Star Wars Answers A 47-Year-Old Dark Side Mystery, Rewriting George Lucas Canon

Star Wars has confirmed the truth of the dark side’s power, rewriting George Lucas’ original ideas about the Force. The Force itself is an elusive concept – no one Star Wars writer or character completely understands its power or its true nature. This is what makes it such a compelling piece of lore, as different perspectives and experiences change what it means to wield the Force. The Jedi, the Sith, the Nightsisters, and other Force-wielding factions all have their own interpretations of its power, despite George Lucas’ earliest thoughts and explanations about the Force in Star Wars.

As the franchise continues to grow, its understanding of the lore continues to grow as well, especially now that Star Wars is exploring different parts of the timeline. Diving deeper into the galaxy’s history allows writers the chance to experiment with and question the existing mythos, and no Star Wars project has done this more effectively than Star Wars: The High Republic. The High Republic era, which is set a few hundred years before the events of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, offers a completely different vision of the Jedi, their relationship with the Force, and the actual nature of the Force itself.

Star Wars Confirms The Dark Side Is Natural, Not A “Cancer” In The Force

George Lucas has often insisted that the Force itself is pure. The light side is the true Force and the dark side is a poison, a cancer, a perversion of its light and harmony. Essentially, when someone falls to the dark side, it isn’t because the power of the dark side is already there but because that person’s selfish greed, anger, and jealousy twisted the Force and broke its harmonious balance. The more power they get, the more they want, creating a vicious cycle of darkness and hate. This is also where the Jedi’s rules against attachment stem from, as attachments are, in the Jedi’s eyes, inherently selfish.

And yet, one Star Wars comic argues that the dark side is actually a natural aspect of the Force. In Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – Quest of the Jedi by Claudia Gray, the Jedi uncover a powerful Force artifact on the distant planet of Angcord. Angcord has protected something known as the Echo Stone, a stone that is powerfully connected to the Force and has brought great prosperity, light, and above all, life, to the planet and its inhabitants. In fact, its connection to the Force is so strong that even those who were unable to access the Force before became unnaturally strong Force-wielders.

But the Echo Stone did not only bring wealth and peace to Angcord. It also brought darkness. One of the Jedi sent to observe the stone realizes that there is a price that must be paid for the stone’s gifts. There is no life without death. “Without an end, there is no beginning. The first demand of life is death. Closeness to the Force does not spare us from death. It only gives us meaning in life.” As such, the planet was being supported by the light while simultaneously being poisoned by the dark, too. When the Jedi arrives on the planet, Angcord is suffering from plagues and famine.

The Lady of Angcord, the planet’s leader, was being influenced by the dark side unknowingly, making her distrustful, greedy, and jealous. “The Echo Stone is indeed a conduit for the Force. But the Force is not purely made of light. The Force includes the dark side, with all its wrath, hostility, terror, and cruelty.” When the Jedi in question tries to harm the stone, the Lady’s warped nature is revealed. The Stone’s very existence proves that the Force cannot only be light. If that were true, the Lady of Angcord would never have turned to the dark side, and the planet would never have suffered.

Star Wars Is Committing To A “Yin & Yang” Interpretation Of The Force

The events in that comic prove that Star Wars is now truly committed to a “Yin and Yang” interpretation of the Force – the idea that opposing forces can be complementary and needed to govern the forces of nature – moving further away from George Lucas’ original explanation. This began with Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s mural of the Prime Jedi, which shows a figure bathed equally in light and darkness, as well. James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi movie, which will take place 25,000 years before the events of the Skywalker saga, will likely further explore this concept and the Prime Jedi’s history.

Interestingly, the Mortis gods, who were first featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, support this particular interpretation of the Force as well – George Lucas was closely involved in The Clone Wars’ storytelling, so it’s possible that Lucas was changing his mind about his original explanation of the Force, too. The Mortis gods were essentially the living embodiment and protectors of the Force – the Daughter represented the light, the Son represented the dark, and the Father ensured a balance between the two. Their existence alone would prove that the Force cannot only be composed of light. Darkness is equally important and powerful, perhaps even necessary.

The Jedi Never Understood The Dark Side

If the Yin & Yang explanation does indeed describe the true nature of the Force, then that means the Jedi, more specifically, those of the Star Wars prequel era, wholly misunderstood it. Yes, the choices one makes can influence a Jedi’s affiliation with the light or the dark side, but selfishness isn’t the only reason for turning to the dark side. Greed, envy, fear, and hate are all emotions that fuel the dark side, but they are not necessarily what cause one to fall. The dark side is always there, lurking in the shadows. The Lady of Angcord fell to the dark side without even realizing it. Sometimes, a person will have no say in the matter.

For some, this means that falling to the dark side is an inevitability rather than something that can be avoided by refusing to explore attachments or acknowledging the role of the dark side within the Force. Perhaps those who fall have a role to play within the Force, the same way Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One. Perhaps, if the Jedi hadn’t feared the dark side but rather seen it as a natural, necessary part of the Force, the Jedi Code would have been less repressive, and they would have been better equipped to predict the rise of the Sith once more.

George Lucas’ original explanation of the Force influenced so much of Star Wars storytelling. The Jedi Code and Anakin’s fall to the dark side are all intertwined with the concept of the Force being wholly composed of light and the darkness being an infestation rather than a natural part of it. The truth is hard to discern – after all, the Jedi and the Sith are religions, following their own beliefs and interpretations rather than facts. Whatever the case may be, the Force truly is Star Wars’ most compelling and mysterious piece of lore.