SPECULATION Was Anakin really The Chosen One?

Rey will be the one to bring balance to the force again in the ST. The force is out of whack again and it needed to be awakened so that it can be balanced again. Rey is the descendant of Anakin so it is Rey's job as the new Jedi hero to bring balance.

 

Anakin was the Chosen One. He brought balance to the Force.

First he killed off the Jedi, then he killed off the Sith.

Zero = zero. Balance achieved.

Just not quite how the Jedi Council was expecting.

 

If George Lucas had never made such a definitive statement about Anakin being the chosen one I think there would be more room for interpretation. The films alone do make it kind of vague. But at this point I have to vote for Anakin being the Chosen One until proven otherwise (TFA maybe?)

 

I think the Jedi misinterpreted it by thinking that killing the sith would bring balance to the force. There were wayyyy to many jedi in the republic at the time meaning interpretation and use of the force was extremely lobsided. Anakin did bring balance to the force. He brought balance to the force by killing all the jedi with only obi wan and yoda left and then Vader and palpatine. Two jedi balanced by two sith.

 

Zero = zero and two = two, but there's another way to look at the prophecy. Balance can be found in equal but opposite intentions, not just in numbers.

The Jedi had become too arrogant, too accustomed to living in a splendid temple on the capitol planet, and too used to being the unseen power behind the Senate.

Mace Windu wanted the Jedi to take control of the Senate "to ensure a peaceful transition of power" from democracy to Jedi rule. Think about that for a moment. Palpatine was right - the Jedi were taking over, overthrowing a democracy while trying to arrest - then attempting to murder - a democratically elected Chancellor. And the Jedi were the good guys? No wonder the Force was out of balance!

It was supposed to be light side = good side and dark side = bad side, but both sides were bad. One just didn't have the courage or the introspection to admit what they had become.

Anakin was necessary. The Jedi couldn't see what they had become, couldn't admit it to themselves. Someone needed to push the reset button, so Anakin's destiny was unavoidable.

 

The only issue here is that "balance," to George, didn't mean equal numbers. It meant the elimination of the Sith. I am not steeped in Force mysticism so I'm not the one who can parse what that means. But it's clearly not a numbers game because at the end of ROTJ there is one Jedi and no Sith, and yet there is balance.

As @HylianBowcaster said, if George hadn't made such a definitive statement then there might have been lots of room for debate. But he did, and no matter what Yoda's misgivings were, the prophecy was true and Anakin fulfilled it. I am VERY interested to see what this means for our Force-users in the sequel trilogy.

 

Lucas' concept was that the force shifted out of balance because of both parties. The jedi (who are supposed to be keepers of the balance) became arrogant and too intrusive in governing affairs. They let their knowledge of the Living Force delude them into believing that they had authority over the Cosmic Force -- which no one does. And the sith, just in their existence alone, are a distortion of the force.

Normally, the quasi-balance of light and dark is preserved through a natural ebb and flow, but the jedi became too dominant, and the sith became too powerful. Plagueis is the catalyst here: "Drunk on newfound power, then, he had attempted an even more unthinkable act: to bring into being a creation of his own. Not merely the impregnation of some hapless, mindless creature, but the birth of a Forceful being. The ability to dominate death had been a step in the right direction, but it wasn’t equivalent to pure creation. And so he had stretched out—indeed, as if invisible, transubstantiated—to inform every being of his existence, and impact all of them." (Darth Plagueis)

Once this happened, the Cosmic Force took control of that being.

Anakin is 100% the Chosen One: it's his destiny to level both factions. It's sad because he's really more of a tool than anything else. The Cosmic Force uses him to balance itself.

 

There is also an element here that nobody seems to have mentioned in the discussion, that may give credence to some of concepts of balance discussed in the thread already.

The Jedi and the Sith are not the only Force-wielding entities in the far far away galaxy. Using only these two orders as the entire and exclusive definition of the Light side and Dark side of the Force is a very myopic and egocentric point of view for the entirety of existence in the Force. This is something that both the Jedi and the Sith orders are guilty of, and has been touched on in the thread already.

This view excludes societies like those on Dathomir, as just one example of canonical Force users who had no ties to either Sith or Jedi. The Light and the Dark sides of the Force are meant to transcend the idea of Jedi and Sith in the mythical Star Wars Universe - you are seeing this repeatedly communicated to the viewer/reader of canonical content - the Inquisitors, Dathomir, The Dark Disciple tale of Vos and Ventress, etc. The fact that a couple of remnants of remnants of the Jedi order may still exist (in the form of Luke, and maybe one or two other surviving padawans or ex-jedi) after ROTJ as well as other Light side users and Dark side users is irrelevant to the concept of cosmic balance.

