Whenever I happen to play a game that involves some moral choice, I always find myself choosing the side of good. I followed the Light Side in Jedi Knight and Jedi Academy. In KOTOR and KOTOR II, I did all I could to aid the weak and defend the defenseless. I've tried to be evil, but I couldn't. SIlly, isn't it? That Ithorian I could've robbed and murdered isn't real, he's the digital product of a game designer's imagination.

Yet, this predisposition toward good led to me to see something. In the Star Wars universe, there are many conflicting schools of thought on the nature of the Force. The more dominant and nouveau outlook these days is that no ability or power is inherently evil, it is the use to which it is put that defines its morality. This is evidenced as in the Dark Nest trilogy when Luke calls upon some serious Dark Side powers to save his allies and to win the day. He doesn't believe in evil and selfish actions, but he does call on fear and anger to carry out his mission.

But by the end of the trilogy he does realize that this isn't the way to go, because by calling on such emotions is to become that which the Jedi stand against. But what do the Jedi stand for to begin with?

There is a "Dark Side" and a "Light Side". Yet, to be honest they are no different. The Dark Side relies on abilities that cause destruction, that lead to more efficient dispatch of one's enemies. The Light Side relies on abilities of healing, absoption, defense, acrobatics, and mental clarity. While not directly dispatching one's enemies, these abilities serve to enhance one's inherent skills, so in essence through supporting a Jedi they achieve the same means as the Dark Side: dispatching enemies and achieving goals more efficiently.

Both the Dark Side and the Light side lead to the same end. It is the means that differ.

But the reason why the Dark Side might be seen as evil is simple: it calls on fear, anger, hatred while the Light Side calls on mental focus, compassion, and clarity. It is in that distinction that what I believe the superiority of the Light Side emerges. One's compassion, clarity, and confidence but not arrogance in the Force and in himself can be unyielding and infinite in a strong Jedi. But anger and fear are short term, and cannot be held indefinitely. Dark Siders have almost always met their fall for this reason, and for the reason that while one Dark Sider's hatred wanes, another's increases and takes the place of the first.

We saw it in Vader's redemption. But most of all, we saw it in Palpatine: in his complacency, his happiness in his Empire, he grew weak and decadent. That is the nature of the Dark Side: it requires a state of anger, of unhappiness to flourish. Even happiness as a result of committing great evils and unleashing great Dark Side power is not enough. Without those inner feelings the Dark Side is weak.

The Dark Side may be a quicker path to victory, but not a lasting victory. In the multi-thousand year history of the Republic, the Empire was little more than a speck.