Saga Why is the light side bad? (Balance in the Force)

Because as they struggle to keep their attachments, said attachments won't go along with their worldview and inevitably you have Padme being choked and Han being run through. That is the result of the dark side growing so powerful within them, that the fallen Jedi loses sight of their goals. Or in Ben's case, trying to avoid letting sentimentality interfere.

They were doing that because they were forced to hide the twins, other else risk being found and either killed or turned.


YODA:Hidden, safe, the children must be kept."

OBI-WAN: "We must take them somewhere where the Sith will not sense their presence."

YODA: "Split up, they should be."


OBI-WAN: "To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew, as did I, that if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him."

It is quite possible that Luke did a mixture of training Younglings and older Jedi. It is also possible that he only trained Younglings. As Lucas stated, if Anakin had been raised by the Jedi, he wouldn't have had the problems that he had.

Once Anakin had fallen, yes, he did turn away. But not before then when he's in the process of turning. Before then, it was because of his attachment to those two people over principles that lead to his downfall. And yes, Lucas even said it was being raised by Shmi that was the problem.

"If he'd have been taken in his first year and started to study to be a Jedi, he wouldn't have this particular connection as strong as it is and he'd have been trained to love people, but not to become attached to them. But he has become attached to his mother and he will become attached to Padme and these things are, for a Jedi, who needs to have a clear mind and not be influenced by threats to their attachments, a dangerous situation."

--George Lucas, AOTC DVD Commentary.

He wouldn't have lost his goodness if he was trained like Obi-wan was. He would have been a much stronger Jedi than he would have been otherwise and far more capable of resisting the pull of the dark side.

Dooku fell to the dark side because he didn't adhere to his training. He let fear, anger and hate back into his heart and that's how Palpatine turned him. Anakin wouldn't have turned because he would have been loyal to Palpatine, because he wouldn't be such a strong influence. Remember, Obi-wan stated that he is loyal to people over principles. That is the result of his attachment. He would have been more like Obi-wan, loyal to the Republic and not just one person. Anakin believed that his loved ones mattered more than anyone else, because of how he was raised. He wasn't finished being raised by Shmi and because he was a slave, he clung to people who mattered because he could lose them. He incorrectly believed that people will always help people, but that they will do so at the expense of everything else.

Palpatine went after Anakin because he saw a vulnerability that he could exploit. If he had been trained right, he wouldn't have been able to exploit it and he wouldn't have bothered. He exploited Dooku because a vulnerability presented itself for exploitation. It's the same reason that he thought he could turn Luke, once Vader put the idea in his head. Likewise, Snoke saw a vulnerability in Ben that he could exploit.

 

Palpatine definitely had an influence over Anakin in that regard. But he also had a natural affinity toward absolutely power just based on the fact that he was a very powerful person. Great power can turn even the most heroic of people into authoritarians. But yeah, Palpatine definitely tapped into those desires.

 

It is choosing to follow the dark side that made Anakin/Ben into murderers. Not simply having a family.

We've gone over this. The Jedi could have raised the twins as Jedi. They chose another way.

And I was responding to you writing this: "A Jedi who is raised by a family starts out with healthy emotions. But once training begins, those healthy emotions begins to become twisted as the Jedi grows in strength." That's a sign the Jedi need to change.

No, I don't think so, and I already explained myself. Anakin wouldn't have as many attachment problems, but he'd be worse-off overall.

Same could have happened to Anakin trained as a Jedi... especially with Palpatine being there to guide him from the beginning, and no moral compass from Shmi to guide him. Everyone has a vulnerability.

That's still a path to the dark side. See: Dooku, Jacen. They were willing to sacrifice people for the greater good.

Anakin falling to the dark side was the same as the choice to turn away from Shmi/Padme.

Listen to how Lucas explained the Padme Ruminations scene... as Anakin choosing to turn away and leave her.

Yes, so? I accept that, I don't know why you keep repeating that. And I'm saying it was better for him to be raised by Shmi, considering all things. Far away from Palpatine. He could have been Chosen One without ever becoming a Jedi. He lost one source of temptation, but he would have also lost a lot of good (and possibly opened himself up to be tempted still but a much smaller chance at redemption)... it's a bad deal. Yoda, Obi-wan, etc. also probably wouldn't have had the spiritual reawakening they experienced to change the Jedi for the better. Thank the Force Anakin wasn't trained as a Jedi from birth, that timeline would have been worse.

