Was Anakin really necessary?

The prequels have recast Anakin as a prophecied "Chosen One," without whom the Sith could not have been defeated. The problem for me is, the original films do not bear this out.

Before anyone starts going after straw men here, let me clarify what I am not saying.

I am NOT saying that something other than him killing Palpatine brought balance to the Force.

I am NOT saying that Anakin's turn to the Dark Side was any part of fulfilling the prophecy.

I am NOT arguing that Luke is the Chosen One.

What I AM saying is that Anakin's final act of killing Palpatine was not essential to defeating the Sith. The Sith were defeated not because of that act, but because the Death Star was destroyed with a Sith on board.
Even if Anakin had not turned on Palpatine, they still would both have been on board when it was destroyed. The Death Star was destroyed not because of Anakin, but because Han outsmarted the Stormtroopers on the ground and destroyed the dish that protected the Death Star, and because Lando and Wedge got inside and destroyed the Death Star.

I don't think it's really possible to say that BUT FOR Anakin's actions, the Sith would not have been defeated.

 

The Death Star was not destroyed with a Sith on board, unless you count Palpatine who had already exploded.

Palpatine had a shuttle ready so that he could escape. It's the one Luke used.

 

Was Anakin really necessary?

Considering he is the main character of the story, and he is the hero and villian in the movies....

Maybe just a tad.

 

There will always be debate about this.

I have always come down on the side that all the Sith/Jedi shananigans in the the throne room were great - but it was Goldleader and Wedge who ended the Sith inside DS2 main reactor's structure.


Some say Palps had his escape plan all figured out and was ready to jettison outta there cause he could "feel" the Falcon getting ready to F up his battlestation.

Some say he would have met his demise much like Tarkin - cocky and unknowing that the Rebel Navy had somehow figured out a way to F up a DeathStar.


It's the best "what if" in Star Wars - because it's been debated about 50-50 amongst fans and there's good merit to both ways of thinking on it.

Good luck defending you're opinion - it's always gonna be challenged.

EDIT: The what if being "What if Vader killed Luke or stood there and let Palps zapp his a$$?"

 

Luke had time to leave while dragging his dying father's body. I don't see why Palpatine and a mobile Vader or Palpatine and a seduced Luke wouldn't.

 

I dunno. Though I usually appreciate the many ambiguities of the saga, I could never abide the one under question. It's dramatically unsatisfying, insofar as it lessens the weight of Vader's sacrifice. I mean, how much time did the Old Man have?

I really do wish Lucas had taken the Lord of the Rings route here, establishing a direct link between the death of Palpatine and the turn of the tide. There were ways to do this. Perhaps the TIES that trailed the Falcon could have suddenly plummeted into the tunnel floors (implying there was a psychic link between Master and orc). Or maybe Palpatine's body of electricity could have destroyed the reactor, as it descended miles and miles into the Death Star's epicenter. Something along those lines...

 

Luke also knew the Rebels had an excellent chance and gameplan in blowing up DS2. When the SuperSD crashed into it, who's to say Palps would've been in panic mode?

 

That would have been a way better "neat and tidy" ending to the Sith/Empire demise. I like your thinking Drg4.

 

I would assume that Palpatine would simply leave as soon as he noticed the shield was down.

 

Yeah, he might have ....

It's a tough call, like I said - it's my favorite "what if" in Star Wars.

 

Zahn used a form of this idea, not in terms of the Emperor's death causing the DS to be destroyed, but in having the Emperor's death limit the effectiveness of the Imperial fleet.

 

I'm of the opinion that the Emperor, like Luke, could have easily escaped from the Death Star before it exploded. Luke even has to drag Vader's hulkish body with him, and he still makes it out in time. We see Imperials fleeing, walls shaking, smoke and debris everywhere: it's obvious the space station is about to be destroyed. Logic dictates that Palpatine would have got the news from his lackeys -- if he could not sense it himself -- and that he would have acted on that knowledge by getting the hell out of there.

This interpretation -- which I believe is also the official LFL stance -- renders the thread question obsolete. Anakin/Vader was necessary to the story because he killed the Emperor, which neither Luke, nor Lando and the Rebel Fleet, could have done (barring sequels).

 

Can you be so certain?
Palps hops on his spacecraft and tries to escape during a full Rebel/Calimari Naval onslaught.
His "emporormobile" is well within range of dozens of fighters - not to mention capital ships.
His craft gets swarmed or blasted ...

