Spoilers Anakin as the chosen one in the context of TLJ

[Prax]

Perhaps it's unquantifiable.

Or maybe we are looking at the term "balance" too narrowly.

If I eat balanced diet, that doesn't mean I eat terrible foods 50% of the time, it means I eat a healthy balance of all the things my body needs.

The word balance has almost a dozen definitions, but the main ones are:

bal·ance
ˈbaləns/
noun

1. 1.
   an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.
   "slipping in the mud but keeping their balance"
   synonyms: stability, equilibrium, steadiness, footing
   "I tripped and lost my balance"
2. 2.
   a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.
   "overseas investments can add balance to an investment portfolio"
   synonyms: fairness, justice, impartiality, evenhandedness, egalitarianism, equal opportunity; More
   

verb

1. 1.
   keep or put (something) in a steady position so that it does not fall.
   "a mug that she balanced on her knee"
   synonyms: steady, stabilize, poise, level
   "she balanced the book on her head"
2. 2.
   offset or compare the value of (one thing) with another.
   "the cost of obtaining such information needs to be balanced against its benefits"
   synonyms: weigh, weigh up, compare, evaluate, consider, assess, appraise, judge
   "you need to balance cost against benefit"

 

[JD]

It's the way people are using the Force that causes an imbalance, not the actual people themselves.

 

[mos6507]

The floor pattern at the first Jedi temple that Luke is at shows what is supposedly the first Jedi in meditation. That image is of a being in both light and dark, like a Yin-Yang symbol in the shape of a person.

And so 7-8-9 becomes essentialy The Dark Crystal. A reconciliation of duality. If true, that's fine, albeit unexpected, and I bet it would tickle Frank Oz.

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[WarpFactorZ]

If true, that's fine, albeit unexpected, and I bet it would tickle Frank Oz.

Why do you think Yoda was laughing so much in TLJ?

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Since Disney bought it I think they’ve undermined the idea that Anakin is the Chosen One. Just last year, when Maul and Obi-Wan fought on Tatoonine, Obi-Wan says Luke is the Chosen One.

But we must remember the timeline--that episode takes place before the OT, so Obi-Wan's mindset was still where it left off in Revenge of the Sith--that the prophecy was either misread, or Anakin himself destroyed his own life's purpose. If we look forward to Return of the Jedi, we see Luke inspiring Vader to actually live up to his Chosen One status, showing Kenobi (and Yoda) that the prophecy was correct, but it was not going to unfold with an overabundance of Jedi, as in the prequel years..

 

[Unicron]

* shrugs * Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd jettison the whole Chosen One aspect of the PT. It's silly and superfluous IMO, and it doesn't accomplish anything useful for Anakin that couldn't have been done with a different script. He doesn't need a divine virgin birth to be important. YMMV of course.

 

[DarKush]

But we must remember the timeline--that episode takes place before the OT, so Obi-Wan's mindset was still where it left off in Revenge of the Sith--that the prophecy was either misread, or Anakin himself destroyed his own life's purpose. If we look forward to Return of the Jedi, we see Luke inspiring Vader to actually live up to his Chosen One status, showing Kenobi (and Yoda) that the prophecy was correct, but it was not going to unfold with an overabundance of Jedi, as in the prequel years..

That is correct, but from a real-world perspective, the Rebels episode came out over a decade after ROTS and decades after ROTJ and also a year or so ahead of TLJ. If Disney had wanted to adhere to Lucas's declaration that Anakin was the Chosen One, end of story, they didn't need to include that bit of dialogue between Maul and Obi-Wan in the episode. Granted, it could very well be that the episode was looking at Obi-Wan's shifting mindset that Luke was in fact the Chosen One and not Anakin. (But why couldn't it be Leia, who already by this point was involved in the Rebellion?). From a certain point of view it could also be Disney undermining Lucas's edict about the Chosen One to minimize the prophecy in order to churn out more films, to remove the finality of Anakin destroying the Sith. The sequels have already sidestepped the Sith's demise by coming up with Sith-like villains in Snoke and Kylo Ren. In Episode IX or later, they might just go whole hog and reestablish a new Sith Order.