 

They follow the dark side because of their families. Anakin does it to protect his loved ones from dying. Ben apparently wants to be his grandfather.

And as it was said, the Sith would sense their presence and hunt them down. The Jedi cannot raise the twins and fight off the Sith, the Inquisitors, the Imperial Army and bounty hunters. We know this is true because as soon as Luke arrives on Dagobah, Palpatine senses a disturbance in the Force.

VADER: "What is thy bidding, my master?

PALPATINE: "There is a great disturbance in the Force."

VADER: "I have felt it."

PALPATINE: "We have a new enemy. The young Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker."

So, either Obi-wan's lying again about protecting them from the Sith, or he's telling the truth.

It doesn't matter. The training will always cause this to happen. Always. Being raised by families or by the Jedi, they will always be tempted by the dark side until the training is complete. The training is required to teach self-discipline. It wouldn't matter if it was the Jedi, the Dagoyan or even Bendu himself, it will always happen. The only way to prevent it is to not train at all. That's why everyone who is never trained in the Jedi Arts, like Maz, never have to worry about the dark side. They have almost no knowledge of the Force and how the dark side can corrupt them.

How would he be worse off?

Palpatine wouldn't be able to work his magic on a Jedi trained like Obi-wan. I like that you ignore Obi-wan as a positive influence. Like he doesn't count. Obi-wan was a positive influence on Anakin and Luke.

Both sought out greater power. Jacen wanted the power to protect his loved ones because his brother was killed by the Vong and he wasn't strong enough to prevent that. So he sought out greater power and when he found that he had a daughter, he chose to learn the ways of the Sith to become all powerful. Dooku's reasons in current continuity are still a bit muddled.

To sacrifice someone for the greater good is noble, when it is done for the right reasons. Letting Padme die would be for the greater good. Jacen killing Mara so that he would commit to the dark side was not for the greater good, but of his own selfish needs.

Yeah, because's it's really peachy keen. The Jedi are dead again, the First Order destroyed the New Republic, another Skywalker has become an agent of evil. How is that any better?

Anakin's redemption isn't about his being raised by Shmi, it's about being shown compassion. If Obi-wan had shown him compassion on Mustafar, Anakin wouldn't have turned. If Anakin showed Dooku compassion, he wouldn't have turned. The Jedi teach compassion. Unconditional love. Yoda and Obi-wan didn't have a spiritual awakening. They just chose to change the game by using the Sith's weakness against them, just as the Sith used the Jedi's weaknesses against them.

 

Murdering someone "for the greater good" is never noble.

They most certainly did. See the Yoda TCW arc. See the ROTS novel. See how Yoda/Obi-wan in the OT are different from their PT selves.

I'm talking about Palpatine influencing Anakin while he is a Youngling/Padawan... like he did in the official continuity as a Padawan. But this time, Anakin wouldn't have some of his strengths.

What am I ignoring? You said he'd be trained like Obi-wan. I'm pointing out that if Palpatine thought Obi-wan was the Chosen One, he would have done the same thing to Obi-wan as a youngling/Padawan. (And it's not relevant, but Obi-wan was highly flawed in the OT and PT)

You're the one who said: "A Jedi who is raised by a family starts out with healthy emotions. But once training begins, those healthy emotions begins to become twisted as the Jedi grows in strength."

That's something wrong. You didn't say anyone in training is tempted by the dark side... people without the Force are tempted, people fully-trained are tempted.

You said Jedi training causes a person's "healthy emotions" to become "twisted."

Just like they hunted down Yoda on Dagobah and Obi-wan on Tatooine...
They chose to not raise Luke and Leia from birth.

For the thousandth time... no, they don't. Anakin turned away from Padme and Shmi to become Vader... he was being possessive, and willing to murder others for some goal to restore order and protect his most precious possession. Ben is specifically called to cut off his attachment to his family by Snoke, to severe himself from light/family. Having a family doesn't turn someone evil.

 

Right, but if someone is willing to die for the cause of freedom, then they should allowed to do so. That's not murder. If Han crashed the Millennium Falcon into the Starkiller Base's primary weapon to destroy it, that's not murder. That's a sacrifice. Ben running his father through so that he could be of the dark side is not a sacrifice.

Yoda only learned that fighting a straight up war wasn't going to work. Otherwise, he's still the same between the PT and the OT. Obi-wan is still the same as he was in ROTS as to how he is in ANH. Nothing changed except that they're older and know how to retain their identity.

