PT Why did Qui-Gon bring Anakin to Naboo?

He at least knew she was planning to go back anyway.

For those saying Anakin already does pod racing: Yes, he's skilled at that sport, but that's a vastly different universe compared to a battlefield where you're unarmed against hundreds of droids shooting at you. It's like saying, "Hey, this teen knows how to survive skydiving from thousands of feet in the air! Clearly, we must take him to Syria and risk having him get horribly killed in hundreds of different ways, despite him having zero military training whatsoever!! Ah, I'm sure he'll be fine. He's a skydiver!"

Being able to survive a deadly sport is in no way comparable to being on a battlefield.

For those saying Star Wars is fictional: You are correct, we know that. That's why we don't see people running around Earth who can throw things with their minds and fight with light sabers, or Wookiee ripping arms out in dingy bars. Within the context of the story, it makes no sense as Anakin has absolutely NO experience in a war, and he's a child. Yes, a child strong in the Force...but still a child. At least with Luke, we saw that he at least had experience shooting things. With Anakin, all he did was follow Qui-Gon around and got a brief "feel, don't think" lesson.

 

Also, why did the fighter take off in the first place? Did he push the wrong button? And once it was in space, why was it able to get through the shields on the enemy ship? I mean, I assume the enemy ship was shielded wasn't it?
'

 

Anakin activated the autopilot by accident when trying to blast the Droidekas. He gets R2 to turn it off once they're at the battle.

The TF battleship is said to be heavily shielded, and the Naboo fighters can't damage it at all. The hangars of the battleship were presumably unshielded, so that Vulture Droids could get out into the battle. Anakin took advantage of this to get through the hangar to where the core of the ship was.

 

So your argument is that all soldiers that are parents should take their children with them into battle?
The children are their responsibility so they MUST take them along?

What about parents who work in nuclear power plants, steel mills, air line pilots, chemical plants or any hazardous environment. They are responsible for their children so they have to take them along at all times, despite the risks?

Sorry, to me, this is would be VERY irresponsible behavior.

Qui-Gon told Anakin to find a safe place to hide, that implies that Qui-Gon could not protect him at all times. Also Qui-Gon has no idea how many droids he would be facing plus the Sith Lord he is charged with capturing.
All that is quite dangerous and for him to also have to worry about Anakin's safety is really not very smart.

@darth-sinister

Sorry but wrong!

1) The blockade, as far as Qui-Gon knows it is still there. And he knows full well what happened the last time they tried to run it. Their ship got shot up rather badly and they only avoided destruction by jumping to hyperspace. Which won't be an option now.
So odds are good that they would get blown up before they could even land.
Or their ship disabled and taken in by one of the TF ships.
If that happens, the TF will try to arrest Padme and if Qui-Gon wants to stop that, it will mean a battle.
And letting himself get arrested would be really stupid.
First, he is there to capture Maul and he can't do that if he is locked up.
Second, the TF or Maul would very likely kill him, Obi-Wan and Anakin as they only one they need is Padme.

2) He is going with Padme back to Naboo and he knows that the TF will try to arrest her and force her to sign the treaty. He is there to protect her and as I said above, that will mean fighting.
Unless Padme means to surrender without a fight. But like I also said above, letting himself get arrested is not smart for Qui-Gon.

3) Ignoring all that, Padme makes her plan clear in the Gungan hideout and here Qui-Gons KNOWS he is walking into a big battle. So leave Anakin at the hideout, simple.
He didn't expect or want Anakin to do anything in the battle, just to hide.
The Gungan hideout is safer than anywhere in the palace.

@Qui-Riv-Brid

To the first, the issue is whether or not the writing is good enough to make actions seem logical and make sense to the audience or if the actions are seen as required by the plot.
Ex In ANH, on the DS, Luke and Han does not take R2 and C3PO with them to save Leia. The droids would not be very useful and could draw unwanted attention.
So it makes sense that they are left behind.
However in RotJ the rebels take a shiny, golden C3PO on a mission where they are dressed in camouflage in order to blend in. But shiny, golden C3PO rather ruins that.
So here his inclusion is more questionable. And no reason is given why he is there.

