Anakin wasn’t wrong.

A rare #StarWars video from me!
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[@DanielGreeneReviews]

Am I joking? Am I serious? Am I just practicing debate cause I miss it? I don’t even know.

[@leonardadams5633]

Bring "Let's Debate" back!

[@carlosroo5460]

Ok.

[@jackwriter1908]

I mean the Younglings deserved it to die. Coming out of hiding as soon as someone shows up...

[@griswo3272]

Of course you are serious,you speak facts

[@juanmartin8776]

I think all the points you bring were how Lucas envisioned the prequels. Sadly, he kinda failed at that.

[@lordkronos5470]

I like how it is highly shown that Anakin was a red flag of an individual asking for help, love, and respect and no one gave it to him. He asks the wisest man about his visions and Yoda just tells him to man up.

[@munchenonyou3774]

i mean he didnt really give Yoda much information to work with. its just a messed up situation no matter how you cut it. Anakin needed help with a problem that the council couldnt help him with; Padme.

[@munchenonyou3774]

i mean he didnt really give Yoda much information to work with. its just a messed up situation no matter how you cut it. Anakin needed help with a problem that the council couldnt help him with; Padme.

[@VestedUTuber]

@@munchenonyou3774 You're right that he didn't, but think about why. The Jedi disallow any form of attachment, and marriage is, in their minds, the ultimate form of attachment. It's flat-out banned by the Jedi code, and if Anakin told Yoda about it he'd be risking his very membership within the Jedi order. So, yeah, it's even more messed up. Anakin needed help with a problem the council couldn't help with, and the council couldn't help with it because Anakin was stuck between a rock and a hard place in regards to getting help with it. There was two Jedi he could have talked to. He could have talked to Obi-Wan, who was actually in a similar situation, but Anakin didn't know it and Obi-Wan didn't seem to be willing to share that experience anyway, likely for the same reasons as Anakin. The other option would have been Ki-Adi-Mundi, who himself was married (and had multiple wives, his species practices polygamy due to having an extremely low male birth rate and he was given an exception due to his species having a dangerously low population), but that assumes that Ki-Adi-Mundi would have enough brain cells to realize that helping Anakin would be the best course of action rather than throwing him to the wolves of the Jedi council, something I'm not confident of based on his laughable room-reading skills and terrible situational awareness (how the fuck did Ki-Adi-Mundi even manage to get past the initiate stage without immediately being fast-tracked to the agricorps?).

[@SolidSnake240]

@@VestedUTuber One of the things I like about Star Wars is that the Jedi aren't perfect or infallible. They definitely could've prevented Anakin from becoming Vader but they make mistakes and he's one of the biggest reminders.

[@aircoolguy5218]

@@VestedUTuber I’m so glad everyone hates Ki-Adi-Mundi

[@graphic-no_avail534]

Ashoka leaving the jedi temple really added so much to Anakins character and disillusionment with the Jedi order.

[@rhel373]

Difference being... She left but still basically did Jedi stuff. You know, protecting the weak, not giving in to hate and fear, not murdering children for your evil space wizard master. That kind of thing. ;) She disagreed with the politics and thought they kinda lost their way. She didn't suddenly join the Sith or embrace the dark side because of it.

[@graphic-no_avail534]

@@rhel373 The thing is by the time of the purge the Jedi had strayed from their own belief system. Even ostracising those within their ranks who were more or less true jedi such as Qui Gon Jinn. So by leaving the order with all its faults Ahsoka was perhaps proving her true relationship to the jedi principals and light side.

[@rhel373]

@@graphic-no_avail534 I mean, I guess. Maybe, maybe not. I'm probably more sympathetic to the prequel Jedi than most people are. But the point remains that Ahsoka, for all her disagreements didn't turn her back on everything the Jedi did or taught just because she was pissed at them. She still stayed away from hate and greed and fear and all that shit, she still tried to be selfless... Anakin, by contrast, murdered every single Jedi he could get his hands on and assisted in the establishment of fascism with space-wizard characteristics. ;)

[@antoniohumberto5510]

@@rhel373 the difference between then is that Ahsoka didn’t have 1/10 of Anakin’s suffering, she didn’t have a profecy to live up to, the masters weren’t assholes to her until the assasination fiasco ( which by the way was the thing that made her leave), and the most important thing, she didn’t have space satan trying to corrupt her. I’m pretty sure that if she had lived anakin’s live, she would have turned the same as he did.

[@DovahFett]

It also revealed something interesting about Anakin. He couldn't just walk away from it all like she did. He was in too deep. All his friends were in the Jedi Order, his wife was a member of the Republic government (which often worked alongside the order), and he had no living family left. I'm not even sure they would have let someone like Anakin walk away, especially during war times. He was too powerful and too dangerous to be allowed to just disappear into the masses and become a private citizen. Revan did it, but only because he had just saved the galaxy and there were barely any Jedi left to stop him even if they had wanted to. Anakin's fate was sealed from the second he was taken from Tatooine. He shouldn't have been trained. He and his mother should have been freed and moved from Tatooine to the safety and comforts of a Core world where they could have lived out their lives in relative peace. But even then, who's to say that Palpatine wouldn't have found him anyways and trained him not as a Jedi, but as his apprentice like Maul? I'm not sure Anakin _ever_ had a chance to live his own life. He was always a pawn in someone else's game, and those powers would not just let him walk away from it all. He was far too valuable to let go of.

[@dereklasker5350]

I still choose to believe Padme was actually killed by Palpatine, and he took her life force and gave it to Anakin to save him. That was the true power of Darth Plagueis being able to “save the ones he cared about from dying”, and that’s why she was medically fine and the droids couldn’t tell why she was dying

[@sheevpalpatine6139]

It's a solid theory. Palpatine's master had the power to "save the ones he cared about from dying" through the Dark Side of the Force. He could also use it to influence midi-chlorians to create life. He passed the methods off to Palpatine(thus how Palpatine was able to make Anakin with the force, since his mother said there is no father and one day he was just....born.). Palpatine saved Anakin(Vader) from dying because he 'cared' about him. And to do taht he needed to siphon life life force or the will to live form someone else. And Padmé was the perfect person to take from.

[@dereklasker5350]

@@sheevpalpatine6139 yeah it always felt like that was left unsaid since we’re watching those final scenes from Obi-Wan’s point of view. Plus then palpatine knew exactly how Padme actually died and knew how to twist it to get Anakin/Vader to fully commit to the dark side

[@cryptic7312]

@@sheevpalpatine6139 im pretty sure Lucas debunked the palatine making anakin theory

[@sheevpalpatine6139]

@@cryptic7312 I checked. He didn't. Plus why would Palpatine give Anakin that look when he said his master could use the force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. And it is such a stretch when Qui gon said he believes Anakin was born of the force? Not to mention Anakin's mum said there was no father, and one day she was just pregnant and he was just...born.

[@cryptic7312]

@@sheevpalpatine6139 I saw it on some wiki thing idk where u checked but ok, and also your theory is good so I cant argue, it also there was some tweet thing too about it being debunked, you should look deeper

[@StevenJQuinlan]

The truly sad thing is that Anakin never stopped being a slave. He was a slave to Watto, then a slave to Jedi Doctrine, then a slave to Sidious before finally being allowed to die. I'm not only not surprised he turned to the Dark Side, it's amazing he was able to break it's hold even for a moment at the end of RotJ

[@joshuawillis602]

He was not a slave to the Jedi doctrine. He had a choice

[@konstantinosnikolakakis8125]

He became free when he killed the Emperor. Live free or die

[@reneastorgaterre1954]

The Jedi were forbidden to love, yet it was the love Anakin had for his son that not only saved Luke but himself.

