Can a Jedi generate lightning?

You refer to it as Dooku's lightning, not Yoda's.

 

Right. I acknowledge that Dooku was the original producer of the lightning, my point was that if it was so evil to use, Yoda wouldn't have turned it right back around against Dooku like that, because his motivation for doing so would have mirrored Dooku's, and if lightning is created with malicious intent, then any usage of it would also require malicious intent. Basically, if lightning is a "wrong", two wrongs don't make a right. If Dooku is using the dark side to create it, Yoda must have been using the dark side by turning it back at Dooku, because the goal for both was the same...to harm the other person. If lightning is in and of itself, neutral though, then Yoda can do so without any dark side repercussions.

 

So it is evil to turn evil against evil?

 

From a Jedi perspective, yes it would be. It would be justifying doing something evil in order to fight another evil. If Dooku's lightning was the product of evil, Yoda using it for the same purpose as Dooku would also be evil. Yoda didn't merely deflect the lightning as a defensive measure like Windu does in ROTS, with it reflecting back to Palpatine being an effective side effect...Windu was merely using his lightsaber as a shield against it, and was not responsible for the lightning lancing out at Palpatine. Yoda however, is responsible, as he absorbs Dooku's lightning, and then actually aims it back at him. Yoda's actions are deliberate, Mace's were non-deliberate. Had Yoda merely used his lightsaber to deflect the lightning, as Windu does, I wouldn't have thought it particularly relevant to the discussion. It was Yoda's deliberate re-aiming of the lightning, as an offensive weapon that made me consider it relevant.

I look at the lighting as being more a neutral thing, like a lightsaber. It is merely a tool to be used. Anakin committed evil when he decapitated Dooku in ROTS with his lightsaber...but the saber itself isn't evil. It was used in an evil way, to be sure...but the saber itself was neutral about the whole thing. I see Force lightning like that too...it can be used for evil, but the power itself is neutral. Yoda turning it back on Dooku, using it to do the same thing Dooku intended it for, tells me that the lightning itself is not evil, and if it is not inherently evil, it could be created by a Jedi just like it can be created by a Sith.

(remember, Jedi lightning is no worse than C-canon, as it is featured in the EU as a Jedi ability, even making the cover of one of the DNT books, so its easy for me to how it could be considered more neutral than others might)

 

No. Yoda didn't do anything evil... he turned the dark power away from himself, in the general direction of the one who created it.

 

^ ^ I agree. There is nothing inherently evil in the act of turning away an evil force or power, or even in turning said force or power against its creator.

 

But you see, that just helps my argument. Because it negates the argument that Force lightning is inherently evil because it causes prolonged agony and suffering...if it is okay for a Jedi to then use that lightning to cause prolonged agony and suffering upon a Sith, it means that the intent to cause prolonged agony and suffering are NOT part of what is required for a Force user to generate lightning. If the lightning were totally evil, a Jedi would turn it away without directing it back towards the Force user issuing it. It would be hypocritical for a Jedi to believe that lightning is solely a dark side power, and then turn around and use it on someone else, even if that person were the generating it originally. Since Yoda had no ethical qualms about the whole deal, the lightning itself is not of the dark side. The person generating it may, or may not be, the lightning itself does need the dark side to function, therefore a Jedi could create it, if they so chose, and NOT fall prey to the dark side. The argument had been that since lightning could only be used to torture someone (a notion I disagreed with, but, whatever) that it could only be used by a dark sider, indicating that using lightning in a fight would be evil, period. But if using lightning in a fight is evil, then Yoda reversing Dooku's means that he isn't any better than Dooku is. He is trying to cause on Dooku the same pain and agony that Dooku was trying to cause on him. If lightning were truly evil, Yoda would have shunted it away, and not turned it on Dooku. And, I would point out, it wasn't "in the general direction" of Dooku, it was aimed specifically at Dooku.

For the record, I believe that when it comes to fights between Jedi and Sith, that you do what it takes to kill your opponent, regardless...I don't have a problem with Yoda throwing the lightning back at Dooku at all, I would have done the same thing...But because Yoda does it, and doesn't even remotely come close to the dark side, that indicates to me that the lightning isn't inherently evil, as I have been trying to suggest the entire time. Dooku generated it at first. He is a Sith. I do not pretend it is otherwise. My dispute is that since Dooku did it, lightning MUST therefore be a Sith ability. Yoda was shown being perfectly capable of gathering the energy from the lightning, and re-aiming it directly back at Dooku. He shows no ethical qualms in attacking Dooku this way. If lightning were a Sith only power, Yoda would be violating his principles as a Jedi Master by throwing it back at Dooku, because he would be returning evil for evil. If, however, I am correct, and the lightning itself is alignment neutral, then Yoda would of course have no ethical dilemma about reversing it. It also explains the ease at which he handled it, because it would show that its at least possible that he was trained in its usage.

And again...if this were in the lit thread, the debate would have been over a long time ago.

 

Probably, but I have found the EU universe to be a much different thing than movie-only SW.

 

From the OS:

Yoda reflected back Dooku's Sith lightning and did not generate any of his own. As Yoda says in The Empire Strikes Back, a Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack. There's no way to rationalize Force lightning as a defensive power. It's using the Force in an extremely aggressive fashion, so yes, it is inherently a power of the dark side, and using it could have terrible consequences.

 

Yeah, I think that was the quote I was thinking. Thanks for posting it.

 

I stumbled upon it randomly, while looking for something else, as if by destiny.