In TPM, likewise no reason is given why Qui-Gon takes Anakin along. He is in Qui-Gons care yes but unless you want to take Alexrd's position that soldiers have to take their children into battle with them every time, he could leave him some place for a day or two.
Taking care of a child means not exposing the child to deadly dangers for no reason.

He doesn't want him to fight, just be safe. Given that stated goal, he had other options, as I've already mentioned.
Leave him on Coruscant or at the Gungan hideout. Both totally possible and no reason is ever given why he chooses not to.
And again, the reason is that the plot needs Anakin to be there. Not Qui-Gon, nor anyone else.

Good writing creates a scenario where actions makes sense, while less good writing makes the events more obviously Plot Demands It.

To make a very extreme example, in the film Battlefield Earth, cavemen learn to fly Harrier jets in one week by using a flight simulator. Said Harrier Jets are have been untended for 1000 years and yet they all work perfectly fine and have fuel.

To make it less extreme, take R1 and imagine that when they go to Scariff to get the plans, instead of K2SO, they take C3PO along. Would that make sense?
Not really, K2SO is an imperial droid so he blends in and he knows how to fight, C3PO does not.

@darkspine10

And just how where these Naboo fighters pre-programmed to fly up to the TF ship?
The TF controlled the palace where these fighters are. So did the TF program them?
Why?
Did the Naboo program them before the invasion? Why? And how could they program that ship, at the time there were many TF ships.
And that is not getting into the question why the TF have just let these fueled and armed fighters sit there in the palace they control.

Bye for now.
Old Stoneface

 

No, not sure how you even jumped to that conclusion.

No, they must do what they think it's best. Considering that there was nowhere else to stay, he had to take him along and leave him in a safe place once he couldn't assure his safety. Which is what happened, as seen in the movie.

 

Qui-Gon says to Anakin something along the lines of "Stay close to me and you'll be safe." In my interpretation, this underscores Qui-Gon's confidence in his ability to protect Anakin, in addition to the stock he has in Anakin's resourcefulness.

Qui-Gon didn't intend to take Anakin all the way into the battle, it seems to me he thought Ani would be safest hidden but in his proximity, in case trouble were to find him - which could've conceivably happened at the Sacred Place, Coruscant, etc. He obviously intended to bring Anakin along as far as Theed, then find a secure place to hide him. Once they rendered the hangar droid-free, he decided this was adequate for such a thing. He then proceeded with the rest of the plan deeper into the battle zone - them being the focus point of the battle and the Queen's attacker. If Ani were to stay down in the cockpit, he would likely go unnoticed.

Like every decision the Jedi make in the trilogy, I think the questionability of the Council's and Qui-Gon's decisions here is the point. What sets Qui-Gon apart is his adherence to the Living Force and his faith in Anakin. Their quirks, which can be simultaneously seen as strengths and weaknesses, are the point (as I see it). These are multi-dimensional characters in a multi-faceted story.
Qui-Gon is the fatherly figure, and also a free-willed risk taker in tandem with a lot of trust in himself, Anakin and the Force. I think if Jinn had left Anakin someplace else, it would've contradicted his character as well as diminished the momentum their characters were injecting into the film.
Was bringing Ani with him to Naboo risky? Sure, but leaving him somewhere far away would've been also. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and he did what he thought was best.

[paraphrasing]
I'm returning to Naboo.
Don't be foolish your highness, they'll force you to sign the treaty.
I will sign no treaty.

Palpatine didn't say 'the blockade will blow you to bits'.

 

Yes, but he didn't know to what end. He didn't believe that she was going to be able to fight, much less that she would. Once he knew, then he had to make allowances.

No more than Luke flying an landspeeder and a sky hopper and shooting down TIE Fighters and blowing up the Death Star. None of what Luke did was combat experience. That's why Lucas didn't have Anakin do what Luke did, but instead had him firing randomly once he had control.

QUI-GON: "Once we get inside, Ani, you find a safe place to hide and stay there."

ANAKIN: "Sure."

QUI-GON: "And stay there!"