[@shyysteebleedem]

This is the most COPIED worse take ever. You just stole this statement from dozens of other emotional kids that type this into the KZbin comment section. Anakin actually HAD a choice to leave. The Jedi were not gonna kill or hunt him down for deciding to leave The Order. Also he was ALLOWED to love and have attachments, although that was against the Teachings, however it didn’t stop him from having attachments.

[@MrCadeRay]

@@shyysteebleedem and then go back to his home plane- with his mother STILL a slave or go onto the streets as a 9 year old with no where to go? No he really didn't have a choice at the time. He was a kid taken from his home with join or be on the streets

[@jacobmckee8395]

This is why I always advocate for Anakin/Vader as being one of the most tragic villains and yet still one of the best.

[@MexiCooki]

He is the best villain imo. Coolest and most menacing look with a great and detailed backstory.

[@Delft_2145]

Him and davy jones from potc

[@cristianzamarron2396]

@@Delft_2145 i agree lol

[@englishlady9797]

You know George Lucas himself described Anakin as a victim, right? In the Director's Commentary on Revenge of the Sith, when referrng to Anakin/Vader he said "I rather like the idea that the person you thought was the villain is actually the victim and the story becomes about the villain trying to regain his humanity..."

[@99Gara99]

How many villains do you know to say he is one of the most tragic? Lol

[@jonahsmith2906]

Man, film criticism in the early-mid 2000’s was toxic as fuck. Anakin gets taken away from his mother as a child - who is still in slavery - told to forget she exists and then bury his feelings by the people around him, causing him to act out. Critics: “hE’s sO wHInEy”. Also, remember that time Patton Oswald did a stand up routine about how he wanted to go back in time to murder George Lucas so that he couldn’t make the prequels? I still have no idea why those movies got the level of hate that they did.

[@thomasffrench3639]

I don’t know, there’s a lot of problems with the prequels. Also the problem wasn’t that he was whiny, but he wasn’t likable.

[@KosmicNomad]

@@hhhfdsfs [insert Obama giving himself a medal meme]

[@theshadowsagas3617]

They didn't live up to the insane expectations OT fans spent 2 decades building in their heads.

[@thomasffrench3639]

@@hhhfdsfs I mean yeah, but I don’t like him in AOTC

[@samuelzuleger5134]

@@hhhfdsfs Didn't you kill him, though?

[@destroyytomii]

anakin is one of if not the only person who really shows compassion for droids despite his own poor life. his emotions truly make his character

[@CornellBrownJr]

Turn out both side is the same go figure wouldnt joined either tbh

[@SirDankleberry]

And Luke inherited that same heart and is friends with R2.

[@crs7794]

It’s even worse if you think about that Anakin as a child while training at the Jedi temple never really had friends , he was always ridiculed and envied by his peers just because he was so much better then them. Anakin only had 2 persons in his life that treated him with respect in his youth and those were obiwan and palpatine . Palpatine didn’t just appear when Anakin was 18 , he was always there bringing him to night clubs to spy on corrupt senators or going to him for advice and giving him gifts . So Anakin from the first day he came at the Jedi temple was getting programmed to hate the republic and his Jedi colleagues. It didn’t help that the Jedi had a agenda against Anakin , look at the clone wars series in the obiwan death saga or the Ashoka banishment saga.

[@englishlady9797]

Children who are more talented/cleverer are often picked on because other kids get jealous. This is all too true.

[@FractalSpiral1]

In a way, the movies are a perfect reflection of Anakin's soul. If only a little bit of love and care had been put in when it was needed, everything wouldn't have been as bad. Truly, George Lucas is a genius.

[@dipflop5530]

It-it-it-it rhymes like poetry

[@dynamicworlds1]

The original trilogy only worked because his wife came in and gave it the care it needed to come together into a cohesive whole instead of being a meandering, bloviating mess. George Lucas is a Jedi, apparently.

[@onemoreminute0543]

@@dynamicworlds1 The 'saved in the edit ' myth has been debunked by Nerdonymous.

[@dwilliams3101]

Expanded lore talks about this a good bit, and some of the great expanded content for Count Dooku discusses the idea that the Jedi were so blinded by the big picture of keeping the Republic stable that they allowed countless smaller day-to-day evils to perpetuate because it kept things stable. Republic-era Star Wars remains one of my favourite morality tales for exactly this reason (despite the prequels writing). Anakin's fall is 100% foreseeable and not even particularly unreasonable at first (even if he is written to often sound whiny, I won't defend that part).

[@JainaSoloB312]

"The Jedi cannot help the slaves, but they can help the slave-masters." Such a great book

[@DovahFett]

Even if the Jedi wanted to, they couldn't have possibly policed the entire galaxy to stop those day-to-day evils anyways. It's a galaxy of trillions and the Jedi only numbered 10,000 by the time of the Clone Wars, and that was after 1,000 years of peace. They also like you say valued stability over all else. Slavery was a constant of Hutt space, which included many worlds, such as Tatooine. To threaten the Hutt's businesses by freeing slaves en masse would have inevitably led to a war against the Hutts themselves, who have consistently been shown to be very powerful, wealthy, and influential. The Republic didn't even really have a military during the events of Episode I, just the Jedi, so starting a conflict with the slaver empires of the galaxy would have been disastrous. And even if _just_ Anakin's mother had been freed it would have still posed problems for him going forwards. It would always served as a weakness for others to exploit since he had already developed a strong attachment to her by the time the Jedi found him. Palpatine would have known and he would have used it to his advantage somehow. She would have been Palpatine's hostage for the rest of her days, and used to keep Anakin/Vader on a tight leash. There is a very good reason why Jedi are recruited so young. It's so that they have no emotional connection to their biological families, which means that they are entirely focused on their duties to the order. There are no conflicts of interest. This could also serve as an explanation for why the Jedi were so seemingly useless at helping Anakin let go of his attachments. Most of them never had to deal with the issue in the first place since they were spirited away from their families as toddlers, and were immediately placed into training regimes that prevented them from forming new attachments. Anakin was years behind virtually every other Jedi of his age in terms of "mental conditioning", if you want to call it that. Yoda himself didn't want him trained, and he was pissed when the Council finally relented and let Obi-Wan do it. He knew that Anakin was going to have a rough time. As for why they never sensed any darkness from him before it was too late, well, unfinished episodes of The Clone Wars (as well as the Tarkin novel I believe) have confirmed that the Jedi Temple was built on top of the ruins of an ancient Sith temple, which slowly dulled the Jedi's senses over time and damaged their ability of foresight. Presumably the Jedi that chose to build the Jedi temple there thought that they could purify the site by making it a monument to the light. Their arrogance ended up costing them. In reality, the Jedi Order only operated as it did within the Republic to find and counter the influence of the Sith. It's why they advised the government and it's why they led the Republic's armies during times of war. For most of the Republic's existence its most dangerous enemies were states created by the Sith for the express purpose of destroying the Jedi Order. To them the Republic was the Jedi's empire, and they weren't entirely wrong. The Jedi are not a policing force, they are a special organization that first and foremost existed to counter the Sith. Their roaming around like lone samurai, solving local disputes and then moving on to the next town was something they did because they had nothing else to do. The Sith were seemingly destroyed for good, and without them to give the order clear purpose its priorities became muddled by the politics and demands of maintaining a galaxy-wide government that was rife with corruption.

