Balance of the Force Explored in New Star Wars Video by Wayward Jedi

“Without the Jedi, there can be no balance in the Force.” With these words, Lor San Tekka made sure to kickstart the sequel trilogy with a reminder that there is more to balancing the Force than tossing Papa Palpatine down the Death Star II’s main reactor shaft.

It is the cosmic mystery of the Force that entrances so many of us. Why is it imbalanced? What will it mean to balance it? How will this be achieved? These questions drive our speculation about the roles our characters will play in the future.

 

 

 

I believe we can begin to see overarching narrative cues about what balancing the Force will eventually mean. I believe these clues are seeded not just in the films, but in the current canon expanded universe works – the plethora of books, comics, and television episodes of both The Clone Wars and Rebels.

 

In the YouTube video below, I examine one particular comic book arc that I think is highly indicative of what balance will come to mean. It is Yoda’s story within the main Star Wars comic line, which takes place in issues 26-30, titled “Yoda’s Secret War.”

 

 

A common response to this arc that I’ve received is that many didn’t enjoy it. I hope that this video, if nothing else, makes you at least appreciate it’s narrative importance in the Star Wars story.

 

You may not think it’s likely there are any relevant clues in the expanded universe content, but I’d like to make the case that there is. In a question and answer panel, the Lucasfilm Story Group said that it’s their job to make sure every piece of Star Wars content going into the future comes together to tell “One Big Story.” Not just in terms of making sure the continuity checks out, but in terms of the overarching narrative as well.

 

You can read all about the “One Big Story” panel here.

 

Don’t believe me? That’s okay, because Pablo Hidalgo has clarified what the Story Group’s job entails.

 

 

 

 

And as the recent Han Solo film debacle shows, when push comes to shove between filmmakers and the narrative continuity that Kathleen Kennedy is trying to achieve, Kathleen Kennedy wins.

 

With that point made, here is the video on Yoda’s comic book arc and what it might reveal about the coming balancing act of the sequel trilogy. I hope you enjoy it!

 

 

 

 

If you liked the video, you can subscribe to my channel here for future alerts on upcoming videos.

 

 

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23 thoughts on “Balance of the Force Explored in New Star Wars Video by Wayward Jedi

  • June 26, 2017 at 7:27 pm
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    Hoping it doesn’t come down to being this simple…

    • June 26, 2017 at 11:21 pm
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      Hmm, why not? Star Wars is a simple story, is it not? They’ve always been family films, primarily aimed at kids. Game of Thrones style political intrigues aren’t really the core message of what it means to be a good person, right?

      Why do all spiritual teachings get reduced to the simplest rule, the golden one? “Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself?”

      Being a good person is simple. We forget that it is because of the complexities that we cook up in life. Sometimes we need a fairy tale set in space to remind us that living on the side of compassion is better than living on the side of greed.

      • June 27, 2017 at 12:11 am
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        Agreed – I don’t want some overly complicated explanation for the sake of making it seem interesting.

      • June 27, 2017 at 5:25 am
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        uh, yeah….thanks for all of that…

  • June 26, 2017 at 8:50 pm
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    George Lucas=Canon. Everything else=fan fic.

    • June 26, 2017 at 10:18 pm
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      Then I guess Empire and Jedi are fanfic since Kasdan wrote them.

      And Harrison Ford’s improve of “I know” is fanfic.

      • June 26, 2017 at 10:35 pm
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        I think the notion is that if its under Lucas’s approval……..

      • June 27, 2017 at 12:15 am
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        Both TESB and ROTJ are based on Lucas story. First 6 movies are Lucas story.

        Kasdan just wrote a screenplay based on Lucas story. Soo it is not the same.

        • June 27, 2017 at 2:40 pm
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          It kind of is, though. Because the Han Solo movies are based on Lucas’s ideas for Han, and TFA started from his original treatment.

          And he sold them and made Kathleen Kennedy the new Lucas, soooo it is not fan fic just because you don’t like it.

