First let me say I am not a hardcoe Star Wars fan, but I have a few questions for those who are. Also this is not meant to start a debate, or to bash Lucas. I am sincerely asking questions, since I am very naive on the subject. Also this refers to the movies, not the Clone War series, or the books based on the prequel time period.

Recently I saw Episode I on SpikeTv (Love Darth Maul). And the part when Qui-gon? and Obi Wan present Anakin to the council, they immediately mention that he fits the prophecy of "The Chosen One."

My questions are: Why did they have to mention that in front of Anakin? Who already sees the Jedi as supermen and saviors of the galaxy. Why put the notion into him at an early age, that not only will he one day be a Jedi, he will be a special Jedi?

When I say he sees them as supermen. I mean from the viewpoint of a 10 yr old boy.

Also is it no surprise, that he gets easily angry when he is not trusted for the big missions? Or does not advance as quickly as he should? He gets angry when he fails to save Padme and his mother. I mean the Jedi did more damage than good in mentioning his special destiny.

My point is, the Jedi should've never mentioned his special destiny. They should've just treated him like a normal Jedi. I believe this is what ultimately set him on the path to dark side. In his mind, if he is suppose to be a savior and great hero, why do the Jedi treat him less than so.?

What did Anakin always say when fighting a powerful opponent? "I will be the most powerful Jedi ever." That was pretty much always his philosophy once he reached advlthood.

I believe this is why Palpatine was able to so easily seduce him to the dark side. He knew how to stroke Anakin's huge ego.

Count Dooku, love him or not. Said it best by saying: "Twice the pride, double the fall." And boy did Anakin fall.

And yes, besides the wooden acting, I kinda felt bad for Anakin's ultimate fate. Cause in Episode I he says, "Once he becomes a Jedi, he wants to return to Tattooine, and free his friends and mother." But ultimately he became another kind of slave, a slave of Palpatine and the dark side. In episode VI, he seems to had no problem when Palpatine tells luke, "Kill him and take your father's place at my side." He pretty much accepted that Palpatine was just using him, until he could find a more suitable replacement (Luke). A far cry from the cocky and arrogant young Jedi that he once was.

And yes, I know it's the way of the Sith, to betray one another. Apprentice kills master to ensure the SIth remain strong. As decreed by Darth Revan and enforced by Darth Bane.

It's not so much as Anakin Himself that's the Chosen One, but rather, His Bloodline. Anakin will bring Balance to the Force in Spirit, but not in body. The Skywalker Family Ultimately brings balance, but Anakin sets off the chain of events.

Actually, Anakin does bring balance to the Force: he kills Palpatine and dies from the wounds he received doing so, thus ending the Sith. The light side is balance, the presence of the dark side destroys the balance.

Nothing says that Anakin is definitely the chosen one. Qui-Gon and the council just assume he is after he turns out to be as gifted as he was. That things eventually came full circle for him at the end of Episode VI could actually mean several things:

1. By killing Palpatine, Anakin proved that he really was the chosen one in a roundabout way.

2. Anakin wasn't the chosen one. Luke was.

3. There's no chosen one.

As for the other things OP mentions: yes, the Star Wars saga has unfortunately been full of plot holes ever since the prequel trilogy was released.

That's not balance at all. Balance is when neither side of the force is in control. For thousands of years the Jedi rules. Anakin and Palpatine destroyed them so only a few remained. Then in turn they died allowing the Jedi to come back. The Jedi will one day be destroyed again if they get too powerful and vice versa. The force keeps itself in check and no one belief has complete balance or control as they claim to.

Then again, he doesn't really destroy the sith either, just shift the balance towards the light. There were plenty of Sith in the Expanded Universe, such as the Nightsisters, the lost tribe, a few of Palpatine's former underlings, et cetera.

Exactly my point.

Not to mention the "Dark Jedi", who aren't really Sith, but sure as Wookiee droppings not Jedi. Luke's council allows for Marriage amongst other reforms, however, this isn't new as anyone who's followed Revan's Legacy has surely learned, but the Skywalker Family made several reforms and brought the Jedi back into existance, using Anakin as a Catalyst.

Incorrect. To use the light side is to use the Force in harmony with the natural order of the universe where all is one - in balance. The dark side is use of the Force through selfish motivations - putting oneself as separate from the order of the universe, and thus out of balance with it.

Is it wrong of me that I thought about the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSOBeD1GC_Y from the Robot Chicken Star Wars special when I saw this threat?

