Was Yoda correct about the "Chosen One" and the prophecy?

Question

"Fully defeated by just anyone, the dark side cannot be, but only by the Chosen One. And who might be this Jedi? Know I do not, but not yet born is he or she. This much, sense I can. A vessel of pure Force the Chosen One will be, more powerful than any Jedi in history."

- Yoda

Okay. In the end (which isn't really the end), the Chosen One (Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader) did kill Palpatine. But, I have two questions:

• The Chosen One was able to kill Palpatine because he himself saved Palpatine in the first place. Wasn't Master Windu going to defeat Dark Side once and for all?

• Did Chosen One defeat the dark side fully? Maybe, return of Palpatine 2.0 is out of canon now, but Disney itself showed trailer of upcoming Episode VII which featured a Sith.

Answer 1

Why did Anakin need to destroy the Sith if Mace Windu was literally just about to?

In the Revenge of the Sith special feature "The Chosen One", George Lucas says this about Anakin and the prophecy (italics are Lucas' emphasis, bold is mine):

The prophecy is that Anakin will bring balance to the Force and destroy the Sith. He becomes Darth Vader, Darth Vader does become the hero, Darth Vader does destroy the Sith - meaning himself and the Emperor - he does it because he is redeemed by his son.

It's entirely possible that Mace Windu could have killed Palpatine, but that wouldn't have fulfilled the prophecy because there was one more Sith around: Anakin himself.

At the time of the attack on Palpatine, Anakin's destiny is a foregone conclusion; there are only two options here:

• Anakin kills Windu, falls off the Despair Event Horizon¹, and joins Palpatine because he sees no other options². Obviously, this is what actually happened.
• Anakin does nothing while Windu kills Palpatine. Having just witnessed a Jedi assassination, Anakin's growing disillusionment with the Jedi Order will quickly turn into resentment. Eventually he leaves, goes hunting for the "alternative points of view" that Palpatine spoke of, and eventually we get a new Sith Lord on the block³

Both options lead to a Sith resurgence. Palpatine's manipulation had pretty well set Anakin's course at this point, and his becoming a Sith is a foregone conclusion.

Are the Sith really destroyed? Is the Force really in balance?

I heard a really great quote about balance once, but I can't remember where. It went something like this:

Balance is not a permanent state; it is fleeting moments that we strive for.

What this means for Star Wars is that while Anakin did destroy the Sith, that doesn't mean he destroyed them forever. A pretty common trope in all fiction genres is You Cannot Kill An Idea¹. Star Wars delves into this in the (now non-canon) video game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (emphasis mine):

Kreia: You thought that the corrupted remnants of the Republic, the machines spawned by technology that Revan led into battle were the Sith? You are wrong. The Sith is a belief.

Although the KoTOR franchise is no longer canon, the point Kreia makes is a good one: it doesn't matter if Anakin killed every person who called themselves "Sith", because "Sith" is just a word for a point of view, and not altogether an uncommon one. Vader and Palpatine may be dead, and the Force brought into balance now, but all it takes is one disgruntled Force-user, with a bone to pick with the Jedi, to come up with an idea, and the Sith are back again.

Which, although they're not calling themselves "the Sith", seems to be largely what ended up happening.

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¹ TVTropes link. All hope abandon, ye who enter here.

² At least, I assume that's what happened. Revenge of the Sith was not a well-written movie

³ I'm obvious speculating here, but regardless of how it happens I don't really see an alternative path for Anakin here: Palpatine was already convincing him that maybe the Dark Side isn't so bad, and a Jedi assassination would have been pretty compelling evidence that the Jedi aren't as great as he thought they were. Add a dash of resentment, let stew for a few years, and you've got a Sith Lord on your hands.

Answer 2

This video is really about the nature of the Darkside, but gives insight as to this question. The nitty gritty is that the Force is sentient, and that it doesn't allow itself to be controlled by evil. When Darth Plagueis and his apprentice, Sidious, began their midichlorian manipulation experiments, trying to play Force and create life, the Force struck back and created Anakin skywalker, a living embodiment of the Force. (remember he was born without a father) However, destroying the emperor was not as simple as having some Jedi run him through with a lightsaber. The Emperor was deeply infused in the force, so any action directly brought about by the force, would be sensed by him and counter-plans instituted. So the theory goes that all six movies are the time it took for the force to institute his "chosen one" in the right place at the right time, to grab The greatest evil in the galaxy and toss him into a giant laser hole. That's Star Wars for you.

Answer 3

As for your first question, the prophesy you are referring to could not have been referring to Mace Windu because he was alive at that point of time when Yoda said that.

In the Star Wars universe, most major sources of information refer to the dark side as essentially a corrupted Jedi. I personally would liken it to a real world example. We will always have corrupt politicians. It is a fact. If you apply the nature of corruption to a Jedi, you see that as long as a Jedi has emotions he/she/it is vulnerable to falling to the dark side.

