After a certain pair of major character deaths, perhaps the single most controversial element of the New Jedi Order series was the introduction of the Potentium philosophy. The Potentium states that the Force is a unified entity with no light or dark side. This view is primarily advocated by the enigmatic Vergere. More recent materials (viz., Legacy of the Force) have retroactively declared Vergere a heretic and Sith apprentice, though, since those claims are made by the evil Lumiyra, their accuracy has yet to be established. Regardless of Vergere's spiritual alignment, the theological implications of the Potentium are impossible to ignore: does such a worldview essentially contradict the core beliefs of the Jedi? Carried to its logical conclusion, can it lead an undiscerning follower straight into the midnight embrace of the dark side? Or -- despite all evidence to the contrary -- is the Potentium actually the very same Force espoused by the Jedi Order?

Philosophically, the Potentium is predicated upon the idea that the Force is a byproduct of life. Not even the mainstream Jedi contest this point: the Force is not a deity; it is, in the words of Obi-Wan Kenobi, created by life, rather than a creator of life. Therefore, argue proponents of the Potentium, all diverse aspects of the Force -- particularly its light and dark sides -- are actually reflections of the characteristics of life. The Force, then, is relegated to the function of a cosmological mirror: it does not originate light and dark so much as imitate them. Vergere illustrated this point by inviting her young ward, Jacen Solo, to the crumbling foundation of the ancient Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Solo sensed a malign spiritual presence surrounding the Temple and postulated that the building must have been erected to contain a powerful dark-side nexus. Vergere countered that no Jedi would have founded a temple upon a well of evil power; instead, the Force nexus was neutral. The darkness which Jacen sensed was merely the re-radiation of his own dark emotions at the time. Vergere sought to desensitize Jacen Solo to his perceptions of dark Force, and to teach him that he himself made certain actions good or evil. Critics of the Potentium counter that such a line of reasoning is essentially identical to that advocated by the Sith: the insidious Emperor Palpatine similarly urged Anakin to forgo the "narrow, dogmatic" teachings of the Jedi and embrace the full potential of the Force. Sith or Potentium, does not this incautious broadness of philosophy invite great evil?

The clear risk of such a universalistic philosophy is that it produces amorality or benumbs ethical perception. If the dark side does not exist and evil is manufactured solely by one's own determination, why not simply determine to do good and then go about one's own will regardless of the objections of the wider universe? Darth Ruin, Dark Lord of the New Sith Order, is said to have fallen from grace because of comparable "spiritual solipsism": thoroughly self-delusional, he decided that nothing outside of his own perception mattered in the universe. Uncaring for allies or adversaries, he set about his dark work and ignited a galactic conflagration which lasted one thousand years. The scale of devastation unleashed by Ruin's lack of contact with moral reality seems to attest to the damaging effects of Potentium-type philosophy. Yoda, stalwart defender of classical teaching methods, insisted that it was necessary for a Jedi to recognize and defeat the seductive influence of the dark side. And, if Darth Ruin is any standard, the old Grand Master was absolutely correct. However, does the Potentium really constitute moral obliviousness?

Followers of the Potentium never contest the existence of evil; they simply deny its existence as a supernatural force. Rather, external evil was a reproduction of the internal evil of sentient life -- the life which generated the Force in the first place. The otherwise orthodox Mace Windu expressed the same belief in the personal journal, musing, "I don't see [Dark Force shaman Kar] Vastor as evil... He doesn't make the darkness, he only uses it. His inner darkness is a reflection of the darkness of his world; and it darkens the world around him in turn. Internal and external darkness create each other, just as do internal and external light: that is the underlying unity of the Force." The Potentium is thus cyclical: our circumstances react upon us; we, reflecting those circumstances, change the image of the world around us. But perhaps Master Windu's commentary offers the ultimate key to decoding the Potentium paradox.

"He doesn't make the darkness," Windu avers; "he only uses it." (Emphasis supplied.) Although the darkness of Kar Vastor's world may be a result of his internal torment (which, in turn, stems from the events in his world -- a perfect, infinite circle of hatred), Vastor does not create darkness. He is the cause of his own darkness, a generator of darkness...but darkness itself exists as an independent quality. If an artist uses black paint to darken for a picture, did he invent the color black? Patently not; for even if the artist himself ground up the original pigment for the paint, black is a color in and of itself. If the Force is the galaxy's mirror, it must manifest every shade of the universe it reflects; to use a different metaphor, water absorbs the flavor of every mineral impurity it carries. Evil, in- or outside of the human heart, is a distinguishing aspect of life. Therefore, the Force must reflect evil. In that sense, the Force does, indeed, have a dark side...but a dark side caused by life. If you believe in anthropomorphic forces of good and evil like God and Satan, -- and I do, by the way -- that theology is even stronger evidence of this circular principal: the Force would presumably represent the traits and agendas of both cosmic spiritual powers. From a Christian perspective, I would argue that God Himself creates the light side by using the Force as a medium of communication to His followers: by speaking through the Force, He would imprint it with the mould of His own character. If, in turn, the dark side is an avatar of all that is evil in the universe, the Jedi should, indeed, beware its influence. Are Yoda and Vergere truly at irreconcilable odds?

The Potentium, at its end, is identical to the Jedi teaching of a divided Force. Together, the pair of philosophies forms a universal truth of divided unity -- external darkness generating internal darkness generating external darkness. And, really, why shouldn't these two schools of thought mesh? An all-encompassing Force represents every facet of reality, so, logically, the interpretation of that Force must have many facets. Multiple explanations of the same power are not by any means mutually contradictory, insofar as they ultimately express the same conclusion. The Potentium is obviously different from Sith teachings, since the Potentium acknowledges evil as an intrinsic quality of the universe. The Jedi, in their own circuitous way, agree. I, for one, speculate that Vergere was a true (if devious) Jedi. Lumiya certainly wouldn't be above twisting the truth, and I see no evidence that the Potentium is evil. It is merely a superficially different interpretation of the Jedi ideal. In the end, both philosophies are unified -- just like the Force they represent.

Force be with you in all its aspects,
~The Admiral