[Warning: Article contains a minor spoiler for Claudia Gray’s novel Master and Apprentice.] Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace introduced us to the notion of the Chosen One Prophecy in Star Wars. As the ancient Jedi prophecy goes, there would be one being to bring balance to the Force. Mace Windu famously said to Qui-Gon Jinn “[y]ou refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force. You believe it’s this…boy?” He was, of course, referring to a young Anakin Skywalker. Claudia Gray’s new novel Master and Apprentice provides some insight into why, exactly, Qui-Gon put his faith in the child from Tatooine.
The novel reveals the full text of the Chose One Prophecy to read “[a] Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimate balance in the Force be restored.” It was the “born of no father” aspect of the Jedi belief we’d previously been missing. It’s no wonder then, That Qui-Gon Jinn believed the boy to be The One. Anakin Skywalker had no father and was stronger with the Force than anyone the Jedi Master had ever encountered. (We learned recently he was born by Darth Sidious manipulating the Force to impregnate Shmi Skywalker.) But there’s one thing about the Prophecy that everyone seems to ignore.
The Chose One Prophecy Doesn’t Require the Sith’s Destruction
In Revenge of the Sith, as Obi-Wan battled his former apprentice-turned-Sith, he said these words to Anakin/Darth Vader:
You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!”
The only problem is that the Chosen One Prophecy didn’t say that. It only says that through the Chosen One “ultimate balance in the Force will be restored.” That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Sith are to be destroyed. Nor does it even require the destruction of evil. If the Force is to be in balance, both good and evil must co-exist. Dave Filoni explored this notion in further detail in the Mortis Arc story line of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. (Read more about the Mortis Arc HERE.)
(Image: Disney/Lucasfilm ltd.)
The Father was the scale of balance between the Daughter (the light) and the Son (the dark). Anakin Skywalker’s destiny was not to destroy the Sith, but to replace the Father and balance the Force at its core. Anakin could have fulfilled the Chosen One Prophecy, and he was the Chosen One… but he refused to accept that destiny. From the moment of the Father’s death, the Force was, and remained, out of balance.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is dead. With the Chosen One Prophecy unrealized, will the Force now forever be unbalanced? Or can another fulfill the destiny Anakin Skywalker rebuffed? Let us know what you think in the comments.
I believe Anakin did fulfill the prophecy and bring balance to the force. Before the clone wars there were thousands of Jedi and only two sith. Way out of balance too much light not enough dark