Palpatine wouldn't know about Anakin because he wouldn't have been at Naboo and thus draw attention to himself. Maul wouldn't have been cut down, or even if he did, Palpatine wouldn't be interested in Anakin because he wouldn't know about him. Anakin would be much stronger against Palpatine if he were trained from birth, because he wouldn't have an attachment to Padme or Shmi. He wouldn't be obsessed with power.

The only way Palpatine would know is if he bugged the Temple. He knows who Anakin is because he was found as a boy, rather than as a baby and was responsible for destroying the Federation ship. He didn't even know he existed until then.

You're misunderstanding me. If you train to use the Force, you're leaving yourself open to the dark side. The Jedi's tactics aren't the cause of it. It's the Force that is the problem. The Force is power and when people feel powerful, they can be tempted to wield it for selfish reasons. Remember, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." A Jedi can be corrupted by the Force very easily when they're not mentally conditioned to resist the dark side. It is very easy to let fear, anger and hate take control. That is what Yoda tells Luke during his training and it is the same thing he told everyone else that he trained and what he stressed to Anakin during his testing.

Yoda and Obi-wan were believed dead. Once Obi-wan arrives at the Death Star, Vader becomes aware that he is indeed alive. Once Vader learns that the Force is strong with Red 5, he hunts for him and learns that he is his son. Then Palpatine learns of Luke's existence and his growing power and wants him dead. Vader chooses to draw Luke out, rather than continue to hunt for him. For twenty years, they were safe because they weren't trained in the Jedi Arts. Just as Vader thought Ahsoka was dead until he sensed her presence. Not to mention that once Kanan was identified as a potential Jedi, the Inquisitors were sent out for him.

Once again, read what was said in ROTS and ROTJ. The Jedi decide to hide the children for their protection and not train them, because the Sith would learn of their existence. So, which is it; are they lying or not?

And for the one thousandth and first time, Anakin turned away once he had turned to the dark side, but he only chose to turn to the dark side because he was attached to his family. Lucas even says that is the case. You've read the quotes. Either you agree or disagree with him. But the facts are clear.

 

That's not a distinction you originally made. Yes, self-sacrifice is ok. But not sacrificing others.

I think most people would disagree.

Palpatine would know it if the Jedi thought they found the Chosen One... it's as simple as that. And a Jedi raised from birth can still have attachments or become obsessed with power.

? That's ridiculous. Anakin being the Chosen One wasn't some huge secret. And it's definitely something a Senator or Chancellor could easily find out, especially when they're also the Sith Lord. There's not a single doubt that Palpatine wouldn't have known Anakin was the Chosen One.

The dark side is a metaphor for evil. Every character has a dark side, whether they're strong enough in the Force to be officially trained or not.

Also, as I said, even Jedi who are fully-trained can still fall to the dark side. Or those that were never trained at all.

And I don't agree with that power quote. The more accurate one is that: power reveals a person's true character.

Yes, they decided to hide to the twins for their protection. But not because the Sith would learn of their existence if they were trained. Or maybe Bail didn't get the memo, with making Leia a Senator and Rebel?

And I've told you about quotes too (like Lucas saying that's Anakin turning his back on Padme in the ruminations scene)... Anakin turned away from Padme to choose the dark side. Yes, we know part of it was his attachment... he chose to be possessive of the attachment to extreme lengths. That's not the same as choosing Padme. Family doesn't make you turn to the dark side. Anakin rejected what both his mother and wife would have told him, when he chose to serve Palpatine and hunt down the Jedi, and he knew that.

Like I said last page:

It's not being raised by his mother that caused him to fall to the dark side... he turned away from Shmi and Padme when he turned to the dark side, going against what they believed in. Anakin turned because he saw them possessively more than compassionately... "I, me Anakin I, don't want to lose someone (again)... me me me." You can have personal love for people, and still be willing to let them go when the time comes, if holding on means doing something severely immoral. It was his personal love for Luke, now finally not possessive, that redeemed him... returning to the kind of person Shmi raised him to be and Padme admired in him.

 

You misunderstood me. In the ROTS novelization, Obi-wan says that if he had to choose between saving Yoda and killing Darth Sidious, he would choose killing Sidious over saving Yoda. In "Sacrifice", Yoda saves Anakin in his vision over unmasking Palpatine and preventing Order 66, because he believes that Anakin is necessary to the galaxy and will die himself in trying to save him and will give up the Jedi Order as well.

