I had a dream I was a Jedi. I came back here and freed all the slaves.

I know this is a miscellaneous question, but maybe it can spark further conversation.

Did Anakin ever go back to Tatooine to free the slaves? Did he free slaves anywhere?

If not, why not? OOU, why wasn't this done?

Anakin's dreams aren't just dreams, they're visions that come to pass. That line in TPM seems like such an obvious set up to a story and it's really baffling that it hasn't been told.

It's probable that Obi-Wan simply didn't let him, but I find it hard to believe that would be the end of it. Anakin was constantly doing what he wanted to do, so I find it hard to believe he didn't break free at some point and go back to Tatooine to visit Shmi and free the slaves.

He actually did go back to Tatooine after TPM, but didn't bother staying to free slaves. He was there in AOTC and the TCW movie, the latter seems like a reasonable opportunity to stick around and do some good with his Padawan. (If Anakin went back to Tatooine any other time, please point it out to me)

It is very strange that this (to my knowledge) was never addressed in the EU. To my knowledge, it was never even mentioned. (I haven't read many of the young reader novels, so if this is addressed there please point it out)

It especially makes Anakin's whole "Empire rulez" belief all the more silly, considering slavery increased dramatically during Imperial times and Vader himself actively played a part in the enslavement of a sentient species immediately after the formation of the Empire. (Dark Lord)

 

To be honest, it was most likely just meant to be cute dialogue without much meaning. However, using the power of over analysis, it could mean a few things. Perhaps that Jedi visions don't always come true, that they can be horribly misinterpreted. It's also possible that, since he's just a kid, he can isn't able to get clear visions. Finally, there's the possibility that Anakin's visions only came to him later in life (tying into him just being a kid), and what you're talking about is just the overeager dreams of an adventurous child. I haven't seen episode 1 in a few years, though, so I don't remember how much attention was paid to that line. Is there any EU source about Anakin having a "vision" before the one about his mother? While I'm sure his life wasn't carefree, he didn't really have any horrible catastrophes to predict.

Speaking of the young reader books, while it doesn't directly tie into what you're asking, it does have to do with Jedi visions... in one of the later Jedi Apprentice books, before Episode 2 came out, Qui-Gon was having horrible visions of Tahl, a Jedi he was in love with, dying. I really like the connection between them, and there's a whole book about Qui-Gon supposedly losing it and trying to get revenge (though I didn't like that one, because Qui-Gon really didn't act very different until the end).

 

Good question - I remember speculating on Episode II between 99 and 02 and thinking that that line would be directly tied into the story somehow. Itis very stange that Anakin's slave past seems to play no part in the later prequel movies, the OT, or any EU.

I can't remember if this is in the Beginning (the Episode I doc on the DVD) or from somewhere else, but I remember a page of George's yellow story pads where he's writing notes to himself, one of which is "why is he [Anakin] slave?" Why was he a slave, since it ended up seemingly discarded as a plot point?

I suppose you could say that his experience of a bad living situation in which the people had little control played into his lust for the power and control afforded by the dark side, with him becoming the master to a slave galaxy, or making himself the slave to Palpatine. But poetic narrative echoes aside, it seems like that line and concept could have been used in a much more specific way.

 

Something I've never really considered. When I first heard that line I immediately thought "that's going to happen". I was sure that we would see it in Episode II.

Prediction fail.

 

Not every vision comes to pass.

Maybe Anakin's real destiny was not to be freed and become a Jedi, but... to stay on Tatooine, overcome his attachment with his mother naturally, free himself and escape, return to lead a revolt of the slaves on Tatooine and eventually lead a rebellion against then-Emperor Palpatine, finding a comrade-in-arms with former Senator Padme Amidala, and be trained as an adult in the Jedi arts by her friend Obi-wan Kenobi who hid on Naboo after the Jedi Purge, and never fall to the dark side due to his life of fighting against oppression and letting go of his mother on his own terms and especially for not being on Coruscant to let Palpatine poison his mind with "advice" over 13 years...

 

Darn. I thought this was a reference to Jacen's vision in Dark Tide. That, IMO, was one of the most awesome Jacen Solo moments of all time. It illustrates seamlessly his obsession with Force-knowledge/lore and his compulsion to follow all of his visions, no matter how foolhardy or impossible or reckless they seem at first. From the beginning of his career as a Jedi to his death as a Sith, he followed every single one of his visions as if they were his very last.

 

I always thought of it as just child Anakin's pipe dream. Force visions are usually more cryptic, and that line was mostly just Anakin wishing for a better life.

