"The Force Is Mine": Star Wars' New Villain Is the Best Evidence Yet That Jedi Don't Understand the Force

Summary The Shroud, an all-new villain in Star Wars canon, exhibits previously unseen Force abilities derived from viewing the Force as one single current of energy as opposed to a 'light' and a 'dark' side, proving the Jedi misunderstand the Force.

The views of the Final Occultation cult aligns with the Shroud, claiming no distinction between the light and dark side of the Force.

Rey's potential new Jedi Academy may incorporate ideas of combining light and dark sides of the Force, meaning this new addition to Star Wars canon could have a lasting impact.

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Star Wars: Mace Windu #4! The Jedi pride themselves in being the galactic keepers of knowledge in the Force as well as masters in the light side, yet as Star Wars lore continues to expand, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the Jedi don’t understand the Force as well as they think they do. In fact, one all-new Star Wars villain is living proof that both the Jedi and the Sith have totally misunderstood the nature of the Force for thousands of years - and this villain isn’t the only evidence supporting that claim.

In Star Wars: Mace Windu #4 by Marc Bernardin and Georges Jeanty, Mace Windu is on a mission to extract a woman with the formula for Coaxium Ultra, which is a heightened version of standard fuel that would make any ship using it the fastest in the galaxy. The Jedi Order needed to obtain the fuel before a crime syndicate did, as Republic ships wouldn’t be able to keep up. While the stakes for this mission were high, the true challenge wouldn’t come until after it was complete, as that’s when Mace Windu was faced with the aforementioned villain: the Shroud.

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As Mace Windu is boarding a ship with the target, Azita, they’re approached by members of a ‘cult’, who introduce themselves as the Dusk Weavers of the Had’le Path. While these two cultists are easy enough to defeat, their master, the Shroud, is another story entirely. The Shroud uses the Force to give himself super strength, proven true when he lifts a ship over his head, and survives blaster fire to his unguarded chest. He also claims that only he understands the true nature of the Force where the Jedi do not, claiming, “The Force is mine”.

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The Shroud Uses the Force in Ways the Jedi Don’t Even Know are Possible

The Shroud explains that he was ‘almost a Jedi’, yet left the Order when it didn’t have the answers he sought. Then, the Shroud attempted to find those answers in the dark side of the Force, yet he still didn’t find what he was looking for. So, the Shroud allegedly ‘spoke’ to the Force directly, which finally offered him the insight into the mysterious cosmic current that had been driving him his whole life.

What the Shrough found was that there is no ‘light side’ and ‘dark side’ of the Force, there is simply ‘the Force’, and by understanding that, he can wield it in ways the Jedi don’t even know are possible.

Evidence of this can be found by the Shroud’s superhuman strength and durability, which he gained through access in the Force. This is a power Star Wars fans have never seen exhibited by a Force user of any kind, yet here the Shroud was, wielding it like a pro. Indeed, the Shroud survived blaster fire and could lift a spaceship with minimal effort, and he also survived the ship’s explosion at the end of the issue. Not only is this villain immensely strong, he’s also still alive in Star Wars canon, which could eventually lead to even greater insight into his practices.

While the Shroud made a number of bold claims (albeit backed up by seemingly impossible actions), he leaves out important specifics. Did he converse with the Whills, and that’s how he gained this knowledge? Is he delusional, and his strength has nothing to do with the Force? What exactly is the ‘Had’le Path’? Everything about the Shroud is incredibly vague, and only time will tell how legitimate his claims about the Force truly are.

However, as far-fetched as the Shroud’s claims seem, there may be some legitimacy to what he said about how there’s no difference between the dark and light, as another recently introduced Star Wars cult revealed the same thing: the Final Occultation.

Star Wars’ The Final Occultation Backs Up The Shroud’s Claims About the Force

Star Wars: Darth Maul - Black, White & Red #1 “Ghost Ship” by Benjamin Percy and Stefano Raffaele

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The Final Occultation is a cult introduced in Star Wars: Darth Maul - Black, White & Red, one which even Darth Sidious feared. The cultists didn’t use the Force of this universe, but rather an energy that could only be described as the ‘Anti-Force’ from the Netherworld - a dimension separate from the Star Wars galaxy. The leaders of the Final Occultation siphoned Anti-Force from the Netherworld and used it against Darth Maul, as the energy offered the cultists the ability to flood Maul’s mind with hellish visions that nearly destroyed him.

When Maul confronts the final leader of the Final Occultation (after murdering the other two), it’s revealed that the Final Occultation sees the Force as a single energy current, with no difference between the light and the dark. In fact, the dichotomy between the light and dark is laughable to the Final Occultation, as they see things another way: the Force vs the Anti-Force. The Force is of this universe, the Anti-Force another, and anything beyond those two absolute points of power is trivial, if not non-existent.

The Final Occultation’s views aligning with those of the Shroud is fascinating, as they’re saying the same thing but from opposite ends of the spectrum. The Shroud is wielding the Force unencumbered by concerns over the light or the dark sides, while the Final Occultation is channeling the Anti-Force, which has no known separation. With these two representatives of their respective cosmic energies, the Jedi and the Sith seem utterly insignificant. Could these two cults - one of the Force, the other the Anti-Force - actually be speaking the truth?

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What These Star Wars Revelations Mean for the Future of the Franchise

Right now in Star Wars canon, Rey Skywalker is about to start a new Jedi Academy just like her master, Luke Skywalker. However, with all the changes and updates added to the lore as of late, it seems almost guaranteed that Rey’s Jedi Academy will look a bit different from Luke’s. Plus, being the descendant of Sheev Palpatine himself, Rey was practically born of the dark side, meaning it would be natural for her to incorporate that aspect of her connection to the Force in her teachings.

Could Rey usher in a new era for the Jedi by adhering to the doctrine of these newly introduced cults (whether she knows it or not), meaning combining the light and the dark sides of the Force? If Star Wars continues along its current trajectory of introducing the idea that the light and the dark are the same - which can offer someone who wields it as such (like the Shroud) immense power - it’s certainly possible.

However, despite what the future may hold for Star Wars given the claims made by the Shroud (and the Final Occultation), the fact remains that this ‘truth’ about the Force is something the Jedi never even entertain. Therefore, if it’s indeed true - which Shroud’s exhibition of power makes a strong case for - then this new Star Wars villain is the best evidence yet that the Jedi don’t understand the Force as well as they thought.

Star Wars: Mace Windu #4 by Marvel Comics is available now.