[ESSAY #1] Why did Anakin Skywalker Appear Young?

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There was once a boy named Anakin Skywalker. This boy grew up on a remote Outer Rim world called Tatooine, far beyond the reaches of the Galactic Republic. He was a child who knew nothing of greed and loved all around him. He understood that you should love all beings, whether they be Jedi and Sith or Gungan and Sand People. But, he was introduced into the world of the Jedi Order when he was just nine years old. A whole new philosophy was being taught to him and he didn?t agree with it. He still had hints of anger and greed, most evident when his mother died in his arms and when he saw a vision of his wife Padmé Amidala-Skywalker dying while giving birth to his child. This longing from preventing change caused him to fall from grace and walk the darker path of the Force. But, he was redeemed through the love of his children and died in his son?s arms, but not before destroying Darth Vader and Darth Sidious thus bringing balance to the Force. He later appeared as his former self before his son. As you will see, Anakin Skywalker appeared as a young man because of the state of his soul at the time of his death and because that is how Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda remembered him.

Anakin became one with the Force, yes, but he didn't disappear on his own. Therefore, he had to be pulled to where Obi-Wan and Yoda were within the Force. Anakin "discovered" the secret because Obi-Wan and Yoda helped him. If he had discovered it after death like Qui-Gon Jinn had then he would only be able to return as a voice. It was up to Obi-Wan and Yoda to decide everything. They pulled his soul and created the image that they wanted to see, the image that they remembered and knew and loved. It was the Anakin that sought guidance from Master Yoda. It was the Anakin that Obi-Wan considered a brother, the Anakin that Obi-Wan loved. It was the Anakin that bravely defended the Old Republic during the Clone War on many occasions. They wanted to see the man />

I still dont buy the Hayden ghost thing. It wasnt like he had a split personality and Anakin died when Vader took over--he became Vader, even when he was choking imperial officers he was still Anakin underneath it all. I thought that was the point of the PT--people make bad choices and have to live with them.

But even if you dont subscribe to that philosophy there is still the matter that when he is unmasked he has given up his sithdom and "returned" to being Anakin. Anakin didnt die at 23--he came back 20 years later through the love of his son. When Vader is unmasked it is the face of Anakin, no longer consumed with the darkside, viewing the world through his own eyes for the first time in 20 years. This is the man that then dies a few moments later. To have him reappear as his younger self sort of destroys the impact of this return.

The whole "this was his image while he was good" thing is faulty too--in fact we see Anakin commit more attrocities while portrayed by Hayden. And just as he may have deep down regretted it as portrayed by Hayden, he also deep down regretted it when he was portrayed as suited Vader. This argument is absoluetly hollow, and is straining to find logic where there is none.

The only thing the Hayden ghost accomplishes is that sort of nostalgia feeling, which i admit is kinda cool--theres just something about seeing Luke, the rebels, yoda, obi wan and Hayden all in the same scene that kind of ties things together. But it still makes no sense.

Well, for me, Hayden's appearance makes sense. It's just that Lucas's explanation doesn't make sense.


You're right. When he kills the Tuskens, he's still Anakin. When he kills Dooku, he's still Anakin. I don't know. It's like GL forgot what Anakin was really like and believes he was really the 'saint' that Obi-Wan made him out to be for Luke's sake.


- TOSCHISTATION

Yeah, and that creepy Jack Nicolson glare Anakin gives in the final shot doesn't exactly smooth things over either.

I think I might know who wrote this piece.

It's a valiant attempt to lend an interesting perspective to one of Lucas' questionable decisions - but I'm not buying it.

Anakin and Vader embody the same person. There is never a complete instance of black or white; light or dark. Even in TPM, when Anakin is a humble slave boy, he has crude notions of power and prestige. One only has to listen to him exclaiming that "No one can kill a Jedi!" to see that. Only in the closing moments of RotJ does Anakin move beyond his crude worldview and finally free himself of all forms of mental, physical and spiritual bondage. The warm presence of Sebastian Shaw reassures of this vital fact. But the presence of Hayden Christensen muddies it. My criticism is not a slight against Hayden at all; I love the guy on screen and off (such estimable intelligence and humility). His version of Anakin just has no place at the end of the saga.

I give Lucas enormous props and respect for the various ideas he's infused Star Wars with. It's an incredible tale incredibly told. But I don't have to agree with every last thing put into these films. Hayden's presence at the end of the film, along with Greedo shooting first, taints the epic character arcs of two of the saga's best and most arresting characters (and, in Anakin's case, the central character). I'd really urge George to re-think his decision there. Seriously. Perhaps he wanted more uniformity between the trilogies? And to show that it was categorically Anakin we were witnessing at the end (though I doubt anyone was ever confused on that issue)? That's fine. Either revert to Sebastian or hire Hayden back for a day and apply aged makeup to him. But I really think the youthful Anakin we see in the latest revision of RotJ makes no internal thematic sense. Ick.