You are seeing a tight parallel to the real world Ying & Yang concept here - and this is what the idea of bringing balance to the Force is meant to be about. Light and Dark, Good and Evil in balance. Without evil, one cannot know good. Without darkness one cannot recognise light. Likewise evil and darkness cannot exist without their counterparts. Taken from a neutral perspective, if we had no context, and had only seen the Windu attempt on Palpatine's life, with Anakin saving him at the last moment, who was good and who was evil?

As already mentioned in this thread, you've got first the Jedi Order becoming too dominant, and many of them, especially Anakin himself, questioning whether it is truly the Jedi way to interfere in matters of politics and war, let alone become Generals and leaders in a large scale galactic war effort. This was a deep seated theme throughout The Clone Wars. Windu's plan to take control of the government, even if meant to be temporary, illustrates this poignantly. Anakin balanced out the Force on a galactic scale by killing first Windu, and then wiping out the vast majority of the Order 66 surviving Jedi Order, yes including the younglings. It didn't matter that Obi-wan and Yoda survived, as well as Kanan and a few others - the "threat" or power of the Jedi had been eliminated and balance had been achieved.

Next, you have the rule of two Sith Order very quickly overbalancing the scale to a galactic degree again, except at the opposite side of the spectrum. This is the second balancing performed by Anakin with the help of his son Luke.

The point is, Anakin is without doubt the chosen one to bring balance (and most likely also stability) to the Force. With the destruction of both the Sith and the Jedi orders as they were traditionally known, this was achieved. However, as we all know from the real universe we live in, existence goes on, evolves, takes new forms, continues. So this balancing of course would not last forever, but that does not take away from the significance of Anakin as the Chosen One, or the colossal impact he had on his galaxy during his lifetime. He went from saviour of the galaxy to one of the most feared and loathed creatures in that same galaxy, and then back again. Pretty epic.

It is at this point that the Force probably lies "dormant" for about thirty years, in a balance of sorts as there are no Force users in the galaxy using it to spread religion or power or influence on the rest of the galaxy as the Jedi and the Sith had done/been doing. I think that the main thread of The Force Awakens is going to deal with the Force again being used to try to wield authoritative power over the galaxy, and the struggle mortal creatures go through to see their side of the Force triumph in that power struggle.

It is pretty clear that Anakin's story and character, while perhaps not fully intended or developed at the time to be allegorical to a sort of Merovingian Messiah story, that is pretty much how the Star Wars Saga trilogies have shaped up. The story we are being told in the Sagas is of a royal line origin story (The Skywalkers) starting with the patriarch, Anakin as the virgin birth Chosen One (Jesus the Messiah) and his bloodline descendants. Luke is the son of the Chosen One, still a very significant figure, the heir to the legacy of the Chosen One - Leia is the same. The sequel trilogy will deal with the third Skywalker generation, this has been confirmed by Kathleen Kennedy already. So we are going to see what the royal line of the Skywalkers has in store for us. I have a feeling Rey's and Kylo's destinies won't disappoint us. It will also be interesting to see how they fit into that royal bloodline, who descends from the patriarchal line and who from the matriarchal line, and how those two lines' fates ,say or may not diverge from one another.

 

Anakin was the Chosen One but did not earn that title until his son Luke Skywalker, the Catalyst, provided that path for him to take.

 

I don't entirely understand the prophesy but out of Anakin and Luke I see the chosen one/messiah being Luke. It was Luke that had the strength to restrain his anger/hate when fighting his father and throw down his lightsaber. He was willing to sacrifice himself in order to bring balance to the force. Even though Vader was the one to kill the emperor it took Luke's selfless act to stir the emotional impetus to end his master's life.

 

We all know that Anakin was supposed to be the chosen one, yet that was never really directly answered in the movies. Anakin referred to himself as the Chosen One, Qui gon was damn sure of it, but then again Obi and yoda were always quite skeptical; "A prophecy misread." I know George has said that he was in fact the chosen one, but honestly I don't give a bantha's poodoo about what George said because he's a notorious liar and goes back and forth a lot. I have always thought that Luke was the actual chosen one, while Anakin was only THOUGHT to be the chosen one by a few (or one) somewhat blinded Jedi who misread an ancient prophecy.


"The Chosen One will bring balance to the force."

Let's look at the word "Chosen." Does it refer to the most powerful being in the galaxy, or does it mean something more specific? Does it refer to a literal destiny that the chosen one has to fulfill; a predefined path?