          • June 27, 2017 at 4:35 pm
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            TFA started from his original treatment, but he’s said they went a different way and we don’t really know just how much it changed. KK may have assumed Lucas’s role, but she’s not Lucas.

            Lucas’s saga is episodes 1-6. I’m in for more and still looking forward to the Solo film, but can understand the notion that the story ended at 6. Lucas’s story did, but others have taken up the torch, he shouldn’t of sold the rights if he didn’t want it to continue though.

    • June 27, 2017 at 1:11 am
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      That’s not true, because there was no “canon” under Lucas. That concept started after the Disney sale.

        • June 27, 2017 at 4:23 am
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          No. After the Disney acquisition of LFL, they started the story group and categorized everything as Legends except the movies and The Clone Wars TV show. (Although not the earlier Tartakovsky Clone Wars show.) Then, after that point, everything created as a movie, TV show, book, or comic would be considered canon.

          When Lucas owned LFL, there was no story group and no official canon. (No unofficial canon either.)

          • June 27, 2017 at 4:47 am
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            Canon always existed. Lucas canon had different categories. Movies were canon A for eample.

            Disney canon has no categories. Both movies, cartoons and comics are equal canon,

          • June 27, 2017 at 4:54 am
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            No, Lucas had no canon. Canon by definition is a singular version of the truth, and Lucas made no effort to maintain that. This is all common knowledge, and has been discussed many times by the main players like Pablo.

            “Canon” is a singular version of the truth, and your creating different types of canon is just not the way it works. You either have a canon timeline or you don’t. If you don’t (which LFL didn’t), then you just have different story lines and timelines. You don’t have different “canons”. (That’s not a thing.)

          • June 29, 2017 at 6:31 am
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            Lucas’ canon was the films and TCW. he didn’t say the word “canon” (because he’s not a nerd like us) but he referred to them as “his story” and considered the Eu to be separate from that.

          • June 27, 2017 at 11:16 am
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            other than the films!

      • June 27, 2017 at 11:15 am
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        The canon was the films…..

        • June 27, 2017 at 3:03 pm
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          That’s not true either. There was no established canon at all. In order for the films to be “canon” Lucas would have had to say that. But he didn’t because there was no canon (one true timeline for everything).

          • June 27, 2017 at 4:13 pm
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            Oh come on, if its in the film its canon, written in stone, call it what you like, but its official. You are saying that Vader never officially returned to the light because Lucas doesn’t consider his own films official, how crazy does that even sound?

          • June 27, 2017 at 4:20 pm
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            You seem to not understand what the term “canon” means. A movie or series of movies is not “canon” unless it is conceived as such. Lucas never did that, and in fact may have purposely not because he kind of made things up as he went along.

            If you personally want to believe something that’s your prerogative. However, you are not free to make up something that never existed. Lucas was never concerned with ensuring one genuine set of facts and timeline governed the Star Wars universe. Disney is concerned with that. So Disney created a story group to document and control the Star Wars canon — for the first time.

          • June 27, 2017 at 4:25 pm
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            If that was the case why were all the older novel known as the Expanded Universe? Because the films were the official story.

            I’m aware he made stuff up as he went along, but once its officially released, or even rereleased as special editions, its his vision that counts as official. He even said the special editions was officially the version he wanted.

  • June 27, 2017 at 3:01 am
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    I liked the video presentation, but he missed some points to help make it easier to understand for someone who hasn’t read the comic. A key point being, the “stone power” is the Force. They just call it something different on this planet and have no idea of Jedi, Sith or the Force. Their names for each other are more or less derogatory slang. It’s a pretty rudimentary and under-developed story that could have been better, imo. I get it though, and I agree somewhat with what this guy is saying even if he seems to be reading into it a bit much. IMO, If the story was more epic and well developed it might be worthy of a video like this. The conclusion actually sucks badly. If it was a movie it would not do well.

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