Yes, but that's EU. Lucas never cared much for EU, only how much money it would make him. Also Disney does not care about EU either. So my point, those Sith who came after Episode VI, are not apart Lucas canon. And Lucas canon overrides all canon, or atleast it did before Disney came along.

Don't get me wrong, I love the EU. Especially the Old Republic era, but Lucas never cared much for it.

Episode IV question: Who is Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing), and why does he order Vader around? I thought Vader only answered to the Emperor?

Quite so. It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but the EU does not really matter. Even if some of it is way better than what Lucas came up with.

That my friend, is the sad truth.

I think that was a remnant of the original script for Star Wars, where the Emperor was a figurehead, and the Moffs, Admirals, and Generals really ran the Empire. I'm not 100% sure about this, though.

someone here might know the answer....



I thought, that when Palpatine talks about a "Sith powerful enough create life", that Anakin Himself was that very life he had created..
as Anakin's mother implies that Anakin did not have a Biological father, and he was sort of a "jesus birth" for lack of a better term... Not to Mention how Strong in the force the entire Skywalker Lineage becomes after Anakin...


any truth to this theory?

The Emperor gave Tarkin control over the Death Star project, then sent Vader to help him, so it makes sense that Vader would defer to Tarkin under those circumstances, even though he technically outranked him.

Anakin's fall to the dark side and his redemption is an interesting one, and one that is very complex.

I think that the films contained traces of the story, but on the whole, the expanded universe has the story more fleshed out.

I don't think Anakin "knowing his destiny" ahead of time contributed to his "fall" to the dark side (I don't think Anakin ever truly fell to the dark side, and I think one can make that argument for a great many sith, but more to come...)

Qui Gonn mentioned in the films that normally force sensitive children are detected at birth and taken from their parents, then raised at the Jedi temple. Anakin, however, grew to, what, twelve? Because of this, Anakin developed relationships, he learned how to make relationships, and those become important to him. His mother, his friends, C3PO, etc. He was fulfilled by those relationships, and had a sense of loss when he lost those relationships (first loss when he left Tatooine, big new relationship when he met Padme).

Meanwhile, his Jedi peers were being raised in the Jedi temple. They learned compassion for all things a general sense of goodness, but in a non-attached way. Beings live, beings die, life goes on. You should feel for all living things equally, none more than the others.

Now when Anakin starts training he has a goal. Be strong to save his mother. Be strong to liberate his friends. Be strong to save padme. As the clone wars began, Anakin was known for rushing into battle AHEAD of the clone troopers that he commanded. The other jedi, sure, had a sense of trying to preserve life, but if clones died here or there, it's part of war. Tragedy, but life goes on. Anakin, however, felt personal attachment to life. He didn't want any clones to get hurt/killed more than needed. As the clone war progressed, he wanted to be powerful even to protect his master, Obi-Wan. Anakin believed himself strong enough to protect even his master. Could it have been his head filled with prophecy? Maybe. But it's also youthful pride, and the fact that he was very talented in the force.

The first hint of tragedy came with the death of his mother. All of his training, all of his power, useless. Of course, other Jedi could not commiserate with him. No Jedi in existence at the time had ever had a relationship like Anakin had with his mother. Jedi advice of "all life moves on and becomes one with the force" rang meaningless and hollow in Anakin's ears. And so, he wanted to become even more powerful. Powerful enough to stop people from dying. To the jedi, that was selfish and "evil," but for Anakin, it was the ultimate sign of love.

All this time Anakin's relationship with Padme builds, a relationship which the Jedi order cannot fundamentally relate to.

Tragedy comes inching closer when he sees visions of Padme dying. For Anakin this is particularly hard, because the memory of his mother's death was such a big blow to him. Of course, when he seeks advice of the Jedi council, and Yoda specifically, he again gets canned Jedi advice... all beings join the force, beings live and die, life goes on, etc etc. They have no way to relate to Anakin because they have never had relationships like this. Of course, they are troubled by Anakin's "lust for power". Because if you want power, you OBVIOUSLY want it for selfish means. The Jedi are totally oblivious to those that exist outside of their order, and Anakin is an honest (and still fundamentally good) anomaly.

In comes Palpatine. Palpatine doesn't outright encourage "evil," but does not condemn Anakin's pursuit of power. In fact, Palpatine SUPPORTS Anakin's pursuit of power. At some point, Palpatine puts Anakin on the jedi council (an unprecedented move in history).

