Star Wars Proves Qui-Gon Understands The Force Better Than Luke & Yoda
The Star Wars franchise isn’t always consistent when it comes to the definition of balance in the Force, but Qui-Gon Jinn proved that he understands its original meaning better than even Luke Skywalker and Yoda. The Force is an essential component of the Star Wars franchise, introduced as the source of power and faith for many in-universe organizations, with the Jedi and Sith being the most prominent and powerful. The Force is described as a universal energy that exists throughout the galaxy, but it also has a dark side, which some characters believe must be balanced with the Force’s “light side.”
The original and prequel Star Wars trilogies never refer to a “light side,” since their depiction of the Force establishes that there’s only the natural energy in the galaxy and its unnatural corruption: the dark side. The Force may be ubiquitous, but it takes discipline to master, while the seductive dark side is easy to master but ultimately takes a far larger toll on its users, who must make what’s akin to a Faustian bargain to embrace it. Numerous canon Star Wars properties, such as the sequel trilogy, subscribe to the idea that the Force has two sides, light and dark, and that both can be positive or negative in the right circumstances, with the balance being found between the two.
2018’s one-shot comic, Star Wars: Age of Republic - Qui-Gon Jinn, by Jody Houser and Cory Smith, has Qui-Gon travel to a charted but uninhabited world strong in the Force, where he receives an epiphanic vision among the world’s Force-imbued (and dark side-corrupted) plant life. Qui-Gon’s conclusion adheres to the original and prequel trilogy’s understanding of balance in the Force, where the Jedi must evolve or risk being infiltrated by the corruption of the dark side, and that this can be achieved without violence. In discussion with Yoda, Qui-Gon further states that no balance will be found by using the dark side, a sentiment not shared by Luke Skywalker in the sequel trilogy.
Qui-Gon’s views contrast with those of both Yoda and Luke Skywalker. The Jedi Order once had a far more malleable lifestyle for its members, allowing the expression of emotions and even attachments, such as romances, allowing Jedi to remain in touch with the ordinary societies they protected. When Yoda became the Jedi Grandmaster, he made his interpretation of Jedi conduct, which was far more restrictive, the norm for all Jedi Knights, leading them to become rigid by the time of the prequels, and leaving them vulnerable to the Sith Order’s manipulations.
Luke Skywalker states in Star Wars: The Last Jedi that balance in the Force is “powerful light, powerful darkness,” a view that’s repeatedly contradicted by the original and prequel trilogies. Qui-Gon states that the Jedi are risking imbalance by becoming too rigidly set in their current ways, but that balance can be achieved without the dark side, which turns its users into megalomaniacs. Qui-Gon Jinn’s understanding of balance in the Force, which the original six Star Wars films demonstrate, is that one must be strong enough to not bend to the dark side, but not so much so that they’ll become rigid and stagnant - ideas which Yoda and Luke Skywalker ultimately went against.