From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi (Star Wars)

by Olivie Blake

“There are many things we keep to ourselves over the course of our lives. Those choices are not the sum of who we are.”

“Anakin, one person alone cannot burn down a galaxy. Or a Republic.” They existed, and yet they did not. Formless and separate, and still one with the Force. Somehow, he felt Obi-Wan’s hand on his shoulder, as real as it had been many times when Anakin was a lonely boy, when he was a brazen Padawan, when they stood as equals. “One person may pull a string. One person may light a spark. However, all the pieces don’t move into place by themselves. Years upon years compound, one bad choice followed by a good choice followed by a well-intentioned mistake. The will of the galaxy, of people, is different from the will of the Force. Their intentions, their actions, and those that preyed on them, it is a collective. Not preordained. And not the mark of an individual. You do not bear the guilt of the galaxy. Only for your own choices.”