Did Anakin really love Padmé?

Yes Anakin loved her.

Yes Anakin killed her.

But it wasn't the choke. Here's a quote from, um, ME on another site regarding the 'padme losing the will to live was silly' argument.

"I don't think the reason for Padme's death was silly, but I do think it was poorly expressed.

Everyone who died after Anakin's turn was dead because Anakin wanted to save her. Everything she ever stood for and tried to defend was destroyed by the man she loved. She probably thought it was her fault, because she was complicit in the situation by being secretly in a relationship with Anakin and a party to his first betrayal of his jedi training. He had gone from being the small boy she met on tatooine to a ruthless, power crazed mass murderer who planned to kill the emperor and run the galaxy. And he expected ger to be happy that he had destroyed everything that she had devoted her entire life to.

All this, mainly because of his own flaws, but still, partly, because of her.

That's why she lost the will to live. Because of what Anakin did in her name, and because she could not reconcile Anakin's action with the man she knew, her will gave up trying to resolve the two. She could not cope with what Anakin did, and went into an exteme form of shutdown, which is a rare, but ACTUAL possibility in real life."

His actions killed her, pure and simple. She would not have died had he not done what he did. And it's all the more tragic because he loved her.

 

well we no he did cuz of the nooooooooooooooooooooooooo that was for her

 

I think he loved her as a possession, ultimately. He seemed to be more in lust than in love. If you really love someone, then you are not afraid to let them go if it is inevitable. If you don't you'll try and keep them out of selfishness.

That's really what ROTS showed about their relationship. She loved him selflessly. He ended up finding out his love was really just selfish love when he couldn't accept that Padme may die. Instead of loving her the same everday it seemed he loved her conditionally and not unconditionally. He wasn't willing to love her in the moment, only if she were not to die. I hope that made since because reading it myself it seems a bit confusing, but I think we can see that the love was never unconditional on Anakin's part.

 

He didn't even seem that interested. Did he really want kids? He says that this is the happiest day of his life and NEVER mentions or references the child again. What is that??


Anakin and Padme remained one of the weak points of the saga. Their scenes are still pretty brutal and unconvincing.

 

"Our baby is a blessing."

"I came back to see if you and the baby are alright."


"You die in childbirth."
"...and the baby?"
"I don't know."




Are you people watching the same movie I saw?

 

Yes, Anakin really loved Padmé. But he loved himself a little bit more, and once he turned, he became more interested in gaining power for himself than in saving her.

He hadn?t meant to kill her. He lashed out at her in a fit of blind rage when he saw Obi-Wan because he thought she had betrayed him. The dark side was already consuming him. He never would have attacked her if he had still been Anakin Skywalker, and from the way he asked about Padmé in the medical unit later on, he obviously didn?t believe he had really hurt her.

 

He didn't kill her. The medical droid said she was perfectly healthy; she simply had no will to live.

And yes, he really loved her. It was an obsessive, possessive love that, had it not been forbidden, would probably have burned bright and then faded, but it was love nonetheless.

 

He loved her but unfortunately that love lead to destruction.

 

I think criticalthinker has hit it right on the head. Its more possession then love, I think he loves the idea of love, but does not love her.

I love my car, but I wouldnt get another, but if it gets into an accident I am going to replace it.

Anakin is very selfish, and uses the excuse to save padme for the power he was promised. THats the power of the dark side, selfishness, they say so right in the movie, when you think of yourself it leads to the dark side.

THats why he didnt go to Obi-won because HE wanted to save padme and noone else, just to boast his on ego.

My theory could be that as a result of the poor directing and poor acting which comes to that conclusion.

 

it's hard to think that any man who would choke his pregnant wife actually loves her.

 

Most violent crimes happen between family members. At least that's what statistics show. Anakin wasn't in control, the darkside was taking over.

He says that this is the happiest day of his life and NEVER mentions or references the child again. What is that??

Anakin is quite the sweet-talker... "I can't breath!" "Your are in my very soul, tormenting me!"
Padme's been had........

 

I think Anakin loved her the best he knew how. He had never really seen a model of how husbands and wives (or girlfriends and boyfriends for that matter)interact with each other. Expressions of love were never modeled for him. He knew from a young age he had feelings for her, and the feeling grew stronger as he grew older. Passion and obession were the raw emotions he expressed, and that is how he loved.

Was he selfish? Yes.

Does that mean he did not love her? No. He loved the only way he could -- loyalty.

Choking someone one loves is an action of someone with mental problems, and turning to the Sith might be described as such a problem. He was "messed up" by the time he saw Padme. Seeing Obi-Wan triggered his outrage. But I believe he did not think he did enough damage to kill her.

 

He did Really Love Padme. That Love ultimately resulted in his redemption.

Think about the entire Star Wars Saga as a whole. Padme at the end says "He still has good in him" In Ep VI Luke frequently mentions that his father still has good in him. I think Luke is sensing love Vader still has Padme. I believe that love for her gets translated to Luke, who Vader believes is the last bit of Padme left to him.

 

In his own weird way, maybe. Not being able to live without someone isn't love, it's obsession. If he loved her he'd be willing to let her go. What he wants is to possess her, as can be seen from his line, "You will not take her from me!" I think he thought he loved her. But I also don't think he knew what love really was.

 

No purely and simply no he didnt. He thought he did but he didnt. Love is selfless it does not insist on its own way. When Padme tells him to quit his current path to turn around and forget about his quest for power he says no.Pure and simple if he truly loved her he would do anything for herexif she askedwhich she did. He was obessed with her that why he provokes the relationship in Episode II and why he controls it in Episode III Its why he hides what is bothering from her.If he truly loved her then he would have followed Yoda advice but instead because of his obession he goeslooking for power to control the situation as he sees fit, not caring what anyone else thinks. The sad part of the tragedy is Padme do love anakin.