Another thing is the whole "Lost Limbs = Loss of Force potential". George probably means well, but it comes across clumsy. For one, it doesn't hold up with Yoda's ESB "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."

Yoda. Something else about him. His statement at the end of ROTS, "Gone is the boy you trained. Consumed by Darth Vader"

Is this the same Yoda who in ESB said (in front of Luke) to Ben, "The boy has much anger in him, like his father ?" Doesn't sound like Yoda was buying the "Two Persona Theory" in ESB, whereas now in ROTS, he does. Hmm. Maybe he changed his mind after 19/20 years, even though Obi-Wan never seemed to do so.

It's funny that what started out as Obi-Wan's POV, is now Yoda's also, and finally, the opinion of George Lucas himself.





- TOSCHISTATION

He was a child who knew nothing of greed and loved all around him. He understood that you should love all beings, whether they be Jedi and Sith or Gungan and Sand People. But, he was introduced into the world of the Jedi Order when he was just nine years old. A whole new philosophy was being taught to him and he didn?t agree with it. He still had hints of anger and greed, most evident when his mother died in his arms and when he saw a vision of his wife Padmé Amidala-Skywalker dying while giving birth to his child.

If he knew nothing of greed, how could he still have hints of it after his Jedi training?

. If he had discovered it after death like Qui-Gon Jinn had then he would only be able to return as a voice.

And why wouldn't that be enough? Seems like Qui-Gon was fine as a voice-only ghost, and prefectly functional. I mean, he retained his identity all the same, does the appearence as voice or image make really that much difference? It would be at least something he accomplished on his own.
Besides, i really dislike making the ghostification a skill, as opposed to the natural result of ultimate enlightenment.

They wanted to see the man that they knew, not the man that never existed. That is why they took the image of his soul at death, not how it could have appeared

I don't se how these 2 things are related. OK, they wanted to see him as they remembered him, fine, it makes sense. But what does it have to do with the state of his soul at death? His state of soul after his return is nothing like his state of soul before (and during) his turn. That, or the whole redemption thing means nothing. It's more like Ben&Yoda applied the looks they wanted to see to the spirit as it is, even if it doesn't really fit. They tried to compensate by putting clothes on him Anakin never wore

Sebastian Shaw represents the man that committed all of the atrocities while in the suit. Hayden Christensen represents the man that would go to great lengths to save the ones he loved
The thing is, redemption (the spiritual kind, which we're talking of, i assume) has nothing to do with destroying the Sith, but with realizing the true meaning of compassion, seeing the error of his ways and abandoning them and coming to terms with himself. SS represents the one who accomplished all this, even though it was supposedly impossible. HC also represents a lot more than you state, he represents tha man who committed all the crimes Anakin committed in the PT, the man who was too immature to see and accept some basic truths of life, who turned to the DS in the first place. He had regrets, yeah. They didn't stop him from committing even more crimes. I'd think Vader/Anakin around his return also had regrets. Only then he dealt with them and did the right thing.

He knew what he had done was wrong but he also knew that he was too far gone to turn back
He knew??? He thought, perhaps. And he was proven wrong. By the Anakin played by SS.

The soul of the young Anakin Skywalker was thrust into the deep abyss of his mind and it seemed that he would never return.

Please don't tell me you're trying to use this "split personality" reasoning
So Darth Vader didn't have a soul? That's nonsense. Or a different soul? And Anakin's soul was in a quasi-hibernation for years (so it doesn't 'age'), and the fact of Luke's existence pushed a button to awaken it? Sorry, but this just makes no sense. OK, technically it might (if you manage to define soul and mind accordingly), but it's terribly contrieved, and unsupported by the movies. Besides, one thing that seems to be common in the religions i came across is that every human has one, and only one soul. As long as this soul is somehow connected to a body, he's a person, afterwards he's a corpse, and something happens to the soul, depending on the life of the person, and this is all to it. So as far as i know, none of the religions/cultures SW seems to be influenced by, support this kind of

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Another thing is the whole "Lost Limbs = Loss of Force potential". George probably means well, but it comes across clumsy. For one, it doesn't hold up with Yoda's ESB "Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter."


I wholeheartedly agree with this . . . and I love the Prequel Trilogy. It really didn't make sense, when you compare it to what Yoda had said in ESB. And to make matters worse, the follow-up novel to ROTS - "The Dark Lord" seemed to hint that Anakin's loss of Force potential had more to do with his emotional state, not his physical state.

Good point about that. I forgot about Yoda's, 'crude matter' statement.