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When the Jedi Council senses the rise of the dark side about a century or two before the end of the Republic, Yoda suggested that it heralds the imminent coming of the Chosen One, prophesied to bring balance to the Force. Anakin Skywalker is confirmed to be indeed the Chosen One, but what exactly is his intended destiny?

Foremost is the Jedi belief that he will end the Sith Order once and for all. Even though he, as Vader, eventually sacrificed himself to kill Palpatine, thus ending both the master and the apprentice, the Sith Order was not truly ended. Palpatine eventually returned before dying for good, and the Sith Order under Krayt's Rule of One yet lives. Not to mention that the greatest champions of the dark side have always come from the light. If Anakin was chosen to end anything, he was extremely sloppy.

But what about the other possibility? The Father decreed that the Chosen One is meant to replace him in keeping the Son and the Daughter in balance. By choosing to leave, he had supposedly failed his destiny, allowing the Force to tilt in severe imbalance, and this consequence is supposedly revealed and only then corrected in some measure a great many years later by his son Luke.

In any case, Anakin seems like a massive failure in life. But what was his true purpose?

thegreatjedi
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  • "Jedi belief that he will end the Sith Order once and for all" No, he was to bring balance to the force. That does not necessarily mean destroying the Sith. – phantom42 Apr 27 '15 at 20:35
  • Bringing balance to the force, destroying the Sith does not. Bring about more hate, it will. – Clyde Apr 27 '15 at 21:05
  • @phantom42 The accepted answer in the question you linked to does claim George Lucas' opinion is that bringing balance to the Force means destroying all the Sith... – Andres F. Apr 27 '15 at 21:14
  • @phantom42 It's possible that Lucas thinks there is a different, valuable Dark Side that doesn't lie with the Sith, so destroying them doesn't mean altering the balance between Light & Dark. Then again, Lucas' ideas are so confusing, inconsistent and ever changing, that probably no-one will ever know what he was thinking of :) – Andres F. Apr 27 '15 at 21:16
  • @AndresF. Nope. A comment on it does. But as you've pointed out, Lucas changed his mind a lot over the years, and I'm not personally convinced that what he had in his head at one point is the same thing he put on screen. – phantom42 Apr 27 '15 at 21:23
  • @phantom42 Unless I misread the answer, it's a commentary by George Lucas himself :) From the (DVD?) commentary by Lucas of A New Hope: "Which brings us up to the films 4, 5, and 6, in which Anakin's offspring redeem him and allow him to fulfill the prophecy where he brings balance to the Force by doing away with the Sith and getting rid of evil in the universe..." – Andres F. Apr 27 '15 at 22:07
  • @AndresF. The bit about the commentary is in the comments left by DavRob60, not the answer. – phantom42 Apr 27 '15 at 22:11
  • @phantom42 Aargh, yes, I got confused myself. I meant the accepted answer here, of course. Sorry for the confusion. I blame the Dark Side! err... the Sith! :) – Andres F. Apr 27 '15 at 22:17

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I believe the prophecy of "the chosen one" was written much like a Greek Tragedy. A great example would be the Story of Oedipus.

At the time Anakin Skywalker was born, the force was "unbalanced" heavily in favor of the Jedi, and it had been this way for a long time. With the rise of the Sith, it was believed by the Jedi that the force had become unbalanced, which has led to conflict. By hearing of the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the force, the Jedi Council interpreted this as the one who will stop the Sith and bring peace as seen here:

Obi-Wan Kenobi: With all due respect, Master, is he not the Chosen One? Is he not to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force?

Mace Windu: So the prophecy says. Yoda: A prophecy that misread could have been.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: He will not let me down. He never has.

Yoda: I hope right you are.

It is clear here that Yoda is beginning to see that there is a possibility the prophecy was misread.

Obi-Wan: You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. You were to bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.

Now, during the life of Anakin Skywalker, we see the tragic downfall of a hero through a misinterpreted prophecy. At birth, the Jedi Order greatly influences the senate as seen in Episode I, II, III. From the view of the Jedi (ode to Obi-Wan) the reappearance of the Sith has made things unbalanced. This is FALSE since the Jedi vastly outnumber the Sith and hold great influence in the Senate and in turn, the galaxy.

The immediate actions of Palpatine AFTER THE BALANCE WAS STRUCK send the balance back in favor of the Sith. The intent of the prophecy is not his actions at the Jedi Temple or through Order 66, but that moment in the senate chambers.

So in conclusion, I believe at the moment Anakin chooses to save Palpatine, he strikes balance to the force for the first time in a thousand years, by taking Mace Windu's arm, and for that brief moment the Sith and Jedi are in perfect balance, thus fulfilling his prophecy as "the one who will bring balance to the force."

MAF
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