so uncivilized

no, my king— i mean daddy— i mean sweetheart— i mean sir— i mean—

the mandalorian - Obi-Wan DEAD

andor - Obi-Wan ALIVE

the bad batch - Obi-Wan ALIVE

What is the dark side of the Force?

In Episode IV, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s definition of the Force: “an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together.” He quickly reveals that this Force has a “dark side” which is the culprit behind the evil deeds of Darth Vader, who was seduced by it. In Episode V, Master Yoda reveals what the dark side of the Force, that seduced and consumed Darth Vader, is: “A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression... The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight.” He explains, the dark side is "quicker, easier, more seductive" but it is not stronger.

"If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice. The consciousness of Obi-Wan, manifested by the Force, warns Luke, “don’t give in to hate. That leads to the dark side.” As a part of his training, Yoda sends Luke Skywalker into a cave, from which Luke feels death emanating, and what is “strong with the dark side of the Force”, which is “a domain of evil” - and inside, there will be nothing, “only what you take with you.” In Episode VI, Yoda repeats his warning, “anger, fear, aggression, the dark side are they.” In Episode I, he reveals how evil is created, identifying fear, especially the fear of losing the people we love as the origins of evil: "fear is a path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering" and in Episode III, he repeats: “fear of loss is a path to the dark side." He warns against not accepting death as part of life: “attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.”

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, there are two arcs elaborating on the dark side: the Mortis Arc and Yoda’s Arc. In Yoda's Arc, to achieve immortality, the Force Priestess Serenity instructs Yoda to face with "what in your existence some call evil, otherwise known as fear." Yoda battles with a dark creature that he can defeat only through recognizing it as his own dark side, something that is a part of himself, that is "part of all that lives." Serenity tells him afterwards, summarizing the lesson, "the beast is you and you are the beast." In the Mortis Arc, the dark side is explored as one of the two simplest parts of a cosmic construction that makes up the cosmos. The Son, himself a living being, embodies the cosmic function of destruction, death, the male line along which the form of living things develop in the womb, and selfishness, whereas the Daughter embodies the cosmic function of creation, birth, the female line along which the form of living things develop in the womb, and selflessness.

Summarizing the Dark Side of the Force

In George Lucas' Star Wars, the dark side of the Force, the energy created by all living things, surrounding and penetrating them, is part of all that lives: it's fear, anger, hate, aggression and selfishness, the culprit behind the actions and behaviors of those who we deem evil, and the causes and conditions which such behavior is the result of. "Evil" is just another name for fear, that is behind anger, which is behind hate. Fear, anger, hate and aggression are flowing very easily, arising within living things very quickly in a fight, seducing to a very easy path. However, once they give in to them, that will permanently influence how their destiny will unfold and they will consume them. Falling to the dark side of the Force is to fall under the sway of the dark side within us, causing evil and selfish behaviors towards others: fear, anger, hate, aggression. As part of a cosmic construction that makes up existence, the dark side of the Force is also the cosmic function of destruction, death, the male line along which the form of living things develop.

The Jedi Way: controlling the dark side

In Episode IV and V, Yoda and Obi-Wan are teaching Luke that "the Force is what gives a Jedi his power" and that "a Jedi's strength flows from the Force" but they warn him to be careful with the strength and power of the dark side, the fear, anger, aggression within him, since if he gives in to their seduction and starts down on the path of fear, anger and aggression, if he gives in to hate, he will turn into "an agent of evil" and be consumed by his dark side, like Darth Vader, and it will leave a permanent mark on his life, When Luke asks, "how do I know the good side from the bad?", Master Yoda replies, "you will know, when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack."

His lesson is repeated in Episode I and II: the Jedi are telling Anakin Skywalker, "be mindful of your emotions" and also, "be mindful of your thoughts" and emphasizing the importance to be mindful. To be mindful of one's emotions is to be conscious and aware of them - generally, they are making us to respond immediately, without any conscious thought, pushing us to act upon them, driven by them. However, by bringing our emotions into the space of our conscious and passive, i.e. non-judgmental and non-reactive awareness, with calmness and inner peace, their power to kick us out of the driver's seat, to narrow our perspective and distort our perception of reality falls away: we can find the gap between the moments of our experience and the reaction, response, where we have control, and not falling under the sway of fear, anger, aggression or hatred.

In Yoda"s Arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Yoda confronts with the reflection of his own dark side: "Part of me you are, yes, but power over me you have not. Through patience and training, it is I, who control you. My dark side, you are. Reject you, I do."

Letting go of Attachments

Attachment, the feeling that we like or love somebody or something and that we would be unhappy without them, is infused with the fear of loss and the unreasonable and unrealistic desire to hold on to life, to the people we love - to not accept the reality of life’s passages and changes, which is to say things come, things go. As Shmi explains to Anakin in Episode I, "you can't stop change any more than you can stop the suns from setting" and when change comes, when "it's time for you to let go" what he must do is to "be brave and don't look back." However, in Star Wars: the Clone Wars, the Mortis Arc, Anakin confesses to the likeness of Shmi, "the only love I feel in my heart is haunted by what would happen should I let go" to which she replies, "Then it is not love. It is a prison."