I could see that.

 

The Emperor would not be able to be killed by anyone besides Anakin, I doubt the Force would let the Emperor be killed by anyone but Skywalker.

 

Given that Palpatine would've been making his hypothetical escape flight at the same time the entire Rebel fleet was moving away from the Death Star as quickly as possible, nobody would've been around to shoot at him.

 

Both these assertions are hardly "givens". But they are likely scenerios for sure.

Just as likely is that Palp's craft is intercepted by a B-Wing "picket" squadron and is promptly fired upon without predudice.

Do we know that Palps had some aurra of "force invincibilty" that keeps him safe from such things?

 

Precisely.

 

I feel strongly about this topic, largely because it's one Master_Starwalker and I actually agree on!

 

With that argument, you could basically say Anakin didn't need to be the chosen one because Mace couold have killed palps in episode 3, yoda could have not given up in episode 3 and ran away, so could've killed him.

Darth Plageuis could have awaken from a bad dream or have the sniffels only to find palps about to murder him, and then return the favor.

Jar Jar was standing right next to palps in qui gons funeral in ep 1. He could have done something clumsy and accidentally pushed him into the fire w/ qui gon's burning corpse.

Ultimately, it was the will of the Force that had Anakin defeat palpatine, which is a big reason why he managed to evade death so long (the mace duel comes to mind especially).

 

I would agree, if not for the fact that he would leave around the same time as Luke did, and he never got shot by Rebel Forces.

Personally, I see one of the cylinders of the Emperor's Throne room is actually a secret escape pod. Sidious will plan for all possibilities, (bar the most unlikely of scenarios, that his apprentice would chuck him down a long shaft - never happen...) There would be a escape vehicle, butr Luke wouldn't ave known about, hence he goes to the shuttle.

If not for being thrown down the shaft, I would have seen Sidious leaving a dead Skywalker and a crippled Vader in the throne room as he makes his own private escape.

 

I'm sure there's another one somewhere.

 

You had to have Anakin do it, because one of the larger points to the whole saga and even just the classic trilogy on it's own is how someone who is good can become evil, just as somone who is evil can become good.

It had to be through Anakin's redemption that the Sith were destroyed, or else what's the point?

 

^ ^ ^ Exactly.

 

Um, no to that being an "assertion".

Ackbar ordered the entire fleet to move away from the Death Star. The only fighters of any kind in the area were Wedge and Lando, and they were doing their best to get as far away from the DS2 as possible.

 

The whole ROTJ Death Star onslaught, as we all know, was purely a trap for the rebels. It didn't go to plan for Palpatine because of the relationship forged with the Ewoks (in the same way the Naboo invasion didn't because of the relationship forged with the Gungans).

However, it's a simple step to assume that had Palpatine not been distracted by the Vader-Luke struggle, he would have taken some sort of action to either prevent the destruction of the Death Star, or to remove himself from it. I would argue that he had not anticipated the level of Luke's resistance to the Dark Side temptations (which were a result of Luke's faith in Anakin's ability to redeem himself, and for those who say SW is all about love, you can add Luke's general love for Anakin, Leia, Han, blue milk, peanut butter etc etc.) and thus his attention was on how Vader vs. Luke would play out. And so Vader throwing Palps over the railing defeated the Sith and had he not been there the Sith would have prevailed.

Not to mention that without Anakin:

- Padme would not have been able to escape Tatooine, and might have been killed by Darth Maul, or the Hutts.
- The Trade Federation would have continued their invasion of Naboo, potentially killing Padme.
- The slug things at the start of AOTC would have killed Padme.

Without Padme:

- The Rebellion would not have been as strong, and may not have started at all.
- The twins would not have been born (I think Anakin's help was also needed on this one).

Without the twins:

- The Death Star plans would not have stayed in Rebel hands. Leia would not have given them to R2-D2. R2-D2 would not have been around to protect them and get them to Obi-Wan Kenobi (who probably wouldn't have lived that long anyway because the Sith would have prevailed during the time of TPM)
- Luke would not have been around to blow up the Death Star in ANH - thus the Empire would have ruled supreme.

Also, without Anakin, Threepio would not have been around to forge the telling relationship with the Ewoks in ROTJ.

So unless I am missing something, it would seem that Anakin was indeed fairly necessary.