The council is wary (more for Palpatine's play for power), but Anakin is ecstatic. Why? Because jedi masters (the only ones allowed to sit on the council) have access to restricted areas of the Jedi library, which contain holocrons that document "hidden" or "forbidden" force powers. Powers that he believes he can use to save Padme.

But the Jedi council denies him mastership. Anakin is frustrated and angry. The Jedi, of course, chalk this up to his youthful ambition, which is becoming more and more out of hand. They believe they need to reign him in, prevent his ambition from becoming dangerous. But what they don't realize is the more they deny Anakin, the more they think they are doing him a favor, the more they HURT Anakin. He is pursuing power, but NOT for selfish reasons- in fact, quite the selfLESS reasons. The Jedi do not realize this, and so Anakin becomes more and more desperate. Again, the Jedi's ignorance is at play.

Finally Palpatine reveals himself. A dark lord of the sith. But is he really so bad? The Jedi have prevented Anakin from gaining knowledge at every turn as they dogmatically deny relationships as well as power. Palpatine, however, has been a patient mentor, helped him where he could, and encourage Anakin to "do the right thing" regardless of "dogma." Anakin does not see the "Sith" as a selfish and evil group. Instead, he sees them as an independent group that will let him accomplish his own (good) goals.

And so Anakin "falls to the dark side." I don't like the way the films portrayed him hunting down the jedi- basically killing a bunch of kids. Anakin was a powerful Jedi, powerful enough to rival the Jedi council members, both through training, raw talent, and determination. Anakin took on multiple jedi knights and masters and beat them all, both through swordplay and force powers, before his operation and after. In any case, he saw the Jedi as an oppressive organization that was literally allowing his mother and wife to die, so when he says to Obi-Wan "from my point of view the Jedi are evil," he really does mean it.

And, of course tragically, his own wife and child (he doesn't know they are twins), die.

So he has lost all of his friends, all of his family, and all he has is immense force power and control of the galaxy. For what?

This is exactly what Palpatine desired, because while the Jedi believed that love and attachments would lead you to selfishness (and ultimately actions committed by Anakin) the Sith believed that love and attachments led to weakness, ultimately preventing you from doing what you needed to do even if control of the galaxy was within your grasp. As long as a loved one was standing in your way, you wouldn't do what was necessary.

So Palpatine gains control of a powerful asset, and Anakin/Vader is just... well he just keeps living, because why not.

And then comes Luke Skywalker. When Anakin realizes that his son is still alive, a product of his ultimate love for his wife, his purpose for living comes back again. And this is why I say that he never really "fell" to the dark side. He was ALWAYS fighting to preserve his family. It's why it was so powerful when Luke declares "I am a jedi, like my father before me." Palpatine thought that Anakin was truly his pawn, but when confronted with the choice between serving Palpatine and killing Luke (who wouldn't turn to the dark side), he chose to kill Palpatine, thus coming full circle.

And so the tragedy of Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, comes to a close.

Luke, when building the Jedi order anew, learns from this, and has a far less strict set of rules regarding interpersonal relationships than the Jedi order over which Yoda presided.

But of course there were Sith that came even out of that era, and with similar motivations to Vader.

In any case...

I pretend those 3 movies don't exist.. I blame lucas for everything that doesn't make sense or just simply makes me question character's abilities.

That was even stated in the novelisation of Ep3, where Yoda and Obi Wan muse on whether they're created "too much light" and that balance means more darkness.

Sigh, this is what happens when people cannot keep taoism straight from hinduism.

According to one very narrow view of the force. I might not like the Sith, but I have to agree when Palpatine said the Jedi have an extremely narrow view.

No, Lucas has made it pretty clear over the years that the Jedi have the more or less correct view of the Force. There may be in-universe characters and philosophies that disagree, but they are not meant for the reader to agree with them.

Proof please. All the EU lore I've seen and even the movies to some extent contradict this.

The real reason is that the writing behind the prequel movies was terrible, full of horrid cliches without any sense of real direction. That's it. The whole prophecy business might as well have been a red herring.

I always thought of the prophecy of bringing balance to the force was the extermination of the Jedi. It brought their numbers closer to that of the Sith, at least when not including novels, comics, or Expanded Universe stuff. 2 Jedi, and 2 Sith.

It also seemed to me that Luke was able to use the Dark side of the force, while not being consumed by it, thus being in balance with the Force with both light and dark usable by him. At least when adding the novels and comics.