[@zoulzopan]

Too bad none of that is Canon lol George Lucas and Disney

[@protector_of_the_realms]

Hell, I'll defend that last part even, I think if we stop and analyze our own actions (especially when we were teenagers) I'd say we'd find out we're a lot whinier than we think and would like to believe, it's just not an admirable trait so we repress it or outright reject the idea of it when we see it in ourselves. Anakin is honestly one of the more human protagonists I've seen because he's flawed, I hate seeing all this relatable bs thrown around to justify how good characters are when in reality their personalities aren't actually that comparable to real people as they're very quick-witted or charming or innocent and wholesome and good, it's what we like to project ourselves as and their oppressive situation they are subject to is what we identify with because as the protagonists of our own story we like to identify as the victim to external forces that we triumph over or are the reason for out shortcomings. Anakin is in an extremely tumultuous and toxic environment and he's bloody 19. He's still a teenager in Attack of the Clones sheltered by an overbearing very strict Order that he actually spent his first decade out of so he knows a different life unlike his peers and he's ostracized because of that and the prophecy. In the Prequels we see in Anakin the parts of ourselves we don't like and personally, I don't think we should criticize the direction of his character for it and we should encourage the more diverse and different takes on protagonists and the flawed nature of the human psyche

[@Aredel]

Clone Wars also hammers this home with Anakin’s descent to the dark side, and the Jedi’s awful neglect of its members and their circumstances in favor of maintaining order and the code.

[@sm8733]

I'd also like to point out that one other person Anakin cared for deeply was his Padawan Ahsoka Tano. She was truly his sister, and she's someone he ended up losing as well not through death but by how the Jedi Order failed her. He tried absolutely everything he could to help her but it was all out of his control and all within the control of the Jedi council. He was powerless to stop her from walking away - but he doesn't blame her, he blames himself, along with (and rightfully so) the Jedi.

[@ace_does_internet_stuff1817]

The scene where Anakin kills the younglings was described in the novelization as he went in to help them escape, but when the kid called him master it reminded him he was never granted that rank of master, which set him off and killed the kids

[@pedroroque829]

What an amazing justification for a phsycopath

[@Emma.Lou1]

Sometimes I like Ani, and then I remember he killed the younglings and I have a hard time with his character.

[@camerongames3859]

@@Emma.Lou1 anikan and darth Vader are two different people the same soul but two different minds by the time he killed the younglings he was darth Vader Vader destroyed who he used to ve

[@tokyorift]

@@pedroroque829 that spelling is psychopathic

[@mordoandrigbonefacingforwa7611]

@@camerongames3859 thank you I feel like not enough people bring up the fact that Vader and Anakin are two different people (confirmed by Vader himself) and they just refer to anything Vader has done as something Anakin has done

[@gman7774]

I think “control your feelings” is a bit different than “suppress your feelings” or don’t feel things. It makes sense in that their biggest rivals can actually feel what you feel.

[@turkoala9193]

The Jedi were supposed to "control their feelings" AKA let your intellect guide your passions which is a good thing. However, the Jedi during the Republic era were super clouded by their own egos as well as the Dark Side by Darth Sidious. Thus, they instead "suppress their feelings" which is absolutely awful and horrible for your mental health.

[@gman7774]

@@turkoala9193 yeah your right. But I think it was more of a leadership problem than a Jedi as a whole problem. It’s like comparing a religion to its extremists. They just took it too far at times. But there were always those who knew the real reason and did it right.

[@yamitsukikarasu8857]

The problem with feelings is that they can't be controlled nor supressed. Both ideas are toxic. At best, they can be managed.

[@gman7774]

@@yamitsukikarasu8857 no they can be controlled in a healthy way. For example you and your significant other are having a very serious fight but you have to go to work. Obviously you’d be upset and you’d be very distracted but you can control your behavior. If you are a professional you would do your job and not bring your problems with you to work and make your problems everyone else’s. That’s how I believe Jedi are supposed to work. Not let their feelings interfere with their duties and logical judgment (as much as possible). Not allowing themselves to feel at all or completely control what they feel would be impossible and stupid for them to even try. Though some Jedi do try that.

[@virgilknightley2668]

This is not the case. The Jedi shunned relationships beyond cordial partnerships with other jedi in the order. They weren't allowed romance and were discouraged from any strong feelings. Children trained as Jedi were taught to shun emotions from a young age. The Jedi Code: There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.

[@rep-turd]

I can't recommend the novelization of Revenge of the Sith enough, that book has no business being as good as it is. Great reframing of the story v similar to how you discuss it. Justifiable and making sense to him, but still ultimately his fault.

[@Smulenify]

@@The614zeke he didn't join the dark side just as a way for Padme to survive, the fear of her dying is more what pushes him towards that side (at that time) in general. Also grief is a very powerful emotion and that can lead to the dark side, and the jedi temple is gone so he really has nowhere to go. He's also destined to bring balance to the universe, and for balance he has to be on both sides. It can seem subtle in the films, but it's there! It is more clear in the book, mainly because it allows for different insight and perspectives.

[@x50413]

@@The614zeke Yes. It very much does. Spoilers ahead (obviously, this stuff happens at the end): In the books, he falls because of Padme but ALSO because he loses faith and trust in the Jedi Order. This is mainly because Palpatine leads him along in pointing out the flaws and hypocrisies in the Order and its Code, while of course making his way of seeing things seem better. Little by little, Anakin sees more and more cracks and flaws in the Jedi - some of these are, of course, because of the Clone War that Palpatine forced the Jedi to participate in, but that's beside the point. The last straw is Mace Windu and Palpatine, the moment when Anakin loses the last of his faith and becomes a Sith. See, Anakin has a lot of guilt over some of the messed up things he's done - slaughtering the Sand People, for example, but also executing Count Dooku after he was literally disarmed and no longer a threat. That's what he means with the line "Something's wrong, I'm not the Jedi I should be." He regrets it, and thinks it was the wrong decision and he should have been better. Then along comes Mace Windu, Jedi Master and one of the people who told Anakin he wasn't good enough to be a Master. He's standing over the twisted, broken form of Palpatine, someone who's had Anakin's back since he was literally a child. Palpatine is begging for mercy, and Mace Windu says the line. "He's too dangerous to be left alive." So all this time that Anakin's agonized over killing Dooku, here's someone who is supposed to be better than him saying the same thing about someone Anakin loves like a father. He snaps. He protects Palpatine, because he needs him for Padme but also because he can't bear to watch it happen again. Then he loses himself to the rush of the Dark Side, rides the wave, does all the messed up shit. Kills Padme, loses to Obi-Wan, and is left a broken, burned-out husk. Everything he loved and wanted is ash. Only in the aftermath can he see that Palpatine played him for a fool. All that's left for him is despair and hate. Hatred for himself, and hatred for Palpatine. He's not strong enough to fight the Emperor, at least not anymore. But someday, he might be.

[@nickthepick8043]

Hell yeah, man. Love that audio book version.

[@x50413]

​@@The614zeke By the time the original trilogy happens, he's been Darth Vader for about the same amount of time he was a Jedi, except of course more recently. Thirteen years of suffering - the book describes what it's like to be in the Vader suit, and it's not pleasant. His breathing is completely automated, like an Iron Lung. He can't slow it down, or make it deeper or shallower... it's just constant. And the injuries from Mustafar still hurt. So, even outside of the mystical aspect of wallowing in the Dark Side for all those years, by the time of Episode 4 he's spent about 10-11 years completely alone. There's nobody in the Empire he can actually trust, except by forcing them through fear. He's essentially enslaved to Palpatine, one of the people responsible for what happened to him. He believes his wife and unborn children are dead because he fucked up. He believes that Obi-Wan and the Jedi betrayed the Republic and their own ideals, by trying to kill Palpatine instead of putting him on trial for his crimes. So he hates Obi-Wan, justified or not. He's broken. Consider how old and tired he sounds in Episode 6, after everything that happened... and then consider that he's only forty-six at that point in time. He's been through a lot, and when he tries to recruit Luke to the Dark Side he truly believes that it's the best thing for him. For Vader, after all, the Dark Side is all that's left. If Luke fights the Emperor, he'll die like all the Jedi before him have. If Luke joins him, then they can be together for at least a little while. And maybe, eventually, they'll be strong enough to kill the Emperor together.

