The "chosen one" didn't really bring balance to the force

OK, so Vader redeems himself, fulfills the prophecy and destroys the sith...or at least we were told.

(not in chronological order)

Then Lumyia (sp?) comes along.

And Caedus.

And Shadowspawn

And Sidious comes back

And Exar Kun does some stuff

Then Krayt comes along and creates a new empire

Of course, the EU authors broke the rule in order to make more books, but I still don't get Anakin's role in the grand scheme of things: the OT and PT aren't really any more important than the KOTOR era, Legacy era or most other eras. It's just another series of wars in an endless conflict that will never end as long as Star Wars keeps on making money.

Lucas considers the movies to be a separate universe from the EU. For him, Palpatine doesn't come back. For us, the Chosen One prophecy was bullshit.

I've been wondering, did the prophecy say that sith would be destroyed once and for all? Didn't he technically bring balance to the force, granted it didn't last very long.

True. Technically, there was no time frame.

If Vader would not have killed Sidious, Sidious would have killed Luke. There would have be no more hope for the jedi order. There would have been no one left to teach Leia, and she stands no chance against Sidious.

Also Sidious would have left the Death Star, because of the potential danger of it being destroyed. There would have even been a possible chance that the rebellion would not have succeeded in destroying the Death Star, because Sidious's battle meditation would have been still in effect. Sidious would have continued the war until the rebellion was wiped out. No jedi to stand in his way, he would have most likely ruled the galaxy forever.

Just my thoughts anyway. lol

But the Sith came back. Kinda makes the whole thing useless. Now if the prophecy said that the Chosen One would help destroy the Death Star II, then...

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
But the Sith came back. Kinda makes the whole thing useless. Now if the prophecy said that the Chosen One would help destroy the Death Star II, then...

Yes, but even though the sith managed to return, the jedi order also managed to be rebuilt. If Palpatine killed Luke, the jedi order would have never been rebuilt, and Sidious would have went on ruling the galaxy.

Nah. I would've taken him.

Originally posted by Eminence
Nah. Slash would've taken him.

Fixed.

Originally posted by SIDIOUS 66
Yes, but even though the sith managed to return, the jedi order also managed to be rebuilt. If Palpatine killed Luke, the jedi order would have never been rebuilt, and Sidious would have went on ruling the galaxy.

That is a really good point: Vader's sacrifice did save the galaxy. However, it doesn't "bring balance to the force".

In the EU, the Sith that Vader destroyed weren't even the "True Sith". What's to stop future Dark Jedi from unbalancing the Force, even if they don't call themselves Sith?

As alternate explanation of the prophecy, the dark side became stronger than the light side, or obscured the Force for the Jedi.

YODA: Blind we are, if creation of this clone army we could
not see.

MACE WINDU: I think it is time to inform the Senate that
our ability to use the Force has diminished.

The New Essential Chronology says that the Force began to become obscured to the Jedi about 200 BBY. By killing Sidious, Vader did restore the Force to its state prior to 200 BBY.

Originally posted by Hewhoknowsall
That is a really good point: Vader's sacrifice did save the galaxy. However, it doesn't "bring balance to the force".

It brought balance to the Force at that time, they never specified how long for.

In the EU, the Sith that Vader destroyed weren't even the "True Sith". What's to stop future Dark Jedi from unbalancing the Force, even if they don't call themselves Sith?

As I recall (read: remember but can't cite) GL said that the Sith themselves imbalanced the Force- the antithesis of the Jedi was the problem more than the Dark Side itself. GL didn't make provisions for 'Dark Jedi' (DS users not Sith) because the two were inextricably linked. The probability that a Jedi would fall without the Sith around may be zero.

Barr, I don't think you get any more "true Sith" than Palpatine.

Originally posted by Eminence
Barr, I don't think you get any more "true Sith" than Palpatine.

He's not of the Sith species! (The SWTOR devs seem to like to emphasize how their Empire is "True Sith", despite appearing to be humans in the webcomic...)

As for the other explanation, I'm just offering up an alternate explanation that the EU may be using, which diverges from Lucas' explanation of the prophecy out of necessity.

Originally posted by Elite Hunter
I've been wondering, did the prophecy say that sith would be destroyed once and for all? Didn't he technically bring balance to the force, granted it didn't last very long.

Originally posted by Hewhoknowsall
That is a really good point: Vader's sacrifice did save the galaxy. However, it doesn't "bring balance to the force".

The whole "brings balance to the force" thing was fulfilled by Anakin, if you remember, in RotS Yoda says "A prophecy that misread could have been."

Look at it all, he becomes a jedi, trains himself to extremely high standards and skill, then turns and becomes all he can (with the suit and all). At one point making the Jedi the more feared side, then when he turns, making the Sith the more feared side.

Then he redeems himself to undo what he has done and make both sides equal; weak and low in numbers (because lets face it, the Rule of Two applied throughout, but there are always more sith then let on, and the jedi weren't destroyed, just scattered)...

Originally posted by mattatom
It brought balance to the Force at that time, they never specified how long for.

Originally posted by Hewhoknowsall
That is a really good point: Vader's sacrifice did save the galaxy. However, it doesn't "bring balance to the force".

No one really knows what "bringing balance to the force" really means. We do know that Anakin was the chosen one, because GL says so.

I maintain that it means destruction of the Dark Side via the Sith. So much for that.

Originally posted by Lord Lucien
I maintain that it means destruction of the Dark Side via the Sith. So much for that.

I agree this is Lucas' intent. The movies never reference a "light side", the Jedi just use "The Force". Thus, rather than the Force being a Yin Yang, the Force is what the Jedi use, and the dark side is a corruption or unnatural perversion of the Force, which is why it is out of balance.

Unfortunately, the earliest of Expanded Universe literature (I'd guess West End Games d6 RPG, although it doesn't use the ridiculous light-dark scale that Bioware did with KOTOR, but a "dark side points" system which is superior) adopted the "light side" nomenclature and the yin yang analogy that comes with it, to the point that Jacen Solo, before becoming a Sith Lord, decides that he serves "the Force" which also encompasses the dark side.

Edit: I'm guilty of using the term "light side" in my earlier post.