It was no one's fault that Anakin chose have Artoo power up the ship, in order to help the Jedi fight Maul. Anakin didn't know that the fighters were set on automatic pilot to join the others in space and Artoo didn't consider it either. Not to mention that droids are programmed to obey orders. Just before Maul appears, Qui-gon tells Anakin to stay in the cockpit. If he had disobeyed him, then he wouldn't have gone into space. Instead, he did the only sensible thing which was to help because the Droidekas rolled into the hangar and he didn't think Qui-gon and Obi-wan could handle them and Maul.

 

Because your argument seemed to be "Qui-Gon is responsible for Anakin, no one else is. Qui-Gon is going into battle so he must take Anakin along because he is responsible for him."
That is arguing that all soldiers that are also parents, since they are responsible for their children, they must take them along, even into battle.

[/QUOTE]

This is false, as I've showed before.
Qui-Gon DID have options, he could ask Padme if Anakin could stay at the Naboo embassy with one of her handmaidens to look after her. Padme has ZERO reason to refuse this.
Later he could leave Anakin in the Gungan safe place.

So the argument that Qui-Gon had no choice but to bring Anakin along is false, he did have other options. The film have him ignore them because the plot needs Anakin to be there.

@Subtext Mining

First, as I've said, the blockade. Qui-Gon KNOWS what happened the last time they ran the blockade. Their ship got shot up pretty badly. This time they won't be able to escape by jumping to hyper space and they could get blown to bits.
If the ship is disabled and boarded, there would very likely be fighting.

Second, as for not taking Anakin into battle.
Qui-Gon did exactly that. He had Anakin run along while there was a lot of shooting going on.
A stray shot could have hit Anakin.
And a cockpit isn't exactly "Safe". the fighter is fueled and armed and if Anakin touches the wrong button, boom.
Also, the TF know by now that the fighters they stupidly left sitting there in the palace is now being used against them. So they could send droids to the hangar to destroy any fighters that remain, just to make sure they don't get used again them too.

Third, about Qui-Gon thinking he can look after Anakin.
Qui-Gon is sent to Naboo both to protect Padme and track down Maul.
Both rather important jobs, with considerable risk.
Adding to that, looking after a nine year old boy for no reason, is not smart.
And that neither Qui-Gon nor the council considered this is even more contrived writing.

The blockade HAD already tried to blow Padme's ship to bits and she knows this.
They could try and disable the ship, lock on a tractor beam and bring it onboard.
What will happen then?
If Padme resists, there will be a fight.
And I doubt that two Jedi can beat an entire ship's worth of droids.
And if Padme surrenders and is arrested, the Jedi suffer the same fate, which again isn't smart.

So to sum up, Qui-Gon is going back to Naboo, which had been conquered by the TF and they have heard a message about a "catastrophic death-toll." Which might be fake, they don't know.
The blockade they only barely got through last time is still there as far as they know.
The TF have a massive army on Naboo plus a Sith Lord might be there.
So it is not peaceful and quiet and he is faced with a massive army.
And Qui-Gon is going into this with the mission both to protect Padme and to find out more about Maul, possibly capturing him. Since he knows that the TF might try to capture Padme, if he is there to protect her, that will mean battle.

So the argument that he didn't think there might be a battle is frankly silly.
The only way there would not be a battle is if Padme just intends to surrender and give up as soon as she gets there. Which isn't something that Qui-Gon would think likely given what he knows of her.
And if she does do that, him going along is massively stupid as he would get arrested too and he knows the TF have tried to kill him before and could do so again.
Plus the so very important chosen one.
No Qui-Gon is going into a war zone and he knows it. And bringing along a little boy for no reason is not him being responsible, it is the total opposite.
And Anakin is brought along for no reason, all Qui-Gon wants is for him to hide and stay safe.
Qui-Gon doesn't want Anakin to fight or to learn anything, he just wants him to stay out of the way and be safe.
Since that is his stated goal, he should have left him on Coruscant or at the Gungan hideout.

Bye for now.
Old Stoneface

 

Well actually he doesn't at first. That happens later after they leave Coruscant. The idea of him leaving Anakin with anyone is rather asburd.