 

[Prax]

They probably will. The ideas well is not very deep when it comes to Star Wars. It becomes even less so when looking for the kind of mass appeal brand recognition desired for a major movie. The only way to get rid of Sith(or Sithy people like Smoke) would be to get rid of Jedi, but then the well would be dry.

 

[Ithekro]

The dialog between Obi-wan and Maul doesn't change what Anakin was. It only severs to not only point Maul and Ezra to the wrong conclusion, but also shows us what Obi-wan is thinking by this point in time...and why he holds not faith in Leia, while Yoda does. Obi-wan has been on Tatooine now for over 15 years watching over Luke. He was their when Anakin "died" and what became Vader was burned. As far as Obi-wan is concerned, the Chosen One he knew is dead...and he's put all his faith behind Luke defeating the Emperor and Vader. Yoda doesn't quite go that route, as he still thinks that Leia is a viable, and possibly preferred, option. I am not sure if Yoda thinks that Luke must kill Vader to end the Sith, or if he's foreseen enough to know that he must face Vader only, while Obi-wan seems more intend that Luke must kill Vader/Anakin in order to defeat the Sith.

What Maul and Ezra were looking for (partly in Maul's case) was the key to stopping the Sith. The trail lead to Obi-wan Kenobi. Ezra assumed it would be Obi-wan that could stop the Sith, but Obi-wan wasn't having any of that. Maul figured that Obi-wan must be hiding someone, and that was what would destroy the Sith. Both were incorrect, as was Obi-wan. The prophecy was true, but also very literal. Luke was the key to destroying the Sith, but the key was to unlock Anakin from his tomb of despair, hatred, and pain...to come forth one last time to do what he had always tried to do before he screwed up all those years ago. Protect those that he loved. In doing so, he sacrificed his life for his son and killed the Emperor, ending the vast corruption of the Force caused by Palatine for decades, and the Sith slowly for a millennia before that. The corruption needed to keep themselves hidden....to weave themselves into the fabric of the Republic and learn all the ways it and the Jedi could be destroyed from their own hubris. Force the Jedi to be what they are not, and blind them to that fact, then end them when they are vulnerable and defended by those that would kill them without hostile intent. A good soldier follows orders.

 

[Set Harth]

The only way to get rid of Sith(or Sithy people like Smoke) would be to get rid of Jedi, but then the well would be dry.

You assume Snoke must have been a Jedi?

How does the Force get out of balance if it’s not tied to the users?

"As evil begins to take over, it pushes the Force out of balance." - George Lucas, 2002

There's also the approach taken by Luceno in the Darth Plagueis novel. I realize that it's not canon anymore, but I think the ideas presented there are still worthy of consideration. Namely, that over time the Sith in the Bane line developed the ability to do things to the Force itself which allowed it to become unbalanced. Plagueis and Sidious, working in concert, eventually tipped the scales directly. We could consider this kind of thing a Force power.

But we must remember the timeline--that episode takes place before the OT, so Obi-Wan's mindset was still where it left off in Revenge of the Sith--that the prophecy was either misread, or Anakin himself destroyed his own life's purpose.

There's another problem with labeling Luke the Chosen One of prophecy - he would have to back it up with his actions! It didn't seem particularly likely to me that Luke would end up being the one to deal the decisive deathblow against evil in the Sequel Trilogy, given the emphasis on Rey and the way the original heroes were being given their curtain calls in order to give greater glory to the new characters ( something that was already apparent in TFA ).

 

[David cgc]

There's another problem with labeling Luke the Chosen One of prophecy - he would have to back it up with his actions! It didn't seem particularly likely to me that Luke would end up being the one to deal the decisive deathblow against evil in the Sequel Trilogy...

Apparently, the prophecy dealt specifically with end of the religion of the Sith, and not the dark side or evil in general, which does seem like a pretty big ask for one person, "chosen" or not.

 

[Set Harth]

Oh, I didn't mean evil in general there, I should have been more clear. I don't think any potential Chosen One would be tasked with ending evil in general. Similarly, ending the dark side itself is not really a thing ( unless you somehow succeed in destroying the Force as a whole, as in Kreia's fantasies ). I was referring to the sequel trilogy's equivalent of destroying the Sith.