jediaretheworst

[jediaretheworst]

this is incoherent but  it goes here to be continued...

Padme could've been a Sith Lord Asaj ventress in disguise 😂Thinking she was dead , finding her later Or her trusting palpatine (like when a democracy elects a dictator) (Both and she accidentally becomes a corrupted senator the same way anakin became a corrupt Jedi with "do it!") She was supposed to fake her death to get rid of her fake non-sith identity and return to being sidious' apprentice by her lord of the sith name,But palpatine tries to kill her the same way he killed plagueis, and he thinks he succeeds, but right as he thinks padme is finally losing grip of her last little bit of life, he gets the news Anakin lost?! To obi wan kenobi? He could feel his precious prize's life slipping away into a burning flame He doesn't waste any time going to find anakin, but when he lands he senses that anakin has enough life to live a little bit longer, so he waits and lets him suffer Then runs down to the beach like anakin would believe he's still just that kindly old senator who was nice to him when he was young? But sitting there in the inferno he felt Palpatine HAD ended up being right about a lot of things, especially when even obi wan himself had betrayed ! him ?! And left him to burn in the lava! He didn't even put him out of his misery! He tries to scream but not much comes out,But then he sees palpatine rushing down the beach to save him And he's confused But everything fades to black When anakin wakes up all he can think about is how much he hurts. God, what happened yesterday? His brain feels fuzzy, likes he's out of breath. He tries to breath deeply but he just can't quite get enough air. There's a bright light above him, But he's seeing in redWhy was his vision red? He moves to touch his face but his hand doesn't respond He could feel a tight pinch right under his armpit, though Had he been pinned? Where was he? He strained his eye to see, but the red tinge makes everything look alienNothing is familiarEven The medical instruments on the table don't register for a moment or so His eyes widen, but he finds that hurts too. Something sharp is pulling on his eyelids. He can barely stand to blink as he starts to become aware of his body- what's left of it- he tries to scream but it just sounds like a droid malfunctioning "Ah, Lord Vader, can you hear me?" a familiar voice says But it's not obi wanWho else would wake him? But- palpatine? Why was-Vader froze Obi-wan- betrayed him! His anger came curling out of his chest like a black gushing whirlwind The Jedi had betrayed the senate All of his suspicions had come true Palpatine had been right!"Yes, master," he says, slower than he had ever talked before, Solidifying his loyalty, sharply, to palpatine,He knows he never lied to him Everyone else had lied to him Even padme, she didn't love him! Padme  Padme?! "Where's padme?" He almost blurts, but he hates the child he had been who talked and complained too much so badly now The useless child that had been a JEDIPalpatine feels confident, he raises his eyebrows just so that he seemed reacting all TOO genuinely. He tilts his head to begin, a confident apology that he had carefully considered every word he chose, to manipulate, control, and harm him. His words were supposed to be incredibly exact, He would wait the exact amount of time he should to seem completely apologetic and entirely not guilty, But Vader demands again, "where is padme?" His hatred lashes at Palpatine, and the force all around them feels like it's being torn apart at the base, For a moment, Palpatine steps back But he knows he CANNOT hesitate a minute longer or Vader will be beyond being convinced,"It seems, Lord Vader, that in your anger, you killed her" "I-i couldn't have!""N-n-no" and Vader screams now, it feels like his throat is tearing Palpatine can feel the universe being exposed to an entirely different source- Like passing a different galaxy too closely Vaders internal world was so painful and so powerful, it rivaled existence itself. The particles in the air began to shake like they were being torn at violently, Then whole objects shook with irradiating hatred, Then the world beneath their feet,Then the whole force shook with such anger, Had Palpatine made a mistake? Vaders helmet shine sharply in the light from the medical lamp above,And Palpatine then thought, I have not made a mistake.  I have made a work of art. Sitting in darkness with a halo of light around the top of his head Like a dark star had fallen Palpatine knew as long as he ^seemed^ to be in the side of the light, Vader would follow him unquestioningly The pure suffering he felt in the very core of the force was his to command, He just had to point it in the right direction On an asteroid light years away, obi wan feels padmes last grip on life slip away, and her soul washes away on a current in the force He hangs his head in grief It no longer matters that he was not supposed to feelHe knew he was responsible for this He should've listened- But how could the criticism given to him by obi wan himself and the Jedi council force him to this? This was beyond reason beyond what should even be possible- No, anakin, or whoever he REALLY was, was a monster. Obi wan decided. There is nothing that should've been able to turn him to this Palpatine was manipulating him, a shattered voice in his head chimed in Padmes children cried from the other room, And obi wan remembered the bodies at the temple, Surely no one should've been able to convince Anakin, brave, kind Anakin, to do those things? Surely he had his darkness but he was young, obi wan had been rash once too... it could've been preventedBut but this? it was unforgivable. The medical droids on polis massa carelessly stack the metal coffin on top of many others, returning to home worlds or to a cremating facility and then one for biological waste. They didn't much care where the bodies really went, actually. The droids mostly just did their jobs. So they didn't care to notice that they were stacking away a Jedi or a janitor or a spicer or a queen, Or that one of the bodies wasn't actually dead. Their scanners were equipped to see signs of natural life, breathing/heart rate/body temperature. They even had software that had the data for the right amounts of basically everything that keeps thousands of different species alive, and which ones, and why. But midochlorians didn't show up on those scanners, so they did not exist in the minds of the droids. And if they did, they had no medical evidence that they should care. The queen, though She was booming with themEven though most of her power had been stripped away from her Her will itself kept her anchored to life She'd let go for a second, slipped just a second down the stream, But she had found a tree root in the river, Her nails grasping tightly and barely holding on "Leia. Luke." She said softly. But the droids now were too far away. The unmanned vessel headed off to naboo, priority delivery. When padme wakes up all she can think about is how much she hurts. Her brain feels fuzzy, like when she went hiking to the high mountains of alderan as a girl. She blinks but she can't see anything, it's the darkest place she had ever been in She tries to move to rub her eyes but she can't move, she feels two cold tight walls on either side of her. Her body hurts. She was numb, too Had she been drugged? Why did her body hurt? She became less and less numb as she regained consciousness And fear struck her heart so deeply that it rang out across the universe As Palpatines sharply started in Vaders gaze "The twins" she gasped. Her belly was no longer stretched over two growing babies She gasped for air Her heart shattered into a million pieces of glass and She began to cryAs only a mother can cry Her limbs unmoving,The rest of her body shaking with sobs Anakin- had done this! How could that be? No it was never him, never him,She assured herself,There was good in him,It was Palpatine! How could she have trusted him?Padme can't breathe , and she feels herself slipping away into the force again,(Salmon are time-travelers) So she focuses on staying alive, staying alive, staying alive, staying alive, to see her children againLuke...Leia... Ashoka stood frozen in the holoviewer"Hey you there? Did you hear me?"Her mouth slowly opened in shock"Sir?" Rex asked"Are you- are you sure it was him?"Rex nodded "I saw the holorecording myself sir""How? How could he-?""I uh, don't know sir. You know I served with general skywalker for years sir, and I'm just as shocked as you are""I- oh my -" "That's not all sir""What? What else could he possibly have done?" "Well you and I have been watching padmes exploits a lot lately""Yeah..?""I just think it's funny that happened right around the same time, don't you?""Rex what are you saying?" She couldn't believe he could accuse anakin like this! "Well Ashoka we've been watching over padme haven't we? I know they're officially listing her cause of death as a result of complications in labor, but It seems suspicious, you know, thatd she'd up and go now""You and I have seen enough people die that we both know you don't get a choice when it comes to that"Rex nodded"What of the baby?" Ashoka asked "Well. Assuming they were anakins kids-""Kids? Twins? Were they then? His, I mean?" Rex shrugged "don't know sir... but sir... none of them made it"Ashoka hung her head in grief, even though she knew they were supposed to just become one with the force, it didn't feel purifying or light like the force usually did. Maybe it was something else entirely, a darker, uglier will from somewhere, something mutilating the force itself She did not retreat from the pain and sorrow she felt She knew she needed to feel it, And she would need to for a long timeShe hung her head and grieved deeplyThen the dark will pulled on her again, like a monster tugging on her sleeve to make her follow it. She turned to face it. It waved enthusiastically,And she followed She followed the dark presence down to its source. "Something's wrong rex""What sir?""We have to get to naboo. Now! Meet me at the spaceport!" Ashoka and rex headed to their old friend's funeral in disguise. It made them both sick they couldn't go as themselves and honor her the way she deserved But something was really wrong, And they couldn't go far without being recognized, And they both felt like they owed it to her if people were lying about the way she diedThey stood respectfully among many naboo,Senators,And old friends,Padmes friends, rex and ashoka's, and anakins, old friends "What is it sir?" Rex asked, "Shhh don't call me sir, You sound like a clone." Ashoka whispered harshly. "I'm an old handmaiden and you're- uh - my husband."Rex started "your what?""Shhh! Just go with it and focus!" Padme felt the shuttle entering orbit. Of what, she didn't know.   Suddenly a shock of fear hit her through the force,Someone was in pain, nearby? (She's a Sith Lord theory) or Ahsoka theory or BOTH Pacing in mustafar castle I couldn't have What have I done ghost that lives in his little moisturizing cubicle he has