Anyway, what could Anakin do really? Fly back to Tatooine and start hacking up slavers with his lightsaber until they gave up? Tatooine isn't in the Republic (at least I think that's what was said in Episode I, not entirely sure how that fits or doesn't fit with the rest of canon), so the Jedi don't really have any authority there, and Anakin's not that stupid. Not to mention that if the slavers get really mad they could just start blowing up their slaves. Its a nice dream to just say end slavery in the Star Wars galaxy, but with the plateau galactic civilization is stuck at for most of the last few millennia, getting rid of slavery isn't really plausible.

Its an interesting what-if if Anakin was never found by Qui-gon (too bad they don't make movie Infinities anymore), but given how coincidental Anakin and Qui-gon's meeting was, that was almost definitely the will of the Force.

Various Vader stories try and address it. Yeah, Vader's pretty evil by the OT, but slavery and Tatooine is still a sore spot for him. In the Dark Lord novel, Qui-gon's ghost tells Obi-wan that Vader will never willingly return to Tatooine, too many bad memories, which is why Luke is safe there. The Dark Times comic series also shows Vader brooding over what he's become, especially the slavery issue. Like when he's talking to a random clone commander and the commander mentions they're still stuck on some rock as their transport was reassigned to transport slaves, which really strikes a chord with Vader. Palpatine brushes it off as just part of consolidating their control over the galaxy, or something like that. Vader's not quite happy with that answer, but he's not really happy about anything anyway, and a good deal of his attention is also spent on other stuff like the Muur Talisman or hunting down Jedi, especially Obi-wan.

And in his later years, Anakin was mostly obsessed with Padme anyway. By Episode II he was still worried about his mother, especially after he started getting visions of her dying, but after she died, its not like he brought up the slavery thing much again. Well, he was also busy fighting in the Clone Wars, but by that point most of his focus had shifted to Padme, and after Padme died, he didn't really have much left but old painful memories. And his rage of course. So while the issue still bothers him somewhat, he's probably too angry at the galaxy in general to care too much.

 

It's possible I took it way too seriously, it would be cool to get Lucas' thoughts on the matter. Does he have an account here?
I just thought with the "special powers" he had, he was having visions already.

Having Anakin go back to Tatooine to free slaves doesn't seem like a stretch at all to me. Whether he succeeds or not is up to the writer. I imagine people who own slaves have a strong inclination toward self-preservation, a lightsaber held to their throat should bring out their compassionate side.

Really?

It doesn't have to succeed, but it's not impossible or particularly unbelievable. This is Anakin Skywalker here, it's not impossible to believe he could end slavery at least temporarily on Tatooine.

It could happen. If he removed all the explosives, the slaves have a decent chance of remaining free (or at least fighting for their freedom). It may be easy for the bad guys to simply snatch up more slaves as soon as Anakin leaves, but maybe threats/intimidation/reputation would be enough to back them off. Anakin could let them know he had a personal interest in Tatooine and that it was under his personal protection. Once the rumors of an enraged Jedi showing up to cut down slavers got around, it might be just enough to make slavers think twice. Then again, Hutts are not easily intimidated.

I just thought it was an obvious story based on a movie quote, like the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell. Wishful thinking.

 

Really.

That would be strange, if accurate. Anakin's slave past is highlighted in Rogue Planet; it is referenced ( briefly ) in other sources such as Dark Lord; it likely factors into his animosity toward Hutts as expressed in the TCW film.

( Also, from an OOU POV, it's not strange that it doesn't appear in the OT, because it hadn't been invented yet. )

 

I can't help but feel that line was put there with some meaning though. It's an ironic line and one that foreshadows primarily because we are already in the know about the child's actual fate. He dreamed of becoming a Jedi Knight and freeing slaves, and yet once he becomes a Jedi Knight he's seduced to the dark side and ends up becoming a slaver. It was one of the early issues of Dark Times that touched upon this, I believe.

 

I see it in symbolic terms.

Anakin Skywalker freed an entire galaxy's worth of "slaves" from the tyranny of the Emperor. One could also argue that he forever shattered the power of the dark side by proving, once and for all, that it was never too late to break its chains () and choose the right path.

Never again can a dark sider say "it is too late for me" and really mean it.

That works more than well enough for me.

 

It's also mentioned in the ROTS novelization- when Anakin goes bonkers on Dooku, one of his sources of anger he uses to power him to victory is being beaten by Watto as a child. Something along the lines of 'Watto's fist came out of the past to batter him (Dooku)' or something. Anyone who wouldn't have to go to the library care to get the line?

 

It plays a role in Dark Times, when Vader faces the hypocrisy of having been a slave and watching the Empire engage in slavery.

