NERD ALERT: In Star Wars, how is the concept of wiping away all traces of the dark side, considered "balance"?

Well isn’t there an entire planet that is Sith? Sorry I’m trying to answer this from something I read up on almost a decade ago… just I remember in the Star Wars fluff that there’s a planet that is surrounded by a massive impregnable asteroid field that is pretty much entirely populated by Sith, which may be enough evil for the entire galaxy.

Do not think about it. George Lucas is an idiot and he probably does not know it himself.
(that is also why he changed it from “bringing balance to the force” to “destroy the sith”)

@King_Pariah
I think the planet you’re talking about is Korriban. This eventually became the main planet of the modern Sith empire. However, that was long before Darth Bane made the rule that there will be only two; a master, and an apprentice. So, in the time period of the movies, there are all but only 2 Sith left anywhere. The others were all destroyed by the Jedi in the Sith War years prior.

(BTW, just so you know, I looked most of that up just now and pieced it together with other stuff, like you, I had read years ago. I don’t actually know THAT much about Star Wars.)

@ragingloli
LOL. That he is!

But, what are you talking about when you say “bringing balance to the force” was changed to “destroy the sith”? I haven’t heard that one…

Assume that there is some natural state of the Force, probably a dynamic equilibrium rather than some static mode of being, and that certain people cause disruptions. The early Jedi understood the natural state as “good” and the disruptions as “bad.” Over time, they noticed that people using certain aspects of the Force tended to be more likely to cause disruptions. Instead of focusing on the who, the Jedi focused on the how. This in turn led to the view that there was a “light” and a “dark” side to the Force, and subsequently to a reconceptualization of what it meant for the Force to be in balance.

Then along comes the prophecy. Due to their misconception of what balancing the Force would entail, the Jedi fail to understand how Anakin Skywalker could bring about the balance for which they were hoping. What we come to understand later is that balancing the Force consists not in eliminating the “dark” side, but rather in using all aspects of the Force to maintain the natural state and minimize disruptions. Thus when we end up with two trustworthy people—and twins, no less—using opposite sides of the Force, we see the Force finally reunified and balanced.

Ultimately, then, the Jedi are correct about someone bringing balance to the Force, but quite incorrect about how this will occur.

I think @SavoirFaire explained it better than Lucas could ever could since his idea of balancing only involves his checkbook. : )

@mazingerz88 Agreed! lol!

Meesa thinks whole concept is kinda sketchy…

I don’t think the Jedi Council had a very good handle on “balence”; you are correct on that. But Lucas, maybe?? did not screw it up in the larger sense – the Jedi were becoming more corrupt, more “gray”, in their lightness, because there wasn’t any real darkness around. Then Anakin becomes Vader, shows them what “dark” really is, and then they can find “light” again. Or, you know, just be totally gone so that the only people who are “light” were not really around to have any idea what the old version of “light” looked like.

@SavoirFaire O.O where did you read all that? Do I need to add another book or two to my reading list?

@Aethelflaed Just a reconstruction based on what I’ve seen and read. Not from any particular source. In other words, a wild conjecture designed to save Lucas from himself.