[jediaretheworst]

George lucas describes everyone else with a buddhist philosophy in mind but sets anakin up with christian metaphors- long suffering as a slave the virgin mother and the sacrifice of the body of the “chosen one” inability to die until he undoes his harm- anakin in reference to christianity obi wan buddhism and reincarnation?

[jediaretheworst]

(Last One Standing – Jude Watson) TO UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF ANAKIN’S HEART.

[jediaretheworst]

Darth Vader, and infact before that, when he was Anakin too, has a distinct sense of humor. He is a master of the dry understatement. “Perhaps you feel you’re being treated unfairly?” “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” “Don’t choke on your aspirations.” “This is where the fun begins” “You will try.”

I wonder if this way of talking, of being formal and minimal in his language is how he was taught to talk as a slave. He was not expected to make big observations or give big opinions. He was expected to take his cruel childhood in his stride.

But then he moves to the temple and is in the company of children who are his age but were never slaves. During his introduction to the dorms the class is told that meals will be made available every eighth of a day and every fifth of a night. Anakin says outloud “How regular.” and all the other kids laugh. Anakin really was marveling at food being regular. All the other children seemed to think it was a joke.

Anakin understood very quickly that he was at risk of being “funny”. He said things the other kids wouldn’t say, and he’d say them in ways they wouldn’t either. He thought it better to be funny on purpose than to have funny assigned to him.

He wasn’t sure which of the things he was saying we’re jokes. He learnt to make a smirk, one his face wasn’t accustomed to; he wasn’t previously allowed to be perceived as arrogant. But the smirk made people think he was being comical. People seemed a lot less stiff around him when they were laughing.

He’s in the military now. His character is criticized as being unproffesional. He is called cocky. Some say he has a disturbed sense of humour. The clone troopers like him. They talk very much like he does. They understand how property is meant to talk.

The War is over. He no longer has a mouth to smirk with. Everyone is ridged. No one laughs. He talks to everyone the way he used to talk to Watto. They all look so small from this angle. They seem afraid that he’s mocking them. Threatening them? He doesn’t know how to make them think he’s joking. He doesn’t know if he’s joking.

[jediaretheworst]

[jediaretheworst]

Anakin and Obi-wan are as Odin and Loki.

Wow, yeah, there’s actually a lot to that.

Two blood brothers (who don’t quite understand their relationship in the same way, but never talk about it).

One (Obi-Wan/Odin) is a leader inand an insider to the culture (of the Jedi/Aesir), the other (Anakin/Loki) is an outsider brought into the culture by his relationship to the insider (but never let anyone forget that he’s still an outsider).

The outsider (Anakin/Loki) is expected to fix the problems of the in-group. (In fairness, in Anakin’s case there’s a prophecy, while in Loki’s case, he’s frequently the cause of the problems in the first place. But not always. And whether he’s the cause or not, he’s always expected to fix it.)

The outsider (Anakin/Loki) murders someone universally beloved by the community (the Jedi children/Balder).

His blood brother (Obi-Wan/Odin) tracks him down and imprisons him in some torturous way. (Loki’s bound in his murdered son’s guts with a snake dripping poison into his eyes until Ragnarok. Anakin’s bound in a walking torture suit, which, in fairness, is Palpatine’s doing not Obi-Wan’s, but the connection is still there. And there’s a degree to which Anakin’s two masters become strangely intertwined at the end of ROTS, both symbolically and, I think, in Anakin’s own mind.)

