I recently encountered this brilliant fan-made and AI-aided cinematic in which an older Luke Skywalker encountered the preserved consciousness of Darth Plagueis, the Sith Lord who sought to conquer death and who was Emperor Palpatine's own Master. I will not spoil it, but one thought I had while watching struck me enough that I wanted to record it. When Luke tells Darth Plagueis that it was his father's love that allowed him to turn against Palpatine, Plagueis replies with a scathing "Love. Such a fragile foundation upon which to place one's faith." A typical Sith remark, and naturally Luke replies that love was enough to defeat Palpatine.
All true, yet it struck me that Darth Plagueis' observation seemed to be held, at least in part, by the Jedi Order as well. What separates the Sith from the Jedi? The Sith embrace hatred to fuel their dark ambitions for power, whereas the Jedi embrace non-attachment so as to clear-headedly and selflessly fight for peace and other noble causes. Yet non-attachment is not the opposite of hatred. Love is. Yet we know the Jedi Order directly forbade any romantic attachments amongst its members, a philosophy that played a huge part is driving Anakin to the dark side since his found family in the Order would never permit the life, the family, he wanted to have with Padmé.
Why? "Love. Such a fragile foundation upon which to place one's faith." Any true adherent of the Spirit of Tolkien knows better. As Albus Dumbledore said to Harry, "You are protected, in short, by your ability to love! The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort’s!" The ability to love, fiercely and deeply, being a shield both magically and for the soul against the dark arts is arguably the Harry Potter series' most prominent overall lesson, one that is proved time and again. Yet the Jedi reject it as a defense against the dark side of the Force, viewing rather as a weakness that can be exploited by, and a path to, the dark side.
Do not get me wrong, I love the Jedi. Yet it seems to me that their single greatest flaw is sharing the Sith believe that love is a weakness. Making that shared flaw also the most ironic (in addition to fatal) seeing as it killed them both. Anakin's Skywalker's love, and being told it has no place in his life, led to the downfall of both the Jedi Order and Sith. Had the Jedi permitted love instead of preaching non-attachment then I think they would have fared better, had a stronger connection to the light side of the Force.
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