[@buffedsans8761]

@@The614zeke From what I remember from the book "Revenge of the Sith" after Vader's classic and dramatic "NOOOO", what crossed his mind (besides disgust and self-loathing for killing Padmé) was regret for everything. what he did to end up like this. Vader realized that the only thing he had left after doing everything he did was Palpatine. (He didn't know that Luke and Leia lived as their children) Also, when he used the force to break a lot of things around him, he felt very weak, that was all he could do with his rage, as Anakin Skywalker, he could do much more than that, as Vader, that was all. He realized that he lost his power and that scared him because he thought of overcoming and killing Palpatine (because at that moment he became aware that he ruined a large part of his life) but he could not, his limit in strength did not reach that of Palpatine, was his slave and all that he had left sentimentally... He was left only with someone he knew was using him and nothing else as the last remaining "friendship" relationship. Absolutely alone, used, without his original power, repentant, furious, suffering...

[@TheNesapotamia]

Making Obi-Wan Anakin's teacher was like giving custody of a child to his older brother who just got out of college, and then expecting him to know how to parent his high emotional needs kid brother, during a war.

[@gman5240]

While Anakin's personal view was flawed and his actions were reprehensible, there was a greater purpose to them. The prophecy according to the Jedi was to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the force, which is exactly what he does (eventually). However, the Jedi had become arrogant and complacent by the time of the prequels, and they also needed to be destroyed, otherwise balance could never have been achieved. We watched their failures in the clone wars and with Anakin personally. Anakin fulfilled his destiny as the chosen one by effectively hitting the reset button on all force users.

[@JustBubbaThings]

Then disney came and destroyed everything 🙃

[@Blessed_V0id]

He's Jedi Darth Bane

[@qgqsrg1]

interesting, never thought of that, but wouldn't he be able to change the jedi order in due time, or create his own even without becoming a sith?

[@figuringitout796]

I find this solution that Lucas put out very very very problematic. It kind of screams that genocide is the solution to everything apparently.

[@Blessed_V0id]

@@figuringitout796 That depends on two factors. Who and why. But with just non biased/non discriminatory factors...Natures way is cleansing in fire and I agree with her

[@yoshurae9411]

The truly tragic thing about Anakin's fall is that Palpatine's main manipulation of Anakin is that he listens to him without judgment

[@Squeekysquid]

He really didn't have to do much. Imagine if Obi Wan just tried to idk help him process his emotions even just a little bit.

[@mega_bird700]

From what I understand, Obi-Wan went through a similar situation that Anakin was going through. That’s why he was more of a friend to him, he understands his struggle but doesn’t know how to help him so he thought that if Anakin had a companion or a friend he wouldn’t feel alone.

[@SuperSupersoda]

I'll maintain to my dying day that Obi-wan was completely aware of Anakin and Padme, and the reason he never said anything about it is because of his own feelings for Satine. He knew what it was like to be in Anakin's shoes, having to choose between the woman you love and your obligations to the Jedi. Obi-wan was forced to make that choice, and he hated it so much that he will not ask Anakin to make that choice as well. Dutchess Satine is low-key one of the most important characters in Star Wars.

[@mordoandrigbonefacingforwa7611]

@@SuperSupersoda I mean it’s pretty much confirmed in the clone wars if not that then it was heavily implied

[@max_garcia]

Thing is… obi wasn’t a slave, he didn’t fully remember a family he could miss, he was accepted by the council, he never had anger issues to begin with so his upbringing was better cause he had no emotion to repress so there was almost no emotional damage done by the Jedi, while he did loose the father figure he had, it’s not like he was seen as a threat by the council because of taking revenge unlike anakin who was forced to be a savior while treated like a menace. he and satine never really got together and he had the option to leave the temple but didn’t while anakin had no options. Anakin was forced to fight the war as another slave with worse living conditions than the ones he had in tatooine. My man was forced to become a killing machine quite literally and was separated from the ones he loved and was given 0 support by none of the Jedi. He is told to be practically emotionless and he is only holding on to not becoming that by having padme obi and Ashoka around and just them around cause only them had empathy for him… take away Ashoka, give him the possibility of padme and HIS CHILDREN dying… and then you have a man that is desperate to hold on to the last bit of sanity he has left

[@Spider-Fan006]

@@max_garcia basically Anakin is us men in today's society forced to hide and bury our emotions because society says it's unmanly and whatever stupid reason.

[@max_garcia]

@@Spider-Fan006 exactly

[@animemonsterx]

i'm pretty sure that if anyone just stopped and just had a talk with Anakin about his feelings and walked him through it, he would've been fine

[@williamj.dovejr.8613]

Anakin's fall was gradual...the council was against training him, he was bullied by his fellow Padawans, he was second guessed at every turn despite his proving his worth in the clone wars and denying him the rank of master which he deserved. It was death by a thousand cuts...they left him few choices. However, he could have retired from the council and the republic would have paid him a lifelong stipend for his service and lived openly with Padme...maybe as a soldier of fortune with his remarkable skills.

[@egoalter1276]

There is no justifying his actioms once he turns, but I would chalk that up to the dark side of the force completely twisting his reason once he snaps. However, the path leading to that was entirely the fault of the jedi as an organization.

[@nestorsifuentesaguirre2722]

@@egoalter1276 Part of me tho wishes SW had also a multiverse and hence a universe where Ani never became a Sith Lord. Come on Disney DO IT!!!!!!!!!!! GIVE US THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER MANY WANT TO SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@BlazingTyphlosionNL]

To speak on why Qui-Gon doesn’t just help is that the Jedi simply are not allowed to. The Jedi at the this point are pretty much not allowed to step in unless they are ordered to by the Jedi Council or if the Senate orders them to and mostly the Republic Senate. Tatooine is not a part of the Republic so unless the Republic wants a war with the Hutt Syndicate, Qui-Gon had to do it the “legal” way pretty much.

[@BlazingTyphlosionNL]

Also really love the video a lot! I’m a huge Star Wars fan and a huge fan of your channel so I love this :)

[@corynydam2361]

Which speaks to a fundamental apathy on their part towards basic morality and the value of life. How else would the Jedi, who, on an individual basis at least, are fairly good people, allow themselves to be restricted from fighting slavery.

[@wackyswacky1374]

Also there are explosive transmitters hidden inside both Anakin and Shmi. If Qui-Gon tried to just steal them they would have blown up.

[@BlazingTyphlosionNL]

@@wackyswacky1374 Yes this too!

[@kings_mark]

@@wackyswacky1374 Which I wish at least got a mention in the movies, because it adds so much context to why they did not take the more direct approach and just ran off with him.

[@SuperGoose42]

Well for one, QuiGon couldn't reveal his identity as a Jedi otherwise he would've attracted the attention of the Hutts Second, QuiGon isn't a Grey Jedi, that doesn't exist in canon. QuiGon is the last true Jedi that puts the will of the Force over Jedi politics, and that's why he cares about slaves on a backwater planet. The rest of the Jedi don't care

[@demoulius1529]

Dont think its as easy as that. Theyre basicly political agents during the prequels and they werent in Republic space as you say yourself. The planet is run by the Hutts who dont take to kindly to Jedi snooping around. If they cared and intervined you knows what the consequences will be and they might do more harm then good.

[@SuperGoose42]

@@demoulius1529 that too

[@bullrun2772]

Agreed qui-gon is not a grey Jedi because he follows the force

[@TheManWhoErasedHisNane]

The only jedi that cared about Him were Obi-Wan, Ashoka, and when it comes to people outside jedi Padme and his Mother…..and then they didn’t even let him save his mother.

[@TheRavenofSin]

I think he said "great jedi". Not sure, though.

