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By Kat
Staff Writer

February 14, 2009

One of the many heated debates among fans is: who really is The Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker or his son Luke? Although Anakin is deemed The Chosen One in the Star Wars series, Luke is seen by some to be the one who actually brought "balance " to the Force. After all, he is the one who ultimately brought the powerful Anakin back to the light side. I will argue that Anakin Skywalker is The Chosen One...just in a different way than the Jedi may have been expecting.

A key phrase that must be examined is the term "bring balance." The Jedi of the Old Republic seemed to assume that "bringing balance" was equivalent wiping out the evil Sith Lords which they thought would restore order and dignity to a war torn galaxy. A galaxy truly in balance, however, is a galaxy where the good and the evil are equal in strength. Unfortunately, without the presence of evil someone cannot know what good is. Evil makes people see and appreciate the good.

The galaxy was already tipped in the favor of the Jedi long before Anakin Skywalker had been born. The Jedi Knights grossly outnumbered the Sith Lords and collectively possessed more power. Anakin Skywalker, one of the most powerful Force users in the galaxy, became the deciding factor. His turning to the dark side of the Force is, ironically, what really brought balance to the Force. After he turned to the dark side, all of the Jedi except two were wiped out. When Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi, the two remaining Jedi, decided to go into hiding, the balancing act was complete. A galaxy containing two Jedi and two Sith is truly a galaxy in balance.

But an even number of Jedi and Sith is not enough in itself to create a balance. Another key factor was that the skill set and power of each remaining Jedi Knight and Sith Lord was nearly evenly matched as well. Obi-Wan Kenobi had defeated Darth Vader at the end of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and left him for dead. Likewise, Palpatine had defeated Master Yoda since Yoda is last seen in the film fleeing Coruscant. A defeat on each side puts the light and dark at a stalemate. Although the rise of the Empire brought the Sith into power and forced the Jedi into hiding, both groups remained evenly matched--balanced--in both number and skill. So if Anakin Skywalker hadn't turned to the dark side, a balance to the Force may never have been achieved.

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