Why is Anakin the Chosen One?

The argument about what it means to be the Chosen One; whether it means wiping out the Jedi, wiping out the Sith, or both; has been waged for the past six years. The question I wish to debate here is very different.

If one reads the latest Harry Potter books, we learn that Harry's birth was prophecied. I won't say who, but it was predicted that the one who could defeat Lord Voldemort would be born that July, that he would be "marked by the Dark Lord as his equal," and that in the final confrontation, only one of them could survive.

However, it is explained to Harry that just because something is prophecied doesn't make it true. It was Voldemort's own fear, paranoia, and behavior that ultimately made this prophecy true, and made Harry the subject thereof. Two children were born that July, but Voldemort chose to move against Harry because Harry, like Voldemort, was muggle-born. It was his attempt to kill Harry that gave him his powers, and his scar. But for that, the prophecy would have been just another lame prediction.

Episode III, to a certain degree, revolved around a self-fulfulling prophecy: in attempting to avert Padme's death, Anakin ends up causing it. The origins of Anakin's birth, once thought certain, are now clouded, never to be fully answered. He could have been conceived by the Force, or he could have been conceived by the Sith. This leaves the door open to a new possibility. Maybe Anakin wasn't the Chosen One. I know George Lucas has said he is, and I accept that. The question is why. Maybe he wasn't the Chosen One at first, but became the Chosen One because the Jedi, the Sith, or both, called upon him to assume that role. They both behaved under the assumption that he was the Chosen One, which he wouldn't have been otherwise. Maybe he wasn't truly destined to do what he did for either of them, but because the Jedi believed he was, they placed him in the position to do it.


Use our Chosen One thread, please.

 

Almost every thread in the 'Star Wars Films' section here has a discussion on this topic, i suggest you find one of those and use it as it has been discussed to death!

But in short:

Anakin is chosen one as he destroys the sith and therefore brings balance to the force.

EOS

 

Yep.

 

Anakin is chosen one as he destroys the sith and therefore brings balance to the force.

Wow, what a great sidestep. I've never disputed that.

My question was this: was he chosen by the Force to do that, or only put in that position because the Jedi and the Sith assumed that's what he was meant to do, and ended up putting him in the position to do it? Is he the Chosen One because of the Force, or by circumstance?

 

He IS the chosen one cos GL says so

 

There is no circumstance/coincide, only the Force! Remeber what the Force is. The Force is life energy that exists beyond time and space, and life si what put Anakin into that situation that made him bring balance. So it was the Force.

 

Anakin is believed to be the Chosen One because he has no birth father. Qui-Gon assumes he's the Chosen One, concieved by the midichlorians, meant to bring The Force back into balance by destroying the Sith. The 2nd half is known truth when you look at the saga all 6 parts together. That, and GL says so .

 

I agree about the self-fulfilling prophecy. If the Jedi council hadn't been willing to consider Anakin as the Chosen One, they would never have taken it upon themselves to train him as a Jedi, in spite of his fear and attachments. That, of course, doesn't exclude the possibility that even if he hadn't been trained Palpatine couldn't've reached him in some other way.

I'm still not convinced merely destroying the Sith would bring balance to the Force. The old-style Jedi needed to be done away with as well, since they were too dogmatic in their approach (see the dogma thread in this forum).

 

I agree with the author.

However one point I want to bring up; I do believe Anakin was the Chosen One from the beginning. I believe that the Chosen One's destiny is written and prophesied just like the Jedi say it is. I also believe that every being's future in the Galaxy is a result of the choices they make. The prophecy wrote the destination of the Chosen One, not the journey. Anakin decided (by his choices) how it was going to play out ... but ultimately at the end of the day, the Chosen One is the Chosen One and he will fulfill what he was destined to do. It's the path that's the mystery.

 

Does it though? We never learn the wording of the prophecy itself- just that Qui Gon believes that it was possible that he was conceived by the midichlorians. The possibility that ROTS introduces is that rather than spontaneously conceiving a child via the Will of the Force, the midichlorians could have been influenced to do so by a Sith. But it's still the midichlorians that conceive the child...

I've got to agree with ObiWan506 here- I think that circumstances around Anakin's birth show that he was born as the Chosen One. However, his destiny was altered by Qui Gon in TPM (specifically, in the dice roll scene.) Anakin wasn't supposed to leave Tatooine and become a Jedi, and wouldn't have done without Qui Gon's interference (which he does by using the Force to cheat a bet, at the expense of Anakin's mother's freedom; morally, that's in a very grey area!)

My own guess is that he was destined to grow up on Tatooine, free the slaves (like in his dreams), maybe even lead them in battle as a Seperatist against Palpatine's republic/empire? The point is that he didn't need Jedi training to be in touch with the Force; what it did give him was power and control over the Force, and it's this power which led him to the Dark Side and away from this particular destiny.

By the time he arrives on Coruscant, Yoda senses that Anakin's future is
clouded- in light of AOTC, there is a subtext that the dark side has clouded his future; even though Anakin has no control over the Force yet, his destiny which was foretold generations ago is now suddenly unclear. However, the will of the Force is still at work; by the time of ROTJ, things have come full circle, and he is once again in a position to fulfil the prophecy.

 

Anakin's destiny wasn't altered by Qui Gon playing with the chance cube. I always had a thought that Watto's chance cube was fixed so he could always get the outcome he wanted. Qui Gon just outcheated a cheater, which is fine with me.

 

Actually I find that explanation quite enlighting. And I think it stands. Maybe Anakin WAS meant to free the slaves, and the alternation of fate by Qui-Gon made him arrogant and needy. Plus, his mother was taken away from him, a direct result of his leaving and one of the reasons why he eventually turns to the Dark Side.