It never really made sense to me that simply by killing a few billion people Vitiate could harness the power to destroy the galaxy, when Sidious was siphoning the life force of Byss' 20 billion population, and never achieved that kind of power.
On the other hand we know from KOTOR II and other sources that sudden simultaneous deaths cause immense disturbances in the Force. In fact as I recall the Triumvirate's plan was to harness such a disturbance to deafen everyone to the Force, a key concept in KOTOR II being how small acts can build into potent crescendos. A few quotes:
"The wounds inside people, the wounds suffered by planets... both cause echoes, heard and felt through the Force. And these echoes build, and all that can hear them shall become deafened... or die.
"What did you see in the web of worlds that have died? What did you see when you saw it through the Force?""I see the death of the galaxy. Of life. At first... I thought it was just conquest, but it's more terrible than that. It's an echo, spreading outwards, killing everything."
"...Now you understand the magnitude of what is being done."
"One person, at the right place, at the right time, can change the face of the galaxy -- or end it."I infer that Vitiate is attempting to harness a similar disturbance, as opposed to simply siphoning the life force of some muggles, i.e. trigger some kind of wound in the Force that would begin expanding exponentially and consuming everything in its path, a wound that presumably fuel Vitiate with power of actual substance, and in turn give him the power to keep the wound expanding.
That is at least my interpretation and it puts a different spin on the feat, more akin to a chain reaction that triggers a feedback loop causing Vitiate to become exponentially more powerful. Rather than him simply being able to consume the entire galaxy Ziost style. Certainly a very clever and potent artifice but not necessarily a direct reflection of sheer Force might, but rather his intricate knowledge and mastery over Sith sorcery.
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Now to make a few points in regards to Plagueis and Sidious unbalancing the Force.
1. My interpretation of the Force offering no resistance to their attempts to unbalance it merely reflects the extent of their sheer power. The presence of a powerful dark sider alone is enough to cause a significant disturbance in the Force, and by that logic we might in for that Plagueis and Palpatine's sheer presence was enough to leave the Force teetering on the edge between balance and imbalance, in which case all that required was push.
The alternative explanation being that the Force just decided to, concede? Why? Because it knew it was not strong enough to oppose them without creating a divine being? Same difference, only perhaps more impressive.
2. Sidious alone has done much more to unbalance the Force without any kinds of ritual involved, and much more than Valkorion has ever accomplished.
Let's review.
Upon murdering Darth Plagueis the dark side "anointed" Sidious, causing a surge in his strength that caused an imbalance in the Force seemingly even more potent than the one caused by himself and Plagueis years earlier:
Taken from Darth PlagueisIn fact, it was only after this "gravitic shift" had occurred did Maul sense that the Force was out of balance:A tremor took hold of the planet.
Sprung from death, it unleashed itself in a powerful wave, at once burrowing deep into the world's core and radiating through its saccharine atmosphere to shake the stars themselves. At the quake's epicenter stood Sidious, one elegant hand vised on the burnished sill of an expansive translucency, a vessel filled suddenly to bursting, the Force so strong within him that he feared he might disappear into it, never to return. But the moment didn't constitute an ending so much as a true beginning, long overdue; it was less a transformation than an intensification--a gravitic shift.
A welter of voices, near and far, present and from eons past, drowned his thoughts. Raised in praise, the voices proclaimed his reign and cheered the inauguration of a new order. Yellow eyes lifted to the night sky, he saw the trembling stars flare, and in the depth of his being he felt the power of the dark side anoint him. [...]
[...] But had the change been felt and recognized elsewhere? Were his sworn enemies aware that the Force had shifted irrevocably? Would it be enough to rouse them from self-righteousness? He hoped not. For now the work of vengeance could begin in earnest.
Taken from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, RevengeAnd only post-TPM that the Jedi begin to realise this as well:Darth Maul: I have missed so much. The Force feels... out of balance.
Savage Opress: Yes, there is conflict. The Clone Wars.
Darth Maul: Ah, yes. So it began... without me.
Taken from Star Wars: Attack of the ClonesOver the course of the successive decades Sidious went on to spread his dark influence throughout the entire galaxy, in an unprecedented display of power:Windu: I think it is time we informed the Senate that our ability to use the Force has diminished.
Yoda: Only the Dark Lords of the Sith know of our weakness. If informed, the Senate is, multiply, our adversaries will.
Taken from Revenge of the Sith novelisationThis was the office of the Chancellor. Within the chair's shadow sat another shadow, deeper, darker, formless and impenetrable, an abyssal umbra so profound, that it drained light from around it.
And the city.
And the planet.
And the galaxy.
Taken from Dark Empire SourcebookAnd it was only upon his death that the balance was restored:Only Palpatine has been able to spread his darkness completely and totally over an entire galaxy.
George Lucas - ANH Video Commentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W9JnsrLY_4&t=2m1s)Which brings us up to the films 4, 5, and 6, in which Anakin's offspring redeem him and allow him to fulfill the prophecy where he brings balance to the Force by doing away with the Sith and getting rid of evil in the universe...
Taken from SW.com Databank - Luke Skywalker Biography GalleryHowever upon his resurrection in Dark Empire, the balance of the Force shifted again:
Taken from Dark Empire"No, I see it, too. The dark side of the Force grows stronger throughout the galaxy."
Taken from Dark Empire IICompare this to Valkorion, whose presence in the Force was simply never as dramatic. Not throughout the entirety of SWTOR is the Force ever noted to be imbalanced, to my knowledge, and this, unlike your ritual shtick, is a direct reflection of power in the dark side."You have filled the galaxy with your darkness... but I have seen what my father could not see..."
Originally posted by Beniboybling
[B]The alternative explanation being that the Force just decided to, concede? Why? Because it knew it was not strong enough to oppose them without creating a divine being? Same difference, only perhaps more impressive.
Because the Force doesn't just blow people up with their midichlorians like the two thought could happen. It works indirectly. Indeed by birthing the Chosen One (or Plagueis birthing it), it solved the problem without even doing anything.
Originally posted by NephthysI didn't suggest that it should have, but alternatively it could have just... resisted.
Because the Force doesn't just blow people up with their midichlorians like the two thought could happen. It works indirectly. Indeed by birthing the Chosen One (or Plagueis birthing it), it solved the problem without even doing anything.
Or should we infer that any Tom, Dick or Harry could trigger the birth of a prophesied being if they only meditated for long enough?
Originally posted by Beniboybling
I didn't suggest that it should have, but alternatively it could have just... resisted.Or should we infer that any Tom, Dick or Harry could trigger the birth of a prophesied being if they only meditated for long enough?
Resisting is still too direct an intervention. The Force just doesn't do shit like that. It's not like it's actually got a (recognizable) intelligence behind it.
The proportional god-tier response reflecting the premier power of those who instigated it, quite.
Regardless though not a sentient entity the Force still strives for a natural state of balance, in that respect any attempt to thwart the equilibrium would meet resistance, no different from an attempt to force a river to flow upstream.