He's just found the Chosen One so if he can't protect him then no one else is going to. The way it works in the rules and the formality around it is used over and again in the movie.

You can take issue with where he decided to make him safe but he helps sends him into a deadly podrace earlier in the movie which is far more dangerous and out of his control than anything we see on Naboo. In comparison that is easy.

This is the first time in 18 years that I have heard anyone ask this question so it is coming rather late.

Trying to place the above reasoning to in universe decisions just leads to trouble because it doesn't involve the actual storytelling style of Star Wars or simply the logic of adventure movies in general.

Why doesn't Obi-Wan stop Luke before he heads back to the farm? Why take Luke at all?

Why do Obi-Wan and Yoda not tell Luke about Vader before he goes to Cloud City?

There are enough things going on that can be called attention to in plot never mind the decision making of characters. Vader is all over the place in the OT and that is reflected in Anakin in the PT.

In Star Wars it's about "feel don't think".

If characters started to do that kind of thinking then the Empire would have easily won in ANH in the first place. R1 makes their decisions even odder since they know they could be compromised.

 

As I've said twice now: ORPHANAGE HOME!

Seriously, the plot would still work if Anakin stayed at an orphanage home for a few days. Maybe he starts having visions/dreams about the battle. One of the Jedi back in the Temple senses this, takes sympathy for him and offers to listen to him. The message is transferred to Yoda who then relays it to the Jedi and the Naboo fighters. That way Anakin is still useful to the plot, but it scraps the stupidity of putting him in the middle of a battle because PLOT.

Also, telling Anakin to find a safe place to hide doesn't negate the fact that Qui-Gon PUT HIM THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. Yes, Anakin is the Chosen One, but at this moment in time, he's a nine-year-old boy with no military experience. Who was just place in the middle of a literal firefight.

So he can't stay with the Jedi. Let's see...where else could he have stayed at:
• Orphanage home/homeless shelter (not like he'd be there forever)

• The Naboo embassy on Coruscant -- hell this is better than my orphanage home idea because that would get rid of complications arising from dragging in a third party who has no idea what's going on

• The Gungan hideout. You think those were ALL the Gungans fighting on the field? Boss Nass wasn't there. Nor his personal guards. Or the young or elderly. He could've stayed with them.

So how would we get the TF ships destroyed, then? Well, good writing would have anticipated that problem and would have established a character earlier in the movie who was efficient in space battles. This guy/gal would've tagged along with the heroes until their big moment in space. Then Anakin gets the visions, the message goes from person to person until finally Yoda or some other Jedi tell this character exactly what he/she needs to do to win the day.

 

Qui-Gon is going on a mission and since Anakin is under his care , he takes him along. That's it. What's so strange about it? He intended Anakin to be his padawan, so arguing over potential dangers is ridiculous.

What Naboo embassy? What handmaiden? They are all returning to Naboo and they have nothing to do with Anakin.

Sure, let's leave the kid in the middle of a swamp... Qui-Gon didn't put Anakin's life at risk. He protected him ever since he left Mos Espa. On Naboo, once the hangar was cleared and deemed safe, he ordered Anakin to stay hidden inside a ship.

All of this is arguing over a non-issue.

Are you guys serious?!

 

Anakin being dropped off at a homeless shelter would be a weird dose of realism for Star Wars. I think that's better suited for an alternate reality Star Wars where Luke never gets away from the family farm, or Han is called an old creep by Leia after delivering that "my hands are dirty" line.

 

This can descend into another kind of silliness. The entirety of the plot TESB depends on the Falcon's hyperdrive not working. If it does work then there is not much of a story. Talk about decision making why would the impatient Vader then be patient and waits days or weeks for the Falcon to get to Cloud City? They were pursuing them like crazy and now it's all let's wait and see?

This movies are poetry not prose. They are not SF they are Space Opera and fantasy. It all works in broadstrokes. They are lots of details supporting them in that sense but going too far doesn't generally work. Certainly not in every plot mechanic sense.

 

I'm personally satisfied with the explanations expounded in this thread. I just made the OP out of curiosity.

 

But, but... it's "bad writing" and all...

