Full Series The *Official* Anakin Skywalker in the Clone Wars Discussion Thread

"Was he telling the truth about Anakin wanting Luke to have his lightsaber? That Anakin was killed by Darth Vader? Or that Obi-wan took it upon himself to train Anakin as a Jedi? No, so that makes Obi-wan a big-fat liar. It is common with society that if a person does one thing wrong, the amount of good deeds you do will be completely ignored and Anakin has done more harm than good."....endquote

That's what society thinks. Yet its not necessarily true. If one recognizes their error and turn from evil, than thats what's most important. One has to think on a higher level to have a true understanding of this.

Anakin makes costly mistakes, yes, but he's also a good person who has the best intentions, yet lacks a true understanding to what love and compassion is. Anakin doesn't truly learn this lesson until he sees Luke which yes, leads to his redeemption. He's an individual who made a horrible mistake and paid a dear price for it. That's the same person who turns from evil late in life and becomes good, again. There's a spiritual significance in all of this.

As for Obi Wan, when he was talking about a young Jedi named vader who helped the Empire hunt down the Jedi Knights, and Luke's father who was a great star pilot and a good friend, he was talking about the same person. Anakin was all of those things. Obi Wan just didn't tell him he was talking about the same person until RoTJ. And yes, darth vader did kill Anakin. Looking at it spiritually, Anakin did die when he bowed before Palpatine and renounced the lightside of the force. The good person he was, became imprisoned by the darkside of the force. Everything Anakin swore to destroy, he became, like Obi Wan said later in Rots.

So yes, darth vader did kill Anakin Skywalker, from a certain point of view. He killed the ideas Anakin stood for, the same good principles he goes by in TCW. Ironically, it was Luke that made vader believe in those principles again, plus showing him what true compassion is all about. That's what saved Anakin at the end.

 

Hey, I did that too. Good times.

 

He's just different in the cartoon. He's got himself together. Then watch ROTS, and he's immature again.

 

Anakin is clearly a seasoned Jedi Knight by ROTS. I don't think he acts immature at all.

 

Well, it really shouldn't matter to TCW of how the PT handled Anakin. The PT Anakin is what Anakin is like, how George Lucas imagined him, no matter if people didn't like it. From Day 1 in the Jedi Order, Anakin was manipulated by Palpatine the whole time, so you could say that it was partially a natural progression.

You could interpret it that way, but if you're taking that as fact, then that's wrong . Anakin Skywalker never died until ROTJ. If he died in ROTS, then there is no turn, and there is no redemption.

That's the problem. He's a troubled, men/women/children-killing, reckless invidual in AOTC, abruptly becomes a near-faultless hero in TCW, and then goes back his AOTC self in ROTS.

While I'm not one of the people who complains about Anakin being whiny all the time, acting as he was with the Jedi Council in ROTS wasn't exactly the most mature.

 

The Anakin we see in TCW syncs up perfectly with the Anakin we see at the beginning of ROTS. It's when he gets back to Coruscant and reunites with Padme that the trouble starts. He begins to especially worry when he learns she is pregnant and that drives his shift in behavior around the council. It doesn't help that Palpatine is there twisting his thoughts and fear of losing Padme and his child. And then of course Obi-wan leaves. And as we see he doesn't have Ahsoka to distract him.

 

Which is why it was sooooooooooooooooooo frustrating to have Lucas retcon Hayden Christensen in as a Jedi Ghost, and give some cockamamie explanation like "oh, when he redeemed himself, he went back to the last age he was when he was still good."

That's total nonsense....the entire point of his redemption is that he has to live with what he has done and still finds comfort in his redemption....but now I'm getting way off-topic.


In some ways, TCW vs. ROTS is apples and oranges, because ROTS is really putting Anakin in the crucible. You can't expect him to act the same way during the course of the Clone Wars as when he starts having premonitions that his pregnant wife is going to die.

 

Which is, of course, still the case regardless of any changes to his ghost.

 

The reason Lucas had made Anakin how he was in the beginning was to show how his relationship with Kenobi, in order to add more to the final duel, not because of being a hero. I have no problem with Anakin being a "hero" at times; the problem in TCW is that there never seems to be any kind of a conflict within him. In the ROTS novel, Anakin is angry for not having been in Coruscant so he could prevent Palpatine's capture. And the trouble begins not when he arrives on Coruscant, but when he kills an unarmed Dooku - a war crime. Would any other Jedi kill an unarmed prisoner? No. Would a clone trooper kill an unarmed prisoner? No (unless ordered to, of course).

For me, Anakin's portrayal in Labyrinth of Evil is perfect for the Clone Wars.

When Anakin "turns", he's really doing nothing different than he was before. In ROTS, he kills children - nothing new. That happened in AOTC, where he slaughtered a whole village. Sounds like he turned to the dark side there as well. That's got to leave any man forever scarred.

