Who Is The Chosen One?
Qui-Gon- “He is the chosen one. He will bring balance. Train him”.
Let’s just all admit that it broke our hearts when Qui-Gon Jinn was killed at the hands of Darth Maul, arguably one of the best bad guys ever to enter the Star Wars universe. Qui-Gon obviously believed that Anakin, a slave kid from Tatooine, was the prophesied chosen one of the Jedi order. But, before we get to current events, let’s look at the beginning of what we know of the prophecy.
One of the best crash course Star Wars books available is Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force by Ryder Windham. The book was printed in 2007, 5 years before Disney purchased Lucasfilm for over $4.05 billion. Therefore, there are lots of things in the book that are no longer canon. However, there is still plenty that is, such as Old Republic information that Disney has given no indication of being scrapped. But, I digress. We can discuss what Disney has ruined later. Onto the prophecy.
Bottom line is we don’t know most of it. The pages were ripped out of the surviving Jedi Path by Palpatine. The only snippet we have comes from The Great Holocron, recovered by the New (scrapped) Republic from the original extended universe (EU). It reads “A Jedi will come to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force” (Windham, p.205). We do not know if these words are direct or a summary. However, we do know approximately 200 before the battle of Yavin (BBY), Jedi masters reported a change in the Force, a growing darkness, that could signal the coming of the chosen one. Master Yoda via the Great Holocron states “Fully defeated by 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” (Windham, p. 205).
We do know, based on Anakin’s midi-chlorian count, that Qui-Gon believed him to be the prophesied one. Obi-Wan himself stated that Anakin’s count was higher than even Yoda’s. We would have known more had parts of the original script been used for Revenge of the Sith. There was a section when Palpatine, in an effort to win Anakin over even more, would explain to him the means of his birth. Let me say that again, we were supposed to know where Anakin came from!
Palpatine’s master was Plagious. Plagious supposedly found ways to cheat death. He passed such means to his apprentice who used them to create Anakin. We were supposed to hear how Palpatine was able to create life. He wanted to ultimate apprentice, and sought to create one. The problem was he didn’t know where or who he was. Nor could he have guessed that a Sith would create the prophetic chosen one. Ironic, right?
Some believe Luke to be the chosen one. I disagree. I disagree very much. And Disney did themselves no favors in my eyes during Rebels, Twin Suns episode where (Spoilers) Obi-Wan kills Maul.
Maul- “Is he the chosen one?” Obi-Wan nods head Maul- “Then he will avenge us.”
Now, what we are hoping is that Obi-Wan, despite his life-long quarrel with Maul, is trying to give the poor guy a sense of meaning at the end. He was presumed dead (given, the guy was cut in half) and forgotten. Then found alive on Mandalore, used, and cast aside again. If Anakin/Vader is the chosen one, he was a pawn. He was just another twisted force-wielder in Palpatine’s game. And, he was. He was used. Obi-Wan knows this. If the chosen one lives, then it wasn’t for nothing. He can be avenged. That being said, I love the lines here. Maul wanted one final revenge. It’s all he’s ever thought about. His first lines in The Phantom Menace were “at last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we shall have revenge”. He tells Obi-Wan that the presumed chosen one will avenge them, plural. Obi-Wan for being hunted and him for being a piece in Palpatine’s game.
Luke did not bring balance, Vader did when he killed the emperor. We know the war was not over. The dark side fought on. Anakin thought he was bringing balance when he destroyed the Jedi. But, when Vader died, he took the Sith with him, thereby bringing balance. Balance does not mean no dark. It means an equal amount of light and dark. I argue that Luke was the chosen one’s legacy. He kept the balance his father died creating.