[@robertsutton1295]

The real problem with the prequels is that there's so much going on that three two-hour movies aren't enough to adequately convey and explain it. Which is why Clone Wars is the prequel we needed to understand it all. Massive props to Dave Filoni for diving down that rabbit hole and bringing sense and depth to Anakin's fall.

[@michaelstark8720]

if you cannot understand Anakin's fall from movies alone, then you need to go far away from the franchise

[@robertsutton1295]

@@michaelstark8720 thank you for your kind feedback, random internet stranger and Gatekeeper And Supreme Arbiter Of All That Is Star Wars.

[@michaelstark8720]

@@robertsutton1295 Filoni added nothing and TCW junk isn't important. What did that junk added really? Go away kid

[@SonOfSparda03]

​@@michaelstark8720why are you so pressed? The dude just made a comment about TCW being helpful to understand the Era. Hope you have a better day than u had when you wrote this

[@konstantinosnikolakakis8125]

The Legends comics and 2003 Clone Wars are better. I recommend you read/watch those.

[@ailene_e]

Anakin’s life is just completely tragic and I felt sorry for him. He deserves better in every way. I totally agree with this video and thanks for articulating it so well.

[@nestorsifuentesaguirre2722]

Maybe his life would have been better if he remained on Tatooine

[@Gamerguy826]

"Learn to let go of everything you fear to lose." Those were Yoda's exact words and it was pretty much the worst thing he could have said at a time like that and I would even consider it one of his worst personal failures. Yoda had a hand in the creation of Darth Vader just as Obi-Wan did but he was too blinded by dogma and control to see it.

[@smartalec2001]

In Yoda's defence, Anakin's n didn't give him nearly enough information to understand the problem. I bet Jedi getting premonitions of doom is a daily problem in the Clone Wars. Even so, had Anakin actually managed to follow that advice... it might have helped. But he never listens...

[@LulutheJester]

But if he had learned to do that, his fear of losing Padme wouldn't have been the same thing to kill her right? Yoda told him "learn to let go" because not just as a Jedi, but as people, we all can become burdened and disillusioned by carrying too much. Imo it might not be what Anakin wanted to hear, but it was ultimately what he NEEDED to hear I believe and I think Yoda was right

[@JuanAlvarez-my4zh]

If you watch DC. Anakin’s story is basically almost the same as Jason Todd’s story. Where they were both offered a good opportunity to escape a miserable life. But their lives took their respective turns that would jump the gun or the lightsaber in this case. Give an already emotionally mutilated child a gun. what happens? The child doesn’t let go of their past at all. The jedi in a manner of speaking, handed Anakin a gun and in due time they just kept handing him one bullet after another, the gun couldn’t take in anymore bullets. so what happened? He fired mags full of rage everywhere he went and reloaded the mag massacre after massacre.

[@keevajazz6286]

Yoda had a hand in a lot. some of the jedi's most valued rules and teachings were started by him earlier on.

[@martimking1craft]

@@LulutheJester sometimes you must say the wrong thing first soo you can prepare the other person to the right one next

[@yourewrong9028]

PSA: the revenge of the Sith novelization is unironically a totally phenomenal book. It’s just so well written, the looks into the characters’ minds are so great. Anakin is such a great character in that book. Anyways, haven’t watched the whole video so I don’t know if that’s mentioned yet, but still.

[@yourewrong9028]

Near the end you made a comment about obi-wan kinda presenting himself in a way that was hostile right off the bat - one great detail from the novel is that in that scene, IIRC, Anakin literally says something like “you were my friend, so I’ll let you walk away from this for old time’s sake, just don’t get in my way” and then obi-wan says that he can’t do that. So…. Yeah. Spot on.

[@user-xx6vy9ri8p]

@@yourewrong9028 He says that in the movie "Don't make me kill you".

[@Tyler_W]

@@user-xx6vy9ri8p that's just an overconfident way if saying "I don't want to fight you, because you won't walk away from this if we do." However you slice it (no pun intended), as hostile as Anakin himself was, he actually gave Obi-wan an alternative option to fighting. He gave him a fair warning, which was more than he gave to pretty much anyone.

[@user-xx6vy9ri8p]

@@Tyler_W Yes, that's what I meant.

[@flatzzzz718]

I was like 12 when I saw this movie and I totally understood why anakin went to the dark side, I might have picked up on this quicker because I grew up without a father and had fear of abandonment aswell but revenge of the sith is hands down a masterpiece in my opinion, watching anakin struggle on the fence with his emotions is so apparent throughout the whole film until he just gives in and accepts help from the one person offering it to him (shitty it was a sith lord) but damn bro wtf was he supposed to do? just watch padame die like he watched his mom die?

[@noheroespublishing1907]

Been saying this for years, the only thing I would quibble with is Anakin having freewill, based on the idea of being prophetically "The One to Bring Balance to the Force", I've always seen this as a neutral proposition. The Force required restructuring, by the Force itself, this would necessitate the destruction of the Jedi, and eventually the Sith; Anakin is just the tool of the Force. Sure, to him it would all feel as if he'd made the choices, but, circumstances are manipulated by the Force subtly for that purpose. I always viewed Anakin as the ultimate tragedy of never really having the illusion of freewill. He's born into slavery, abducted by a strict religious order, abandons them and joins a dictator; it's also super interesting to note, that he calls his Jedi or Sith betters the same thing a slave would call their owner; "My Master." He is forever a servant, he is even denied the rank of Master, think about that. A majority of his only real choices end in failure, his mother dies when he tries to save her, he fails to save his wife (and for all he knows in the moment, his children), he suffers horribly, and all for the unknown reason of the Force; without his knowledge or consent. Even in saving Luke, Anakin is doing the will of the Force by destroying Sidious; the tragedy of Anakin is he's born and dies a slave. - It's also a great bit of symbolism when in Phantom Menace, he is on autopilot in the fighter and feels trapped as a result.

[@diplocolus1439]

I believe it says in the clone wars that the Chosen One would have replace the Father and watch over the Son and Daughter.

[@jordanlyons2609]

Knights, the level Anakin was at, also always serve lords.

[@Squeekysquid]

Didn't Lucas say that the Light side is balance, and the Dark side imbalances the force?

[@asmrreviews8979]

I think he said dark side users will always lead to an imbalance. He also said that the Jedi in the prequel trilogy had lost their way.

[@ascenziobilelloiii6611]

Just want to confirm that in the lore per the mouth of Lucas Jedi are not forbidden from sex. Just love. In multiple books in comics it's shown they are even permitted or encouraged at times to have sex with no emotional investment (yes it's as problematic as it sounds) and they 100% do "let off steam at the club"

[@Tuxiland99]

I wanted to add the same. They can have sexand some friendships als long as the attachment does not distract them from their duties

[@DFAnton]

Sex with no emotional investment doesn't sound problematic at all, unless it's put in a way that's basically like "yeah, take her to dinner, bang her, then ghost her."

[@ascenziobilelloiii6611]

@@DFAnton I'll do you one better. The best example is Ki-adi mundi who is encouraged to have as much sex and as many wives as possible because his species is dying but don't get attached to them... Okay... So he had like a harem of wives and a bunch of kids he doesn't raise but they clearly are attached to him and have daddy issues then during the clone wars they are all massacred and all his wives and children die horrible deaths and when he finds out he basically goes "welp, that's what the force willed. Moving on" fucking soulless bastard

[@marocat4749]

Obiwan is a womanizer i think.

[@guyver6622]

Execute Order 69!!!

