system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Wars] Why did the Jedi believe that the chosen one needed to bring balance to the Force if they believed the Sith were extinct?

Wouldn't the Force already be balanced in a way the Jedi favored?
gpt
The prophecy predated all the current Jedi, including their belief that the Sith were extinct. When Qui-Gon proposes that Anakin is the chosen one, he's met with disbelief from all the modern Jedi. If there are no Sith, it definitely makes the Chosen One seem pretty implausible.

However, the Council is presented with information about there actually being Sith literally seconds before Qui-Gon mentions Anakin, throwing that angle of skepticism into doubt. The Council isn't exactly convinced of either claim at that point, but they *do* at least reinforce each other.

And as for why Qui-Gon would make either claim... he never really followed a lot of Jedi doctrine. Believing that the Jedi had exterminated the Sith and had "won" the war isn't the kind of arrogance that he would participate in. He was much more open minded than that, including his belief in the Chosen One.