What's different? He says the same things. What, because he doesn't fight? He's not as young as he was. He still holds the point of view that Qui-gon and Yoda espoused. He still wants the Sith destroyed. Yoda's still the same. He still holds the same belief about wars not making one great in the PT and in the OT. Just because he doesn't use a Lightsaber anymore doesn't mean much.

How would he know? He didn't know about Luke and Leia until they emerged. He didn't know that Kanan, Ahsoka, Yoda and Obi-wan were still alive fifteen years after the war ended. He didn't know about Anakin until the Battle of Naboo ended and word reached him that the boy used the Force to destroy the control ship. As to the rest, yes, it is possible. But that temptation is greatly reduced. Dooku fell because he let himself fall. Krell and Barriss fell because of the war. Anakin only becomes obsessed with power because he was a slave and felt powerless and then had a Sith Lord corrupting him.

But he didn't know about him when he met the boy on Coruscant. The Jedi didn't declare him the Chosen One until after he was inducted into the Temple.

Why would they want to know this? If Anakin is taken in as any other Jedi, they're not going to make a proclamation that he's the Chosen One. If he was taken in from birth, he wouldn't have been at the Battle of Naboo, because he wouldn't have been on Tatooine when Qui-gon and Obi-wan were needing parts for the ship. And Palpatine sure as hell didn't know about Luke, much less the other surviving Jedi.

Those who were never trained cannot fall to the dark side, because they have no knowledge of the Force. Luke could get as angry as he wanted and not turn, because he couldn't access the Force the same way that he does when he is trained. Luke could choose to be evil, but it would a choice not based on the Force.

The axiom has been scientifically proven. People's characters can change based on power. That's what "Star Wars" tells us. Anakin was a good boy, per Lucas. Then he gains power through his training and because he is as strong as he is, he is able to become evil because of the power he wields.

"It's easier to succumb to evil than it is to be a hero and try to work things through on the good side. Evil is inherently more powerful—it doesn't have the burden of worrying about other people. What Luke sees in Darth Vader at the end of ROTJ is something that I thought was worth understanding: the idea that Darth actually was a very good person. Except he's slightly more powerful than other people and when you get into that situation, your ability to do evil is much easier to come by."

--George Lucas, AOTC DVD Commentary.

Then why did Obi-wan say, "We must take them somewhere where the Sith will not sense their presence." and why did he say, "To protect you both from the Emperor, you were hidden from your father when you were born. The Emperor knew, as did I, that if Anakin were to have any offspring, they would be a threat to him."

That's why they weren't trained. Not to mention that Obi-wan did try to give Luke his father's Lightsaber, but Owen refused.

Is not the same as training in the Jedi Arts, where she would be detected as a Jedi and hunted down.

 

I disagree with your conclusions on each of those points...
-I feel like you're leaping on some things like the reason why they weren't trained from birth: Obi-wan says they must go to a place that's far away from the Sith, their true identities hidden...not that they can't be trained yet because that will reveal them
-the "axiom" on power has not been scientifically proven, lol, that's not scientific in the first place and neither is it an "axiom" (neither does that Lucas quote say what you claim... someone with greater power has greater "ability" to do evil, obviously)
-"fall to the dark side" means become malicious/evil/a villain... all life has the Force, all life is guided by it, all life generates it and has influence over it. Star Wars is meant to be able to correlate to real life
-it would have been very easy to learn if the Jedi thought they had found the Chosen One, even if at birth... no reason for the Jedi to hide it from the Senate, plus Palpatine is sure to have sources and information networks to have intelligence on more secretive Jedi matters, they wouldn't hide it anyways, there would probably be excitement in the order that they found the Chosen One and Palpatine would learn soon enough, and probably could flat-out ask them for confirmation
-yes, most people can see a clear difference between Obi-wan/Yoda in the OT and PT, and it's supported by both old and new EU

I've already explained myself and my reasons, so I won't bother repeating again.

 

Except that we know that once Luke starts growing in power, the Sith sense it and make it a priority to deal with him. It's not leaping to a conclusion, it is a conclusion based on what happens.

According to "The Leadership Quarterly", Acton's axiom has been tested in laboratory settings. As to Lucas, Anakin has great power within him. Thus it is far easier for him to be corrupted by it, than it is to not be corrupted.