 

That would have been really stupid. "Hey, lets take that boy away from his mom, and when the Council doesn't let me train him, put him into an orphanage, that surely will do good for him!". The boy is already sad because he's without his mom, and now you want him to be left behind without the two figures close to him (Qui Gon and Padme) as well?
Casting him off like that would have gone against everything we know about Qui Gon's character. It wouldn't have made any sense, especially with him being so adamant about who Anakin is and that he should be trained.

Your idea for the space-battle is even worse. The whole point of the story was for Anakin to mimic Luke. Him "seeing things" does absolutely nothing for the story, it would be as bad as writing could possibly get. It would also completely disrupt the flow. You can't have multiple fighting scenes that set the pace and then interrupt them with some visions. Having multiple scenes of those makes it even worse, because they become utterly redundant, you would basically say the same thing over and over again.

The climax of ESB switches between the Luke-Vader duel and Leia's attempt to rescue Han. ROTJ switches between the space battle, the duel on the Death Star and the rebels on Endor. TPM switches back and forth between a space battle, the duel and Padme's attempt to get to the throne room, AOTC switches between the duels and ground combat, ROTS between Anakin vs Obi Wan and Yoda against the Emperor. TFA between the air combat and the ground fight, first in the station, then the duels. Rogue One moves back and forth between different situations on the ground and the space battle. All these movies have one thing in common: they keep the pace and switch between battles. None of them break the pace to introduce something in between. The only exception to all of that is ANH, which only has one battle.

 

What is strange? Are you being serious?
He is going to a planet under military occupation, protected by a blockade of war ships, at least as far as he knows, and he knows there would be fighting involved.

Soldiers are sent on missions but they almost never take their kids along.
You know why?
Because not only would that be totally stupid, the parents are being responsible and don't feel like endangering the life of their children for no reason.

Also, why did the council send Qui-Gon?
They knew he had Anakin with him, so the could have sent some other Jedi that weren't burdened by a young child.
Either they thought that Qui-Gon would leave Anakin behind but he didn't. Or they knew he would take him along, at this point one wonders why. They sent Qui-Gon both to protect the queen and find out about Maul. Both important and dangerous jobs.
So why have Qui-Gon needing to look after Anakin as well?

The place Padme stayed at on Coruscant. Either this was the Naboo embassy or Palpatine's house.
Either way it is way safer than Naboo.
As for handmaidens, Padme owes Anakin thanks. He and his mother opened her house to Padme when Padme needed help. And thanks to Anakin winning the pod race, they were able to leave Tatooine.
So if Qui-Gon asked Padme if Anakin could stay a day or so at this place and if one of her people could look after him, Padme would be a total *** to refuse.

[/QUOTE]

Didn't put it at risk?
Do you remember the blockade? When they ran it the last time, were they in danger?
Was there a risk that they could get blown up?
YES!
So one, the blockade, which Qui-Gon doesn't know is gone, is a considerable risk.
Two, the massive droid army on Naboo.
The whole planet is occupied so they know of no safe havens when they leave.
Plus Qui-Gon knows that the TF will either try to arrest Padme or kill her.
Since his job is protection, that will mean a fight.
And the thing about big fights is that stray shots fly around and could kill bystanders.
Three, we see Anakin running around in the middle of a battle, blaster bolts flying around.
Any one of them could have hit and killed him.
When Anakin runs over to the fighter, Qui-Gon is nowhere near him.

So Qui-Gon put Anakin at considerable risk, and he did so for NO REASON.
He didn't bring Anakin to fight or to learn something. He just wanted him to stay safe.
By that reasoning, he shouldn't have brought Anakin along.
Either Qui-Gon didn't consider the alternatives, which makes him an idiot.
Or he did but decided to risk Anakin's life and limb anyway, which makes him rather careless.

And yes, the Gungan safe place would have been much safer than in the middle of the palace that is filled with hostile battle droids.
No one would try to shoot Anakin in the hideout but plenty would try to do in the palace.

@Qui-Riv-Brid

What is absurd is the logic you and others are using.
You apparently think that it is fine and normal for parents to take their kids into battle.
In fact a parent that recklessly endangers the life of their child can face charges.