So he kills children in AOTC - then goes to being a hero the whole time in TCW with little or no conflict within him - and finally goes back to his child-killing self in ROTS. Consistent? No.

Agreed. I have no problem with Hayden Christensen replacing Shaw, but how it was done I do. They could have made him look ten-twenty years older with makeup. Seriously, the footage they used was just some ROTS stock footage, in which Christensen had no idea of what he was supposed to be doing.

 

And feels bad about it...

No more mommas...

After turning to the dark side. And doesn't feel bad about it.

Consistent? Yes.

 

After turning to the dark side. And doesn't feel bad about it.

Consistent? Yes.[/quote]

Doesn't really matter how he felt about it. If any other Jedi slaughters a whole village and feels bad about it, does that change their actions? Not that Anakin suddenly starting killing younglings makes any sense. And the "I hate them!" line doesn't make me think he regrets killing the Tusken Raiders that much. He was more upset with himself for going against the Jedi Code.

That also reminds me of how inconsistent Padme's character was. In AOTC, after she hears how Anakin killed kids, she says to be angry is to be Human. Then, in ROTS, when she hears how Anakin killed kids, she says he's going down a path she can't follow.

As I said in my previous post, killing kids has got to leave a man scarred forever.

 

Doesn't really matter how he felt about it. If any other Jedi slaughters a whole village and feels bad about it, does that change their actions? Not that Anakin suddenly starting killing younglings makes any sense. And the "I hate them!" line doesn't make me think he regrets killing the Tusken Raiders that much. He was more upset with himself for going against the Jedi Code.

That also reminds me of how inconsistent Padme's character was. In AOTC, after she hears how Anakin killed kids, she says to be angry is to be Human. Then, in ROTS, when she hears how Anakin killed kids, she says he's going down a path she can't follow.

As I said in my previous post, killing kids has got to leave a man scarred forever.[/quote]

The Clone Wars are suppose to distract Anakin from his personal problems. It was one of the reason in the ROTS novel that he wanted to get back to the frontlines.

 

It makes perfect sense, given the catalyst.

Well, you could say she's a speciesist. Or you could assume no one really gives a damn about Tuskens. What with the killing, dragging off, torturing, etc. of settlers.

His conflict is not about Tuskens, and the source of his conflict is not present in CW. No momma, no dying Padme.

It shows how "his child-killing self" is an apt description in one case, but really not in the other ( in the sense of justifying his actions ).

 

,,Not that Anakin suddenly starting killing younglings makes any sense.,,


Could that moment be the last time when he could turn away from the dark side?

Before the suit i mean.

 

Anakin decided his fate when he cut off Mace's arm. After that there was no turning back.

 

No, that's what he believed. He could have turned back at any time.

 

But isn't what he thinks more important?

 

In the Clone Wars Anakin is more mature. In ROTS he seems to be a young student, especially when talking to Palpatine.

 

I think the easy answer here is he is the boss. And everyone admires him and looks to him. He's a winner, and a hero.

In the snotty Senate, the capitol of the galaxy, with it trillionaires, and zillionaires, he is just an insignificant tool, and doesn't he know it. And resent it.

 

Well, you could say the same thing about OT Vader. When he's on his own, he's a badass. He's the Man.

When he's near Palpatine, he's a broken little bitch. Palpatine has that effect on people.

 

I think the last two episodes prove my point.

Anakin is more likable in TCW then he is in PT (Mostly AOTC). It's not even close...

 

I root for TCW Anakin. He is a true old-fashion Errol Flynn type-of character that everyone likes. He is, truly, Da Man.

Prequel Anakin is soooooo far away from this type of character that sometimes when watching the show i can't help to think how GL kinda "failed" on showing the audiences how much of a "true hero" Anakin Skywalker really was. Or at least that was what Obi-Wan told Luke and us (and yes, I know that old Ben was full of it, but i'll take his word on this one. )

 

I agree. This 2-parter was epic and really gave me the true Star Wars feel, that not every episode has.

Especially when they hit up Iago, it was something out of the old comics, or even the Jedi Knight games.

This is the inspiring, relatable Anakin I wanted to see all PT long and only received in glimpses.

 

Obi-Wan never called Anakin a hero.

 

I just find it funny we're relating Anakin to Darth Vader. At least in this instance his behavior is consistent. If nothing else, Palpatine has had that effect on Anakin/Vader throughout both trilogies. Yes, he seems like a young student, when he's with Palpatine, who he then becomes the student of. And remains under his rule and tutelage until ROTJ. I'm all too happy to see Anakin the hero in TCW, I want a few flashes of darkness peppered in. But I don't want him killing puppies and eating babies for a hundred episodes either.