Right, but here is more about the power of the Force than just choosing to be morally corrupt. The dark side of the Force feeds off negative emotions and it's allure is strong enough to twist good people and turn them bad. Without training in the Force, someone like Luke will never be like his father was.

It wasn't that easy, because he would have known about the Skywalker children and yet he didn't. Much less the surviving Jedi. And why would the Jedi announce to the Senate that Anakin is the Chosen One? What business is it of theirs? Hell, they don't even tell the Senate that their powers were diminishing and that the Sith created the Clone Army. And again, how would he know if Anakin isn't at Naboo? That's how he found out that the Chosen One existed.

Name those differences.

 

Evil and the darkside represent the imbalance. Goodness, light, and selflessness are balance. I seriously hope Disney/Lucas Film does not try to assert balance as being equal amounts of good and evil, and then try and pass that ideology off as a "good" thing. That's absolutely ridiculous and frankly pretty morally and socially irresponsible as well considering how seriously many young fans seem to take all this stuff. This all makes for fun and entertaining fantasy stories, but Disney/Lucas Film shouldn't try it's hand in serious spiritual matters.

 

That's always how I understood Star Wars. It's Palpatine that imbalances the galaxy, and it's Luke that reminds Anakin to let go of the evil and conquer it.

The thing is though, Dave Filoni says in Rebels Recon that it's a "mistake" to think that it's about "up-ending the light or the dark". In addition, the Father of Mortis and the Bendu claim to represent the balance, by being in "the middle".

 

First off lets establish that balance =/= equal.

Second you should read some Jung and Buddhist thought on this matter. It's not about 'give away to charity in the morning, go steal some stuff at night'. It's about the knowing and acceptance of the darkness whilst living within the light. Fear, anger and aggression are all things that people have - only when you know your own darkness can you keep it from erupting.

 

I think LFL has a pretty good grasp on GL's idea of balance. He's always talked about the push and pull tension between the dark and the light and in TFA, we hear Maz say "Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms. The Sith, the Empire... Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. We must face them. Fight them. All of us".

The implication is clear to me: Evil can never be truly vanquished. It's not a question of if, but of when, where and how it will try to strike back.
To keep it at bay, we must first realize and accept that reality. Then, we must learn to recognize evil, within ourselves as well as around us. Lastly, we must learn to counter evil with good, then keep doing that for as long as we live, to maintain balance.

I guess you could say that bringing balance = preventing evil from taking over.

 

Essentially that's what it is. Lor San Tekka's statement to Poe about balance and the Jedi bears this out.

 

"A prophecy that misread, might have been."



Anyways, came here to share this, which I was looking for earlier, and someone just posted in Lit:


He spoke softly, but not to himself.
Though no-one was with him, he was not alone.
"My failure, this was. Failed the Jedi, I did."
He spoke to the Force.
And the Force answered him. Do not blame yourself, my old friend.
As it sometimes had these past thirteen years, when the Force spoke to him, it spoke in the voice of Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Too old I was. "Yoda said. "Too rigid. Too arrogant to see that the old way is not the only way. These Jedi, I trained to become the Jedi who had trained me, long centuries ago- but those ancient Jedi, of a different time they were. Changed, has the galaxy. Changed, the Order did not- because let it change, I did not."
More easily said than done, my friend.
"An infinite mystery is the Force." Yoda lifted his head and turned his gaze out into the wheel of stars. "Much to learn, there still is."
And you will have time to learn it.
"Infinite knowledge..." Yoda shook his head. "Infinite time, does that require."
With my help, you can learn to join with the Force, yet retain consciousness. You can join your light to it forever, Perhaps in time, even your physical self.
Yoda did not move. "Eternal life..."
The ultimate goal of the Sith, yet they can never achieve it; it comes only by the release of self, not the exaltation of self. It comes through compassion, not greed. Love is the answer to the darkness.
"Become one with the Force, yet influence still to have..." Yoda mused. "A power greater than all, it is."
It cannot be granted; it can only be taught. It is yours to learn, if you wish it.
Slowly, Yoda nodded. "A very great Jedi Master you have become, Qui-Gon Jinn. A very great Jedi Master you always were, but too blind I was to see it."
He rose, and folded his hands before him, and inclined his head in the Jedi bow of respect.
The bow of the student, in the presence of the Master.
"Your apprentice, I gratefully become."