When the bound one (Anakin/Loki) finally breaks free, he brings about the total destruction of the old world order, dying himself in the process, and something new rises from the ashes. (Anakin’s Ragnarok is a bit more spread out than Loki’s, but he does ultimately kill both masters and bring about the destruction of the Republic/Empire. Luke’s new way of being a Jedi, and Leia’s Rebel Alliance, rise from the ashes.)

[jediaretheworst]

Rane + Zaladus Transcend the Force Part 1

The Lightsaber of an old Darth

I’ve been writing this for a while. I’m going to put a semi-finished (not finished at all really if we’re being honest) version of it here.

I’m using two “original characters” as a mechanism to talk about some intricacies in the jedi+ sith philosophies, as well as some real-life ones, specifically nihilism + hedonism and then, of course, how they relate (or don’t relate) to either side of the force. Whoo. I’m setting it safely in the future, long after TFA and all that stuff bc I don’t want to have to interact with canon that is subject to change. Hopefully, Yavin + Moraband/Korriban are nicely like… not blown up…. bc that’s where I’m going, and my characters (in what I’m writing here) will have little influence over galactic events. Unless I get tangential. Which I never do. Cool. Let’s go to Moraband, where I started off.

The floor of the tomb was polished to a shine, remarkably clean for a place so ancient. Rusting droids maintained their duties, unconcerned with the fact that their masters had departed the mortal realm centuries ago.  Some of those dutiful servants, however, now lay in pieces, exacting lightsaber wounds tarnishing their sides. Others toiled on, spared after the wielder realized they had no combat capabilities.  Harsh, electrical light bounced off the pure black floors, giving the impression of a dark, placid lake. All was silent, save the distant groans of the droids’ ancient gears. 

Desert stretched on above for hundreds of miles, concealing the ancient graves of the Sith. Held fast in the desert’s burning arms, ancient lords could do nothing but slumber as the sand began to slowly devour them. 

But the hall that lay before Rane seemed to not remember the warmth of the burning world above, nor the honor of the Lords who slept in the sands nearby, those that had led their lives as warriors, without fear, and met death again and again before finally surrendering to death whole-heartedly, like an old companion had been sent to take them home. This hall crept with deception and calculating coldness that had no interest in serving, only gaining what it could for itself and moving on. This aura had met death, used it as an ally, but had never expected to truly succumb to it in the end. 

Rane’s boots, caked with flaking blood and the red dirt of the world above, left footprints as stark as the sound they made in the empty tombs. It had been thousands of years since Sith, even if it was just a lowly apprentice, had graced these halls.

Rane was there for one thing- a hateful artifact of a Sith Lord who’s name had been lost to time, much like the nature of the artifact. All Rane knew was that a single Holocron had been left to this Sith’s single apprentice, and his own assassin in the end. Since the death of the Sith Lord, bloodshed had followed his Holocron to the edges of the known universe, and back again. Rane’s master believed that the contents would make him invincible, but Rane thought they would probably kill him. Which, actually, was fine with him.

Most tombs that Rane had entered had numerous booby traps, deceptions, false artifacts, and the descendants of monstrous beasts that Sith created to protect their bodies after death. But so far… Rane felt nothing in the force, no sense that he was in danger, only the ominous, greedy aura of the dead sith but even that wasn’t very strong. 

With no other strategy for finding the artifact, he wandered aimlessly, waiting for something to call to him from the force. 

The artifact he sought was said to have been returned to Moraband, its presumed birthplace, after causing a great number of violent incidents. It was said to have caused a massacre in the Jedi temple itself when an unassuming Cathar knight read the contents and went berserk, and again when it was used for psychological manipulation of violent criminals at an asteroid-based prison in the outer rim, leading to one of the deadliest prison breaks in galactic history. Reports indicated that the prison break left three Jedi masters dead, six knights, and the entire staff of the prison. Rane thought it served them right for using such a horrible device so lightly. Rane’s master had tracked the artifact from the prison break almost 150 years ago, who had fled the scene of that atrocity and tried to lie low on Tatooine, where he was found murdered in his sleep, according to a reporting agency based on Coruscant, who’d only taken interest because one of the knights murdered at the prison was their main source for information from inside the order.  After that point, the Sith Holocron had gone missing from history for some time, making everyone who knew of it both relieved and anxious of its return. 

Then about a century ago, it was found with the remains of a Republic Reclamations team on Hoth, who had apparently turned on each other when they had viewed the contents. 

From Hoth, it was returned to the hands of the sith, who used it liberally to corrupt and manipulate their enemies. 

Rane’s master insisted he had evidence that traced the artifact’s last whereabouts to a noble smuggler who vowed to remove the Holocrons contents from the eyes of the galaxy after it had been used to corrupt one of his close friends during an interrogation. The smuggler quickly realized it was well beyond his capabilities to destroy such a device, and decided to return it to the homeworld of the sith, where it could slumber peacefully alongside its makers. Rane’s master wasn’t sure if it had been created on Moraband or elsewhere in the galaxy, but he believed that it was still resting deep within the tomb where Rane now stood. 

He entered the antechamber, inspecting lesser artifacts and pocketing some for himself. He wore a thick black cloak to protect him from the elements, but he had also sewn a number of pockets and sleeves into the interior where he kept novelties and interesting finds from his travels. When he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to his mission or his training, he’d often dig through his cloak and find plenty of interesting items he’d completely forgotten he’d taken, or borrowed.

He knew that stealing sith artifacts was a serious business, but he also knew how to deal with the consequences of sith curses. They were lovely gifts for his enemies at the sith academy, and those that turned out to be harmless, he kept in his collection. 

He hummed as he grabbed the artifacts that suited him. He seemed to gravitate towards artifacts that had a certain aesthetic appeal, particularly those that glittered or shimmered, or those of the darkest black. 

Suddenly, the force pulled him gently onward. He felt a great power, deeper in the tomb, something that had been concealed before. It had been waiting, Rane could sense it, to see if Rane was someone it knew. A presence, both familiar and alien, like perhaps he’d known it a long time ago. 

Rane stepped into a room that lay off on the side as if it was an afterthought. Inscribed in an ancient language even Rane couldn’t understand, were stories of conquest, great treasures, and the great trophy of finding the lightsaber of a Darth… Vader? Rane had heard that name, but it was from a long time ago. 

