Can you turn back once you have turned to the dark side?

We see in the ROTS that Anakin turns, but did he really turn back after suffering that fatal blow from the Emps force lightning strike?

 

I fear you may be missing the whole point of the Saga

Yes, he turns back, but it is because of his love for his son.

 

Yes, he really did turn back...otherwise the ending of ROTJ with Anakin, Yoda and Obi-Wan as Force-ghosts together makes no sense.

 

Yes, you can. It's not easy, but Anakin did so before he died.

 

Yes you can and some have done it. The phrase "forever will it dominate your destiny" means that it will change your path and always affect it for good or ill.

 

Yeah, one can turn away from the darkside. It doesn't seem to be easy, but it can happen. However, some don't want to turn away or can't turn away from the darkside( Palps).

 

I ask this question, for the reason that turning altimutly shows a change at heart, or in this case a serious disturbance in the force, with Anakin coming back. But what is the change? from dark to light?

 

I wouldn't say that the Republic was evil. It had just grown weak and ineffective, kinda like the Weimar Republic. It needed to be revitalized and strenghtened, not destroyed.

And just as the Weimar regime, the Galactic Republic was replaced by a government that was a thousand times more evil.

 

Yes it is. That's why he was a Jedi standing along side Obi-Wan and Yoda. His final act was unselfish as he lay down his life to save his son.

If you want evidence from the Flanneled One

"The part I am working on now is mostly about Darth Vader, who he is, where he came from, how he became Luke and Leia's father, what his relationship to Ben is. In Jedi, the film is really about the Redemption of this fallen angel. Ben is the fitting good angel, and Vader is the bad angel who started off good. All these years Ben has been waiting for Luke to come of age so that he can become a Jedi and redeem his father. That's what Ben has been doing, but you don't know this in the first film."
--George Lucas


"Which brings us to films 4, 5 and 6, where Anakin's offspring redeem him and allow him to fulfill the prophecy where he brings balance to the Force by doing away with the Sith and getting rid of evil in the universe."
--George Lucas

Then again, he contradicts himself by saying Anakin can't be redeemed.

"It really has to do with learning," Lucas says(regarding the end of Anakin's story). "Children teach you compassion. They teach you to love unconditionally. Anakin can't be redeemed for all the pain and suffering he's caused. He doesn't right the wrongs, but he stops the horror. The end of the saga is simply Anakin saying, I care about this person, regardless of what it means to me. I will throw away everything that I have, everything that I've grown to love - primarily the Emperor - and throw away my life, to save this person. And I'm doing it because he has faith in me; he loves me despite all the horrible things I've done. I broke his mother's heart, but he still cares about me, and I can't let that die. Anakin is very different in the end. The thing of it is: The prophecy was right. Anakin was the chosen one, and he does bring balance to the Force. He takes the ounce of good still left in him and destroys the Emperor out of compassion for his son."

I agree. The Republic wasn't evil except for Palpatine's leadership. Many in the Senate were corrupt, but the vast majority of politicians will be power-hungry in any government.

 

who in the senate is not corrupted....woops that came out too quick!

 

In reality or Star Wars?

Anyway, the list would be

Mon Mothma
Bail Organa
Padme Amidala
Garm Bel Iblis
Fang Zar
The rest of the delegation of 2000

If you're including the Imperial Senate then add Leia to the list.

 

To the original point, yes, as it has been said, the point of the Saga was Luke was right - about Anakin. It's a redemption story.

 

Luke did it too, although that was in the EU.

 

You cannot. Vader was totally crossing his fingers behind his back during that scene.



Rick McCallum loves you!

 

well Vader/ Anakin did turn from the dark side in the end. But I prefer to think of the power of the dark side being like a drug. Though the darkside isn't necessarily more powerful, I believe it feels that way. Someone who's turned from the darkside might be like anyone who's ever struggled w/ addiction. So I'm sure it's possible, but not easy. Hence Vader's "You don't know the power of the dark side...." Had Anakin lived, he may have very well fell off the wagon.

 

You cannot. Vader was totally crossing his fingers behind his back during that scene.

