|
|
|
| Werehunter wrote: |
They are quite distinct now, yes. But much of what the Unifying Force is described, is how the Force was described before they introduced the concept of The Unifying Force. Yes it was called the Light Side of the Force, but many of the qualities given to the Unifying Force was also given to the Light Side. Allowing the Force to guide you wasn't created once the Prequels came around, but had been used rather often by Luke and a couple other Jedi years before.
It would have been very easy to say that the Light Side of the Force as described in the books that take place after the movies was The Unifying Force but by a different name. Something that Luke did by mistake, which is easy to believe since he was only partially trained before Ben and Yoda died.
Here's something that you posted Sekot saying.
| Quote: |
| But in serving the Force we recognize that we are all the same thing; that when we act in accordance with the Force we act in accordance with the wish of all life to enlarge itself, to rise out of physicality and become something greater. |
That fits perfectly with the way Luke acted in regards to the Light Side of the Force several times.
As I said, yes there are some differences, but that's bound to happen when you have so many people working on an on-going series of books like this. By making the Light Side of the Force and the Unifying Force separate the way they did (something I don't think Lucas really did in the movies), it added a layer that I do not believe was needed and will only create confusion in many readers, especially since at least in Verege's case the author wanted her to be vague. |
The way that the light side was previously depicted was the same way it is depicted now, IMO. And it's downright inconsistent in terms of an organization like the Jedi in comparison to the Fallanassi. The author of the Black Fleet trilogy evidently had some idea of the deeper meaning to the original trilogy instead of falling into the trap of simplifying it the way that WEG, because the Fallanassi are the perfect example of a "light side organization" to contrast with the Jedi. The Jedi use violence, which is technically "dark." The light side is creation, the dark side is destruction. The Jedi aren't purely of one or the other, but try to stay balanced with the Force the way that the life cycle is balanced between the two extremes.
The Fallanassi go too far toward the light side, and as pacifists do absolutely nothing. When the Sith took over, they did nothing, and the Force remains out of balance if they were the only hope to do anything. The Jedi are more like the Unifying Force vis-a-vis the will of the Force, working to keep the Force balanced.
And I didn't get the vibe of that Sekot quote out of Luke's Jedi in Bantam... they were more about doing the self-perceived "right thing" than about service to the Force, and there was a definite Manichean dualism applied to the light and dark side with the Jedi being light side crusaders against the dark siders. Especially in books like Young Jedi Knights, they're all about moral lessons and that sort of thing. Those books just took on and injected a decidedly western slant into the Force in contrast to its more eastern depiction in the films, prequel EU, and NJO.
Edit: I can definitely see your point, and I agree to an extent that the distinction is minor, but there is a distinction. Whereas under Bantam the dark side is sort of the unnatural component to the Force that needs to be eliminated, the Force as depicted in the NJO and films is more about the individual placing his or her ego ahead of the collective and exerting his or her will, greed, and desires onto others. The light side is definitely more conducive toward maintaining balance than the dark side, as seen in the Mortis trilogy, because it's much more benign, but it's not balance in and of itself.
|
|
I'll have to look for it next time I watch the OT.