He stopped to read a smaller inscription, his lips moving as he deciphered the words, letter by letter. Rane’s master had intended to hinder him by sending him on treacherous journeys into Sith tombs, instead of having him complete “real” Sith training, but Rane had picked up a number of skills in his time as an apprentice. Eventually, he was able to discern that the inscription was about the owner of the tomb, not Vader, and how the sith that lay dead here believed that he was the descendant of someone called Anakin Skywalker? And he declared, therefore, he was entitled to Vader’s lightsaber. Rane wasn’t sure how that claim progressed logically, but he wasn’t sure he cared what the Sith was talking about, but his face lit up at the idea of finding an ancient lightsaber. 

What an interesting collectible that would be, especially one that belonged to Vader! Vader was still studied at the academy, even though details of his life were hard to come by because he lived so long ago. Still, Rane knew he had been a prodigy. Ancient Studies was one of the only classes he bothered to pay attention in because he knew that he, unlike almost all the other apprentices, would have the opportunity to get his sticky fingers on some of the long-dead Darths’ things, and with his knowledge, he could find even more interesting things. 

He recalled his lessons on Vader. The instructor was always incredibly vague about his early life, perhaps that knowledge had been lost to time. But when he was older, he became the Emperor’s Enforcer, responsible for many massacres. Rane though he must’ve been a real jerk, even for a Sith. But still, his mind wandered off, leaving his eyes glassy, of how cool it would’ve been to meet him. 

From within the chamber, the force tugged Rane gently onward, but it wasn’t the dark side. That confused Rane. He felt he was being led on by a slightly annoyed teenager, rolling their eyes and telling him to hurry up. Rane reached out in the force, trying to learn more about the presence he was feeling. He found darkness, but not as he knew it. And he found light but in a way he didn’t understand. 

Inside, the presence he felt relaxed, and dissolved as he approached a dark chest, glimmering with an unnatural light. Rane lamented it seemed too large to take with him. He thought for a moment about coming back after his assignment was completed, but he decided as pretty as it may be, it was probably not worth the trouble. 

The chest opened easily, to Rane’s surprise, because there was seemingly a large number of locking mechanisms on it. Perhaps it had been broken into before? But Rane could feel the Force pulsating from inside it…

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but the lightsaber was there. Surprisingly simple, it was obviously not crafted by the same Sith who had made himself this obnoxiously glossy tomb. It was gray, black and handmade, but crafted so well it seemed preferable to anything Rane had ever seen before. 

He took the saber in his hand, and it was perfectly weighted. He ignited it, and it was a simple, pure red, yet it emanated emotion. Rane could feel the misery of the one who had wielded it, and a clean, acute hatred. The light from its plain but harsh glow reflected off the glossy floor, exposing the sleek blackness for what it really was, a cracked, crumbling, meaningless attempt at art. Unlike the lightsaber he now held, so well constructed it gleamed eternally. Rane thought that the Sith buried in this tomb was lucky to have not encountered a creature such as Vader in life. 

[jediaretheworst]

[jediaretheworst]

Kylo Ren and What is Stopping him From Becoming Vader.  

AKA: These are your Final Steps.  What will ‘complete’ his training? AKA: Super late night train of thought ramblings. 

When it comes to the wonderful world of speculation and the downfall of Vader to the Rise of Kylo Ren, we have to recognize the amazing amount of similarities between their ‘big crimes’.   While Star Wars does have a certain set of poetry to it, a part of me feel like maybe this is more that a coincidence.   Now Vader has had much more time on the Dark Side, and obviously the extended Universe really expands on his crimes, but for the sake of this discussion, let’s keep it to the Movie-verse, because that is what most people will know when watching these films.    I have little doubt Snoke is trying to create a new Vader, and has probably done his research on Anakin Skywalker, may it be from documentation left in the archives of empire, or visions in the force.  I have a feeling the Galaxy is one giant chess game for Snoke and he know’s every players move.   He’s knows the recipe to create Darth Vader.   He knows just what pieces need to fall in order to create the perfect apprentice.  

So Let’s discuss the “Major Kills” of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader in the Movie Universe

-The Slaughter of the Sand People Village  -The Original Jedi Massacre  -The Murder of Obi Wan Kenobi

…and The Death of Padme Amidala (Yes, Anakin’s actions are what killed her) Let’s simplify those crimes shall we? - The Slaughter of a Villiage who had/took something of importance - The death of the Jedi students - The Murder of the ‘Father Figure’

Sound Familiar? They should.  These are Kylo Ren’s current standings as well.  “You are afraid, you will never be as strong as Darth Vader” Cause god knows his variants of these crimes aren’t done with nearly the conviction of Vader.  But we have one more, the Death of Padme Amidala.  The person Anakin ‘loved’ more than anyone.  The one who he turned for.  Her very existence and his obsession with her is what drove him to madness.  Snoke knows the new equivalent now.     Padme and Rey may not have many similarities in terms of their characters or relationship to their respective ‘antagonist’, but Anakin and Kylo have very similar ways of approaching their ‘heroine’.   It’s immediate, It’s a unsteady, it’s infatuation, it’s reckless.   

But what drives that point home is what Snoke says to Kylo after the Interrogation scene.  “You have compassion for her.”    He’s found the ‘Padme’.   The word compassion is very important here, as it heavily references Anakin and Padme in particular.   (We have the “Don’t be afraid” Parallels as well) “It looks like a reminder is in order, bring her to me, and I will show you the power of the dark side.”  The next step.  The Final step really. 

We cannot deny Ren’s conflicted feelings for Rey,  where they are rooted we don’t know, but from the parallels between Poe and Finn, it is quite clear Ren approaches Rey much differently. We know by the end of The Force Awakens,  it’s time to complete his training.  We know that Episode VIII takes place the second VII left off, we know Kylo makes it to Ach-to.   Is eliminating Rey that training? This is the step that cannot be completed, though it could be easily accomplished, and no doubt will be attempted in the future.   Something will be different in this lifetime.   There is enough ‘Ben’ left where there was not enough ‘Anakin’. 

