The tale of Anakin Skywalker may be considered one of the saddest and most powerful character stories in movies. From being a slave boy dreaming of being a Jedi to becoming the greatest evil of the galaxy. Is this how Anakin was always destined to go wrong, or was he doomed because of certain decisions and mistakes? The answer falls somewhere in the middle. There was no one thing that led to his descent into darkness; rather, there were several factors coming together and leading to his downfall.
The Fear That Started Everything
The beginning of Anakin's descent into darkness started with nothing more than a feeling. Fear. At nine, he had been separated from his mother, Shmi, and had never truly gotten over it. The Jedi Order accepted him, but they never taught him coping skills for what had happened. From then on, he lived in constant fear of losing someone he loved. Every connection was based on fear. His nightmares of Shmi and Padmé were a symptom of this great fear. The Jedi teachings concerning attachment did nothing to help him. All they told him was not to care too much, without showing him how to cope with normal human emotions. So he repressed everything. And repression led to desperation.
Losing His Mother Broke Him
It is painful for fans to watch that particular scene from Tatooine. Anakin sees visions of Shmi suffering and runs to save her. However, it is just a moment too late, as she is found dead after having been tortured by the Tusken Raiders. It was too much for him. He not only defended himself and those who had harmed Shmi; he wiped out an entire tribe of men, women, and children. Later on, he told Padmé about it with evident shame in his voice. He knew how horrible his actions were. Nevertheless, he could not control himself because he felt too much anger at the time. It was his first brush with the dark side of the force, and quite frankly, it was frightening for him. However, he understood one important thing about it.
The Jedi Made Things Worse
Now, when it comes to the Jedi Order, while their intentions may have been good, they were definitely wrong about Anakin. Their philosophy was based on the principle that one should not be too attached to anyone. However, even knowing all that, Anakin found himself falling in love with Padmé. He married her in secret, and for years, he lied to everyone whom he respected. It took its toll on him. He could not share his secret with Obi-Wan; he could not seek help from Yoda with his nightmares. All they would have done is say that he had to get rid of all his attachments. But how does one get rid of something he loves with all his heart?
Palpatine Played the Long Game
Palpatine didn't corrupt Anakin over the course of a week or a month. He worked on him for more than ten years. From the very beginning of their acquaintance on Tatooine, he saw Anakin's potential and started cultivating it. He was his buddy, mentor, and confidant. Everything they talked about had its reason. He confirmed all Anakin's complaints against the Jedi Order. He told Anakin that the Council restricted his possibilities. He made Palpatine the only person that Anakin could talk to freely. Think how lonely Anakin must have felt at that time. Palpatine had Anakin's complete trust. He always understood Anakin better than anyone else. At the same time, Palpatine destroyed Anakin's faith in the Order. This is manipulation on an absolutely scary level. When the final happened, Anakin did not even notice that he was manipulated. He believed that Palpatine was the only one who understood him.
The Council Never Trusted Him
How could Anakin feel anything but bitter at that point? The man had saved the galaxy repeatedly during the Clone Wars. He led countless battles and proved his devotion time after time. What did the Council do in return? Doubted him and outright denied him the status of a Jedi Master, which deeply wounded him. They tasked him to spy on the only person who showed any trust toward him, Palpatine. Mace Windu was openly disdainful towards Anakin; Yoda spoke to him in riddles. Anakin felt them to be hypocrites. They taught detachment yet led an army into war. They wanted his loyalty but doubted him and treated him like a kid. The resentment only got worse every single day. Anakin started to think that the Jedi Order had lost its way. And, to be quite honest, he was not entirely mistaken there.
War Changed Who He Was
The Clone Wars shortened Anakin's lifespan. Constant battles, losses of companions, and tough decisions took their toll on him. His clones admired him, and his Padawan learned from him. Anakin had to watch them die. The war made him aggressive and rash. It made him famous for taking extreme chances, which worked. Nevertheless, all victories have their cost. With each battle he fought, it got easier for him to kill. Each victory that he won made him lose faith in the Council and start believing in himself. Warfare is a draining process for all those involved, even in ways that they cannot perceive until it is too late. Anakin was worn out physically and mentally. He was drained of the strength to fight himself.
He Needed to Control Everything
Anakin was raised as a slave. In his childhood days, he was always at a disadvantage. This has led to scars developing inside him. But what he detested the most about himself was helplessness. The death of his mother was the thing that made him feel helpless in his life. He promised to himself that he would never allow this feeling of helplessness to consume him again. But no matter how much he tried, nothing could prevent this painful situation from happening. His obsession with controlling everything became his way of living his life. He felt like he had to be powerful enough so that nothing could ever hurt anybody. Palpatine knew about this obsession and how to manipulate it.
The Nightmares About Padmé
This is where everything terribly goes wrong. Anakin starts dreaming about how Padme dies while giving birth. The same type of dreams that he used to have when he came to know about the death of his mother. Anakin wakes up in cold sweat out of fear that the same tragedy will occur. The fear consumed him so much that he was unable to eat, sleep, or think about anything else. The idea of Padmé dying after all that they have been through would be too hard for him to bear. He had already lost his mother, his childhood, friends in the war, and now he couldn’t afford to lose Padmé too. It was because of this desperation that he began to look for answers in any possible way. And Palpatine was there to provide the exact answers he was looking for.
