User blog comment:Jeremiah Garland/Jerrytalk: Star Wars Episode IX Predictions/@comment-25164591-20171231051942/@comment-3112181-20171231152455

Very insightful and interesting points. I never knew that about the grey jedi — I always assumed it was all very black or white. It'll be interesting to see if Abrams and Terrio follow that philosophy in regards to the force, or do indeed make it a 'black or white' situation.

At the end of the day I think the moral narrative trying to be pushed in the sequel trilogy (and especially relevant for 2017) is that of unity. Though concrete political rivalries will always exist (First Order vs Republic/Resistance), the force will come to signify a fluid mentality that no longer can be held on a singular plane of thought. Disagreement or opposing schools of thought do not an enemy make; that can only be done through character mindset alone. These films will come to represent a call for harmony and tolerance, and ultimately signify that rarely are there extremes of pure good and pure bad. Both sides are flawed, often sharing these same flaws. ( This is why Obi-wan and Anakin's 'From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!' dialogue on Mustafar is all the more cringey and backwards thinking, 12 years later).

The dark side is and always will be a corrupting mindset, but, as you hinted at, those who adhere to it are more tortured prisoners of their own making than pure agents of hate. Of course there are exceptions, such as Darth Maul, who was nothing more than an embodiment of anger and destruction (I could be wrong, as I'm not aware what his character is like in Clone Wars/Rebels). Palpatine and Snoke, too, seem to be beyond that point of redemption too. On the other hand, folks like Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, and perhaps even Darth Tyranus seem at times to be victims of the dark side, rather than practitioners.

As for the light (which, you're right, is not a term synonymous with Jedi, but is most often upheld by the Jedi), we see its waning power in the form of Luke's cynicism, and we realise that perhaps light =/= perfection. Luke and Yoda's combined effort in destroying the ancient tree library and 'letting the past go' shows acceptance of this fact. That's why I believe that, as Kylo Ren continues to struggle with the dark, and Rey (acting without direct guidance) rebrands the Jedi, the whole dark/light dichotomy will be shattered and the two terms made ambiguous. The moral of the story will be 'unity through disunity', rather than 'light always trumps darkness'.