But there will be something different between the infatuations, and that is something Snoke will not expect.   Given what we know of Kylo’s character, I believe we will see his emotions develop passed “awestruck”  to true compassion and understanding.   Anakin was in love with the idea of Padme, he had made a fake world for them, and when she broke that illusion, she had to go away with it.   While I think we will see Kylo desperate to prove he is stronger in the next film, that his dark side training had benefitted him, we can essentially assure that Rey will not die.   Kylo’s conflict has not ended with the Death of Han Solo, we are sure to see it live on in this trilogy.  We are sure to see it live on in the next generation cast, apart from Luke and Leia.  Kylo is a next generation character.   Some force, (or The Force) will stop this last step. 

[jediaretheworst]

“Chosen One” Pt 3

This was originally an essay I wrote as a freshman in college, so it’s a... little rough. I’ll add my sources again at the bottom just because force of habit will make me anxious if I don’t..... this is technically an “academic” paper I wrote lol. This is long. @npd-starscream

The Jedi Order's belief that emotion can only distract from seeing the world as it truly is, and that it can only conflict the person who has them, was a direct source of their failures in the second Star Wars trilogy, episodes I-III. Ignoring emotion and the passions, or pretending like they don't exist to try and gain objectivity tends to be a philosophically contradictory practice. Emotion is required to make logical decisions, for survival, motivation, and can serve all three parts of Plato's divided soul.

The Jedi Code & "The Slave Metaphor"  

"There is no emotion. There is peace. There is no ignorance. There is knowledge. There is no passion. There is serenity. There is no chaos. There is harmony. There is no death. There is the Force" (Simpson). The absence of emotion in the Jedi Code is meant to make those who follow it more rational, objective and fair. It is often times assumed that the lack of emotion equates itself to logical thinking, and this is generally accepted in society, even today, and is a common philosophical concept. "One of the most enduring metaphors of reason and emotion has been the metaphor of master and slave, with wisdom of reason firmly in control and the dangerous impulses of emotion safely suppressed..." (Solomon 3).  

A Phantom Menace  

A Phantom Menace, while sometimes considered inessential to the entire story arc of Star Wars, is a shining example of the illogical nature of the Jedi Code.  The abandonment of emotion might be attainable for some forms of alien life in the Star Wars universe, but is it not only extremley harmful to human beings, it is also pretty much  impossible. One immediate issue that arises in The Phantom Menace is not only that this is harmful to people, but that this is extremely harmful to children and would effect them for the rest of their lives.  

A new study from UCLA suggests that a loving parental figure may alter neural circuits in children that could influence health throughout a lifespan. On the flip side, the negative impact of childhood abuse or lack of parental affection take a mental and physical toll can also last a lifetime. Childhood neglect increases adult risk for morbidity and mortality. (Bergeland)

This would effect every Jedi Padawan, although some of them turn out better than others. In The Phantom Menace, we are obviously not foreshadowing the failure of every single Padawan, and obviously some of them have made it through this process to become Jedi Knights and dismember droids and impose their holiness upon the rest of society, which is annoying but not at all the worst outcome that could've been a product of their childhood. Nor is the worst outcome when a Padawan walks away from the Jedi Order to wander the streets of Coruscant to impose their own sense of justice without any sort of governing body, like Ahsoka Tano (The Wrong Jedi).

No, obviously the worst possible outcome of these denials of attachment and emotional validation presents itself in the Star Wars universe is a tall, ugly, wheezing metal machine they call Darth Vader, who started out as one of these Padawans and grew up to me one hell of a emotionally stunted mass-murderer. It's not to say that he isn’t responsible for his actions, just as any murderer is, at least in part, responsible for what they have done. But the Jedi order claims to have the moral superiority, and condemn those who end up like Vader, but the reality is, even if Vader's action are truly his responsibility, and his responsibility alone, they could've been prevented by the Jedi order had they taught him to understand and accept his emotions.  

Now of course, the Jedi sculpt themselves not for their own benefit, or for any other Jedi's benefit, but rather to see how they could best serve others who cannot themselves. Eudaimonia is a Greek term used by Aristotle to talk about the concept of "the good life". Which on the surface seems utterly converse to what the Jedi believe in, duty, service, lack of worldly belongings, etc. But to Aristotle, this concept of Eudaimonia isn’t just having things or simply being happy, rather the concept is meant to say that life is not fulfilled until you reach your full potential. If the Jedi wished to serve their galaxy to the best of their ability, then they would have to come to the understanding that alienating themselves and the younger, perhaps unwilling, members of their order from emotion and from others does not further their goal of servitude, because doing so would mean that they would not and could not serve their galaxy to the best of their ability.  

Attack of the Clones

There is a really obvious metaphor in the Star Wars prequels about the modern western world and ancient Rome, and in the same parallel, there was a school of philosophy that existed in ancient Roman times called Stoicism. Stoicism can be explained simply as, "Stoics... hold that emotions like fear or envy... either were, or arose from, false judgements" (Baltzy). However the views of the Stoics oftentimes contradicted the environment and society they lived in, as Robert C. Solomon explains, "Stoics analyzed emotions as conceptual errors, conductive to misery... Emotions in a word, are judgements- judgements about the world and one's place in it. But the world of Roman society was not a happy or a particularly rational place," and goes on to note that Seneca, an influential Stoic who served emperor Nero, went on to commit suicide (5).

The Clone Wars

The Star War: The Clone Wars animated series provides a look at the missing pieces to Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. There is one main plot event in the television series of particular relevance, that shows how his character is more prone and inherently drawn to the side of the dark, and showcases more information that provides insight to his final moments of weakness.  

These events occur when Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Anakin become stranded on a strange planet home to beings that are extremely powerful in the force. These beings are essentially embodiments of the light, dark and balance (Overlords). There are three episodes that take place here and involve these characters, and the central plot revolves around how Anakin must take the place of the 'father' of the embodiments of light and dark, because only he can 'control' them. This view is similarly expressed by Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith when he says, "You were supposed to bring balance to the force, not destroy it" to an immolated Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin makes similar, and poor, decisions in these episodes as he does in Revenge of the Sith. Overlords, Altar of Mortis, and Ghosts of Mortis, he lives up to Obi-Wan's statement of "destroying" the force. Instead of keeping the literal embodiment of darkness from getting to the rest of the galaxy, he instead decides to help it after it shows him his future. It's interesting because he sees all the stupid mistakes he's going to make, and for some reason believes in this dark side entity that promises, in essence, the best way to avoid making those mistakes later in life is to just make them as soon as possible. It is important to note that Anakin is willing to sacrifice himself and what he believes in for this entities' promise of peace. This is another example of how denying the need for Eudaimonia when wanting to serve others becomes harmful. Anakin is not at peace because he can't handle his own emotions, and does not care if he destroys himself to achieve the Jedi goal of peace, and this, by consequence, convolutes this idea of peace, and turns into this sort of "the ends justify the means" belief.  

