Anakin’s Not the Chosen One?

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Recently there’s been some argument among Star Wars fans about one of the central themes in the Star Wars Universe; the concept of the Chosen One. Specifically, there has been some confusion about who the Chosen One really is because of a line in the TV show ‘Star Wars Rebels’. Some say that the Chosen One may be somebody else besides Anakin Skywalker… It might be Luke Skywalker instead! What in the world, crazy… right?!

Fortunately, a definitive answer to this conundrum has been given to us by Disney. They have confirmed that Anakin is still the Chosen One. However, why would fans think that Luke is the Chosen One instead? Is there enough evidence to support that conclusion? That’s what we want to talk about today! Even though the Chosen One is confirmed to be Anakin, we want to analyze this theory and see if it even makes sense!

ANAKIN:

The prophecy of the Chosen One is very ambiguous. We know that the Chosen One was supposed to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. There are three separate theories as to what the prophecy means by ‘bringing balance to the Force’. Some people believe that bringing balance to the Force refers to the Sith and Jedi being balanced (I.E. equal in number). Others speculate that ‘balance’ is referring to more of a ‘peace’ in the galaxy through the Force. Then there’s a third group that says that ‘balance’ refers to something in-between the Light and the Dark Side of the Force (Gray Jedi).

Regardless of which is the ‘real’ interpretation of ‘balance’, Anakin fulfilled all of them anyways. Anakin accomplished the first interpretation in a roundabout way by turning to the Dark Side. He brought ‘balance’ to the Force by destroying the Jedi until there were only two remaining Jedi to match the two Sith, he accomplished ‘peace’ by ushering in a new era through the defeat of the Empire, and he also accomplished the ‘Gray Jedi’ status by converting between both the Dark and the Light Side. Finally, Anakin completes the first half of the prophecy (destroying the Sith) when he turns back to the Light Side and kills his master to save Luke.

However, this begs the question; regardless of which ‘balance’ theory is correct, aren’t they all undone? If ‘balance’ is created by making the Sith and Jedi equal in number (two of each), then wouldn’t it be undone when Anakin kills Sidious? Wouldn’t that leave one Jedi and no Sith?

What about the second theory, the one about ‘peace’ in the universe? Wouldn’t the continued conflict with the First Order in ‘The Force Awakens’ make that null and void? If there’s ‘balance’ in the galaxy, why is there still so much conflict? Even the ‘Gray Jedi’ interpretation has the problem of Anakin coming back to the Light Side with his subsequent death. He has no chance to forge a new path between the Light and Dark sides!

Some people may argue that, once the prophecy is fulfilled, it doesn’t necessarily have to stay fulfilled for long. While this could be true, we also see that Luke may fix these apparent problems permanently. Making him a possible candidate for ‘The Chosen One’ if Disney decides to go that route!

LUKE:

Most of the confusion over who the Chosen One is stems from a line in the show ‘Star Wars Rebels’ when Obi-Wan himself literally calls Luke the Chosen One. The show’s writers clarified that this is simply Obi-Wan’s perspective. However, if Disney had chosen to make this statement literal, there is a surprising amount of evidence to support this idea.

First of all, one could argue that Luke was the very reason his father destroyed Emperor Sidious in the first place. Making Luke, in a roundabout way, also responsible for destroying the Sith.

consider Luke’s role in the new films. Luke tries to start a new Jedi Order and fails when Ben Solo falls to the Dark Side under Snoke and becomes Kylo Ren. However, there’s a new hope when Rey comes to Luke in order to learn the ways of the Jedi. This could all potentially combine to fix the first interpretation of the prophecy; the balance between two Dark Side users (Snoke and Kylo), and two Light Side Users (Luke and Rey). Then the ‘destroy the Sith’ part would still be valid because Disney confirmed that Snoke and Kylo aren’t Sith, but something new!

The second interpretation of galactic ‘peace’ could be fixed if Luke has a major hand in the downfall of the First Order. It looks like he might, if only by training Rey and inspiring her to do it for him, but only time will tell. Finally, the ‘Gray Jedi’ idea might be fixed by Luke as well! In the first trailer for ‘The Last Jedi’ Luke says, “it’s time for the Jedi to end”, it hints that he might be going down the path of a Gray Jedi and forging a new order between the Light and Dark Sides. This line is probably just marketing to spark debate and make fans anxious to see the truth for themselves. It’s most likely pure misdirection to gain publicity, however There’s no denying it’s still a possible explanation that might fix the holes in the third interpretation of the Chosen One prophecy.

In the end, we understand why some fans may be confused about who the Chosen One is. There’s obviously quite a bit of evidence supporting Luke Skywalker as a candidate. Anakin remains the canonical Chosen One for now, but Disney could plausibly change it to Luke if they wanted to do so. With new Star Wars lore becoming canon every day, who knows what the future holds for things like this? To quote Yoda “hard to see, the future is.”