A Promise He Couldn't Refuse
The tragic thing is that Palpatine used this perfectly. He tells Anakin about the tale of Darth Plagueis, a Sith Lord who could save individuals from their death. It was all bait, but Anakin took the hook straight on. Suddenly, there was hope for Padmé. Hope that wasn't associated with the Jedi. All you had to do was give in to the dark side, and Palpatine would show Anakin how it's done. It was an ingenious trap hidden behind the guise of helping Anakin out. What could Anakin do when the Jedi could not provide him with any help? His premonitions tortured him each night. Here came Palpatine, one of the only people who cared. And Anakin believed that Palpatine knew what he was doing.
The Moment Everything Changed
Everything boiled down to this particular moment. It is the time when Mace Windu catches up with Palpatine, and he is about to end his life. But then Anakin arrives at the scene, and he must choose: let Windu kill Palpatine or stop him from doing this. In his head, he chooses between Jedi justice and Padmé. Should she die because of him, the secret of her survival would die as well. Anakin cannot allow this to happen. Thus, he makes the biggest mistake of his life and disarms Windu, who finishes what he started. After this, Anakin kneels, and he accepts the title of Darth Vader. But here comes the saddest part. He believes he is doing the right thing and choosing love over Jedi philosophy. However, Palpatine did not want to save Padmé at all. It was an absolute deception.
Was He Always Going to Fall?
The debate rages on about this issue. Was Anakin destined from birth, or did he have a say in his fate? George Lucas would contend that he decided to walk the path he chose. The prophecy didn’t force him into doing anything. Of course, he did make his choices. He killed off the Tusken Raiders. He decided to believe in Palpatine. He decided to strike out against Mace Windu. He made his decisions. But don’t be fooled into believing that he had it all easy. The Jedi did not support him. Palpatine took advantage of him. The war brought him low. The whole galaxy was against him and expected him to remain flawless. Perhaps he was always going to struggle with fear and attachment. That was just his nature. But his downfall was made up of certain choices made at certain times.
Final Thoughts
One cannot isolate one cause for why Anakin had fallen because it was all of these things combined. From the fear of his childhood. Due to the loss of his mother. The expectations from the Jedi code. Manipulation by Palpatine for years. Distrust from the Council. The atrocities of war. His need to have total control. The dreams about Padme. The offer that seemed too good to be true. And lastly, his choice in Palpatine's office.
This tragedy makes one weep since Anakin believed he had done the right thing. Anakin loved too much, and his love turned into an obsession. Everything was sacrificed for the sake of saving Padmé, but ultimately everything led to her destruction. Anakin became precisely the same monster that he wanted to fight. The moral that the viewer should take from the character of Anakin Skywalker is not to be afraid of love but of fear. To be afraid of rejection of the inevitable. To be afraid of desperation. What makes the story about Anakin Skywalker a masterpiece is that Anakin had never been a purely evil villain. Anakin had just been a good guy who had made some bad decisions for obvious reasons.
FAQs
Was there any chance for Anakin to be saved if someone else stepped in sooner?
Most likely, yet it would take some real work. There was someone who had to deal with his trauma and show him how to overcome his fears. This was something that the Jedi couldn't do. They only instructed him on how to release his attachments, but they didn't show him how. Maybe it could have helped if Qui-Gon Jinn had been alive longer. After all, he knew Anakin better than anyone. Yet by the time anyone realized how much damage Anakin was suffering from, Palpatine had done too much harm.
Why did Anakin not just walk away from the Jedi and join Padmé?
There really was nothing stopping him from just walking away. However, it would have meant abandoning his entire existence thus far. Everything he had ever known, everyone he loved and cared about, everything that made him who he was, were the Jedi. And more importantly, Anakin truly felt like he could have it all. He could continue to serve as a Jedi and still have a secret love for Padmé.
How much did Padmé know about Anakin’s suffering?
Padmé knew that there was something going on, but not everything. Anakin hid his deepest emotions from her. He only told Padmé about the Tusken raiders after the incident took place. He hid the anger he felt towards the Jedi. Padmé noticed changes in him, but did not know what the cause of those changes was. Padmé did her best to comfort him. However, Anakin could not be completely open to her.
Why were the members of the Jedi Council so strict with Anakin?
The reason is that they could clearly see his potential as well as his vulnerabilities right from the start. Yoda knew that there were too many fears in Anakin’s heart from the very beginning. The Jedi Council did not trust him because he was already too old for them. His emotional attachment to people worried them and made them think that he was not stable enough. Instead of assisting him with overcoming these problems, they pushed him away.
Was there a time when Anakin truly regretted becoming Darth Vader?
Yes, there surely was. He spent decades filled with pain and self-loathing. It hurt him knowing what he had become and what he had done. He felt self-hatred for hurting Padme so much. He felt self-hatred for killing Jedi knights. It changed something in him once he found out that Luke was his son. He felt that he could have a second chance to redeem himself. His dying breath was spent saving Luke and killing the Emperor. The last thing he told Luke was how he knew that Luke would be alright.