At the end of these three episodes, Anakin says, "You will not understand what I have to do to end the clone war. You will try to stop me. I have seen that it is the Jedi who will stand in the way of peace" (Ghosts of Mortis). Even in the ugliest moments of Anakin Skywalker, he's talking about achieving peace, a goal set by Jedi, not Sith. But in the end of this, his memory is erased and he returns to being "light side" Anakin.  

However, there is another important concept that can also be explained by the episode of Star Wars: The Clone wars, Overlords where Anakin balances the force and holds back both the light and the dark. Descartes (1596-1650) had a view on emotion that was "value-oriented" (Solomon 7), meaning that they had a particular role to play in aiding reason, and where the two would be in coordination. Descartes'  provides this example of using courage to motivate,  

To excite courage in oneself and remove fear, it is not sufficient to have the will to do so, but we must also apply ourselves to consider the reasons, the objects and examples which persuade us that the peril is not great; that there is always more security in defense than flight, that we should have the glory of joy of having vanquished, while we should expect nothing but regret and shame for having fled and so on. (Solomon 6)

In this example, emotion and reason are in lockstep. Neither hold a higher balance than the other, rather both are important to survival, and emotion is necessary in making a logical decision. It allows the decision maker to motivate themselves to do what is right, by emotion alone, as Hume would argue.  

Revenge of the Sith

All the components that led to Anakin's fall finally break through to the surface in Revenge of the Sith (ROTS). The opening plot point to this movie, when then Chancellor Palpatine is "captured" by the separatists, shows the contradiction in the Jedi code and then the actual practice of the Jedi that Anakin had so obviously struggled with.  This contradiction lies in the line of the Jedi Code that goes as follows, "There is no emotion, there is peace" (Simpson). This seems to make sense at first glance, but its' shortcomings in comparison to other beliefs held by the Jedi, are clearly demonstrated when Anakin kills Count Dooku. Emotion is not the opposite of peace. Anakin kills someone who is a great threat to the galaxy, and their universe would have hypothetically been more peaceful without Dooku. Emotion drives Anakin to act for peace, not lack of it. This confliction further warps his views as the movie progresses, and this is where the ideals of the Jedi truly fail him.  

It was peace that truly drove Anakin, even for selfish reasons, up to this point in his life. But his story is a clear example of Hume's motivation theory, that reason itself cannot provide the will to take action. In Star Wars the Jedi code and their other ideals often parallel the Kantian idea of "duty", that is to do good for good's sake, or "A will estimable in itself and good without regard to any further end" (Kant 197). However, not conversely to this, Hume "came to question the role and capacities of reason itself, and in particular the power of reason to motivate even the most basic of moral behavior" (Solomon 7). Meaning, Hume wasn't directly disagreeing with the idea of doing good for good's sake, but rather what would motivate you to do so. Kant believed that this sense of "duty" was enough, but Hume believed that emotion was required to make someone act on this sense of "duty".

These arguments are played out at the end of ROTS when Anakin is provided with not only an idea of "peace", a dictatorship but also the will to do so, because he believes going down this path is the only way to save his wife. Anakin plays the part of Hume's argument, that there must be some incentive to want to take moral action, and he makes Hume look rather sinister. But Hume's argument doesn't have to end in fire, burning, and destroying a lot of things you care about, and nor would have Anakin needed to go that far to prove that point. Would he have made such a move for (what he believed was) peace had his wife's life not been threatened? Or conversely, on the side of Kant, would Obi-Wan been able to destroy his friend if not for his sense of "duty" to do so?  

In the end, however it is emotion that is the downfall of not only Anakin Skywalker, but the entire Jedi order (by his hand), so it is easy to return to the "Slave Metaphor" and blame this on emotion running amok. But is also the original denial of emotion early on in Anakin's life that led to the insecurity and lack of control over them. So what is it then? Reason is greater than the passions? Or as Hume put it, "reason is, and always should be, the slave of the passions" (Solomon 1)?

Return of the Jedi & Plato  

At the end of Anakin/Vader's story, he supposedly returns to the light. The idea that emotion is inferior to reason, especially when it comes to how they relate to making moral judgements, can be further discarded, by looking at why he returned to the light. He made this decision as he did all his decisions, emotionally. Seeing his son's loyalty to goodness and to the light is the final turning point where he seems to denounce the ways of the Emperor. But this doesn't make him a Jedi, and it's not a decision he made by the grace of reason.

How, then, would Plato describe such inconsistent moral judgements? "In book IV of the Republic, Plato's descriptions of psychological conflict include cases in which agents (people) perform acts contrary to what they take to be the best course open to them" (Lesses). However, it wouldn't be correct to assume that Anakin didn't think he did exactly what he had to do in ROTS. The blame for this isn't to be put on merely logical thinking, but rather on the fact that he was taught consistently that his emotions were worthless, and by extension himself. So destroying himself to help someone he loved would've seemed perfectly acceptable, and the correct course of action. Regardless of whether he thought he was being logical, however, Anakin did make an illogical decision.  

In order to understand how agents can act contrary to reason, we must examine Plato's parts-of-the-soul doctrine. Plato distinguishes three parts of the soul in Book IV (of the Republic): (I) reason (II) spirit, and (III) appetite. Agents are susceptible to several, relatively independent sources of motivation because each part of the soul has a characteristic motivation. (Lesses 148)

This then, supports the "Slave Metaphor". But Plato treats the passions differently, because his definition of reason is different. According to Plato,  

It (the sun) is the cause of knowledge and truth; and so, while you may think of it as an object of knowledge, you will do well to regard it as something beyond truth and knowledge and, precious as these both are, of still higher worth,… In our analogy of light and vision were to be thought like the sun, but not identical with it, so here both knowledge and truth are to be regarded like the good. (Fogelin 371)

This means that if someone is wise, they are closer to the light, that if they are closer to the light than they are closer to the "good" although those three things are not all the same. So here, making a logical decision would be the same as making a moral decision. Vader's sparing of his son and act against the emperor is an emotional decision, but it is a move towards the light, and therefore, by Plato's terms, also a move towards reason/wisdom. Most importantly, he would have not made this decision without the role of emotion.  

