Star Wars: Why Anakin Becoming Vader Wasn’t The Jedi’s Fault

Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader and eventual redemption is key to the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies, but his conversion to Sith Lord wasn’t the Jedi’s fault, according to his master. The Jedi Order was rife with flaws and emotionally unhealthy practices, making them a poor match for a former slave who needed a more supportive environment, especially given his training with a deadly weapon and the powers of the Force. Palpatine, the Sith Lord who manipulated Anakin into joining the Sith, has no qualms with criticizing his hated enemy, the Jedi, but he claims they were not the cause of Anakin Skywalker becoming the infamous Darth Vader.

In both canon and Legends, the Jedi Order had lost touch with the Force and the people they were sworn to protect by the events of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The Jedi took infants from their families and raised them to suppress their emotions. The order itself served the political agendas of the Galactic Republic which, while well-intentioned, was highly corrupt during the prequels too. One of the Jedi Order’s most restrictive practices was that romantic love was forbidden, preventing Jedi from experiencing a core emotion in sapient beings.

According to Emperor Palpatine in the book Star Wars: The Secrets of the Sith, the Jedi were not the direct cause for Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He claims it was simply Anakin’s desperation to save his wife, Padme, that motivated his fall. Due to the Jedi’s restrictions, Anakin and Padme were married in secret, but Anakin’s prophetic visions of his pregnant wife dying in childbirth put him on a desperate quest to find some way to prevent these premonitions from becoming reality. Believing that only the Sith had the power to save Padme, Anakin renounced the Jedi and became Darth Vader.

While Anakin’s love for Padme primarily motivated his horrific transformation, the Jedi Order is not free of blame. The order’s outdated practices were a poor match for Anakin throughout his life. In a Jedi Order that allowed and encouraged romantic love, such as Luke Skywalker’s New Jedi Order in the Legends continuity, Anakin would have been much happier. Despite this, a happily married Anakin could have still had his terrifying visions, and though Luke’s Jedi would provide more pragmatic or emotionally wise advice than the old order’s platitudes, it might not have necessarily been enough to quell Anakin’s desperation.

Palpatine’s manipulations were also a significant factor in Anakin’s fall. Palpatine states in Star Wars: Secrets of the Sith that he stoked the fires of doubt within Anakin, framing the Jedi as useless and dogmatic while the Sith were free to live as they want and powerful beyond Anakin’s comprehension. Throughout Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine blurs the line between Jedi and Sith, making Anakin see the two as nearly the same, only the Sith might help him save Padme. Naturally, Anakin chooses the Sith and commits numerous atrocities in his Faustian bargain to tap into the dark side’s power.

Just as it was love that saw Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader, a similar sentiment would later bring him back from the depths of the dark side in the years ahead. His son, Luke, responded to Vader’s cruelty with kindness towards the little amount of Anakin that remained within him. Rather than let his son die at the hands of Palpatine, Vader renounced the Sith on the spot and turned on Palpatine, motivated by the same love that turned him against the Jedi in the Star Wars prequels.

About The Author

David Miller
(618 Articles Published)

David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

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