Something stuck out in my thoughts, as I was considering some old Star Wars E.U. stories, and that was the concept of duality. Luke Skywalker and Duality to be specific. You see, too me, Anakin brought forth balance to the Force when he fathered his son, Luke (Leia doesn’t seem to be an overt user of the Force in this current canon so I’ll stick with Luke). In the Expanded Universe, now “Legends”, Luke danced on a very fine line of Dark Side and Light falling a few times along the way. He also utilized abilities that are associated with the Dark Side from time to time. I know that is an oversimplification but I am not the best writer and don’t the skill to convey anything deeper.
Duality is a concept that is steeped in Philosophy from time immemorial. I view Duality through the prism of Daoist philosophy. Basically it is two sides of the same coin. They may seem to be at odds with each other, both make up the same whole, each side appears different. In and Yo (Yin and Yang), Action and Inaction. Positive and Negative. Day and Night. The Light Side and the Dark. Jedi and Sith.
“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.”
Yoda
Yoda was not wrong, but Luke had to embrace the duality of the Force. Not only to defeat and redeem his Father, he had to go into that dark place in order to finally bring balance to the Force. Luke came back, or did he? I think that he crossed the line then just stepped back onto the line.
I began this post a long time ago, almost seven years ago when we heard rumors of Luke being imprisoned somewhere. Now we’ve had the official, canon, continuation of the story of Star Wars. We have learned about the failure of Luke Skywalker due to the betrayal of Ben Solo. Along with that we had a new hero who seems to be just as powerful as Luke. Rey will be the new wrinkle in the story, the new balance. It was very evident when she was fighting on pure instinct, fear and rage. Did that make her go dark? No. It leads me to believe that the Force is just the Force. It is like a tool, a weapon, a belief system… it is how it’s wielded, not that is it evil or good to begin with.
Since this post was first born, we’ve had multiple more Star Wars films, streaming shows and a ton of other media. Regardless of how you may personally feel about the outcome of the core movies, I know I have some thoughts, the story of Rey “Skywalker” was an interesting one and I think she could have had a bit more to do. The original trilogy was focused on Luke journey, and the prequels were less focused on Anakin than they were the events surrounding him. I feel like the sequel trilogy was even less focused. They all have their place, and I enjoy them each for what they are. I digress…
What is more powerful, the darkness or the light? The question is moot. One cannot exist without the other. Again, duality.
So what about simply being “Grey” (Or as I like call it, being at “Zero”)? I have ideas on that subject, but that is for another time.