The incorrectness of  the light and dark binary in the Star Wars universe can be clearly seen here, and we can see how Anakin/Vader balances and is attuned to both. On one side, we have Plato's "light" and on the other side, we have emotion & what Plato calls appetite."Plato accepts the occurrence of weakness" (Lesses 148), and serving only the appetite would be seen as weakness. Plato did believe that reason should be above the appetite, but not for the same reasons as the Jedi. In fact, "Each part (of the soul)… involves different sorts of desire" (Lesses 148). The pull of the three parts of the soul, reason, spirit, and appetite, can explain the inconsistencies in Anakin's full story arch, and where the motivation to do good really came from. This binary of light and dark are not what the Jedi said they were, emotion can serve both the light and the dark, reason or appetite, destroy the Jedi or the Sith Emperor.  

Closing Thoughts

The denial of the passions leads to an imbalance, because they play a role in each part of Plato's divided soul, in motivation, in reasoning for survival, and personal well-being. No real life school of philosophy can truly entirely exclude the role of emotion without contradicting itself or otherwise causing harm, and so therefore neither can fictional philosophy. The Star Wars prequels show the harm in this, and even though it is fictional, the complete neglect of emotion and the consequent issues are supported in real life.  

Emotion does not belong to a "light" or a "dark" side as it is made to seem in Star Wars, but even the originals conflict this sentiment. If anything, the prequels exist to show that sentiment is actually the downfall of an entire order.  

"Akrasia". Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 19 Jul. 2016.

Altar of Mortis. Dir. Brian Kalin O'Connell. By Christian Taylor. Perf. Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Sam Witwer. Lucasfilm, 2011. Television.

A New Hope. Dir. George Lucas. Perf. Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and Harrison Ford. Lucas Film Ltd, 1977.

Attack of the Clones. Dir. George Lucas. By George Lucas and Jonathan Hales. Perf. Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor. 20th Century Fox Film Corp., 2002. DVD.

Baltzly, Dirk. "Stoicism." Stanford University. Stanford University, 15 Apr. 1996. Web. 26 July 2016.

Bergland, Chistopher. "Parental Warmth Is Crucial for a Child's Well-Being."Psychology Today. Psychology Today, 4 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 July 2016.

"Eudaemonia." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 26 July 2016.

The Empire Strikes Back. Dir. Irvin Kershner. By Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan. Perf. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Billy Dee Williams. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 1980.

Fogelin, Robert J. "Three Platonic Analogies." The Philosophical Review 80.3 (1971): 371-82. Web.

Frede, Dorothea. "Plato's Ethics: An Overview." Stanford University. Stanford University, 16 Sept. 2003. Web. 18 July 2016.

Ghosts of Mortis. Dir. Steward Lee. By Christian Taylor. Perf. Matt Lanter, Lloyd Sherr, James Arnold Taylor. Lucasfilm, 2011. Television.

Kant, Immanuel. The Foundations of Ethics. Trans. James Ellington. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hacket, 1981. 194-213. Print.

Lesses, Glenn. "Weakness, Reason, and the Divided Soul in Plato's Republic." History of Philosophy Quarterly 4.2 (1987): 147-61. Web.

Lewis, Michael, Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones, and Lisa Feldman. Barrett.Handbook of Emotions. New York: Guilford, 2008. Print.

Overlords. Dir. Steward Lee. By Christian Taylor. Perf. Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Ashley Eckstein. Lucasfilm, 2011. Tevision.

The Phantom Menace. Dir. George Lucas. By George Lucas. Prod. George Lucas. Perf. Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, and Samuel L. Jackson. 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, 1999. DVD.

Return of the Jedi. Dir. Richard Marquand. By Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. Perf. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Billy Dee Williams. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, 1983.

Revenge of the Sith. By George Lucas. Dir. George Lucas. Prod. George Lucas and Rick McCallum. Perf. Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and Hayden Christensen. 20th Century Fox, 2005.

Shaw, Daniel. Reason and Feeling in Hume's Action Theory and Moral Philosophy: Hume's Reasonable Passion. Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen, 1998. Print.

Simpson, Ian M. "Jedi vs. Sith: Who Are the Real Good Guys? Star Wars Episode 7 HOPES!" Moviepilot.com. Movie Pilot, 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 18 July 2016.

Solomon, Robert C. "The Philosophy of Emotions." Handbook of Emotions. By Michael Lewis, Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones, and Lisa Feldman. Barrett. New York: Guilford, 2008. 3-15. Print.

"Stoic." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 27 July 2016.

Urmson, J. O. "Aristotle's Doctrine of the Mean." American Philosophical Quarterly 10.3 (1973): 223-30. Web.

The Wrong Jedi. Dir. Dave Filoni. By George Lucas and Charles Murray. Perf. Matt Lanter, Ashley Eckstein, Nika Futterman, Meredith Salenger. Lucasfilm, 2013. Television.

[jediaretheworst]

what she says: i feel like looking at some star wars theories

what she means: i feel like gazing into the gaping, slobbering maw of hell until my soul leaves my wretched body and my eyes fall out of their burning sockets

[jediaretheworst]

“Chosen One” 2

So in the Star Wars universe, we have more than one time where we see a “chosen one,” even if it isn’t explicitly stated. There are numbers of force users who shaped galactic events and changed the balance of the force, to shift it to the light, the dark, or restore it to harmony. Most of these characters exist only in the EU, but I think that it would be wrong to assume that the “chosen one” Anakin was in any way unique. “There is no death, there is the force” sets us up for a philosophy that could accept reincarnation in some form. However, Anakin is the only character we see in widespread Star Wars media that is truly referred to as the “chosen one” (I’ll probably talk about how I feel about Rey and how she is involved in this concept for me some time).

I believe that Anakin’s actions could be used as a dialogue against this idea of a “selfless savior” or at least how one could get hopelessly warped along the way. 

