What if there was no Light or Dark Side and the effect the Force

The Force is crystal meth?

>>55188571
Zahn gives something similar in either Spectre of the Past or Vision of the Future, I forget which. But he's more into a dichotomy about how the Light Side attempts to listen to the Force for guidance, wheras the Dark Side is about bending it to your will.

>>55188571
>>55188688
>>55188890
So the Light Side is basically "dude weed lmao"-dudebros who smoke it for the hallucinations ("guiding visions"), while the Dark Side are junkies who inhale combat stims to enhance their combat performance?

>>55188890
>>55188571
If that were the case then Jedi vs Sith fights would be one of skill vs power, but most of the time they're equally matched until one manages to find a opening then they make one blow and the fight is over. I mean Sheev was the most powerful Sith Lord ever and he almost got killed by Mace Windu.

>>55188571
I had a similar idea at some point. Sith using their emotions to connect to the Force actually had the emotions they used amplified in themselves, resulting in some sort of emotional feedback ultimately changing who they are. That would be why siths often end up as caricature of themselves.
And Jedi would be right to distance themselves from their emotions while calling for the Force, though some may create similar feedback on "nicer" emotions (over compassionate jedi ending up strict pacifist).

It's not how it actually work, but I found the idea nice enough to have a character thinking that.

I've always been partial to the theory that it's not so much "Light vs Dark" as it is "Shallow vs Deep". The force is a dangerous sea of power and emotion, and if you want to stay safe you need to tread water and stay in the shallows. That's what the Jedi do. Their whole training is making sure they don't go under.
Sith dive as deep as they can, and are more likely to be destroyed by it as a result when they realize they can't make it back up anymore

>>55190019
Mace Windu was one bad motherfucker.
He also was bordering on using the dark side for lightsaber combat.

>>55188571
But there isn't. It's only human nature that introduces the duality. The force is just a network that connects people. Whether that network gets used to distribute free knowledge and education or run a giant scam depends only on (you).

>>55190409
Dabbling in the Dark Side shouldn't allow a Jedi to overpower a Sith Lord's Lightning.

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31KB, 618x463px

>>55188571
>What if there was no Light or Dark Side
That's how it was originally in New Hope, back when that was just Star Wars. Yoda in Empire explains that the Dark Side is a corruption of the Force brought about by its user. The "light side" was an old expanded Universe invention because comic book writers are idiots who can't be subtle.
>>55190612
This. How the Jedi originally worked was that one order was about restraint and detachment because the Jedi knew that power is corruptive on the psyche and the other, the Sith, looked at the Force as a tool no different then a weapon to wield and didn't care.

Think of the original concept of Jedi versus Sith as bees versus wasps.

>>55188890
>>55190809
At least in the Revenge of the Sith book by Matthew Stover, it's described as submission versus domination.
You have this incredible source of power, literally the life-energy that holds the universe together. Sith take this power and attempt to bend it to their will, basically directing it towards their goals.
Jedi allow the Force to direct their actions, trusting that the inherently benevolent nature of the universe will guide them towards benevolent outcomes, even if it were to result in the Jedi's death. One of the problems, though, is that it's rarely crystal-clear what exactly the Force wants you to do.
There's a comparison between Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Dooku. At his peak, Obi-Wan submits to the will of the force, becoming aware of and one with everything around him. He is fully prepared to give his life if the force wills it.
Anakin at his peak, forces the universe to obey his will. He starts with the end goal and works towards making it happen.
Dooku, in his battle with the both of them, bends the force to his will, and in doing so, strings along the Jedi like puppets. They submit to the Force, and he controls it. Then again, this is right before they wind up kicking his ass.

>>55190988
If you're going by the Revenge of the Sith novelization, it's explicit that Dooku throws the fight.

>>55191041
>Throws the fight like Obi Wan
I want him back as a Force ghost, all these other lamer characters get to be Force Ghosts but not based old Christopher Lee.

>>55191041
If I'm remembering right, he was supposed to kill Obi-Wan and then throw the fight with Anakin. He manages to incapacitate Obi-Wan, but Anakin engages him before he can finish him.
Then, as he's fighting Anakin, Palpatine is encouraging Anakin and giving him advice, and Dooku realizes that he's meant to die. He starts fighting for real, but by that point it's too late and he gets killed.

Per Lucas there is no real light and dark dichotomy anyway. There is only "The Force", with the dark side being the darkness within mens' hearts.

>>55191041

No, he was told to test Anakin by trying to kill him. If Anakin failed then killing him would he nothing lost as he obviously wasn't worth it anyway. If he won Palpatine promised to have Dooku spared/pardoned whatever.

>>55190675

Being stronger in the force does, which is what happens when Mace channels the dark side with Vapaad. The only person in the galaxy who can fuck with Mace Windu when he's in the Vapaad zone is Yoda.

>>55190675
That, for me, was what I hated the most about the prequels. Not the midichlorians, not the shitty acting, not Yoda bouncing around like a goddamn pinball.
In the original trilogy, the Emperor has lightning to show how unbelievably brimming with evil he is. When every other force usage has been super limited, when even Darth Vader can only throw things around, Palpatine can shoot goddamn lightning. It shows how incredibly one-sided the fight actually is. It's ultimate suffering. It's the Machine from the Princess Bride. Even when Vader takes him on, it takes all he has to bear the lightning long enough to chuck Palps over the edge, and it's what kills him.
As opposed to the prequels, where every Jedi can block it with their lightsaber. Do you think that's something Yoda forgot to mention to Luke? Like "oh yeah, if he shoots lightning at you just hold your lightsaber at a perpendicular angle, shit'll just bounce off."

>>55191117
Shame, considering he's actually dead.