Is the Dark Side is more powerful?

GL does say the Dark Side is stronger in an interview about ROTS. It's posted over in the Quotes and Interviews thread, but here's a clip:

<<The only way you can really do that is to go to the Dark Side because the Dark Side is more powerful. If you want the ultimate power you really have to go to the stronger side which is the Dark Side, but ultimately it would be your undoing.>>

This made me wonder why Yoda told Luke otherwise in ESB, but then again the Jedi do seem to sweep inconvenient truths under the rug on occasion. ("Your father? Uh, why Vader KILLED him..yeah, that's it.") Or perhaps Yoda didn't truly believe it himself.

 

teptation is very strong it takes more strength to resist temptation.

so I would say the good is stronger then the dark. any body can do the wrong thing it takes a strong willed person to do the right thing.

 

"42"

The problem with the question "Is the Dark Side more powerful" is that it is rarely posed in a meaningful way. Different answers are often actually answering different questions.

More powerful than what?

The Jedi philosophy is all about supressing or ignoring personal desires. Following the Jedi philosophy, you can't use the Force for yourself in the way a "Dark Sider" can use the Force for whatever they want. In that sense, on a small scale, talking about personal power- the ability to get what you want, the Dark Side is most definitely more powerful. (With the catch that it's power will corrupt and consume you.)

As there is no "light side" in the films, Yoda is talking about the Force. The Jedi embrace it as a whole, treating it as an ally. The Sith don't care about the "Will of the Force", and treat it as a tool for whatever they want.

The Dark Side is only a part of the Force, so obviously, it can't be more powerful than something it is only a part of. So Yoda is right- when you are looking at the bigger picture, the Dark Side isn't more powerful.

 

ledlevee1

well, as we find out at the end of Revenge of the Sith, none of the light side jedi, other than Qui-Gon, was really using the force to its full potential. They were all flawed in their perception and use of the force. I think Yoda and Obi-Wan both have a better understanding in the OT thanks to Qui-Gon's teaching, and they are able to teach Luke how to use the living force, and not the by the book force of the PT. This, I think, is what leads to Luke being able to defeat the emporer. Luke does defeat the emporer after all. His defiance and refusal to turn to the darkside is part of what leads Anakin to come back and kill Palpatine. So yes, the light side is more powerful. The enitre saga shows Yoda's words to be true. In the PT, we see how the Dark side is quicker, easier, and more seductive. But in the long run, the light side triumphs because the sith are ultimately destroyed permanently, once and for all. The light side lives on in Luke, and the force ghosts of Yoda, Obi Wan, and Anakin.

I could have written my own paragraph, but that one does quite nicely

 

How would Yoda know whether the Dark Side is more powerful or not? By his own admission, once you go to the Dark Side, there is no turning back. So, Yoda has no experience of the power of the Dark Side, so he can't judge whether it's powerful or not. Only people who know both sides of the Force can express an opinion about which side is more powerful.

 

Well, I can honestly say that I've never seen a Jedi throw lightning. That's only a sith power, and a very powerful one at that

You never see a Jedi throw lightning because they don't have to. The Dark side is the quick easy way out, like shooting lightning rather than a long lightsaber duel to test yourself.

Luke: Is the Dark Side more powerful?
Yoda: No, only more seductive.

 

DarthSyphus, you're referring to Luke right? Or Vader?

Both have knowledge of both sides of the force, but they probably have very different opinions about which is stronger.

I see the two powers as being equal (Yoda vs. Palpatine in ROTS seems to be GL reminding us of that) but there's no question which is better.

 

Yoda says that the Dark Side is not more powerful, but he has not experienced the power of the Dark Side.

It's like if Yoda said "sugar is not sweeter than honey", but he has never eaten sugar. By his own admission if you give in to your Dark Side => forever will it dominate your destiny. Obviously, Yoda's destiny is not dominated by the Dark Side, so he has not given into the Dark Side.

 

Well I would say Vader did a lot more than toy with the Dark Side..

Anyways, isn't the force just the force? It can be used for good and evil, but is there really anything fundamentally different about the dark force and the light force, other than how they're implemented?

 

Well I would say Vader did a lot more than toy with the Dark Side..

Yes, and Vader seems to believe that the Dark Side is more powerful, contradicting Yoda who has _no_ experience of the Dark Side.

Anyways, isn't the force just the force? It can be used for good and evil, but is there really anything fundamentally different about the dark force and the light force, other than how they're implemented?

Yes, but there are different ways to use the Force. It may be like a sword that has a blunt side and a sharp side. You can use both the blunt and the sharp side, but the sharp side is stronger.

 

What do you think about Yoda vs. Palpatine in ROTS? I took that scene to be kind of a prototypical light vs. dark battle, especially at the end where they're just trying to overpower each other with the force. And, evenly matched as they are, they both end up flying backwards. I'm not saying that's proof that they're equal, but I do think that was what Lucas was trying to illustrate.

It's like Yoda vs. Dooku in Ep2. "It's clear that force power alone won't decide this battle" one of them says before they break out the lightsabers.

 

Well, Yoda gets blown away by Palpatine's force lightning. Also, he ends up on the floor of the Senate, while Palpatine ends up on top. He ends up crawling to escape. That does not sound like an even match to me. More like a match that Yoda was losing, and he chose to escape, knowing that he could not overpower the Emperor, and his skills would be better used for a different purpose, e.g., saving Padme and teaching his skills to Obi-Wan and Skywalker's offspring.

