Claudia Gray’s novel Master & Apprentice gives us the actual language of the prophecy of the Chosen One from Star Wars: “A Chosen One shall come, born of no father, and through him will ultimate balance in the Force be restored.”

It seems clear given the “no father” provision that Anakin Skywalker is the Chosen One. He didn’t have a father and restored balance in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.

However, it turns out, the balance wasn’t “ultimate” given the coming about of the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Episode VIII scene
Rey and Kylo take on Snoke’s Praetorian Guard in The Last Jedi

The trilogy consisted of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which all followed Return of the Jedi.

So much for the efforts and effects of the novel, which take place long before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, as well as the films The Phantom Menace and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

In turning back to Anakin Skywalker and eliminating Sith Lord and dark side user Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader brought balance to the Force.

But with the onset of the sequel trilogy, balance was, yet again, far from achieved before Rey defeated Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Kylo Ren had gained power after turning on his former Jedi master, Luke Skywalker, and then led the First Order through the power of the dark side. Before then, the dark side still was at a status beyond being part of balance as Snoke was over the order. Then Palpatine emerged, complete with a Sith Eternal fleet of Star Destroyers. So The Rise of Skywalker actually saw evil on a tip-the-scales level through Ren and the First Order and Palpatine and the Sith Eternal fleet.

That is besides the fact that Palpatine’s death marked the restoration of balance to the Force, but then Palpatine came back, a major argument for why The Rise of Skywalker is fundamentally flawed.

The betrayal of Ren. The rise of the First Order. Palpatine. On many levels, the sequel trilogy is a smack in the face to the Chosen One prophecy – and what Return of the Jedi offered us.

I’m not saying that the original Star Wars films are sacred ground where no foot can trod, but why nullify a key, mythological plot point already provided?

And yes, that came about, again, through Master & Apprentice after more vague references to the prophecy in The Phantom Menace and Revenge of the Sith.

But we had it. And now we don’t.

The Chosen One prophecy was nullified because of Disney’s greed, in wanting more box-office revenue from new Star Wars films.

I can’t really blame them because fans wanted more Star Wars films, too – it was cultural pandemonium when a new trilogy was announced in conjunction with the news eight years ago that Disney bought Lucasfilm.

But did Disney really need to bring back the very guy whose death caused the prophecy to be fulfilled? That seemed like a direct flipping-of-the-bird to Return of the Jedi – to the past.

Fans (including myself) were excited about Palpatine’s return, but stepping back, we must acknowledge its implications when it regards Disney and 1983, when Return of the Jedi was released.

This is aside from it just being embarrassing that Disney produced a book in Master & Apprentice that talked about a balance that wasn’t ultimate in the midst of the creation of a trilogy that was making the balance not ultimate. (Master & Apprentice was published in April 2019. The new trilogy began in Dec. 2015 and ended Dec. 2019.)