Ok now let's look at the word "Balance." Balance does not mean the same thing as 'peace.' Balance means equal parts on both sides of the same spectrum; dark and light. Was this what Yoda was referring to when he said that the prophecy may have been misread? Was the balance too heavily swayed to the light side furing the PT? Did they misinterpret the word 'balance' thinking it meant 'peace and harmony?' Well one thing's for sure; Anakin in no way whatsoever brought balance to the Force, whether it was balance meaning 'harmony' or balance meaning equal polarities. Someone suggested in another thread that Darth Vader/Palpatine and Obi-wan/Yoda represented a balance in the force, but I disagree. Darth Vader and Palpatine brought about the Empire, which enslaved and corrupted the entire galaxy with an iron fist. That doesn't sound very balanced to me.

Here's my theory: Luke is the Chosen One because he was literally THE ONE WHO WAS CHOSEN. When Palpatine was inflicting Luke with lightning and Luke reached out to Vader and said "Father!! Please!!" Vader slowly looked at Palpatine, then back at Luke, turned back to Palpatine and threw him down the bottomless pit. Vader CHOSE Luke over the Darkside. This makes Luke the Chosen One, and Darth Vader the One Who Chose. They cannot exist without each other. The Empire was destroyed and there was a balance to the force: no more jedi order and no more sith regime. Luke outlived all of them: The Chosen One.

This is why the Jedi, most specifically Qui gon, thought that Anakin was the Chosen One. His destiny was wrapped into the balance of the force, but I imagine that if Qui gon had the chance to meet Luke that he'd say "Oh wait err.... yeah Luke is definitely the chosen one. I was mistaken. This is massive."

What do you think?

 

That's an interesting idea...I think it would be cool that, what if, "The Chosen One" is a type of mantle...except that it started with Anakin Skywalker created as a myth by Plageuis. It worked and Anakin became the chosen one, but only a jedi can be "the chosen one." So, because only someone as powerful, if not MORE POWERFUL, as Anakin Skywalker can be "The Chosen One," Luke inherits that title. Luke becomes "The Chosen One. HOWEVER, Anakin Skywalker saves Luke, making Anakin The Chosen One by restoring The true nature of the force back to the galaxy.

 

Then continued by Rey

 

YEAH! Like, the force is in perfect balance until TFA, when it "AWakens" and then Rey (possibly even KR or Poe or Finn) being given the "chosen one" title, but it's not explicitly stated, and it's picked up in order to bring the balance to the force, so with an "implied" family lineage.

 

Maybe the Skywalkers are the Chosen One(s)? Maybe that's how the prophecy was misread? It wasn't just one... er.. one but many 'ones'? Chosen to be both dark and light, good and bad, and fighting each other. I think I just had a major epiphany. God I love Star Wars haha

 

It would be genuinely interesting if there was a "chosen one" prophecy implenented by Snoke and kr BELIEVES HES THE "CHOSEN ONE" but he is led to believe it's the light side and not the dark side.

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 26, 2015, Original Post Date: Oct 26, 2015 ---

even though he is the prophecy of the dark side.

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He is led to believe that the light side is the dark and the dark side is the light...which is why he's immune to the "Real" Light.

 

Ok ok ok so I'm not necessarily a buddhist per se, but I think the yin yang symbol is amazing because of how much it explains, yes even Star Wars. Maybe it's not the chosen ONE but the chosen ONE'S; constantly fighting to retain balance. Light cannot exist without dark, for every action there is an equal and OPPOSITE reaction. Look at this well known and almost cliche symbol:




The light circle in the middle of darkness is Rey, and the dark circle in the middle of light is Kylo. The same thing goes for Luke and Vader. Now that Vader is dead, by the laws of nature, there MUST be another dark entity that fights the light. This is why I think Kylo and Rey are twins: the same yet completely opposite. Darth Vader and Luke: the same yet complete opposite, father and son. For every reaction there is an EQUAL yet OPPOSITE reaction. This is why there must be a duel between Kylo and Rey because it is part of their destiny and it is their role in the galaxy. Once Darth Vader is dead then there is no more balance. Luke is alone to fight nothing, and darkness shall return. People like the Emperor and Yoda are enigmas that help throw the balance off in either direction, but they are not the catalysts that determine the fate of the galaxy like Luke and Vader, they are only variables that sway it.

 

I said something almost exactly like this a few weeks ago...I fully agree.

 

I'm calling it, Finn is the chosen one. They probably re-adjusted it so he's the "other" Yoda spoke about.. not Leia. Yoda was seeing into the future.

 

What if the other he's talking about is Rey? Finn seems like he has his own destiny, but it seems more personal than Rey's. I really think that Finn's arc revolves around fear and pride, much like Anakin's did. I don't think his role is as important as Rey's, but I still think he is essential to her accepting her destiny.