A lot of how you analyze him and how you perceive his actions can be based on how you see his relationship with Padme, or how you see how he feels about her. It is surely arguable that he wanted her to live for selfish reasons. He wanted her alive so that he wouldn’t have to lose her, and how he had a very self-important reaction to his mother’s death. Obviously, he was mourning, and his emotional reaction (save the slaughter of an entire village)(I’m talking about the emotions he was feeling not the dramatic “Just Anakin Things” way he reacts to his emotions) wasn’t particularly out of the ordinary. If that shocks you, read in the parentheses. But when Anakin’s mother dies, he talks about himself. How he couldn’t save her and that he was so upset, and how he was so upset that he murdered a village of innocent? people. I mean, it makes him sound bad (which he is but) a lot of people react this way to death, especially suicide. Now if you’re a super-powerful teenager who has fought numerous enemies and has literally destroyed armies and that like, means very little to you that you have done those things, and you’ve been involved in such traumatic and violent situations since you were very young (and before you were involved in them you were enslaved) it seems likely that you’d view death at the hands of some meaningless raiders like a suicide, in the way that you’d feel it would be a death that could’ve been prevented, and more distinctively, a death that could’ve been prevented specifically by you. (This isn’t to say that people close to people who commit suicide are to blame, I’m not talking about blame at all. It’s about how people react emotionally to certain things and why they might feel those things, regardless of whether or not those feelings are based in truth or are the result of grief).

So Palpatine, Sidious, ass-hat or whatever, has a lot of intuition about how Anakin is feeling (he’s a sith I mean, and he can literally sense emotions and Anakin, uh, has some strong emotions) and knows, being a horrible person, he can turn Anakin’s pain into something that benefits him. And he knows that when little Anakin was taken away from his mother, he immediately found another female to devote himself to (why, like, mentally/emotionally Anakin needed to do this is a whole different conversation), Padme. 

So Anakin loses his mother once when he leaves Tatooine, and then loses her again, definitively this time, and then pretty much right after is faced with losing another woman who is extremely important to him. It’s like Palpatine knew he had mommy issues or something. Oh wait, he did. Because Anakin wasn’t allowed to show emotion as a Jedi, nor did he have anyone else who seemed like a neutral party to him, to confide in. 

So did Anakin worry for Padme’s life because he was selfish, or was it because he genuinely cared for her? Did he lament his lack of power to save his mother’s death and see Padme’s life as a challenge to see if he really could be as powerful as he wanted? I think it can be both. Anakin was extremely arrogant and knew that others were not as strong as he was. 

There is even more insight into Anakin’s character provided in James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis although Anakin was only briefly mentioned in that book. But it does provide a lot more information on Palpatine/Sidious’ character, who, being the only other sith lord we know a lot about besides Vader (or the one as present as Vader in Star Wars media) really has some stark characteristic differences. Sidious wants to dominate others. Anakin mentions casually in Attack of the Clones on Naboo that he’d be ok with a fascist regime if “it works”. Both are shitty standpoints to have. One is, however, shittier than the other. Why? 

Sidious wanted to dominate others because he believed that he truly was better and he knew with his power, that he could get anything he wanted if he used the full extent of his will. 

Anakin/Vader wanted to help others, “The biggest problem with the galaxy is that people don’t help each other.” He walked into an overly idealistic school of thought, the Jedi order, having experienced life beforehand much like Thomas Hobbes described it, “nasty, brutish and short”. It would be easy for a self-righteous philosophy, such as that held by the Jedi, that in the sense that he had the duty to protect others because he was strong in the force, that he was better than others.

Similarly, in his duty to help others, a powerful manipulative source that the Jedi, the idiots, kept readily on hand as chancellor, to manipulate this to you have a duty to rule, you have a duty and a right to rule. 

But Anakin wasn’t as weak as maybe people think he is. Most people, given the life he was forced to lead, wouldn’t even of held out. Because Anakin didn’t give into the dark side because he wanted to rule or because he wanted more power, but because he was literally willing to destroy himself body and soul, for Padme. 

[jediaretheworst]

“Chosen one”

I have a lot of feelings about Star Wars philosophy+meta

When we say “chosen one” in the Star Wars prequels, a lot of the time you’re thinking, ah, yes, another regurgitation of the same “the main character is IMPORTANT” and “only THEY can do the thing” sort of ideas that we see in popular media all the time, pick any movie/tv show/book and it’s likely this is how the main character is portrayed and this is how the media justifies following that particular character’s story instead of someone else’s. Sometimes, however, the “Chosen One” trope is a little bit more /interesting/ than that, as it is capable, although not always used to its full capacity, of creating a dialogue on the universe and morality that is more biblical. 

One example of this in popular media that is less vexing/disagreeable than what is presented in George Lucas’ prequels, is Harry Potter. It's pretty obvious, you know, an innocent kid gets a shit go at life and still remains empathetic, good to the core, concerned about others, ends up dying to save others, in the end still doesn’t hate anyone, including Voldemort, his main nemesis and the person who kills him. It creates this idea of the truly good and forgiving those who trespass against us. P. biblically themed, in my opinion.  

So, Anakin Skywalker, love or hate him, had a potential to be a really deep, interesting character. And in some lights, he is. Those of us who watch the prequels and are more forgiving of some choices made, or those of us (like me) who grew up watching the Clone Wars and had a different perspective on him from the start, might see what he was meant to be, what he could have been, and what he could be. 

I think the most interesting thing I’ve ever read about Anakin/Vader was how he came into being (In the EU. I understand it’s not canon but the underlying messages and themes of Star Wars and its’ characters still live on, and even non-canon perspectives on characters {previously official or never official} are still valid when talking about who they are and what their purpose/meaning is). In James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis, Sidious and Plageuis are plotting the fall of the Jedi for decades before the events of Revenge of the Sith and decades before Anakin Skywalker even existed. Plagueis was searching for eternal life through science and the dark side, and he believed that becoming more powerful would lead him to destroy the light side of the force. Sidious, like, didn’t really care about him and wasn’t the driving force for wanting to destroy the Jedi, he was more about gaining power and did basically, just whatever furthered his whim of dominating other people (which coincided with Plagueis’ plans for some time). 

So Plagueis and Sidious are on the same boat for some time, they want power and they want to destroy the Jedi. So the two of them meditate on the dark side of the force, bringing the alignment of the universe itself closer to darkness simply with the strength of their will.

In my opinion, neither light nor dark can ever win the day in their universe. It has to remain in balance. So to protect itself from this movement to the dark, the universe conceives a fatherless child, Anakin, to balance the force. Shmi says in A Phantom Menace that Anakin had no father. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan assume it was some sith or wandering force-user. This was incorrect. Anakin was the force’s attempt at re-balancing itself (towards the light). Yikes.