There's a line between the good side and the Dark Side of the Force, but is it always clear? Does every Jedi know where the line is? Does every Jedi have a moment when he finds himself on the verge of crossing over?
Mace Windu channels his darkness into his fighting style and draws strength from it, and he was ready to kill Palpatine in the heat of battle. Was he about to cross the line himself? I don't think so. Destroying evil doesn't make one evil.
"It's not the Jedi way," Anakin pleads with him, but we all know Anakin's motivation is selfish. Isn't the purpose of the Jedi to guard peace and justice? To ensure freedom throughout the galaxy.
"He's too dangerous to be kept alive!" Mace replies, and indeed, how would imprison a Sith of Palpatine's power? What shackles or prison cell could hold him?
Yoda tells Luke he'll know the difference between the good side and the darkness when he's calm and at peace. Luke's moment is on the second Death Star, after attacking Vader in anger he has him down and helpless, but he refuses to kill him. "I am a Jedi," he says, "Like my father before me." He seems so sure at that moment that he's doing the right thing.
Side note: Not killing Vader was a good thing, throwing away his lightsaber was definitely NOT the "Jedi Way."
Obi-Wan's moment is on the black sands of Mustafar. He will not kill a helpless Anakin, and instead leaves his fate to the will of the Force. Was he as sure at that moment that it was the right thing, or could he not bring him self to kill the young man he loved like a brother?
That would not have been the Jedi way, to put his personal feelilngs get in the way of his duty? I wonder did he torture himself for the next 20 years every time he heard of some new atrocity committed by Darth Vader...
It's interesting to note, however, that earlier in the fight he has Anakin down and without a weapon and he raises his lightsaber to deliver a fatal blow, but Anakin calls his lightsaber to his hand and blocks Obi-Wan's blade at the last second. Obi-Wan was certainly ready to kill him at that moment, though possibly he would have regretted it afterwards?
Was that a line before the Dark Side? Or was he so deep into the Force that his actions would have been guided by it without concisous thought?
Anakin's moment comes in Palpatine's office, when he kills Mace, but he knows it was wrong. "What have I done?" And after attacking the Temple and killing the younglings he evades Padme's questions about what he's going to do. He knows he's crossed the line so far he can never go back.
Only Yoda seems sure of himself, "Destroy the Sith, we must," he tells Obi-Wan. He isn't leaving any room for doubt there, he wants them dead and knows it's the only way.
I just watched ROTS for the zillionth time... That movie is so sad, when Obi-Wan says "You were the chosen one..." I get tears in my eyes...
I was speed-watching it... which means I watch the first 25 minutes or so and then jump through the rest so I get less talk and more action... less Palpatine and more Obi-Wan...
It occurred to me that Yoda and Obi-Wan should have gone to fight Sidious together... Yoda knows Obi-Wan can't take Sidious alone, but wouldn't the two of them have had a better chance? Was he so sure he could win? Or was he afraid they'd both die and leave no one to confront Anakin?
Either way, he should have known that as long as Sidious lived it wouldn't matter if Anakin did or not, the "Oppression of the Sith" had returned, with or without Darth Vader.
All throughout the saga I'm certain Palpatine has backup plans, and no matter what happens he manipulates things to go his way. Until he meets a certain young Jedi named Luke Skywalker, but Palpatine underestimated the wisdom Luke carried, that of both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Wisdom gained from experience, and from 20 years of regrets.
How could a Sith so powerful make such a devastating error in judgment? Because he was evil from within. He never faced the crossing of the line before the Dark Side.
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