[@aganaom1712]

Did he have reasonable motivation for turning on the order? Yes Were the prequels good at fleshing out his character and making his views and corresponding actions understandable enough to make him a sympathetic character? Not nearly to the degree it could have and should have been Did the limitations of the medium damage the character's ability to connect with the audience Very probably Is the supplemental material surrounding Anakin's life better at making him a sympathetic character? Almost universally, yes. Is sand awful? Absolutely

[@afellownerd]

Eh, I disagree. Except for the sand part, definitely agree with that

[@jaimeruiz7837]

I’m so fucking tired of that stupid sand joke. It’s been years and it was never funny. Ahhhh

[@afellownerd]

@@jaimeruiz7837 you have a point. That joke is coarse, and rough, and irritating... and it gets everywhere.

[@jake53105]

Can you name some of the supplemental material? Haven’t read much SW, I’d like to start.

[@lorcostridge2811]

F*ck sand

[@Neutral_Tired]

And after the full fall the Vader, I think he does recognise that he's the one in the wrong, he is evil, but he just accepts it. "I am already evil, I cannot be saved, one more stain on my soul makes no difference" and he devotes his entire life to trying to find an opportunity to kill Palpatine. There's a Star Wars comic where he reveals to Maul that all his dark-side powers are fuelled by self-hatred and, considering he's arguably the most powerful dark-side user ever, even with his powers limited by his cybernetics (they don't actually make him weaker, but Palpatine convinced him that they do so he subconsciously suppresses his own power), that's a whole lot of self-hatred

[@azseal2669]

Tbh Anakin's mental faculties in RotS were so wacked that you could've told him that all the moons in the galaxy were made of blue milk cheese and that he was a fish trapped on land and he'd have believed it. That's how far gone he was in the end. That's how mentally tormented the guy was as a result of Palpatine's manipulations. Dude needed like 2 nights of decent sleep and actual time off and he'd have been fine. But noooooo, literally everyone was depending on him to do their dirty work. Half sarcastic, but realistically all it takes is a person with eyes to see Anakin wasn't ready for the responsibility that the Council demanded of him. The Jedi of that era were equally as responsible as Palpatine for what happened imo. I miss the original Legends expanded universe stories for the further depth they add to this, but one constant between those stories and canon is that essentially the Jedi failed Anakin long before he ever even considered turning on them. Many of them treated him as an enemy before he actually became the enemy. So really they sorta sowed the seeds of their own destruction, which is a common theme for that entire period for both the Jedi and Republic.

[@andrecherry2347]

14:24 When you remember what Anakin did to the sand people when his mom died, what he does in the Temple makes sense. When faced with protecting what he holds dear, Anakin will go to any length to accomplish that goal, and may the Force help you if you've taken that from him. Anakin loves his mom. The Tuskens killed her. He destroyed them. Anakin loves Padmé and the Republic. He thinks the Jedi were trying to destroy them. So he destroyed the Jedi. Not just the men, but women, and the children, too. They're like animals to him, and he slaughtered them like animals. He hates them. Anakin Skywalker was a man who always wanted to be the hero. Throughout the Clone Wars, he was, indeed. But the egregious ineptitude of the Jedi and the foul, subtle puppeteering of the Chancellor/Darth Sidious twisted that motivation into a total disregard for the safety of those who oppose him, his values, or his loved ones. In his mind, only the decisive, overwhelming use of power can protect his mother, his wife, his friends, the Republic. If you try to kill innocent people, he'll run his lightsaber through you without a second thought ("What? He was gonna blow up the ship"). If you're a slaver, he'll cut you down without a moment's hesitation (see SWtCW s4e13 when Anakin brutally dismembers multiple Zygerrian assailants, much to Ahsoka's chagrin). If you're a Separatist leader withholding information, he WILL torture and kill you (see his force choking of Poggle the Lesser in s2e8 and his dismemberment and stabbing of Admiral Trench in s7e4 "I don't have such weaknesses [as Jedi nobility]"). If you've killed his friends (or he thinks you did) he'll kill you (see Anakin attempting to strike down Obi-wan disguised as Rako Hardeen in s4e16). If the Jedi try to overthrow the Republic, well... execute Order 66. If he thinks you've tried to take Padmé away from him, he'll destroy you (see the Duel of Heroes in ROtS). To Anakin, they're all the same, and left to his own devices, he treats them as such, striking them down (or trying to) with all his might. There are many more examples of Anakin's penchant for violence and torture to achieve his goal of protecting those he loves, but the point is, in the greater context of the kinds of actions Anakin Skywalker has taken, his murder of the Jedi younglings makes sense, not as an act of mercy, but as a brutal and terrible act of judgment upon what he deems to be disgustingly evil. He did it to the Tusken children, and he did it again to the Jedi children.

[@gokbay3057]

Huh, that makes a lot of sense. Good on you for writing this.

[@dziri3330]

You deserve way more up votes for this

[@anthonynorman7545]

I agree with you. Also, gregarious (meaning friendly) I think should be egregious (horrible or error filled).

[@philskrzeczynski390]

Part of the problem with the movies is how poorly they sell the romance. Hard to believe he would do what he did for Padme; in the movies a cardboard cutout he had no chemistry with. The animated series does an excellent job of fleshing out the characters, the romance and everyone's motivations though

[@jacobgordon2906]

I like what you said about Anakins view of the tusken and the Jedi children because its very cultic it was as if he was protecting them by killing them but that's even worse then being a super religious Jedi

[@DragonwolfoftheSands]

Wait why is it out of character to kill the padawans? He's already shown a willingness to kill children with the Tuscans, the Jedi have just replaced them in his mind

[@samfire3067]

and the emperor probaly would try to use those kids to make inquisitor's or worse. or try to replace him after he became more machin then Man.

[@Wolffman109]

2:25 Small problem: Anakin mentions during the dinner scene that there's an explosive in his body. If he left without disarming it, he would be blown to bits.

[@ysnhood9242]

I feel when anakin mother died that was a breaking point that pushed him closer to the dark side

[@PaoloSarti94]

You're making some interesting points. I'll be making another one: we're told in the Phantom Menace that Anakin is too old to begin his training as a Jedi, but for plot and prophecy reasons he is still admitted to it, though there IS some serious discussion in the Council about that. I think this is quite important, because at that point Anakin had already had some serious life experiences, he felt attachment and love for his mother, and already knew what pain and fear and suffering were-I mean, he really knew. On the contrary, kids are usually admitted to the jedi program on a very young age, so that all they will ever know and accept (at least, if they don't eventually turn to the dark side) is the jedi way of life and thinking. They don't know their parents or relatives, and the only bonds they have are with their jedi teachers and fellow students. Thus, I think this is also what can explain the reason why the standard jedi approach Yoda and the other Jedi masters have towards Anakin is so defective and ineffective: because Anakin's mind has never been a blank slate, so he does not respond to their advice and teachings the way they would expect of him. The decision to have Anakin trained was a big bet on the Jedi's part, one they badly miscalculated.

[@calsalitra4689]

In summary, Anakin was a non-standard Padawan who was given the standard Padawan education, which completely failed to accommodate his unique traits. Which is also why Qui-gon would have been the perfect teacher for him, because Qui-gon, like Anakin, was a non-standard Jedi. One who is perfectly willing to break the rules if he sees fit.

[@Bakuru]

I don't think it was badly miscalculated at all. I think they knew EXACTLY how low of a chance it was for Anakin to be trained correctly and for this to go 100% well. I think they agreed because they were afraid of the alternative. Which is hilarious, considering that they kept talking about fear being a path to the dark side, but EVERY MOVE they did regarding Anakin was based on fear 😕

[@jarvisbutler8254]

i think it would be less he turned if they gave him a more experienced teacher and not one who just got promoted like obi-wan. like why would u give the responsibilities of training the chosen one to someone who became a jedi 1 mineute ago?

[@m0urn1ng5tar5]

I never thought of Anakin's slaughter of the younglings to be mercy killing. But that is a damn interesting way to look at it.