 

The dark side ins't more powerful, the people using the dark side are more powerful. We know that Anakin/Vader had the potential to be stronger than anyone due to his midi test being off the charts. And since we how EPIII turns out we can assume the Palps midi level would be larger than yoda as well.

 

The dark side ins't more powerful, the people using the dark side are more powerful.

Ah, an excellent insight.
Before I read that I would have said that yes, the Darkside is more powerful. But now I don't think so.

I now think you are quite correct. The Darkside itself isn't more powerful, it just attracts more powerful users.

That makes sense if you think about it. Even totally weak and lame users of the Force are allowed to remain as Jedi. The Darkside simply won't allow that, and only the strongest Force users survive.

 

Anakin Skywalker became more powerful when he joined the Dark Side though. He only had one duel against Dooku when he was in the good side and lost his arm. When he turned to the Dark Side he kicked major ass.

 

This is answered in ESB by Yoda. Its easier to use and more seductive, but NOT more powerful.

 

Good supports Good - Evil stands alone. Let me explain.

Jedi - supports other jedi
Sith - want to overthrow eachother

If you look at it this way, it is easy to have many, many Jedi which in a sense, makes the light side the more powerful of the two. The Sith keep overthrowing eachother which in result, always makes only 2 at a time.

<b>Therefore:</b>
The dark side is WEAKER because it acts like a plague. it eats away at itself, while the Jedi all feed off one another all supporting one another.

 

The dark side is WEAKER because it acts like a plague. it eats away at itself, while the Jedi all feed off one another all supporting one another.


Yeah, that worked out well for them, didn't it?

 

It did for thousands of years previous to the SW saga.

Though this isn't touched on whatsoever in the movies, this is how I see SW history as having unfolded:

The Lord of the Whills attained great peace and power through the force thousands of years ago, and was a true Jedi just like Luke is at the end of the OT. He creates the Jedi council in that image, and for a LOOOOONG time it works out, there's peace in the galaxy and people's understanding of the force grew. However, the Jedi eventually lost focus of their original goal (inner peace, compassion for others, etc.) and got too stuck in their dogmatic ways. This caused an inbalance in the force, and also allowed Sidious to take power. And the rest, we know.

So basically, a TRUE Jedi, one who truly understands all aspects of the force, can bring power to the force, and bring the powers of the force to others, helping it to grow. It's only when they lose sight of why they became a Jedi in the first place, that corruption grows.

Edit: By the way, I know nothing of the EU, so the Lord of the Whills may be something completely different. But what I'm getting at is it seems that back before the time of peace, some other great saga must've taken place for the Jedi order to get put in place and establish peace in the galaxy.

 

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
========================================
LUKE: Is the dark side stronger?
YODA: No...no...no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.
========================================
Seems pretty clear cut to me. Don't know what more you could want....

 

According to Obi-Wan in ANH retaining your identity after death is the ultimate power.

According to Qui-Gon in the ROTS novel no Sith will ever be able to do it.

Therefore, the LigthSide is stronger.

 

The becoming immortal is very a powerful technique of the good side of the force if you are able to connect with one who knows how to do it and you take the time to learn it(we don't know how long the learning process for that is). But other than that, no side is more powerful than the other. Read my earlier post.

 

Yoda getting blown away in the Senate duel after the final lightning stalemate is solely due to his being lighter and smaller than Palpatine, who was also blown away. Had the energy built up between them not exploded, it's possible that Yoda would've blown that lightning back into Palp's ugly face.

The dark side is not stronger, as it is only a part of the Force at most. Really, it's a perversion of it -- a bending of a life-generated field into an instrument of death. As such, it CANNOT be stronger than the Living Force.

But in the short term, especially in a fight, it is much easier to use, which creates the illusion that it's more powerful. It's far more expedient to take this energy field and toss it out as raw power at an opponent than to do the Jedi thing and extend one's awareness to find the most humane method possible to settle a fight.

So, no. As a rule, the dark side is not more powerful, just easier. But in AOTC and ROTS, the dark side of the Force itself has grown tremendously in power or size, so to speak (the imbalance the Jedi were speaking of), so at this point in the saga, the Sith have the greater Force potential while the Jedi have a much more difficult time tapping into the Living Force.

In both the TPM and ROTS novels, Obi-Wan manages to briefly tap fully into the living Force at key moments:

--saving himself from Darth Maul
--taking control of the situation on Greivous' bridge
--dropping into the midst of GG's droid army and taking out GG's saber-arms
--making that final leap to the "high ground" in his duel with Anakin Vader

That's what the living Force is capable of in a fight. The dark side may shroud all, but when the light truly pierces through, the darkness cannot stand against it.

 

Here is my take on this subject: Sidious was using a very complex and potent Dark Side technique to cloud the vision of the Jedi Knights. Does this mean that the Dark Side is more powerful than the Light? No. While (at the time of ROTS) Palpatine probably was more powerful than anyone else, that does not mean that the Dark Side overall is more powerful. Example: Bruce Lee is searching to defeat a weak man, however, the weak man is wearing a costume, therefore blinding Bruce from the truth. Bruce Lee was stronger, yet blinded.
To simply answer the question, though, would be to say that the Light Side is probably more potent than the Dark. While the Dark Side is more tempting it also appears to betray it's users when the Will of the Force (which is with the Light)is present. The Dark Side, like the devil, flees from the Light. The Dark is limited, while the Light is Eternal. N

 

Luke - "Is the Dark Side stronger?"

Yoda - "No! ONLY EASIER AND MORE SEDUCTIVE"

Sums is up right there. The Dark Side is what you want if you want to take the easy path for power. By choosing the Light side you have the chance to be immortal (In a matter of speaking)