ST Does TFA undermine the prequels?

Setting aside personal opinions about the credibility of the prequels, do you think TFA ruins them as far as continuity goes? The entire trilogy centered around the chosen one who would wipe out the Sith and bring balance to the Force. Now the Dark Side is being used again in this new trilogy, making the prophecy seem pointless.

Maybe it depends on how you interpret "balance." Snoke and Kylo Ren aren't technically Sith as far as we know, so the prophecy still stands in that respect. Still, the two sides of the Force are at odds again. That doesn't sound like balance to me. It makes Anakin's redemption feel so trivial.

That being said, if we ignore the prequels (which I think is the point), TFA fits perfectly with the OT.

 

no it doesn't, just like a movie set in 2015 doesn't constantly refer to what the main character's great grandfather did in world war 2.

Edit:
What I mean is, the prequels happened a really long time ago, it wouldn't make sense to constantly refer to them. The whole "balance" thing is 100% up to interpretation, and nobody said that balance would last forever. You NEED order and chaos alike, that's balance. Only order is not.

 

No. Kylo is very similar to Anakin. He's even getting a similar scar.

 

balance is an equal standing between the light and the dark which is what we have at this point as far as we know. Two for the light and two for the dark.

 

I don't think TFA undermines the prequels. Maybe Anakin isn't the chosen one. Maybe it isn't even Rey. After all, there are episodes 10-12 to consider. Maybe the chosen one will bring balance to the force in that trilogy.

 

I don't see an issue with the prequels. Just because balance is brought to the Force does't mean it will stay balanced forever. Vader saving Luke stills gives hope in the new struggle against the FO.

 

How can it undermine something it barely references?

 

I actually think invalidating the OT (thematically) is a bigger concern. This is a sequel to Ep VI, a grand conclusion and basically it's all happening again with some different faces in some of the spots.

 

Anakin brought balance when the Sith were defeated, for a time.

The Chosen One is to defeat the Sith specifically, not defeat all the dark side forever, correct?

 

That isn't how Lucas saw the Force being balanced. I read where he said the dark side that was like a disease in the Force and unbalanced it. Balancing the Force requires destroying the dark side.

 

I disagree with this. Evil has no place in society. If dangerous and filthy evil doers exist to do harm to good people, there is no balance. Balance and harmony can only be achieved when the dark side is vanquished.

 

I always thought the interpretation of "balance" was ambiguous. Did he achieve it by killing all of the Jedi, thus leaving two Sith and two jedi? Did he create balance by killing the Emperor?

 

What would you say the point of the prophecy was then if everything just goes back to hell 30 years later?

 

Not the dark side but the sith.

 

There are a few varied interpretations of exactly what the dark side is, though

Is it the yang to the light side's yin? Or is it an unnatural distortion of the Force?

The Chosen One was said to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. He did both

We already have confirmed (lol almost put this next part in spoiler tags. habits) that there are no more Sith. Now as for the Force staying balanced, that's the tricky thing

I don't feel like TFA undermined them. If anything, it acknowledges them in a positive light by putting in a line directly referencing the results of the prophecy

 

Well you are not the one telling the story. You can't rid the world of darkness. You need both for balance.

 

Yin and Yang light and dark. You can not appreciate the light if there is no dark and you can not understand the horror of the dark when there is no light.

 

I don't think it undermines the PT, it undermines the OT, I don't like the Happy Ending Override that after all the good things everyone in the OT, they get no reward, and their family lives sucked.

 

Nobody even knows where the "prophecy" came from, let alone how legitimate it was. "bring balance to the force", as far as I'm concerned, does not mean "bring and maintain balance to the force infinitely"

 

That's the only way we're left to interpret it now, which is why it feels so trivial. It took 30 something years for the prophecy to be fulfilled, and peace lasted for less time than it took to attain. I'm not saying TFA contradicts the prequels, but it does make the story they were trying to tell feel less important to the overall saga.

 

No way. Dangerous and evil people like the Sith, Empire, First Order bring no balance to society. Killing innocent people brings no balance to society. These movies are about good vs evil. Plain and simple. I think you are watching these movies for different reasons than most people. Maybe you are rooting for the First Order. lol

 

Like others, I think balance is ambiguous and we don't exactly know what it means canonically.

IMO, Anakin basically cleans the slate for the galaxy. The dark side and the sith had became deeply embedded in the galaxy. The Jedi had became overly dogmatic. When Anakin destroys both these groups he doesn't ensure eternal peace and happiness, he gives the force a fresh starting point. That is what Luke represents, a brand new era of the force.

 

Actually it helps the PT.

It gave clarity to what it means to bring balance to the Force. Now we know that the darkside skews the Force.

 

Lucas has stated that balance requires the dark side. The dark side is in all things: it's our aggressive side that even Jedi use.

It's only out of balance when it begins to serve selfish purposes.

The dark side is not the same as evil.

 

No, nothing is undermined at all in my opinion.