[@Videomaker-pz4xm]

If I was a youngling I would shit my pants if I saw Anakin with a lightsaber

[@sparta9o4yt]

Ya know... In that scene with Yoda, where he's talking about his fear of losing his loved one, you can see most of his face covered in darkness, signifying that he's getting closer and closer to turning to the dark side.

[@teamlavender2011]

My favorite movie is still Revenge of the Sith. I also agree how the Jedi council isolates him even when he is on their side. While the dark side seduces him, the Jedi are giving their companion reasons to not trust the cult. Once you reject the cult then it’s always opposition from there. The only way Anakin can shake that was his children, mainly Luke.

[@sharp52092]

From the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis novelization: "Few of my people are aware of just how wealthy I am,” he said at last, “since most of my riches derive from activities that have nothing to do with the ordinary business of finance. For many years my peers wondered why I chose to remain unwed, and ultimately reached the conclusion that I was in essence married to my work, without realizing how right they were. Except that my real bride is the dark side of the Force. What the ancients called Bogan, as separate from Ashla. Even the Jedi understand that there is no profit in partnering with a being who lacks the ability to understand what it means to be in the grip of the Force, and so the Order restricts marriage by dogma, in service, so the Jedi say, to the purity of Ashla.” ~ Darth Plagueis

[@ranksblex336]

That is why he was known as Darth plagues the wise Such a shame the Jedi never told me this story

[@DovahFett]

The simple solution then is that Jedi should be allowed to marry other Jedi, which did happen and work out within the EU canon. Revan did it. Luke did it. And every Jedi class in The Old Republic can do it if the player so chooses.

[@jaieregilmore971]

@@DovahFett Yeah plus the only issue is what they going do if there love ones pass away sure the Jedi can grieves and mourn it naturally when losing the ones you love but never turn to the dark side for it.

[@pookypoo1169]

That was a dope book

[@bloody4558]

@@jaieregilmore971 There are known exceptions to the rule however, as their laws do not forbid relationships. What it does is prevent emotional attachment. So if you were a Jedi who was the leader of a noble family in your homeworld and had to have a political marriage. The council would easily allow it granted they evaluated whether that was any emotional aspect to that marriage. It's for this very reason that one of the Jedi masters back at the republic era actually had many sons and wives, he had no strong attachment to them and only had them because his race was running the risk of getting extinct.

[@nikosnikos5082]

there are multiple ways that the films show how far the jedi have fallen. my personal favorite is the phrase "only sith deal in absoolutes" mainly because that is an absolute

[@davidbowles7281]

Paradox of tolerance. It's a perfectly reasonable statement. Lucas's story doesn't make any sense because Marcia Lucas is the mother of Star Wars.

[@smartalec2001]

The full line is "Only a Sith deals in absolutes. I do what I must." It's a reply to Anakin's "If you're not with me, you're my enemy." That's the absolute Anakin's n is dealing in. And only the Sith are so monomaniacal as to apply it to the whole galaxy. Obi-Wan is trying to tell him they don't have to be enemies if Anakin will just stop for a moment. He's willing to negotiate, that's what the Jedi do. Deal with people through negotiation whenever they can. But Anakin won't, because he's a Sith; and Sith don't negotiate. They deal with people through absolutes and ultimatums.

[@LulutheJester]

@@smartalec2001 yeah I dislike when people frame Obi as not being reasonable with that statement. He's litterally pleading with Anakin to stop

[@codysteppe3676]

This whole video proves how well written the STORY of the prequels actually is.

[@Neutral_Tired]

Iirc some Jedi, like Ki Adi Mundi, are actually encouraged to have relationships. The population of his planet is scarily low so he has multiple wives, as is common on his planet. Iirc, they deem that he's emotionally detatched enough that he won't get attached to any of his wives, so he's encouraged to keep the population of his planet up, which raises all kinds of problems by itself.

[@masterdeetectiv9520]

He isnt in a relationship per se, just reproducing without attachment. He genuinely doesnt care about his family

[@ladrac198]

Along with all the points Daniel makes here, Clone Wars fills in pretty much any holes you might think are there with his "sudden" turn. Probably my favorite SW content of all time

[@roofdogblues7400]

Good writers fixing Geroge's f*ups.

[@Struggler12349]

I've tried 3 times to get through the first season... Apparently it's really good but God damn it feels childish

[@ladrac198]

@@Struggler12349 you really just have to push through that first season. They get way more mature in season 2 and then by season 3/4 they realized they should just turn it into a full on war show, so they did. Ahsoka and Rex are two of the best characters to ever come out of Star Wars, and it explores a TON of deep themes, moral conflicts, the Jedi teachings and how they may be wrong, the morality of clones, etc. The animation also jumps up big time quality later on. Edit: i also HIGHLY recommend you look up a chronological order and watch it that way, some episodes are out of timeline order

[@Ace_T]

@@Struggler12349 honestly you could just skip the first season. It’s not in chronological order anyways so it shouldn’t affect your experience too much

[@user-xx6vy9ri8p]

@@roofdogblues7400 George wrote the Clone Wars.

[@RedBlitzen]

Great "In Defense of Anakin Skywalker" video Daniel. But, in defense of QUI-GON JIN, in the novelization (which I remember being great) I think we find out that Qui-gon was always one of the weirdest and rebellious-without-actually-rebelling of the Jedi, at least from their perspective. Even in the movie young Obi-wan has a line where he begs him not to go against the council, "not again" are some of his exact words I think. And even in the movie I think we see that basically everyone except Qui-gon, Anakin, and maybe Watto were NOT. HAPPY. With a plan this nuts. Was he still justified? Probably not. But if he had a history of doing weird crud like this and sometimes having it work... Still good points. Haven't thought of that before. But, In defense of THE JEDI, somewhere near the end of Matthew Stover's novelization of Revenge of the Sith (which might be the best Star Wars anything ever, read it) Yoda has a realization. For the purposes of this I'll say that he realizes that the Jedi have spent the last 10,000 years preparing for the LAST war with the Sith. In many ways the Jedi order that went into the Clone Wars was almost indistinguishable from the one Yoda was trained by. They've barely changed from the small group of desperate force-sensitives who were being kicked up one way and down the other by the literally evil Sith who were corrupted/used by the Dark Side. The Sith and the Dark Side were every living Jedi's worst fears and their epitome of evil. And they had a way that not only kept them from going down that path, it helped them fight the rabid dogs that already had. (When it worked at least.) They were sticking to that one way with everything they had! Meanwhile the surviving Sith had the opposite demonstrated to them. They had proof that their methods DIDN'T work. At least, not well enough. So they changed. They changed their structure, their methods, they started over from ground zero. And the end product of that change ruthlessly exploited every weakness not just in the Jedi order, but in the Republic they defended. So Yoda realized that the Jedi needed to change too. I don't think that made it into the original trilogy very well if at all, but I still love it. Still, good points. I hadn't thought of many of them before. But, in defense of Obi-wan, he was a product of not only the aforementioned weird Qui-gon, but the flawed Jedi order as well. I feel like the Obi-wan of the original trilogy was the most mature and wise Obi-wan had ever been in his life. But he still had that pathological fear (hatred?) of the Sith and the Dark Side. For good reason even! His worst fears about them had been more than confirmed by Anakin. Still, I agree. Obi-wan was not what Anakin needed. Anakin needed a father figure, he got an older brother figure who might have had some serious jealousy problems for most of their official teaching time together. Hopefully this comment made some kind of sense despite being half ranting and mostly conjecture. Great video Daniel, thanks for making it. And thanks to anyone who read this.

[@raijin6]

I don’t think Obi-wan was jealous of Anakin at all, he was just too obidient to the counsel despite knowing how Anakin might react to their decisions, while also letting Anakin get away with pretty much anything which fueled Anakin’s impatience and arrogance.