 

How ironic it is that Anakin's fall is precipitated by the need for longevity, considered sacrilege by the Jedi order, while Yoda exalts in the discovery by Qui Gon of eternal life.

 

What Anakin wanted was unnatural. They wanted to physically live beyond their normal means. What the Priestess taught Qui-gon and he taught to Yoda and Obi-wan was the ability to retain your consciousness when you die. They're still dead. What Anakin wanted was to keep Padme alive. What Yoda found pleasing was that he could pass on the Jedi teachings beyond death. One was selfish, one was selfless.

 

Fearing the premature loss of a loved one is not unnatural and it is definitely not selfish. Anakin wanted to prevent a premonitioned premature death. Perfectly natural.

The ability to stop people from dying, make them immortal, is not introduced until very late on when Sidious is seducing Anakin.

There was nothing natural about becoming a disembodied voice after deathuntil it happens. There is just death and we must accept it, Yoda said.

Not true. Qui Gon reports.

 

To answer pretty plainly. It's not.

 

There's a difference between using a Lightsaber to block an attack versus using the Force to play God, which is what Anakin wanted. And yes, he wanted it back in AOTC, per his own words.

ANAKIN: "Well, I should be! Someday I will be. I will be the most powerful Jedi ever! I promise you. I will even learn to stop people from dying. Anakin."

He's already stating his intention to defy the natural flow of the Force. All things die. That is part of the nature of life.

YODA: "Strong am I in the Force, but not that strong. Twilight is upon me and soon, night must fall. That is the way of things. The way of the Force."

YODA: "Death is a natural part of life."

Palpatine only tells Anakin what he wants to hear and that is midway through the film, when he tells him that Darth Plagueis could manipulate the Midichlorians to create life and to stop others from dying.

Yoda did not know that it was possible to retain one's consciousness upon death, which is the opposite of what Anakin wanted, which was no death at all. Just continued physical existence.

As we see in the films, acting on visions of the future is a dangerous thing to do. Fear will creep in and take a hold. Luke leaves Dagobah out of fear of loss. Anakin joins Palpatine out of fear of loss. Both come from visions of the future where they believe that someone that they care for will die. Clear their mind must be and careful when sensing the future.

 

Anakin wanted his mother not to have died a violent death while he was detained on Naboo and in his frustration claimed that being a Jedi, the chosen one, should enable him to prevent this.

Nothing he does between then and Palpatine tempting him has anything to do with the pursuit of unnatural powers.

And apparently not all things die. They give up their physical form in some cases.

It's rather hypocritical to cast certain objectives and desires as unnatural, selfish, greedy or evil because one does not know they are possible but then approve and encourage them once it's established that they are possible.

If Anakin had said that he and his loved ones should have the power to retain their identity and simply give up physical form while remaining able to communicate with others, in other words he wouldn't have to live without them, then this would fall into the same category of evil selfish greed that is crudely imposed on Anakin's character here.

It's remarkable that once Yoda realises that death and letting go of people isn't mandatory in the natural order of things that there perhaps was an alternative path to assusging Skywalker's anguish. And that Obi Wan's first words when he and Vader meet on the Death Star included taunting him with the discovery of a greater power not too different from the one Anakin sought n

 

He was not detained on Naboo, you make it sound like he was a prisoner. Anakin was on a mission of high importance, more so than checking on his mother. He endangered Padme by taking her to Tatooine since he had no clue that the assassin was still on the loose or not. He broke protocol by not only endangering Padme, but by refusing to contact the Council or Obi-wan. The only part that you have right is that his ego in thinking that he's the most powerful Jedi, since he doesn't believe in the Chosen One BS, entitles him to stop people from dying.

Except that Anakin becomes obsessed with becoming more and more powerful. That's why he boasts about being more powerful when he fights Dooku and finally uses the dark side in order to beat him. His failure in saving his mother results in his becoming more and more obsessive which Yoda states is a path to the dark side. And way before Palpatine starts to tempt him, he has his vision of Padme dying and his earlier vow to become all powerful and stop people from dying resurfaces. That's why he says that to her and why he goes to Yoda, because he wants the knowledge to stop people from dying.

