The prophecy says that there will be one who will bring balance to the force, and Qui-Gon Jinn lead us to believe that chosen one was Anakin. (*side note: Does Episode 1 have any real bearing on the story at this point?) And in some ways we can technically make him fit the bill. Crazy powerful, virgin birth, midichlorians, trained as a Jedi and so on. As a good guy we want him to be "the one" but we had all seen the future and knew Anakin would turn. Even in Episode 3, we can try to make him fit into the prophecy since he balances the force by evening out the numbers of Sith and Jedi through a choreographed mass murder. But as Obi-won states, the chosen one was "to bring balance to the force, not leave in darkness." Thus, this was not the fulfilling of the prophecy.
During the original trilogy we see Darth change over the three films from an evil robot driven only by his quest for power to a father sacrificing himself to save his son. The ending of Return of the Jedi appears to be the fulfilment of the prophecy again. Vader disobeys and murders his Sith master in order to save his son but is so badly injured that he dies, and with him all connection to the dark side. Is that really what the prophecy meant by "bring balance."? Darth caused a great deal of the imbalance and it could be argued that the Force was far better off before he was a Jedi.
What many viewers tend to do,consciously or subconsciously, is simplify the Force into good and evil even though the saga is filled with complex characters such as Han, Darth Vader, Lando, etc. but never considering that the Force itself is not just an accessory to the story of the Skywalker family or a tool that can be used by good and evil. If the Force was given as much consideration as other characters in the plot it might be found to be just as complex as the heroes and anti-heroes that the story is filled with. We know from Luke's training that a huge part of becoming a Jedi is using the Force without letting your emotions get in the way, which is part of the reason the Jedi Council didn't want to train Anakin in the first place. Also, Yoda and Obi-won discuss this same issue while training Luke. We also know that the Dark Side uses an excess of emotion in conjunction with the Force to have immense power. One has always led to good; the other has always led to evil… so it's natural to assume that emotional control when using the Force is the right way to go. But perhaps neither one has it completely right from a philosophical stance.
There are certain things that seem so logical and wise that we don't question them, such as Yoda's famous line, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering." That sounds right when it's coming from a good guy that we assume has all the right answers. But let's not forget that little Ani's fear stemmed from his love for his mother. Jedi Translation: To be a Jedi you shouldn't love anyone or anything. Yoda explains this to Anakin in Episode 3, when he is having frightening visions of Padme dying, by saying, "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." and that, "The fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side." Obviously emotions can be a danger because it has been proven to happen. But when you think about it in that light don't you have to admit that maybe the Jedi have, over time, thrown the baby out with the bathwater?
Enter Kylo Ren
After seeing TFA for the first time my impression (along with many others) of Kylo Ren was, "Boo hoo, my parents love me no matter what I do, and my badass uncle wanted to train me in all his badass ways… my life is so unfair." This may be a valid observation but in light of the bigger picture… what is this story really about? Kylo Ren very quickly proves his powerful connection to the Force by stopping a blaster shot in midair. Although he comes across as petulant, bi-polar, and a needlessly tortured in scenes such as his outburst after hearing "a girl" helped BB-8 escape, his "prayer" to Darth Vader's mask asking for a reminder, and his genuine struggle on the bridge with Han. But based on my convictions about the Force and where the story is ultimately taking us, we might just have the perfect recipe for "balance" to the whole shebang right under our noses but we've missed it because it's not as epic or glamorous as we've always imagined it would be.
Maybe a sensitive wannabe villain who encapsulates a wide range of positive and negative emotions all at once is what is needed. We don't need someone who was once good and then turns bad and then turns good again but dies in the process… we need someone who can be "both-and". It may even turn out that Ben Solo's love for Darth Vader could be the catalyst for accepting the part of himself that is still good if he were to realise that destroying the resistance isn't how he will finish what his Grandfather started… but bringing balance to the force will. It appears that the trajectory of the story points to a maturity development in Kylo Ren to become the chosen one. Kylo Ren is to become the balance within himself and therefore the fulfilment of the prophecy.
What do you think? Leave your comments below!
Credits: Ben Weber for convincing me to write this as well as editing/contributing and my brothers Garron & Drayton for endless discussions on this topic.
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