"Now You Can Make Your Dreams Come True, Ani. You're Free."

I originally wanted to name my thread, "Everything You Know About the PT You Learned in The Phantom Menace" but that just invites it to be another basher vs. gusher thread. Instead I want to focus on the conversation where Qui Gon informs Anakin and Shmi that he is to be trained as a Jedi, specifically Shmi's reaction.

Shmi's words are, "Now you can make your dreams come true, Ani", which is not only a true and almost prophetic statement, reflecting both her death and Padme's, but also, in his desire that those dreams not occur, the very thing that causes Anakin's downfall. She then says, "You're free" but this moment is actually his first step towards an enslavement that persists until he gives up on his own life to save his son's. Shmi then looks down in a moment of sadness and doubt. "This path has been laid before you", which may reflect, without her knowing, the creation of Anakin by either the midichlorians or by a Sith Lord. It may also reflect the Dark Side, which is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be unnatural, again without her realizing this is his path. She then says, "The choice is yours alone" which contradicts a prophecy which says he is the Chosen One, chosen by someone or something else. The choice of his path is definitely not his alone, unless the prophecy has been misread, because his path is pre-ordained, that of a slave. The only choice that is his alone is his turn to the Dark Side.

Shmi continues, "It's time for you to let go," referring to his life on Tatooine and to her, which is echoed by Yoda many years later in his advice to let go of that you fear to lose. Anakin reacts, "I don't want things to change" which he also wishes many years later with his situation with Padme and her pregnancy, not wanting to think about it. Shmi finally says to him, "You can't stop the change, anymore than you can stop the suns from setting." Anakin loses his mother, despite his efforts. Anakin loses his wife, despite his efforts and, possibly, because of his actions. And the suns do set twice, reflecting both change and immutability, and a new hope's dawning and the desire to go somewhere else and effect change. All this we saw in The Phantom Menace in this short exchange of words.

Are there any other similar moments in the PT where we saw the future reflected in words?

 

wow O.O! excellent analysis, PalpatineAntikristos. Looks like Shmi was able to summarize the entire Prequel Trilogy O.O! And to think that she said all that in The Phantom Menace. It's like she somehow foresaw the path that Anakin was going to take and the challenges that he would undergo ! Once again, I commend you on seeing the hidden meanings behind Shmi's words !

 

I'd classify Anakin's visions as nightmares, not dreams. However, I love your analysis.

 

Lucas did a great job of giving the fans enough information to figure something out. I do like your analysis. A great theory. I guess Lucas did his job. That is what is so great about Star Wars. That the fans are able to discuss it and come up with our own answers instead of them being laid out for us. I gives us a chance to use our imagination.

 

One of the constant themes in the PT as well as the OT is that of choice. Being that George Lucas is a proponent of individualism and free will, this makes sense. There are many occasions where we see the conflict between choice or a lack thereof presented to the characters, and how each character responds is a key to understanding their ultimate disposition, for good or evil--as the admission and acceptance of choice tends to fall in line with the light side of the force, and surrendering one's agency to others tends to equate with the dark side.

For example:
Shmi saying to Anakin, "this path is laid before YOU," implying that she cannot decide for him, for once in his life, it is his own choice to make.

Anakin saying to Padme upon having his vision of his mother and deciding to go to rescue her: "I'm sorry, I don't have a choice." He did have a choice, but the one he made took him one step on the path to the dark side.

Vader saying to the emperor, Fett saying to Vader, "As you wish." Note that the individual concerned expresses the sentiment that it is not necessarily what he wishes, but rather, as the other wishes = lack of choice.

Leia's reply to Luke complaining in ANH that Han is abandoning them before the assault on the DS: "He has his own path, and no one can choose it for him." (paraphrasing).

Vader to Luke in the throne room, when Luke says he will not fight and Vader will be forced to destroy him: "If that is your destiny." = surrendering of Vader's choice to fight his son or not.

Note that Luke replies to Obi-wan and Yoda's desire to complete his training in TESB with the same kind of willfullness...but at no time does he say he lacks a choice...instead after weighing the alternatives, he *decides* to seek out Han and Leia and possibly face Vader, and vows to return, another choice.

Also, Anakin's decision to pursue the Sith ways in ROTS is another example of choice, and he is offered several opportunities to return from the dark side, but always CHOOSES to keep following his chosen path, hence ultimately he falls, and becomes a slave again. Interestingly, because he is willfully enslaving himself to another this time--a choice to be enslaved.

The whole series is riddled with the idea of choice and consequence, and how the surrendering of one's will to another is essentially a choice in itself--destiny is only that which we choose to pursue, it takes the correct or incorrect choices to realize one's destiny, for good or ill. This theme is also carried very well into the novelization of ROTS, when Anakin realizes only after being placed in the suit that it has always been him, and him alone, making the decisions he has...that there is no Darth Vader, only Anakin Skywalker, and that fear has occluded his vision, and now he must pay the consequences for his fear and anger, alone, forever.

In the end, it comes down to a choice once more--as that translation of the characters on Vader's chest plate in TESB and ROTJ makes clear, "his acts will only be forgiven once he merits." By remembering once more that he does have a choice--that the path has been laid before him, and him alone. Other can only support and influence, not make the final decision.

 

"And you, young Skywalker. We shall be watching your career with great interest." -Chancellor Palpatine

He did it pretty non-chalantly in TPM, and I sort of smirked and nodded sagely when I saw it the first time, but after seeing ROTS, it's actually quite a chilling remark. It's like Sidious had Anakin marked from the first time they met, adding to the complexity and callousness of Palpatine's plan.