And Qui-Gon DID plan to leave Anakin. Alone, in the middle of a palace controlled by hostile droids.
Hard to see why back on Coruscant or at the Gungan hideout would be worse.

And Qui-Gon knew he went into a battle before even leaving Coruscant, again the blockade.

Rules? What rules?
In the first Matrix film, Morpheus sacrificed himself so the rest could bring Neo to safety.
He was not about to gamble with the chosen ones life for no reason.
Also Qui-Gon wouldn't have been able to protect Anakin in the pod race. He risked his life there too, but this time it was for a reason, to get the parts he needs.
On Naboo, Anakin's life is put in danger for no reason at all.

But again, the podrace had a reason behind it. Qui-Gon had to get off Tatooine and needed the parts and so he took a risk sure but he had a goal. And other people questioned his actions and he was aware of the danger he put Anakin in.
With Naboo, no one questions Anakin being there and Qui-Gon brings Anakin along for no reason and doesn't consider much in the way of risk to Anakin. Only when they are in an actual battle does he think to tell Anakin to hide.

Well I guess you missed the several other threads that have talked about this over many years.
I have been involved in 3-4 of them.

Also, they way Anakin saves the day at the end, him accidentally starting the fighter, flying off and generally pushing buttons at random and winding up blowing up the TF ship.
Plenty of critics took issue with that back in 99.
Some felt it was way too contrived.
Him being on Naboo is part of that.

Obi-Wan did yell at Luke, telling him not to go. What else was he supposed to do? Attack him and physically restrain him? That would have gone well.
As for Yoda and Obi-Wan not telling Luke, that is a legit question and a bit of iffy writing.
Equally iffy is why they are apparently so accepting of the "other" dying or why Obi-Wan needed reminding that Leia was a Skywalker.

Almost all films have some writing that is a little contrived or "plot demands it".
But my point is that if you do too much of that then it can become a problem.
The level one accepts of this of course varies but to me, the third act of TPM just piled one contrivance on top of another until the film sort of lost me.
The act was fun and exciting to be sure, but it was lacking in sense. At least to me.
Another example is how Jar Jar manage to blow up droids left and right while just stumbling about.

To me, a writer should try to make events and character actions seem natural or flow from past events or character traits.
In ANH, that Han chooses to leave with the money at first fits his character. That he changed his mind later and came to save Luke also worked. Had he instantly joined the rebels, that might have worked less well. That Luke joined at once, that fit his character. Had he gone with Han and left the rebels to die, that would have seemed really off.

But to bring up a good example from TPM.
Lucas needed to separate Anakin and his mother.
How to do that?
Had they both been free people and Shmi just let her son leave, that would have seemed off.
Uncaring even.
To solve that, make them slaves with bombs inside them. And Qui-Gon tries to free both at first, because this fits his character and is the compassionate thing to do.
But that doesn't work and only Anakin is freed. So Shmi can't leave and Anakin goes on alone.
This works.
He could have killed Shmi in TPM but that would have been a little grim.
He used this method to get Luke to leave but Luke was older and not so attached to his family as Anakin was.

To me, the root of the problem is making Anakin young.
I get why Lucas did this but to me, it caused issues in the second part of the movie. How to make a kid tag along in a very grown up mission, war basically.

So one way to solve it would be to make Anakin a little older. Then his presence is less glaring.
Failing that, have Obi-Wan question Qui-Gon about bringing Anakin.
And have Qui-Gon admit that it is a risk but he feels very strongly that Anakin must go with them or things will end badly.
Not a perfect solution but it at least makes the characters aware of the situation and they provide some reason behind their actions.
As it is, the film just skips over the whole thing and hopes the audience doesn't notice.

Other example of really bad and contrived writing, ST V.
The Enterprise is ordered to go rescue some hostages. But the problem is that the ship is broken, nothing works. On top of that, they say that the Klingons will send ships of their own and since they hate Kirk, they could try to attack. But nothing matters, Kirk has to go. The excuse is that there are other ships but no experienced crews. The obvious solution is to have Kirk command one of those ships and this mission would be over quickly. But no. Better to send Kirk in a broken ship that is ill equipped to handle the mission and that could get destroyed by Klingons.

