Chosen One/Legends

"Fully defeated by just anyone, the dark side cannot be, but only by the Chosen One. And who might be this Jedi? Know I do not, but not yet born is he or she. This much, sense I can. A vessel of pure Force the Chosen One will be, more powerful than any Jedi in history."

- Yoda, from the Great Holocron

The prophecy of the Chosen One was an ancient Jedi legend that foretold the coming of a being who would restore balance to the Force.

The prophecy was one of hundreds of obscure legends maintained by the Jedi Order, though its origins and actual content remain unknown. It was thought to have been created by the earliest Jedi philosophers, after the creation of the Galactic Republic but before the Jedi assumed an active role in it.

It is believed the prophecy detailed the birth of one strong in the Force, who would ultimately bring balance to that mystical energy field through their actions. It may also have indicated that being would, in restoring balance, destroy the Sith, who were thought to be the cause of unbalance, with their use of the dark side of the Force. However, as the Sith were believed destroyed at the Seventh Battle of Ruusan, the prophecy was disregarded by the Jedi High Council. The prophecy was not explicit, but the Jedi assumed that the Chosen One would be a Jedi, due to the prophecy's being a Jedi prophecy.

History of the Chosen One
"You refer to the prophecy of the one who will bring balance to the Force. You believe it's this....boy?"

- Mace Windu to Qui-Gon Jinn and referring to Anakin Skywalker

In the waning days of the Galactic Republic, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn discovered a young slave boy named Anakin Skywalker on the desert planet of Tatooine. Jinn believed the boy could be the Chosen One himself, due to his extraordinary ability with the Force&mdash;brought on by his unusually high midi-chlorian count of over twenty thousand in each cell of his body&mdash;and his apparent virgin birth by Shmi Skywalker.

Despite Qui-Gon's belief of the boy's true purpose in the Galaxy, the Jedi High Council was not entirely convinced, and forebade Qui-Gon from training Anakin. However, after Jinn's death on Naboo, his former Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, took Anakin as his apprentice. The fact that it was a Sith Lord that slew Qui-Gon may have indicated to the Council that, with the Sith returned, the prophecy could still be completed.

"And a special destiny is not always joyous, or easy to bear. My father had a special destiny, and see where it took him."

- Luke Skywalker

Although Anakin Skywalker's powers grew as the years passed, he began a slow but irrevocable slide towards the dark side of the Force, in part due to the increasing influence of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, someone Anakin thought of as a friend and mentor. The High Council was still dubious that Anakin was truly the Chosen One, and Yoda himself even mused that the prophecy could have been misread, and that Anakin could not have been the one destined to bring balance. This assumption became a conviction when Skywalker fell to the dark side and, as Darth Vader, was partly responsible for the fall of the Jedi Order. The destruction of the Jedi plunged the galaxy into darkness, with the Dark Lords of the Sith in control. Obi-Wan Kenobi, during his confrontation with Vader on Mustafar, stated that he believed Anakin was indeed the Chosen One, but that his destiny had been altered, and the prophecy unfulfilled. Yoda and Obi-Wan then looked towards the offspring of Skywalker to one day overthrow the Sith, possibly hoping they would fulfill the prophecy instead.



It transpired, however, that the prophecy was still to be fulfilled; decades later, above the moon of Endor. There, Vader stood witness to a confrontation between the Dark Lord of the Sith, Palpatine, and Vader's own son, Luke Skywalker. When Palpatine unleashed deadly Force lightning upon the boy, Vader turned against his Sith Master to save Luke's life. It was this conscious choice that fulfilled the Prophecy and brought balance to the Force. Vader killed Sidious at the cost of his own life, and in doing so, fulfilled the prophecy by destroying the Sith, his Master and himself. Embracing the light side of the Force, Anakin Skywalker passed away, leaving his son to continue the teachings of the Jedi, to maintain the balance that he had restored.

Behind the scenes
George Lucas himself has stated that Anakin is the Chosen One and that the prophecy is true, although Luke indirectly served as the catalyst that allowed Anakin to fulfill the prophecy.

It is believed by some that the prophecy of the Chosen One is connected to the prophecy of the "Son of the Suns", as mentioned in the second draft script of what became Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope:

"&hellip;And in the time of greatest despair, there shall come a savior, and he shall be known as THE SON OF THE SUNS."

- Journal of the Whills, 3:127

This, however, was written in 1975, when the prophecy of the Chosen One had not been developed, and is actually referencing the actions of Luke Skywalker, not his father.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Jedi Quest: The School of Fear
 * Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
 * The Rise and Fall of Darth Vader
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars
 * "Chapter 21"
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi