The Light Side and the Dark Side

The Force Explained

In part 2 of this series explaining the deeper lore of the Force, we discuss the nature of the light and dark sides of the Force. For an unabridged version of this essay, click here.

Since the Force is created by life, then the light side would naturally be driven to maximize life. Those who serve the Force wish to preserve and nurture life, and are drawn to Emotions like love, charity, fairness, hope, empathy, and compassion. It is through these emotions that the light side of the Force can be accessed.

The dark side then, as the opposite of the light would naturally be associated with death. Emotions that can lead to violence and death, like hate and fear, are used to access the dark side.

Life creates the Force, and death is an inevitably natural consequence of life. The dark side of the Force feeds on death, just as the light side is fed by life.

The dark side is as much a part of the Force as the light. However, it is a part that should not be drawn upon. While death is natural, using death as a tool to empower oneself is not.

Killing others leaves an unforgettable scar on your psyche, so too does immersing yourself in the powers of the dark side. No one should use death like a tool, doing so leads to otherwise avoidable consequences.

The dark side is so dangerous because the Force amplifies not just your abilities but your emotions.

The dark side changes you, it twists your intent, turning anger into rage. It changes not just your emotions but your actions. This is the greatest danger, letting yourself getting swept up in powerful emotions that go far beyond anything you would want. Like Force choking your pregnant wife who you desperately wanted to save [24]. Just as surely as the light side pulls you towards compassion, the dark side drowns you in fury.

So by using the dark side, the negative emotions you use to access it become amplified as well. What starts out as anger is driven to become rage and hate. It distorts your thoughts, and changes the very core of who you are. The wielder of such dark powers eventually lose control of themselves in what is known as the fall.

While it is possible to return to the light from the dark side, you can never erase the things you did.

Ulic Qel-Droma cut off from the Force, from the dark side, found redemption free from its influence. But the fact that he murdered his own brother, and all the other lives he destroyed, could never be undone .

Revan bereft of his memory, was freed from his tether to the dark side, and forged a new path in the light again. Still he had been responsible for the death of millions innocents, and the ruin of his closest friends.

Anakin Skywalker found redemption in an act of loving self-sacrifice for his son. That sacrifice couldn’t bring back his wife or the younglings. He couldn’t give his son his hand back or un-torture his daughter.

Ben Solo found redemption in forgiveness. Still he couldn’t un-murder his father, or bring back all those who died with the Hosnian System.

Ultimately embracing the dark side risks consequences that can never be made right. As it is when even ordinary people act in anger. It is the inability to change what has been done that leads Yoda to say,

Peel back the magic and a clear moral message can be found. Acting in anger, especially acting to harm others can and should be avoided. This is a struggle we all face.

But there is hope too, for those who have fallen into patterns of self-destructive behavior.

We are not bound by fate. We always have a choice to stop repeating our mistakes. To forge better futures, than the pasts we leave behind.

Read the unabridged version of this article here, or continue on to part 3 here or go back to part 1 here.

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