There are quite a few star wars fans who believe Anakin Skywalker was destined to be evil. Even if the Jedi council had a different code, or they tried to guide him more strictly or gave him more freedom, Anakin would have ended up on the dark side no matter what.
We disagree completely. To explain why we disagree, we must dissect Anakin’s character thoroughly.
What is Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise made by George Lucas, which started with the award winning 1977 film and immediately turned into an overall mainstream society wonder. Later on, the franchise expanded to various movies, TV shows, games, comic books, novels, theme parks, and whatnot. The value of this franchise was assessed at 7 billion in 2020, and currently, it is the 5th highest-grossing media in the world. If you want to make money like that you could always start with gambling online.
Who is Anakin Skywalker
Anakin Skywalker is a Jedi Knight who likewise filled in as a General in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. But he is different from any other Jedi. He is overly emotional, unlike any other Jedi of his era. You can say he is force-sensitive. One significant trait was he had an incredible high midi-chlorian count, which is higher than any Jedi master ever existed. Even higher than master Yoda.
Even though he was prophesied to be the chosen one who would bring balance to the force, but later on, he joined the dark side and became a sith lord.
Anakin’s Childhood
In simple words, his childhood was miserable. His mother was a slave, so he was born as a slave as well. The life of slaves wasn’t perfect, to say the least. He grew up in a hazardous and fierce climate.
Some older EU sources and some from canon sources indicate that Anakin was exposed to physical torture from an early age. His master Watto used to beat him from an early age. Novelization of the Revenge of the sith gave us the information of him getting hit the worst in his life at only four years old.
Many fans hate Episode 1, The Phantom Menace, because of how it portrays Anakin’s childhood. People expected to see some devil child who is cruel and has psychopathic tendencies.
Instead, what we got to see was a cute, kind, helpful little boy who had a strong sense of justice. It may seem he was bragging here and there in Episode 1, but that’s just him being a little kid who wanted attention and approval from adults. Isn’t that what most of the kids do at his age?
Anakin’s Point of View of Jedi
He was an idealistic kid who thought Jedi are amazing heroes who correct every wrong and can never be wrong. They travel around and help the needy and punish the evil.
This kind of thinking is widespread for a nine-year-old kid, nothing wrong there.
Things He Did As A Kid
Anakin as a child, was empathetic and selfless. Many fans were shocked when they watched Episode 1. Most of the fans expected him to be a psychopathic evil.
Things he did:
- Jar jar, by mistake, gets into trouble with Sebulba. Sebulba is a known bully and a cheater. Even though child Anakin didn’t know jar jar, he still helped jar jar out and stand up to Sebulba, which Obi-Wan acknowledged.
- After Padme, Anakin is the only one to treat jar jar properly. Everyone else doesn’t think much of him or treat him well.
- Even though he is a slave and has very little money, he takes Padme, Qui Gon, and jar jar to the market and purchases food for them.
- He participated in the pod race to earn freedom from slavery but to help Qui Gon. Qui Gons needs a few parts to repair his ship, Anakin helps him out. So he is not thinking about himself but for others even though his situation is quite dire.
- Qui Gon takes him to become a Jedi. Anakin says he wants to become Jedi to help people and return to Tatooine to free the slaves one day.
- He never demanded to be catered for his needs. He only expresses his feelings when asked about it. He also shows sincere concern about Padme.
- He feels guilty and apologetic when called “dangerous” by Obi Wan. He goes to Qui Gon and tells “I don’t want to be a problem”, which shows how sincere he was as a kid.
- When the Jedi council reject him, he doesn’t object. He quietly accepts his fate and pushes down his emotion and feelings.
All the things he did, said and achieved in his childhood show no sign of him being wrong or bad. The begging shows that he was a down-to-earth, good-hearted kid who wanted to spread good by becoming Jedi.
Anakin as a kid, is very likeable. It is tough to hate kid Anakin as he doesn’t have any negative aspects in his character.
Many fans pointed out his most arrogant statement from Episode 1 is “I am a person, and my name is Anakin”. We have to say it is not arrogant at all; it doesn’t matter from which point of view you see it. He is an enslaved kid who is considered merchandise, stating his poise as a human, which is commendable and respectable.
His Character In Episode 2
By directing his character in Episode 2, we can argue still there was no evil, psychopathic symptoms in him. Let’s point out the things he did in Episode 2.
- Toward the start, he contradicts his master once and is brutally scolded for doing so by his master. He doesn’t hold resentment for it; he accepts and be apologetic.
- He only brags or tries to show off his ability only twice through the movie. And even then it’s not in public.
- When he appears in front of the Jedi council, he doesn’t talk until he’s addressed. It shows how respectful he is to the Jedi council.
- He sometimes expresses other peoples points of view. He even tries to copy Obi-Wan to become a proper Jedi. He usually goes with what other people ask him to do; he doesn’t force anyone to do anything.
- Padme came up with the idea of rescuing Obi Wan. She insists on accompanying Anakin to Tatooine. Anakin never forced her to do so.
- When he reaches Tatooine, he meets his former owner Watto. Now that he has become a Jedi, he could’ve talked down to Watto if wanted to. Instead, he greets him and fixes some broken machine for him. So even if Anakin could act superior to Watto, he doesn’t do it. Because Anakin is better than that, and he knows how to respect.
