Something I never thought about in every prequel, each funerals gets more personal to Anakin

If you look at each funeral in every prequel, every person who dies gets more and more personal to Anakin.

TPM- Qui-Gon (His future mentor)
AOTC- Shmi (His mother)
ROTS- Padme (His wife, the ultimate loss for anyone)

As much as the prequels get bashed by critics, I give Lucas credit on this subject. He chose to take a specific person in each movie from Anakin, to further his decent to dark side after each death. I would say if this happened to me, I would be cynical about everything, and it makes more sense other than just a dream about Padme that he was scared to lose her. Every single person he got close to died at a premature age.

This definitely gives the OT more meaning, about going after Luke and trying to convert him. Before Vader was just a half machine/half man trying to overthrow the Emperor with Luke. Now he is man who has suffered through many personal deaths, and now his son is a new hope.

 

Cool observation. And almost carries over into the OT as well, with losing Obi-Wan in A New Hope (at that time his final tie to the past and to the Jedi), and of course ending with his own death and funeral pyre in Return of the Jedi.

 

I think George did this to show how many losses Anakin has endured in his life.

He turns to the dark side to make others as sad as him.

 

I never even thought of it that way. Good observation.

 

The funerals are progressively personal to be sure. But I don't count Qui-Gon Jinn. Anakin knew him for what? Maybe a few days tops? By the time he's 19, the guy is just a faded memory to Anakin. Hardly anyone whose passing scarred him. His mother's death was traumatic since she was murdered. Regarding Padme, Anakin himself had already turned to the Darkside, otherwise why is he strangling his pregnant wife if he's so lovey-dovey about her? Traumatic yes, but he did it to her himself!!!

 

Absolutely. If Anakin hadn't turned to the Dark Side, Padme wouldn't have had to die of a broken heart. It's his own fault that she dies. Her death doesn't turn him to the dark side--instead, her death is a consequence of his turning.

 

Regarding Qui-Gon, wouldn't that be the point? They get more personal and personal, you see. Anakin looked up to him as a mentor and a friend... doesn't matter how long he knew him.

 

Actually, Qui Gon would be personal. The man is responsible for Anakins freedom, tried to free his mother, and defended Anakin to the jedi council when no one else did, offering to train him the council members said no. I do not think that would be easily forgotten.

 

But Anakin still looked up to Qui-Gon like he's his father (or better yet, as Superman) and you saw how saddened he was to see his Jedi hero's body go up in flames. Meanwhile, he's known Obi-wan Kenobi for almost 15 years and he never felt the same way about Obi-wan as he did with Qui-Gon because if he had, then Anakin wouldn't have tried to kill him on Mustafar.

Why did Anakin strangle Padme? Because he saw Obi-wan standing inside her ship which led Anakin to believe that his own wife wants him dead, that's why he did what he did. If Obi-wan hadn't stow away on Padme's ship and showed himself at the wrong moment, then Anakin would have no reason to choke Padme. She came close to getting Anakin to stop his reign of madness but Obi-wan ruined it for her so he has to share the blame for Padme's death.

 

I do think that's a cool trend, and certainly underscores the foolishness of Yoda in ROTS that he is supposed to let go and to mourn no one. If there is anything that would drive him away, it's that telling him the deaths he's experienced shouldn't mean anything to him.