deal in absolutes,” he himself does not acknowledge that as a member of the Jedi, he is only promoting one view of the Force. The light side too is an absolute.

The light and dark sides are chosen based on ethical dilemmas; it’s what people use the Force for that makes it light or dark. But the Force itself is its own being, communing and interacting with both living and non-living, Force-sensitive and non-believers, or light and dark. The Chosen One, though misinterpreted in the prophecy to bring the light side to unopposed fruition, would actually be the embodiment of all aspects of the Force, bringing both sides together in unprecedented harmony.

Anakin Skywalker set himself apart from the other Jedi Knights because he used both the light and dark side of the force in his daily achievements. His drive to prove himself, love and fear for his wife, and anger at his mother’s death all made him stronger in the Force. His dark side emphasized the light within him, leaving him in balance and much more powerful than most other Jedi even at a younger age. Not only did Anakin use his powers to help others, but he used them for his own advantages and well-being. It seemed, even during the dark times of the Clone Wars, that his ascension to fulfill the prophecy was imminent. But he was driven off balance by the dark teachings and promises of Darth Sidious.

Due to Palpatine’s plots, everything was thrown in to darkness. Anakin had become Darth Vader, many famed and skilled Jedi Knights were dead, and the Republic was reformed into an Empire. All was lost until A New Hope had come of age on Tatooine. Luke and Leia were turning the tide as they helped to destroy the Death Star and rebel against the Empire; however, neither of them were to be chosen. Unbeknownst to Yoda or Obi-Wan Kenobi, who hoped Luke, or even Leia, would be the Chosen One, Luke was only a player in the game. Putting all his faith in his father’s good side, Luke fought Vader in an epic duel, finally raising his father’s suppressed feelings. It was then, as Vader cast down his former Master, that Anakin reemerged and fulfilled the long-awaited prophecy.

Anakin was near fully Darth Vader for many years, yet only by having continuous links as the Chosen One to both light and dark sides of the Force was he able do what was right and destroy the Emperor during the Battle of Endor. How else could he have come back from such oblivion if he didn’t have an ounce of good in him? But killing Palpatine was only half the prophecy, for when Anakin passed there would supposedly be no more Sith, leaving only Leia and Luke as proponents of the light and the universe imbalanced.

But, just like Anakin, Leia loved another and Luke was trained at an improper age, both well-known segues into the dark side. Therefore, both Luke and Leia are a continuation on the Chosen One bloodline, acting on both the traditional light and dark side characteristics. When Anakin died, he left the Force in balance through his children.

Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One of the true nature of the Force. Despite long sidetracks and missteps, he eventually changed the universe and the Jedi’s perception of the Force forever.