 

That's a great way of seeing it... Anakin "coming back home" as in being good again and freeing the surpressed ones in the process...

The way I always saw it, Anakin *not* going back in time to free his mother and the other slaves resulted in the situation being solved in a different way - by Cliegg Lars - and actually having a bad end result. Anakin's second vision, that of his mother dying, gets put off as a bad dream at first and therefore isn't acted upon either, resulting in his mother's death. Now, his third vision is that of Padmé dying, and at that stage, he's 'understood' that acting on a vision is the only way to prevent something bad from happening.

OOU, I really enjoy telling people how I see the structure of the prequels - with every dream pushing Anakin a step closer to his destiny. He dreams of being the ultimate hero - boom, he's leaving Tatooine. He dreams about losing his mother - boom, he learns that he needs to act on visions without hesitation if he doesn't want to lose people. He dreams about Padmé's death - boom, he's moving into the position that will eventually allow for him to kill Palpatine. Will of the Force accomplished.

What's more, it's a way of acknowledging that Anakin has a set destiny - because we as the viewers know how the story of the prequels is going to end. It's not as strong as the prophecy that's directly telling the viewer that Anakin will kill the big evil guy in the end, but it's the same structure - Anakin and the viewer both look at how the movies will turn out.

 

Thanks for the assist.

This also proves Watto was an abusive master after all, so good to have that quote on-hand.

 

Poor wording on my part, I meant that it's not really directly completed as a story point. It's referenced as part of Anakin's background and motivations, and it rhymes with other parts of the story, but the slaves are never actually freed. I guess the fact that it's referenced in Anakin's stories (most of which I've not read) makes it more followed-up-upon than I thought, but still, the movies don't make as much reference to it as I thought they would.

The OT thing is an important point. This is an attribute that was deliberately added to Anakin's character in the prequels. For Episode I GL was clearly inserting the 'slave' angle for a specific purpose. Was it simply to add to Anakin's motivations, or was there some plot payoff planned that was never followed up on? It might be either.

 

I agree with the others who have said it's mostly ironic symbolism, foreshadowing future events. After all, Vader does eventually become a slave to the Emperor and the dark side.

I also tend to think it plants the seed for added frustration from Anakin towards the Jedi, who have no jurisdiction on Tatooine and can't legally free the slaves. Annie has now become one of the heroes he fantasized about as a child, but he can't truly do what he feels heroes 'should' do. Throw it on the pile with the other reasons why Anakin distrusts and questions the Jedi order.

 

I think Anton Chekhov just committed suicide with his gun.

 

Slaves almost immediately get sympathy points, simply by being slaves. GL wanted an economical way for as many viewers to sympathize with Anakin as possible while using as little exposition as possible. That's as far as the slave subplot goes, as it's never touched upon again.

 

Probably something he would have done had he not become a Sith. Since the future is always in motion and all that. It's not like he saw a vision of himself killing a bunch of people maybe because at the time Sidious wasn't aware of him yet?

 

A whole planet of slaves. Don't you people remember anything?

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Jedi_Quest:_Path_to_Truth

http://www.wattpad.com/297725-jedi-quest-path-to-truth

40 pages...

 

Okay, I pulled the Dark Times issues...

From #2: After Commander Vill tells Vader the Nosaurians rounded up will be sold at the slave market, Vader flashes back to the very scene from TPM - and is followed by "There will be no sleep for Vader this night"

From #3: A conversation between the Emperor and Vader

EMPEROR: Something troubles you, Apprentice?
VADER: I heard from Commander Vill.. on New Plympto...
EMPEROR: Ah. I should have remembered. Anakin Skywalker was a slave - as was his mother. My apologies, Lord Vader. I should have explained the current situation sooner.. the slavery that exists in the lawless reaches of the Outer Rim is wrong. The trading in individuals' lives and freedom for personal gain must end. And it will... in time. But what the Empire is doing on New Plympto - and elsewhere - is different.
Unrepentant separatists like the Nosaurians must be dealt with. Put to work, they will make a positive contribution to the Empire, and their lives will be spared. It is a merciful alternative to what would otherwise be necessary.
I'm certain you understand.
[Emperor walks away]

 

Maybe George Lucas flirted with the idea of Anakin really fleeing slaves on Tatooine at one point, and then the line just remained in the final draft. We don't see any slavery on Tatooine in the OT (aside from the shenanigans at Jabba's palace); maybe George -- at one point -- felt the need to explain this.

As it stands in the final product, I suppose it could have been a vision -- as Yoda said, "always in motion the future is."