What do you suppose she meant by that when Anakin skywalker left her after he was freed from slavery? She did ask Anakin “what does your heart tell you?” when he if I will ever see you again, However on the contrary she does “then we will see each other again” but also don’t look back. So by not looking back did she basically say forget about me to Anakin and move on? She does seem to take responsibility for Anakin being a slave like a failed mother like obi wan as a failed jedi master.
I don't think the two statements are contradictory she is saying "live your life, and if we see each other again and it is meant to be, we will"
Don’t look back was advice Anakin did mot heed. He tried to hold on to his pre-Jedi freedom, and be a Jedi which is lukewarm, and The Force spews the lukewarm out of its mouth.
It’s better to basically be adopted to the jedi order when your an infant because you know no attachment to loves one and you won’t nearly be in much of danger turning to the dark side like Anakin and Ben solo did.
How did Shmi skywalker became a slave in the first place even before Anakin was born? Do you guys think the acolyte show might explain that?
Anakin stated in TPM that he and his mom were enslaved when he was three. How did that happen? Pirate attack, most likely.
You're a pilot? Mm-hmm. All my life. How long have you been here? Since I was very little. Three, I think. My mom and I were sold to Gardulla the Hutt ... but she lost us betting on the Podraces. Tie-in material has it as "arrived on Tatooine, as Gardulla's slaves, when he was 3, and lost by her to Watto shortly after that." Shmi was already a slave when she fell pregnant with Anakin. Tie-in material does have it as "She was captured by pirates" though.
Luke's an interesting case. He has almost no family when ANH starts, and loses both his surrogate parents quickly, leaving him mostly untethered. His attachment to his fairly new-found friends DOES lead him to charge right into Vader's trap on Cloud City, and even if that feels very heroic and human, it almost leads to his death which would have been a crushing blow to the chances of overthrowing the Emperor.
Shmi's advice to her son not to look back has multiple layers of meaning and significance. On a simple, literal level, she is telling him not to look back as he leaves her, because looking back will make it more difficult and painful for him to leave her. As we see the first time that he tries to leave her, he looks back and comes running back to her for another hug because he can't bear to be parted from her (telling her that he can't do it). She knows it will be easier for him to leave her for a better life and a life as a Jedi if he literally doesn't look back. It is heartbreaking to look back. On a deeper, more symbolic level, in telling him not to look back, she is cautioning him against dwelling on the past too much. Being fixated on it to an unhealthy degree. Clinging to it too much. Being unable to accept change or loss. As she tells him, he cannot stop the change any more than he can stop Tatooine's twin suns from setting. That is really the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker in the PT. That he cannot accept change or loss. Shmi is trying to teach him this acceptance of change and loss. She is also trying to teach him to trust in his feelings and instincts by asking him what his heart tells him and assuring him that they will see each other again when he says yes. And if he believes that they will see each other again, he is looking forward to that future moment of reunion rather than to the past. So her advice to not look back still holds true in that regard. I think Shmi was a good mother to Anakin. Nurturing, loving, and willing to sacrifice her own happiness (keeping him with her) to give him the best life and opportunity that she could. And she has taught him important lessons in compassion like how the biggest problem in the galaxy is that beings don't help each other. She seems like a very wise and gentle mother to me. I never saw Shmi as in any way responsible for Anakin being a slave since she wasn't the one who enslaved him and I definitely never saw her as a failure as a mother. She was a very loving mother who gave great lessons in compassion to her son and was willing to sacrifice her own happiness to give him the best life and opportunity she could as I noted above. Nor do I think Obi-Wan was a failure as a Jedi Master. He guided Anakin as best he could, and Anakin was a grown man and full-fledged Jedi Knight when he made his own decision to turn to the Dark Side. Anakin is responsible for his own choices. He can't blame them on Shmi or on Obi-Wan in my opinion.
She meant "don't turn around roughly 180 degrees to look at me because you're having a hard time leaving and it would be easier if your eyes were facing the other direction"
