Movies & TV

What even are the Nightsisters anymore? Back in the day I vaguely remember them being sort of dark side and riding around on Rancors but that was literally thirty years ago.

I do seriously disagree with "grey" or "nuanced" force. There is only the light side and the dark side because the dark side is using the force to get things that you want for yourself. Like it's that simple; If you have magical powers and you use them for your own benefit you're going to start using your powers to hurt people sooner or later. It's just too easy to get in the habit of avoiding arguments by mind controlling people. That's what the OT depicts; Luke is most vulnerable to the Dark when he's doing things for personal reasons. He goes in to the Dark Side cave out of pride and what he finds there is himself, is fear of becoming something like Vader. When he goes to Cloud City it's to try to rescue his friends despite knowing that it puts him at great risk of falling. And in the end his friends rescue themselves and he's left horribly maimed after walking in to Vader's trap. In the final confrontation with Vader he's not fighting for noble purpose, he's lashing out in anger and fear and it's only when he's fully given himself over to rage that he manages to defeat vader in combat. But what really defeats Vader is luke's compassion; He sees himself in his father, sees the path his father took, and rejects it. The conflict between the Light and Dark in the OT is spiritual and Luke's victory is spiritual, he realizes that killing Vader would be a spiritual defeat that would lead to him becoming Vader. After striking down Darth Vader, lord of the Sith, what's holding you back? The next time you're frustrated, scared, hurt, angry, why not solve the problem with magical violence? It worked on Vader. You won! You became a great hero, the man who defeated the most feared warrior in the Galaxy. Why not solve your problems with a light saber and telekinesis?

This is all why I've long rejected the notion that Palpatine's force lighting is actually electrical discharge. That's not electricity. That's pride. Hated. Anger. Contempt. The Emperor is unleashing raw hatred against Luke. Lighting doesn't make your bones visible!. This is magic. That's why there's no "Light side" force lighting. It's not lightning. It's not electricity. It's magical hatred and rage and contempt. You can't light side force choke someone because force choking is torture. It's an expression of dominance and power. The Light Side force choke is the Jedi Mind Trick. Obi-Wan could have used the Force to just outright kill those Stormtroopers in Mos Eisly. He had that power. But he didn't use it because he didn't need to. Simple, subtle misdirection was enough to achieve his goals. But when Ponda Baba and that other dude pulled blasters in the cantina Obi-Wan used his lightsaber without hesitation. It was necessary, he was acting to protect himself and others from an immediate threat. And he did try to defuse the situation first, offering to buy a friendly drink. Again, he could have killed Ponda Baba and what's his ass the second they shoved Luke, but he didn't. He didn't need to. He was in control of the situation the entire time, there was no need to intimidate or overawe or torment.

You see this again in the Death Star. Sure, Obi-Wan could have cut a swath through the Stormtroopers, leaving a pile of corpses in his wake, then cut the Death Star's tractor beam controls apart with his sword. But he didn't. He just... walked there. Without anyone stopping him. And when he needed people to look the other way he used the force to make a noise and distract them. He flowed through the Death Star as easily as water flows to the sea. That's the Force, the real Force. Subtlety, misdirection, calm control, using a small action at the right moment to achieve great things. In the OT Luke's great moment with the force wasn't destroying a bunch of fighters or killing a bazillion Storm Troopers. It was letting go, relaxing, trusting, and achieving a nearly impossible shot to save his friends and the rebellion. It wasn't a moment of rage, fear, or haste. It was a moment of profound calm and peace. It was an action that resulted in enormous violence, but it was a subtle action done for good reasons. The least amount of force to achieve the greatest possible result.

So, yeah. There isn't really a "Dark" side. The Dark side is inside oneself when one pushes away the Light by using the force to hurt people, to dominate, to take. The Dark Side is what happens when a wizard wields their magical power selfishly and carelessly, when they begin to view magic power as a means of getting what want.

Yoda says

For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.

And this is key. The Force isn't magic power for taking what you want. It's a spiritual force created by all things, binding all things. If you use it to take then you're placing yourself outside of the Force, harming the very creatures and things that create the power you're drawing on. You're no longer part of that fabric, and the more you isolate yourself from it the more blind to it you become, until all you can see is your own power.

That's why Luke, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin disapear when they die. Because they didn't die. They were always part of the force, and at the moment of their death they transcended, becoming truly and totally part of the force that binds all living things together. They really are more powerful than Vader could imagine. Vader only sees himself, and sees the Force as a tool for taking what he wants. When Obi-wan dies he becomes part of the force, able to be everywhere and nowhere, unable to be harmed by a blaster or a lightsaber, able to given Luke counsel and aid anywhere in the Galaxy. When Luke reaches across space to confront Kylo he's engaging with the Force on a profound level. Yoda demonstrates this during Luke's training; Lifting the X-wing has nothing to do with the mass of the space craft. And when Luke projects himself between worlds it has nothing to do with the distance between those two planets! And Luke doesn't necessarily die from the strain, or at least you don't have to interpret it that way. By bridging such a distance, by becoming so deeply immersed in the Force that distance is no longer a boundary for him, Luke achieves a state of transcendence where he leaves behind his body and becomes a pure spirit.

And he's able to do this because, in part, he defeated his fear of Kylo. Long ago he tried to strike Kylo down with a sword, acting out of fear of what might be. It was a horrible mistake. Much later he's able to defeat Kylo by exploiting Kylo's own fear and hatred without landing a single blow with his sword. At that point, with Rey's help, he's recognized how and why he failed and he's redeemed himself by acting as a Jedi should; winning without fighting, defeating his enemies with subtle misdirection, using his power for good reasons to help people.

Rey's experience in the Dark Side cave ties in to this, too, because Rey succeeds where Luke failed. When Luke went in to the cave he did so out of fear. He confronted himself and failed, and was rewarded with a premonition of what he might become. The cave isn't evil. It is a nexus for the Dark, but all the evil in the cave is what Luke brought in himself. Rey's experience mirrors this and subverts it; Rey's desperate goal was family. She wanted connection, friends, family, people. She wanted to be part of the world. So when she goes in to the cave she confronts the same thing Luke does; Herself. And that's not what she wants. She's able to recognize that the Dark Side may offer great power, but it's power only for her. That power comes at the cost of withdrawing from everyone around you, withdrawing from the Force, and becoming bound up in your own magic. And that's not what she wants. She's able to recognize that, and reject it, and emerges from the cave wiser.

Idk, I'm just rambling a ramble I've rambled many times. I have issues with some oft he ways Star Wars has developed over the years.