To sum up, the answers I have seen here both try to ignore the very real danger on Naboo and pretend that no other options existed or that those were more dangerous.
Neither convince me.

Bye for now.
The Guarding Dark

 

Alexrd
No one's saying Anakin needs a flippin' entourage of Naboo people to protect him. Would it really have been so difficult for Padmé to assign one -- JUST ONE -- handmaiden to stay behind and look after Anakin for a bit? At the Coruscant embassy? That way, Anakin's still with people he roughly knows AND removes the contrived ‘Let's put a boy in the middle of a bleedin' WARZONE.’

Would Anakin be sad that Padmé and Qui-Gon are leaving? Of course. But that could be explained with one of them (Padmé mostly) explaining to him, “Annie, we are going into a very, very unsafe, dangerous situation. More dangerous than your podracing. Even if you are gifted in the Force, I will not risk your life by putting you in the middle of a warzone. Stay here with [insert name of that ONE handmaiden] until we return.”

 

I see no contrivance at all. You just saw that very boy race pods at 1300 km/h on a lawless planet, being considered for Jedi training and now it's contrived for him to follow a Jedi Master who's watched and protected him ever since he left home? And what war zone? A relatively small skirmish to get into an hangar? Please... A war zone is the Naboo plains where the Gungans are. That's was the point.

 

A war zone is typically defined as an area where two enemy combatants engage in live fire. It doesn't matter if it's a skirmish in a hangar or an all out brawl in the fields.

Also, with the pod racing, he is, at least, in control of his own pod. Does he have control over droids deciding to turn him into Swiss cheese? No. No, he does not. Once again you are assuming that because someone can play a VERY dangerous sport, that they are also well-equipped to run around in the heat of a battle.

 

In Anakin's case, he has a Jedi Master protecting him. And I'm not assuming anything. I'm saying it's not contrived that Anakin is under Qui-Gon's care when he's sent back to Naboo. To suddenly complain/worry about danger in an hangar after all we've seen throughout the movie is in my opinion ridiculous.

 

That's why Qui-gon tells him to stay behind him when they enter the hangar and then tells him to stay in the N-1. Right after that, everyone is on their way out of the hangar when Maul reveals himself and then the Droidekas roll up. Note that the Droidekas don't even move on Anakin, but are approaching the Jedi and Sith. Had he not chosen to help, he would have been fine in the hangar.

 

I don't see that as an issue in the least.

The only way around it the way you seem to be placing the argument is for Anakin to be what? 16?

Wasn't going to happen.

Anakin has been in terrible danger and background danger for the entire movie and the entire story of his life.

The rules are the in-universe one from the Jedi decision making which is in evidence in the movies. Qui-Gon is "reckless" throughout the movie over and over again. That is his story as a reckless Jedi that doesn't follow the rules properly.

Why would he change after a whole movie of doing so? Why didn't he run back to Obi-Wan so it could be two on one?

 

Anakin is Qui-Gon's ward. It's Qui-Gon's desire to take him along with him wherever he goes and watch over him, while at the same time indirectly instructing him in the ways of the Jedi as he would his own Padawan. This would be considered negligent behavior in real life, but this is a fantasy. Just think of Qui-Gon as Batman and Anakin as his Robin.

 

It makes a bit more sense for Luke, I think. We’ve seen Han acknowledge that he’s “pretty good in a fight”, Leia could attest to that, having seen that firsthand, and Biggs could easily attest to the fact that Luke is, as Obi-Wan stated, “quite a good pilot”. With all those being true, plus the fact that the Rebellion probably needs all the pilots they can get, I think this one is just barely within the realm of plausibility. It’s still a bit sketchy, but it makes just enough sense that you’re not questioning it as you’re sitting in the theater. Even watching THE PHANTOM MENACE in theaters, the whole concept of bringing a kid into a war zone seems pretty ridiculous at best and downright negligent at worst. Surely, Liam Neeson has a few friends on the city planet that can look after the kid for about a week or so.

“It’s not impossible. I used to bull’s-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They’re not much bigger than 2 meters.”