Skip to main content

star wars - Why did Jedi in the prequel movies use the Force offensively?


One of the Yoda's quotes which sticks in my mind most from the original series is



A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack!




To back this up we see Vader and Sidious using the Force against Luke, Vader throws things against him to wear him down and toy with him, throw in some Force chokes and he's definitely not following Yoda's teachings. Sidious uses the Force Lightning.


I've always assumed that using the Force in an offensive manner was banned for Jedi because it was a path to the dark side, to use the Force to attack rather than defense was to try and control it - very Sith-like.


However when we move onto the prequel trilogy we see the Force being used offensively very frequently (admittedly mostly against droids who may not be considered "alive"). The example which springs to mind is where we see Yoda throw the two red guards against the wall when he confronts Sidious (not to mention some rather offensive Force moves in the Yoda/Sidious and Obi Wan/Vader duels).


Why does Yoda forbid Luke to attack with the Force when it seems such common practice thirty years before?



Answer



The answer to this lies in the way you interpret their actions. From my point of view, whenever the Jedi have used their force powers, it can always be considered defence as they are never the ones to initiate hostilities.


So now consider the context in which the Jedi used their force. They use their powers when fighting against something that they believe to be wrong. They are fighting in defence of a belief or a way of life rather than to attack something.


Consider a soldier in an army. Think of the weapons they use and the context. If they use their weapons and skills in order to attack others, they are generally punished for it ( in an ideal scenario). But when they use it to defend against an attacker, they may use it in the same way, i.e. , aim at enemy, pull trigger, the context of the actions makes it a defensive action.


I can of course the completely wrong, but that's my point of view


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

star wars - What "exactly" happens when someone turns to the Dark Side?

When I saw the original Star Wars saga as a kid, the concept of the Dark Side imprinted in me was quite simple. You did a bad thing, so you're a bad person so you go to the Dark Side and keep doing bad things. Now, obviously this doesn't hold true in reality. In my mind it is perfectly reasonable for Luke to kill the Emperor and Vader and then just flee the Death Star and rejoin the Alliance. After all they are at war, those are enemy officers that have captured him and are taunting him by threatening with death of all loved ones and the whole operation was intended to kill the Emperor anyway. The same would hold true for Anakin. He could have killed Mace Windu to save the Chancellor and Padme but that doesn't mean he's going to then go mad and kill all Jedis including children. It doesn't add up from a merely psychological point of view. He had a set of objectives and that made him want to keep the Chancellor alive (quite valid by the way, Mace Windu is quite clums...
Post a Comment
Read more

star trek - Warning regarding forward saucer section in Nemesis?

In Star Trek: Nemesis , just before the Enterprise rams into the Scimitar, Picard sends a text message from his captain's chair arm pad to Troi — who is manning the helm in lieu of the crewman who was just blown out through what was once the view screen — indicating that she should put full impulse on standby. (Literally, if you watch the scene closely, Troi's console prefaces the order with "TXT MSG" !) My question is: Did Picard also somehow warn crew members in the forward saucer section about what was about to happen? The ramming of the Scimitar was a heat of the moment decision. Considering that he also resorted to calling the auto-destruct sequence shortly after (which ended up being offline), he probably was of the mindset that any losses would be acceptable in order to hault Shinzon's march to Earth. Still, I'm curious. Answer The original script indicates that he called for the crew to " brace for impact ". Whether that call (or the comma...
Post a Comment
Read more