While I accept your expertise in the matter is greater than mine, surely it's not too unrealistic that Trude goes at least a little bit mental. This is the Dark Side we're talking about, after all, and to go back to Gryph's old "white light and a flame" metaphor, fire is still dangerous.

Besides which, I'm not saying Barkhorn would turn into a cliché supervillain. Not at all. For one thing, she has too much class for the black leather underpants that seem to be de rigeur for the female fantasy antagonist in these enlightened times. No, I just think that Dark Side + someone desperate to feel powerful = Bad Combination for mental stability. The Dark Side needs a different kind of control to use safely, and frankly good ol' Gertie, while an absolute brick, does not possess that kind of control. For the moment, anyway.

Though I admit the aforementioned attire might make an appearance in her good lady's idle daydreams. =]

---
"She's old, she's lame, she's barren too, // "She's not worth feed or hay, // "But I'll give her this," - he blew smoke at me - // "She was something in her day." -- Garnet Rogers, Small Victory

FiMFiction.net: we might accept blatant porn involving the cast of My Little Pony but as God is my witness we have standards.

"Oh, Trude, you never told me your lightsaber had so many settings..."
-- joke shamelessly nicked and repurposed from Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death.