- This kind of act is not of an arrogant person.
Anakin’s Belief
Now let’s talk about his political beliefs. Anakin does not express any belief in fascism or the authoritarian method. He believes and says out loud that squabbling lawmakers who can’t arrive at an agreement ought to be “made to agree” by “someone savvy”, which is somewhat like what the selected Jedi Council do.
Everybody has a vote; however, Mace Windu and Yoda appear to have a definitive say and can overrule others.
He’s not discussing the State controlling individuals or guiding them. However, he’s communicating his contempt for government officials and the political framework, which is obvious since the Galactic Senate was an elitist, authoritarian and degenerate establishment in which whole planets and species were not addressed. It never really finished subjugation or helping a vast number of poor and disappointed individuals.
Padme being an individual from the elite class, saw nothing off about that. Anakin, was a previous slave, from a planet that wasn’t addressed in the Senate and did not play any part in the political cycle. The Senate and the Republic never really helped him, his beloved companions, or his mom.
Now, why would be he still believe in the Jedi code? Jedi council, galactic Senate, political order or the light side?
Extermination of Sand People
Anakin was having bad dreams or visions of his mother being tortured. That’s why he went to find her. Even though he was able to find her, it was too late. His mother died right after seeing him. It was that moment when anger took the better of him. He lost control in rage and killed all the sand people, not just the men but the women, and the children too.
His killing of the sand individuals was a demonstration that he profoundly lamented and was embarrassed about. We see him crying over it in the film. Accusing Obi Wan was only a response to an awful accident he did. He doesn’t blame Obi Wan. He blames himself for his inability to keep his promise to save his mom.
Despite how every grown-up in the camp was complicit in the kidnapping and the brutal and cruel homicide of his mom and innumerable others before her, he was embarrassed. Many individuals don’t get how she was tortured. That’s why they can’t seem to relate to Anakin’s anger.
I apologize for the graphic explanation, but this is to help you feel how Anakin felt at that moment.
Anakin’s mother was tormented for quite a long time, beaten with Gaffi sticks pretty much consistently until each bone in her body was broken. She was exposed to terrible and unspeakable torment for reasons that remain unknown. This lasted for weeks or possibly months.
Anakins Mental Health
Anakin never showed any psychopathic behaviour that would hint at what he will become in the future. But yes, he led many signs of mental illness. But psychopathy was not one of them. The closest diagnosis we could come up with is C-PTSD. It means complex post-traumatic stress disorder.
It is a psychological disorder caused by prolonged and repetitive trauma involving abandonment and damage from interpersonal relationships with an uneven power dynamic.
C-PTSD can be related to:
- Long-term crisis
- Slavery
- Cultinvolvment
- Long term imprisonment
Symptoms may include:
- Enthusiastic dysregulation.
- Disengagement from peer bunch.
- Scenes of separation.
- Exchanging hazardous and hindered outrage.
- Segregation and withdrawal.
- Steady doubt.
- A deficiency of supporting confidence.
- Persistent weakness.
- Ascribing absolute capacity to the culprit.
- Becoming engrossed with the relationship to the culprit.
- Counting a distraction with vengeance, romanticizing and Stockholm condition.
Nail In The Coffin
Even with a rough childhood, anger, and mental issues, Anakin stayed with the light side. So what was it that pushed him to the dark side?
Well, it is not particularly one thing.
His not having control over anything was making him feel weak. He lost his mother, which he blames himself for, and now he may end up losing his wife Padme too. It was the prime reason he joined with the dark side. To protect what he loves.
Old Jedi ways and rules were obsolete and didn’t have the best methods.
The Jedi/Light was still suitable, and the Sith/Dark was still evil tyrants doing their best to gather ultimate power.
However, that doesn’t imply that the Jedi, as displayed in the Prequel time, were some holy people consistently morally justified. They had let the Dark Side cloud their vision, and they let the Senate of the Republic hold an excessive amount of influence over them. They were straightforwardly a piece of the conflicts the Republic was engaged with, rather than partners with similar common qualities. All in all, they seriously needed a Reformation.
In short, the Jedi had failed to help Anakin. Instead, they made his mental issue worse by keeping secrets and appearing not clear to him. They also denied him the rank of master.
Even though there are quite a few reasons, the nail in the coffin was his wife Padme’s safety issue.
Jedi Ways and Prophecy
The prophecy is, “A Jedi will come to destroy the sith and bring balance to the Force.”
Anakin could have destroyed the sith while he was still a Jedi. The Jedi would have figured out what they lacked and adopted to change. Prophecy would have been fulfilled.
Instead, Anakin joined the Sith and forced the Jedi to discover the hard way they needed to change. That’s why Luke was prepared differently compared to the Jedi of the past age and crushed the Emperor (by turning his dad back to the Light) as a Jedi. Prophecy fulfilled.
Either way, the prophecy would have been fulfilled, and Jedi ways had to change.
Conclusion
After directing Anakin’s skywalkers character thoroughly, it is clear that he was not destined to be evil. Nor was he born evil. He was a kind, loving and empathetic kid. Growing up becoming a Jedi, he was still a good person apart from showing signs of mental issues sometimes, which was ignored by the Jedi. The prophecy would have been fulfilled even if he had chosen not to be with the dark side. The dark side manipulated him, and The Jedi didn’t provide the help he needed to stay with the light.