Actually, all four Jedi who die in the films and become ghosts, are dead. Qui-gon is run through with a Lightsaber, Yoda dies of old age, Obi-wan is cut in two and Anakin dies due to the suit being shorted out. They are all dead. But they are able to retain their consciousness after dying and are able to hold that form in the Netherworld of the Force. The Shaman that Qui-gon speaks of in the novelization and the script, is also dead. Same with the Priestesses. They have transformed into the Force, but their identity is not lost. That's why they can manifest themselves and communicate through the Midichlorians.

Because it comes down to motive and intent. The Sith want to extend their own lives in order to maintain their rule. To do so, they must try to bend the Force to their will and doing so upsets the balance to the Force and is deemed unnatural. The Jedi, the Whills and the Priestesses choose to follow the natural course of life, which is that they all die. But they are able to work with the Force to retain a level of consciousness after death, with the intention of passing on knowledge from the afterlife. It is a rare gift given to only those who will not abuse that gift and must remain selfless for the duration of their life.

He would still be wrong. What he needed to accept and ultimately does, is that he is not God. He should not use the Force in such a manner as he did as Vader. He needed to accept that people will come and go in his life, and that it is okay when they do. It is not the end of the world. He needed to accept that his mother and his wife will die and that selling his soul to gain ultimate power is wrong. If he had done nothing in Palpatine's office, Padme would have lived. But because he chose to try and save her, he basically enabled a self-fulling prophecy to occur.

Uh, no that doesn't happen. Yoda acknowledges that he will die, when he's telling Luke that all life ends. He tells Luke that he cannot stop death, nor should he. That is what Anakin needed to understand and accept. The ability to speak from the Netherworld of the Force doesn't change that. Even knowing it, it is something that others cannot achieve just on a whim. It is something only a select few can do. Shmi cannot because she is not a Force user. Same with Padme.

QUI-GON: "I have been tasked with guiding you forward. There can be many outcomes, but your path is clear, Yoda. You have been chosen, as I was before you."

YODA: "For what chosen am I?"

QUI-GON: "You will learn to preserve your Life Force, and so, manifest a consciousness which will allow you to commune with the living after death."

YODA: "How?"

QUI-GON: "Dark times are ahead, and forces of light must remain. This is the path of only a few Jedi."


SERENITY: "When a living thing dies, all is removed. Life passes from the Living Force into the Cosmic Force and becomes one with it. One powers the other. One is renewed by the other."

YODA: "This I know."

SERENITY: "Come with me. At death, in order for you to preserve your identity, you must know yourself, your true self, and then let go. On that island dwells all that remains unconquered, what, in your existence, some call evil, otherwise known as fear, all which must be finally overcome before the journey can be taken. Free yourself, you must."

Except being a Force ghost is not the same as being able to create life and cheat death, which the Sith desire. The power that Obi-wan speaks of is knowledge and that the knowledge he possesses will be passed on to Luke.

YODA: "Failed to stop the Sith Lord, I have. Still much to learn, there is..."

QUI-GON: "Patience. You will have time. I did not. When I became one with the Force I made a great discovery. With my training, you will be able to merge with the Force at will. Your physical self will fade away, but you will still retain your consciousness. You will become more powerful than any Sith."

YODA: "Eternal consciousness."

QUI-GON: "The ability to defy oblivion can be achieved, but only for oneself. It was accomplished by a Shaman of the Whills. It is a state acquired through compassion, not greed."

YODA: " . . . to become one with the Force, and influence still have . . . A power greater than all, it is.

QUI-GON: "You will learn to let go of everything. No attachment, no thought of self. No physical self."


YODA: "A Jedi uses the Force, for knowledge and defense. Never for attack."

Death and sacrifice is still important. Obi-wan sacrifices himself so that Luke can get Leia and the droids to Yavin 4. Anakin sacrifices himself to save Luke. Luke is willing to sacrifice himself in order to save his father.

 

Anakin made a decision out of fear because he had a vision, but we know that visions shows only a potential future that may or may not happen based on the individual's action. Anakin knew that by choosing to side with Palpatine he would go against everything Padme stood for, and when she refused to join him, he snapped. He didn't do it for her, that's a lie he told himself to justify his actions but he did it for himself because he was afraid of being alone.

 

I don't think that Anakin used Padme as an excuse for becoming a Sith and siding with Palpatine. He's never shown to be as clever as that. It also rather unnecessary and convoluted.

If he secretly did want everything that Padme was against, then singling her out simply to keep him company doesn't really make sense. Someone less independent or without loyalties to anyone other than Anakin would have been a better choice if he simply wanted guaranteed companionship.