Adam, I told you Episode VII spoilers aren't allowed in this forum!!

 

I think part of what the prequels reveal is that Anakin never really fully turned in the first place; everyone just thought he did. But Padme and Luke could feel the good in him. Part of the reason he turned was because he was trying to do a good thing and foolishly believed that the end justified the means. This is where he got lost and darkside overwhelmed him.

Eventually Obi Wan realizes that Vader is blinded by his anger and thirst for revenge. The initial seed was planted by Padme in her dying words. As years went by Obi Wan couldn't ignore this possibility, but knew he could never reach Anakin himself. Therein lies the New Hope in Luke. In addition to being able to aid Luke in his journey with the force, he knew that if he gave his life to Vader's blade that in Vader's mind, the revenge would be quenched, then when Luke confronted him later as Obi Wan had once tried, he would not be blinded by his own demons because Luke wasn't around when they were created by the lies of the Emperor.

I don't think Yoda ever undstood this until he himself is a ghost alongside the others. He was old school; in that the Sith must be destroyed. That's not to say that Yoda was wrong or even misguided; I think Anakin's case was just something that Yoda had never encountered before. I think the only fully turned Sith in the series are Darth Maul and Darth Sidious. Tyrannus and Vader were just blinded by their own ambition and personal sense of themselves.

 

Well, if we include the EU you can go Dark and Monday and be Light again by Wednesday.

 

The change from light to dark is fear, anger, hate, jealousy, possessivenes, obsessiveness and greediness. Anakin had all these things wrong with him and all consumed him. What brings him back is that his son shows him the truth path. That you can reject all these things. His son showed him compassion for his crimes, forgiveness for everything he ever did and unconditional love. Vader has believed that he was a monster but in seeing Luke reject the darkness, he sees that he is not a monster. Just a guy who made horrible mistakes. So what brings him back is that he is no longer thinking of himself. He is no longer afraid. He understand that he had the power all along. He is willing to sacrifice himself rather than sacrifice everyone else.

As to the eu, not that many came back from the dark side in Luke's time. And not everyone who did recovered all the way.

 

Is there anyone in the EU who didn't turn to the dark side at some point?

 

Yes it's possible but very uncommon and hard to do. For alot of the stories of sith lords their inability to turn back leads to their demise and its the Siths flaw of being to ignorant to see their own death comming.

Anakin turns back because his attatchment to things kept him back, as a Jedi from becomming a true Jedi and accepting fate, and as a sith lord by defending his son against his master.Attatchment leads to compassion and thats the lightside.

However, once you live within the darkside for a period of time, it will be harder and harder to turn back because the power overuns your body and mind.You become less human and your ability to turn back grows shorter and shorter.

 

I'm not sure what the numbers are, but a good majority were during the Old Sith Wars and the Clone Wars. Not sure how many during the New Sith Wars. The only time the numbers were truly small was during the thousand years of peace, before the Clone Wars. Which is done to keep consistant with the films and the lack of Sith/Dark Jedi battles. Since it had been a long time since the Jedi face such opponets.

 

Corran Horn
Anakin Solo
Ben Skywalker
Clighal
Tahiri Veila
Tionne Solusar
Ganner Rhysode
Ikrit
Leia Organa-Solo
Saba Sebatyne
Tenel Ka

and those are just a list from the NJO, and that's not even all that haven't from that

 

The "darkside" is not a path on which you cannot turn back. Only after you are totally consumed by the darkside is it a path that can be hard to return on. It is much like an addictive drug, you use it, like it, and then begin to rely on it, this is when it is hard to return, just like the drug user, if your body has developed a dependency on the drug, much the same as a Sith who relies heavily on the "darkside", then it can be very hard, even fatal to withdraw yourself from it's control

 

Not only that, but it does forever dominate your destiny. A Jedi that falls to the Dark Side and comes back from it alive has to constantly be reminded if his/her failure in the first place. Things they could have done, people they could have helped, deaths they caused and shouldn't have....even if redeemed these things will always be on a redeemed Jedi's concious....it will be part of them. They may come back to the light, but with a different perspective on things.

Carnage