It may not be the only reason why the original Star Wars trilogy was a hit with adults and
kids, but the straightforward story didn’t hurt. No need to get bogged down in politics
or star systems, just know to root for the young rebels taking down the evil, planet-exploding
Empire. As an added bonus, the movie’s hero managed to turn his father back to the light,
taking down the villain together. Or did they? It’s a question that the new trilogy will
probably answer. But to understand the real meaning of Star Wars, the studying the full saga
is key – and if you catch the hidden story at its core, you might even guess what’s coming in the
next chapter of the Star Wars universe. Keep in mind this is my theory and you will see
that the proof we bring forward might make you see Star Wars in a whole different way…
That’s the plan.
Starting At The Middle
By now most Star Wars fans know that the first movie was actually the fourth chapter of George
Lucas’ original story, and it’s not hard to see why he thought it was the one most
likely to win over movie audiences. Take away the spaceships and lightsabers, and Luke is
your average fantasy hero, born from nothing, recruited by a wise old wizard, and trained
to be the great hero he was destined to be.
George Lucas admitted from the start that he was just copying classic stories and archetypes
for Luke’s heroic journey, and as he became a more experienced Jedi Knight, even his father
Darth Vader couldn’t help but see the light. The trilogy ended with Luke saving the day,
and wiping out the Dark Side once and for all… at least, that’s what we thought.
Until Lucas decided to tell the REAL start of the story, re-defining Luke’s journey
in more ways than fans may even realize.
The Real Story of Anakin Skywalker
While the last half of the Star Wars story saw Darth Vader travel from Dark to Light,
the first half of the story was the exact opposite, showing his fall from light to dark,
making him as central to the story as his son. In fact, Luke’s story became a perfect
echo of his father’s.
Beginning his life as Anakin Skywalker, he too lived on an isolated desert planet, forgotten
by the galaxy until The Force intervened, guiding another old Jedi to him. A Jedi who
would see him as important, and recruit him to fight a growing darkness, decades before
the exact same thing would happen to his son. But Luke was only important because he was
Anakin’s son – Anakin was important for a completely different reason.
If you believe the Jedi in the films, Anakin was born from The Force itself, to become
the Chosen One, a prophesied person who would finally bring balance to the Force. To the
Jedi, that meant defeating their enemies, the Sith, once and for all – and use of
the Dark Side along with them. When you combine both trilogies, Skywalker and his son fulfilled
the prophecy together, but it wasn’t easy.
The two heroes didn’t just face the same journey, but the same choice: with the future
of the galaxy on their shoulders, would they choose the Dark Side to protect their family,
or the Light, for the good of the galaxy?
It’s important to point out that it isn’t ever stated as Good over Evil, just Dark and
Light sides. After all, the Jedi tell Anakin that love leads to the Dark Side – and it’s
a need to protect his wife that does him in. Since George Lucas took inspiration from humanity’s
earliest stories for the Star Wars saga, his description of The Force sounds more like
Yin and Yang than good over evil.
Yin and Yang… and The Force
George Lucas never denied his eastern influences when he created the Star Wars Universe. Everyone
knows the Yin and Yang symbol for this element of Chinese mythology, but the actual meaning
of Yin and Yang may be hard to separate from The Force at all. When all creation was chaos,
there were two opposite forces. Rather than fighting, the two reached a balance, and out
of them was born the first human. Sound familiar? But one wasn’t evil or good, just opposite.
Where one may be dark or old, the other is white and youthful.
Different teachings may favor one side over the other, but only a balance between the
two can bring peace. The Jedi are looking for the same thing, but miss one key point:
both sides are equally important, and constantly struggling back and forth.
There’s another major clue that The Force follows the same rule, and you can find it
by looking at the Yin and Yang symbol. Notice that the black and white aren’t just balanced,
but have a piece of the other at their core. It’s the same with the forces of good and
evil in Star Wars. The Jedi and Republic claim to be good, but fear, paranoia, and control
take root in the prequels – and literally, the Emperor in disguise. In the original trilogy,
Darth Vader sits in the heart of the Dark Side, but only his son can see that he’s
still good at heart.
These similarities show what most people miss about the Star Wars story: it’s not a tale
of good winning over evil; just The Force swinging back and forth. It’s family that
sends Anakin to the Dark Side, but it’s family that pulls him back. The Force created
Anakin with a choice to shift things off balance, and his son was lost, then found, to shift
it back. So even though Luke thought the fight was over at the end of Episode 6, The Force
had other ideas.
The Force Awakens
Since shifting The Force out of balance is a Skywalker trademark, then Episode 7 shouldn’t
have been a surprise. Where Luke relied on Anakin to fight back the Dark, Ben Solo, Leia’s
son, relied on Anakin to help the Dark Side grow. Again, another hero on a desert planet
is pulled into a galactic mission, and even gets her own wise old man to guide her path.
The mentor meets the same end of Qui-Gon Jinn and Ben Kenobi before, leaving the hero to
rely on family to restore balance to The Force – with a new mentor, as well.
The Force’s True Purpose
After thousands of years of conflict between the Sith and Jedi, the Emperor rose to shift
power back to the middle, The Force created Anakin to make it possible, and Luke arrived
to once again set things right. Family helped Luke achieve victory, but family delivered
the cruelest twist years later, when his nephew and apprentice turned against him. Whether
Rey is or isn’t related to the Skywalker clan, she’s walking the path that Anakin
and Luke did before her.
If the ways of The Force keep up, Rey should forget about defeating the Dark Side once
and for all, and stick to the task at hand. After all, the next age of peace, or age of
conflict will be on its way not long after. And odds are, a Skywalker will be at the center
of it – not on the side of good or evil, just Light, or Dark… exactly as The Force
wills it.
This theory makes total sense when you look at the full Star Wars saga. The Force, just
like the Yin and the Yang, is basically a perfect balance of Good and Evil, Shadow and
Light, The Dark Side and the Light Side… One side needs the other side to exist. It’s
somewhat expected that the new Trilogy will follow the same path as the two before it.
J.J. Abrams has taken some heat when people accused him of almost entirely copying the
two first trilogies when making The Force Awakens but when we analyze the hidden truth,
it was clear what creative choice he needed to make…
That’s our perspective on the Force, and it’s one that’s harder to come by when
the Star Wars story is only told by one side of the struggle. But what do you think? Have
we missed any key points or parallels? Let us know in the comments, and remember to subscribe
to our channel for more videos like this one.