“You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them, bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.” -Obi-Wan
There was once an Ionian Greek, king of a small empire to the East, who went to visit the oracle of Delphi where it was said that the god Apollo himself spoke prophecy. The Greek asked the god if he should go to war with the Persian Empire. Apollo answered that if he did, a mighty empire would fall. The Greek in full confidence of victory then declared war on the Persians. He was defeated, he and his dynasty murdered and his empire annexed to that of the Persians. And so Apollo was right, but the Greeks interpretation of the prophecy was mistaken.
Tell me, O my brothers, what is the definition of “balance”? If we take a scale would that not mean an equal divide of 50-50 percent?
If we know there are two sides to the force, and this is as true as light casts a shadow, then tell me O my brothers, what could the prophesy have ever meant with “balance to the force”? If we know that during the Clone Wars we had approximately ten thousand Jedi, and the Sith, with the rule of twos, only had at most two live members, what then? This would mean that at it’s highest, the dark side would have represented 0.02% of the force. This condition had lasted for a thousand years, so long a time in fact that it was believed that the Sith had permanently disappeared. The Jedi, religious zealots that they are, would murder any Sith on sight and refuse them trial:
We are lead to believe, O my brothers, that Anakin betrayed his destiny and made the wrong choice. That he was meant to be a servant, a mere tool for the profit of the Jedi. The Jedi, an order of religious zealots who see themselves without fault, and therefore justified to play the role of judge and jury and condemn the Sith to death with no other justification other than “they’re evil.” Well then, what other option did the Sith have if not to play the role of the executioner and butcher the Jedi like pigs? What other option was there to “bring balance to the force”? The prophecy was intended to mark the destruction of the corrupted Jedi all a long, no the end of the Sith, despite all the cries of the immorality to a shadow the Jedi made. Anakin Skywalker did nothing wrong. And yet, the lies of the Jedi are repeated again and again, a propaganda technique, until we believe it to be truth:
“You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them, bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness.” -Obi-Wan
Tell me, O Muses, what was in the heart of Obi-Wan Kenobi when he amputated Anakin Skywalkers limbs and watched him burn?
A jealous man was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Taken away from his family from a young age, he couldn’t remember his own mother. But Anakin did, atleast he had a memory of her. Her face, her love… A mothers love was something Obi would never have. And the closest thing to family was Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Jinn had trained Obi from the start. Obi was a slow learner, but with much patience from Jinn he learned as best he was capable. And then Anakin shows up, like the little brother challenging the older one for his parents attention. There is a special kind of hatred that comes between brothers when a father favors one over the other. And no, despite being kept silent, Obi raged in anger. Never had Jinn looked at him as he looked at the little slave boy Anakin. Never had some much responsibility, never such high expectations was ever placed on Obi-Wan Kanobi.
And then Jinn died, and the responsibility for the hated little brother Anakin fell into Obi-Wan. And so he trained little Anakin, and Obi-Wan only grew to envy Skywalker even more. So natural and talented was Skywalker that he soon surpassed Obi-Wan. Not only in mastery of the force, but in athleticism and intellect. There stood the “Master” Obi-Wan, to be made to feel an inferior, to be made unappreciated, without need of him. It was Skywalkers greatness that reminded Obi-Wan Kanobi of his smallness.
But all this Obi-Wan was able to bury deep in his chest. But there was one thing Obi-Wan Kenobi couldn’t forgive, and that was the love of Padme Amidala. Obi-Wan had known the princess first, and he had imagined what it felt like to be loved by her, or by any woman, but especially Padme. For such was the code of the Jedi that he would never know the love of woman. Obi-Wan did everything right, and yet the undisciplined Anakin without any effort simply took what he wanted.
Skywalker, who had known the love of a mother now knew the love of a wife and would soon know the love of a child. Skywalker was younger than him, and yet he was considered better by all, even by the woman Obi-Wan loved and by right of age more deservedly be his. And so Obi worked to break up that love. Obi-Wan whispered poison into Padmes ears, like Iago attempting to break up the love of Othello and Desdemona. In that play by Shakespeare Shakespeare Iago, just like Obi-Wan, is jealous of a man better than him and plots to destroy his life by poisoning the relationship he has with his wife. Everyone would speak of “honest Iago” and praise him, in a similar way today Obi-Wan is praised. But the difference is that in Othello we know at the end that Iago was the villain, but since the Star Wars story has so far been written by sympathizers of the Jedi, we have never unmasked the Iago of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kanobi.
Padme, the women Obi had secretly loved but was too “honorable” to pursue. Knowing full well he would never make Padme his, he labored to make Anakin lose her:
>Padme Amidala: I was so worried about you. Obi-Wan told me terrible things.
>Darth Vader: What things?
>Padme Amidala: He said you turned to the dark side. That you… killed younglings.
>Darth Vader: Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me.
>Padme Amidala: He cares about us.
>Darth Vader: Us?
>Padme Amidala: He knows. He wants to help you. Anakin, all I want is your love.
>Darth Vader: Love won’t save you, Padme. Only my new powers can do that.
>Padme Amidala: At what cost? You’re a good person, don’t do this!
>Darth Vader: I won’t lose you the way I lost my mother. I’ve become more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of. And I’m doing it for you, to protect you.
And so Obi-Wan poisoned the relationship. He gives no explanation to Padme as to why Anakin did what he did other than Anakin has become “a bad person” by joining the dark side. When Anakin tries to explain himself to Padme he is not believed. And in the end Obi-Wan storms out without an explanation, knowing full well this was the right moment to strick Anakin, who was now emotional and not thinking straight. Obi-Wan is a sociopath predator posing as a house pet.
“When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or no he is in a position to fight, the result is RUIN.” Sun Tzu, The Art of War
And so, Anakin was the officer of the Sith, and the commander-in-chief Palpatine is no where to be seen. And now, Obi-Wan pulled some ancient Chinese psychological warfare trick and made Anakin emotional and went for the kill knowing full well that an emotional Anakin is likely to make a mistake, and in this Obi-Wan would have the advantage.
And so, Obi-Wan was able to triumph over Anakin. We are lead to believe that the good and honest Obi-Wan couldn’t bare to kill Anakin and left him to his fate. What fate? to survive? Obi-Wan didn’t expect that, and in fact was crucial in the indoctrination of his son Luke in order to murder him. Obi-Wan thought Anakin was destined to die, and left him to a slow and agonizing death while he smirked and latter told his version of the story. But Obi-Wan wouldn’t tell that of a failure (he intended to kill Anakin but foolishly left him alive in the hopes he would suffer a slow death) but claimed he couldn’t bare to strike the final blow to a man he loved “like a son.”
But the prophecy had yet to be fulfilled, and not even the powerful Darth Vader can escape the tyranny of the stars. And so, keep this is mind as we continue our history: Anakin was destined to bring balance, not destroy the Sith. And balance the scales of the force he did. Darth Vader did nothing wrong.