Author Andy Weir is once again tackling hard-hitting science questions. No, it’s not a Mark Watney problem, nor Ryland Grace’s constant chaos. Instead, it’s an explanation about The Force, and the Sith Rule of Two.
Weir is one of my favorite people to interview, and I have to tell you, this is EXACTLY the type of conversations he has, even when the tapes aren’t rolling. He posted his thoughts on The Force on his official Facebook page, and we just had to share it.
“I’ve decided that the Force is conserved. And that the Dark Side and Light Side energies are separate – each with their own energy available. So the more Force users there are of a given type, the less powerful they all are.This explains the Sith “Rule of Two”. They’re aware of Force Conservation so they limit the number of users of Dark Side energy to two – the bare minimum necessary to pass down the techniques.
This also explains why the Jedi in the prequel trilogy were shit. There were a few notably strong ones: Yoda, Mace, Qui-Gon, and Obi-Wan. But the rest were wusses. They got killed by Order 66 which was basically “Stormtroopers shoot at Jedi”. What kind of Jedi get killed like punks from a few Stormtroopers? Weak-assed ones, that’s what kind.By the time the original trilogy starts, there are only two Light Side energy users remaining: Yoda and Obi-Wan. This is how Luke Skywalker was able to eventually become a Jedi Master within a few years of training (instead of the lifetime it normally took). He had massive raw ability thanks to the small number of people drawing from the Light Side energy pool.
Leia didn’t train during the original trilogy or put any effort at all into being a Jedi. Yet she manifested Jedi powers (telepathy with Luke) without even trying. Again, because there was so much Light Side energy to go around that the few conduits for it were like lightning rods.
Onward to the sequel trilogy. For the first time in the films, there are more Dark Side users than Light. Palpatine, Snoke, Kylo Ren, and the seven or so Knights of Ren all tap into Dark Side energy, while only Luke, Leia, and Rey have access to the Light Side. Luke is in self-isolation and pretty much not using the Force at all. Leia uses the Force exactly once in the entire sequel trilogy. So that means there is one –and only one – avenue for the Light Side energy: Rey. This explains her meteoric rise in ability without training.Meanwhile, the Knights of Ren dropped like flies at the first sign of combat. Too many Dark Side users, not enough Dark Side energy. They sucked. Same as the Jedi did during the Republic.
At the end of the sequel trilogy, all the Dark Side users are dead and Rey is the only Jedi. So you remember that kid at the end of “The Last Jedi” who used Force Telekinesis to pull on a broom? He’s got access to half the Light Side energy and ALL of the Dark Side energy. Either way he ends up going, you probably shouldn’t fuck with him.
Thanks, Andy.
Pick up copies of “The Martian,” “Artemis,” and “Project Hail Mary” on Amazon, or your preferred brick and mortar bookstores.