As Yoda tells to Anakin in Episode III, repeating Shmi's lesson, "Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force" that "The fear of loss is a path to the dark side" since from fear comes anger, from anger comes hate and therefore, he tells Anakin, "train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." For this reason, as Anakin recalls Yoda's teaching in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, "A Jedi must not form attachments." In Episode II, Padmé asks Anakin, "Are you allowed to love? I thought that was forbidden for a Jedi." Anakin replies, when it comes to loving people, "Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life." Whereas attachment is a path to the dark side, by definition, compassion is to feel with, suffer with, to experience with another person - it's a sense of oneness, of being parts of each other, from which the genuine aspiration to make another person happy and free from suffering arises, rather than the desire for them to be parts of our lives, stay in our lives, so they can supply us with satisfaction, pleasure, enjoyment. Thus, compassion is clean of the fear of loss.

The Sith and Using the Dark Side of the Force

In Episode V and VI, the Sith Lords, Darth Vader and Darth Sidious are both urging Luke to forsake the Jedi way, to make him to give in, to relinquish control over his fear, anger, hate and aggressive feelings, so he will experience the power of their energy and be seduced by it - to do the opposite of what Yoda and Obi-Wan taught him. “Release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me” and “use your aggressive feelings” and “let the hate flow through you” with the Emperor encouraging him, "give in to your anger" and rejoicing, as Luke's anger and hate is "swelling" in him, saying, "with each passing moment you make yourself more my servant." He urges Luke, "strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!" Vader briefly manages to make Luke use the dark side by resorting to the same tactic that Darth Sidious used on him in Episode III: "Give yourself to the dark side. It is the only way you can save your friends" and "If you will not turn to the dark side then perhaps [Leia] will." As Luke gives himself to his fear, anger and hate, mutilating his father in rage, the Emperor cheers: "Good! Your hate has made you powerful. Now fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side!"

Fear, anger, hate, aggression, in the short term, make our minds more focused, give us a huge burst of energy and determination, and thus, make us more effective in getting things done and in obtaining what we seek, the rush of adrenaline is seductive and pleasurable. But this energy is ultimately blind: unless we meet them with conscious awareness, they will hijack us, kick us out of the driving seat, swallowing our perception and the ability to accurately appraise situations, to view things and people from different angles and points of view, fades. As Anakin describes them in Episode III, the Sith found power and strength in such state, in the quick and easy path: "The Sith rely on their passion for their strength." And this is exactly how Darth Vader and the Emperor or other Sith Knights are talking of the dark side of the Force and the power they obtain from it: "I can feel your anger. It gives you focus, makes you stronger" as Palpatine says to Anakin in Episode III. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ventress and Dooku are training Savage Oppress to utilize his dark emotions in the same way: "You will learn to draw your strength from your emotions. Hate will feed you." To not let this strength to fade, "never sympathize with the enemy, not even for a moment.” Furthermore, “You must connect with your hatred! Focus on your power building. Do not think anyone or anything else” and “your anger is your strength!”

Just like Yoda said, these emotions are arising very quickly when we’re facing with an enemy, they’re offering a very easy way to deal with them, they make the world appear to be very simple, they’re very, very seductive - they  would lead to immediate satisfaction but, at the same time, it strengthens and feeds the part of ourselves that is the same part that keeps our enemies under its sway. Thus, if Luke strikes down Vader, the Emperor gets a new Darth Vader at his side; if Luke strikes down the Emperor, Vader ends up with an apprentice and he can become Emperor himself.

Seeking to Stop the Suns Form Setting

"I will be the most powerful Jedi ever! I promise you I will even learn to stop people from dying!" Anakin swears to Padmé, in Episode II. In Episode III, Darth Sidious tempting Anakin with the alleged power of the Sith Lord, Darth Plagueis, who, "had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying." Whereas the Jedi are training themselves to let go of everything they fear to lose, and accept change and death as inevitabilities of life, the Sith are seeking to find a way to stop change and death.

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, when Yoda travels to Moraband, the ancient homeworld of the Sith, the illusions of the long-dead Sith Lords are whispering the fears plaguing the ego: "There is no life after death. Only nothingness awaits you, Jedi. Your fear feeds our hunger for power." As Yoda concludes, "Captivated by the physical realm the Sith are." Palpatine, manipulating Anakin, asserts, the Jedi and the Sith are similar in their "quest for greater power" and Anakin replies, the Sith "think inwards. Only about themselves." Seeking ultimate power over everything, due to their fear of losing what they got, and the anger and hate following from that fear, as the illusion of Darth Bane reveals, "the Sith killed each other, victims of their own greed." To ensure their survival, they created the rule of two: there could be only one Sith master and only one Sith apprentice, with the master seeking to grow more powerful through his apprentice, and the apprentice is seeking to recruit an apprentice on his own, to kill the master and rule the universe.