The dark side represents evil, the dark side of human nature(and I assume also the darker part of the nature of most other Star Wars sentients) the Dark Side cannot be totally defeated as long as emotions exist, because emotions are what causes the individual Jedi to fall to the dark side.

You can assume that the sith in the upcoming episode might be a fallen Jedi or someone who grew up using the force but not knowing of the need to keep his emotions in check, but in the end all we can do is wait to see.

And also, seriously, when it comes to Star Wars Lucas films always knew that lightsaber battles=profit and Disney probably knows it too based on their new animated series, Star Wars Rebels.

Answer 4

The Chosen One was supposed to bring balance to the Force, not completely destroy the Sith.

Where there is light there will also be darkness.

During the history of the Star Wars universe there has been many dark lords which have been either killed or simply ruled until their death. Anyhow, the balance must always be preserved.

If the light side knows a thousand years of peace there is something that is going to bring the dark side forth for the next thousand years.

It is a never ending circle of good vs evil.

The Gray Jedi:

There is no Dark Side, nor a Light Side

There is Only the Force

I will do what I must to keep the balance

The balance is what keeps me together

There is no good without evil, but evil must not be allowed to flourish

There is passion, Yet peace

Serenity, Yet emotion

Chaos, Yet order

I am the wielder of the flame, the protector of balance

I am the holder of the torch, lighting the way

I am the keeper of the flame, soldier of balance

I am a guardian of balance

I am a Gray Jedi

Answer 5

"The Chosen One was able to kill Palpatine because he himself saved Palpatine in the first place."

But Mace was only there because Palpatine outed himself to Anakin in the first place.

The prophecy was fulfilled by Anakin in ROTJ; Anakin was the Chosen One.

Answer 6

My take is this... First the Jedi Prophecy says, In a time of great despair, a child will be born, who will destroy the Sith, and bring balance to the force.

First, a time of great despair means a time of lost hope, loss of heart, unhappiness, giving up.... It also says who the child will destroy the Sith, meaning all Sith are defeated, gone forever..... And it says bring balance to the force. ( it doesn't say bring balance BACK to the force, because the force never has been in balance to begin with. Period. ) Also what is a Jedi ? A force sensitive being who wants to do GOOD.

A Sith is a force sensitive being who wants to do EVIL. Helping others means good. Hurting others mean evil. Plain and simple meaning. So, to me, the Prophecy clearly translates, “ In a time of no hope and all is lost, a child will be born, who will destroy the evil , and bring peace and love to the galaxy.

Next, Anakin was not born in a time of great despair. The Empire hadn't ruled yet. And neither was Luke, because their was still hope in the galaxy to fight the Empire ( Ep 4 title “ A New Hope “ ).

Also George Lucas himself put in a scene in ep 3 about a Sith named Darth Plagueis who could use the dark side of the force creating a child. Which clearly means, dark creation = dark child. So why would Lucas himself add that in if it didn't mean anything ? Also, we never have seen the Sith planet in the saga ( movies ) yet. Plus, its clear that Luke is the prophecy of the Son of Suns. Remember that?

So to make it simple, here is the confusing translation Lucas is trying to say. And after all, why would Lucas tell you everything while making the prequels? If hew did, everyone would bother him about ep 7-9 while he wanted fans to see the prequels. Then again, he could have improvised changing things around like he did when Anakin and Vader were at first 2 different people. Sama as when at first , Leia was not Luke's sister until he changed it in ep 6. So here's the translation Lucas wanted to show...

The first trilogy ( ep 1- 3 ) is about the rise and fall of the false prophet ( false hope ) The one who would help the evil return to power. The second trilogy ( ep 4-6 ) is about the child of redemption ( Luke ) that would once again bring hope out of the darkness to help the good once again believe. The third trilogy ( ep 7-9) is about the rise of the chosen one who would destroy the evil, end the war, and bring love and peace for all in the Universe.

To me, and keeping the Skywalker family important to the saga, it started with Sith lord creating a dark child. Then the will of the force cracked the dark side when the twins were born filtering out the evil bloodline. And with Luke not having children, and Leia having the force within her, has children. How many , who knows. But Leia's last child, not by Han or any other man, but from the FORCE, would mean that not only is the child “ the last Skywalker ( bloodline), but the Chosen one of the Jedi Prophecy.

Answer 7

The prophecy refers to Rey [who in her previous life was Luke & Leia's mother & Anakin's wife],there's evidence proving this 1. the article on Movieplot.com [just google is Rey Padme reincarnated] & if you have the novelization of The Force Awakens go to chapter XVIII two quotes by Kyloy Ren in a obscure manner let us know the he & Rey are reincarnations of Anakin & Padme [1. to Finn;that weapon-is mine. & to Rey;it IS you] the 2nd refering he knows Rey from a past life [being Anakin & Padme].