 

Lucas shows their love for each other being forged under a sort of stress or strain. It is not likely that their relationship had the strong foundation to keep it happy and intact. If you were a Jedi virgin padawan or a repressed girl who only gets to hang around her handmaidens, and you were faced with death, you would probably feel that the person next you on the execution cart represents all of the romantic potential which you could have fulfilled, and you will feel attraction. But when that strain is gone what is left?

Ani had a desire for possession and Padme had a desire for someone else to take control. Padme is a much more forceful and commanding person at age 14 than she is in RoTS. In TPM she would have probably not muttered in despair and irony about how democracty dies in applause... she would have got off her ass and done something about it. Now she wants to concentrate on being domestic and she wants to leave the politics to someone else. She even asks Anakin to do her political work for him in RoTS, which he correctly suggests should be proposed in the Senate by her.

Padme becomes too passive and Ani becomes to aggressive. Padme wants to be consumed and Anakin wants to consume her.

In the climax of RoTS we see this relationship culminate in Padme giving, and Anakin taking, her life force. She does not die giving birth to Luke and Leia, she dies in the Force giving, in a figurative sense, birth to Darth Vader. She literally chooses to sacrifice herself to save Anakin, to be possessed by Anakin.

That is why she says and KNOWS that there is good in him. Because she gives her vital soul over to him. It rests there like a mustard seed until Luke makes it grow in RoTJ.

This might also make sense of the underacheiving Vader. Particularly in ANH you get the feeling that Vader is not quite the #2 wonder-boy any more. In TESB the Emperor and he are in a race to adopt Anakin as their apprentice. In ROTJ the emperor obviously wants Luke more than he wants Vader. Maybe this living force of Padme is enough to keep him from being as bad as he could be, and enough to keep him redeemable at the end.

 

I am new here. I've been really enjoying the conversations on this board and, so, I've decided to comment on here myself.

I believe that Anakin did love Padme but he had many other passions which drove him as well. He wanted control probably because he had been raised in a situation without any control. This particularly hurt him because he knew was gifted in some areas and because he cared about the people around him. He *needed* to have control. He fell in love with Padme and she became the most important thing in his life. This is why she was the pivotal thing which made everything that could drive him to the dark side actually succeed in doing so.
The reason why he attacked her was because of the rage within him. He was confused and angry at himself because of the things he had done. This was very much a breaking point for him and this volatile state that he was in was driven by her. He had sinned numerous times and was standing alone, crying, on a desolate planet having killed mercilessly over and over again. He hated himself and he had done it for her. She arrived and she disapproved of what he had done which hurt him on a number of levels and then Obi-wan was with her. It looked suspiciously like the very person that had caused this terribly powerful confusion and anger in him had turned against him. He was literally driven mad with the intensity of his hate, confusion and pain. That is why I believe he did what he did. Not because he didn't love her but because he was so lost and being so lost he had done many horrible things for her.

 

He loves her as well as he is able. The same way that he loves Palpatine and Obi-Wan.

It's a selfish, somewhat immature form of love that's VERY low on trust.

 

I think that he did love Padme but as others have said it was a selfish love. I felt that he wanted to save Padme for him and not for her, if you know what I mean. I don't mean that if he did not love her he would not have tried to save her (he would have but he wouldn't have gone so far) but that his need to have her in his life was his main reason for doing what he did to save her. If that makes sense.

 

I agree with dehrain.

 

It was complicated. Anakin loved Padme. Padme was in love with C3P0 for obvious reasons. Obi-Wan loved Anakin. And I think Palpatine was involved. He was the producer.

 

Attachment, not wanting to lose someone is HUMAN.

The only difference between Anakin and ourselves is Anakin has power, and that makes him want more...so he could stop death. He has the ability.

He does love her I believe, truly. It's not merely as a posession.

 

Anakin loved Padme the only way he knew how. But it wasn't a 'real' selfless love or a healthy one.

 

Deek, that was perfect! Padme did indeed want to be consumed, and Anakin wanted to consume her personality and all. She had been such a stone-wall for so long, as well as Padme that they were naturally attracted to eachother.

Despite the difference in upbringing, Anakin and Padme were very similar in that they both wanted something that had been stolen from them: a normal childhood/adolesence, with normal love. Both had been robbed of normal childhoods, Padme becoming a teenage queen, and Anakin becoming a preteen padewan learner.

By Return of the Sith you see Padme's strong personality fade, and Anakin is finally coming into his own. When the Dark Side finally consumes him, it also consumes Padme because she let Anakin consumer her.

Anakin's fall to the Dark Side kills both of them in the end.

 

In TPM she would have probably not muttered in despair and irony about how democracty dies in applause... she would have got off her ass and done something about it. Now she wants to concentrate on being domestic and she wants to leave the politics to someone else. She even asks Anakin to do her political work for him in RoTS, which he correctly suggests should be proposed in the Senate by her.

Marriage changed Padme, obviously. And of course, she was pregnant. Women go through hormonal and emotional changes when their pregnant, Lucas did a good job in that that could have been one reason for her dependent behavior. Lucas also made her look very natural in Anakin's and Padme's second scene together (on the balcony). She looked like she was pregnant! Her face was a tad puffy. She put her faith in Anakin, her heart and soul, but when she found out about his lust for power on Mustafar she disagreed. I also got the impression that she had grown weary of the fighting, but she knew her new family was more important than how the galaxy was run. She was willing to give up everything to have a life, Anakin lusted after the thought of ruling the galaxy. Somewhere in there, I think that was Anakin's ultimate fantasy life with Padme...ruling the galaxy with her.