[@RedBlitzen]

@@raijin6 Might be. It was actually my sister who came up with that theory in an attempt to justify a lot of Obi-wan's actions and attitudes towards Anakin in Attack of the Clones. What can I say, she made a good argument and it makes sense to me.

[@jessexanthe7723]

Tbh, "jealousy" actually seems like the right word, but the wrong understanding of it. I'm thinking more along the lines of the original definition of "a strong fear of losing someone/something". The phrase "jealously guarding" would work well here. He doesn't *envy* Anakin (or certainly doesn't seem to); being a Prophecy Baby sucks big time in many cases, of which Anakin definitely is one. The problem is, though, that Anakin had that darkness inside him to begin with. And I think Obi-Wan could sense that, but you're right. He's not the father-figure that could have potentially been able to guide him through something so tricky. He's stuck as a big brother figure Doing His Best. He is, on his own, a great case for why the Jedi should *really* stop handing over younglings to be Padawans to people just barely old enough to babysit them, let alone raise and train them. But of course, his best, while quite good, isn't quite enough, and he really seems to sense or at least suspect that to be the case. He always seems at least a little bit afraid of how Anakin deviates so frequently from his given orders. So many times, he finds ways to do things he knows the Council doesn't want him doing, or otherwise a lot of malicious compliance. He has deep-seated traumas, he follows orders but just barely, his own Padawan went Grey, and he holds many opinions about the ends justifying the darker means he has that the Council 100% wouldn't approve of. He's slipping, always slipping, and Obi-Wan, while very not thrilled with Anakin's overall 'tude, starts to go along with his disobedient nature, which I personally believe was for the purpose of staying as close to Anakin as possible. He doesn't envy him from what I can see, but he had a mounting fear starting seemingly at Day 1 that he would lose Anakin to the darkness, that Anakin would go rogue or worse. In a sense, he very much does a lot of what he does because of his ever-present worry that Anakin may one day slip too far, and be gone to the Dark Side for realsies. Obi-Wan *jealously* guards Anakin from any darkness he displays, especially since it felt like he'd been through a somewhat similar wringer being Qui-Gon's Padawan (except of course being much worse, what with Anakin being a hella powerful Prophecy Baby.) Soooooo yeah, uh, thank you for coming to my TED Talk, I've never argued anything about Star Wars on the internet before, please don't rip me to shreds if I'm wrong about something, kthxbai 😅

[@RedBlitzen]

@@jessexanthe7723 Nah, it's fine. This is just an opinion, not something I need everyone to agree with to retain my worldview. I'm (hopefully) more mature than that. Two more things. As a point of clarification, apparently I've failed to communicate that my sister's jealousy theory is only for the younger Obi-wan. According to the theory as I understand it, the Obi-wan of the Clone Wars era was VERY over it. But at the time the 18 (20?) year old Obi-wan was training/raising a boy who was only 10(?) years behind him, who his beloved master had DIED for, and who was taking to the Force like a bad Marty Stu to henchman bashing (meaning, already practically a master, didn't know it. Similes are hard man!) while poor orphan Obi-wan (according to some expanded lore) had to fight tooth and claw for every advancement. In a situation like that some jealousy, especially unconscious jealousy, seems understandable to me. But what the heck, you can believe most anything you want about Star Wars for all I care. As I understand it this theory is mostly just an attempt at making parts of Attack of the Clones easier to watch. As a final (and hopefully shorter) note, my understanding is that Obi-wan and Anakin's master apprentice relationship was anything but standard on several levels. I doubt that the Jedi Order made handing 10(?) year olds or their species equivalent over to 20(?) year olds or their species equivalent standard practice. At least, I hope they didn't. Hope this made sense.

[@Schoolgirl325]

@@jessexanthe7723 There was no substantial darkness in Anakin Skywalker from the very beginning. He had started developing a personal sense of self, and he saw how normal human beings reacted to abuse, crime, corruption, and oppression. He had some experience of what it meant to be a victim, what it meant to be in the working class, and how normal people dealt with personal issues and trauma outside of *just* Yoda’s cult of total emotional/individual denial “for the greater good.” It *turned into* this genuinely dangerous and ugly darkness that got out of hand because Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the rest of the Jedi Council continued to put him through trauma in a system from which there was no healthy support or safe escape. The more Anakin tried to fit in with them in public out of fear of the unknown and a genuine growing confusion in his own personal moral integrity and identity that the overall Republic government, Obi-Wan, the Jedi Council, and Sidious created in him by separating him from his only good role model/parent, while trying to be himself in secret, the more unstable he became. The main issue was that Anakin knew what it meant to be normal, but the Jedi could not deal with that, so they made *him* the problem instead. Everything that made him a good little boy on Tatooine under his mother’s guidance was suddenly put into doubt and question under Obi-Wan, Yoda, the Jedi Council, and Sidious with their own moral hypocrisy and messed up systems. His mother taught him slavery was wrong because it hurt people and stripped them of their autonomy, but Obi-Wan, Yoda, the Jedi Council, and Sidious repeatedly teach him it’s “for the greater good” of the Republic and the Jedi Order to treat the working class, the Jedi recruits, the clones, and outer class citizens as means to an end who get systematically abused, isolated, and oppressed to serve it. What’s more when Anakin actually does try to stick up for his personal beliefs of being against slavery in TCW when Yoda sends him on a mission to return the slaver Jabba back to the hutts on his home planet “for the greater good” of the Republic, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the Council make him feel like shit for having a negative reaction to them sending him on a mission to enable slavery on a planet where he and his mother were enslaved because their Republic and Jedi Order aided the slavemasters for their own benefit, rather than stopping them from keeping slaves. His mother taught him revenge was wrong, and Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the Council repeatedly *tell* him the same. However, his mother’s no longer with him, Sidious is whispering in his ear to tempt him towards the dark side, and Obi-Wan and the Jedi Council are blind and self-righteous hypocrites who aren’t nearly as above abusing power to seek vengeance against enemies and outsiders as they claim to be, though they’re somewhat better than dark siders. For instance, they immediately execute any fallen Jedi from their order without a fair trial. Obi Wan cuts off Anakin’s limbs and leaves him to burn alive, while self-righteously lecturing him about how the Jedi are so much better. Yeah, Anakin deserved to be stopped and punished for his crimes, but what Obi-Wan did to him instead was just cruel and unusual punishment that would be illegal in real life. What’s more, the Jedi Order and Republic had already done so much to prove that they weren’t “so above” their enemies throughout the past several decades, even before either Anakin or Palpatine entered the picture. They’d been getting away with doing so much shit that would be considered serious war crimes and felonies in real life. One of the major reasons as to why Anakin was able to end up where he did at the end of RotS is not just on himself, but those with positions of authority over him in the Order. Do these people really have the right to be dealing out justice to him after helping him get here in the first place? The Council and the other Jedi, particularly Obi-Wan, are so obsessed with eliminating their enemies in the movies and TCW that they will actually bait those who turn on them in to duels, even when that opponent backs off, hesitates, or surrenders. They’re not above creating collateral damage by deceiving, endangering, exploiting, manipulating, or even murdering anyone for “greater good” of their cause if they deem it “necessary.” We see that all throughout the prequels and even in the OT movies with all of Luke’s predecessors from the old Jedi Order, not just Anakin/Vader. Yeah, Anakin’s physically more dangerous and scary than Obi-Wan and Yoda in his endangerment and manipulations of Luke to try to lure him to the dark side for his own “greater good” of “protecting” Luke, escaping from Sidious, and overthrowing Sidious in the OT movies, but Obi-Wan and Yoda essentially get away with trying to use Luke for their own ends, which he consistently got framed as wrong and selfish for trying to do to Luke to escape Sidious until the end of ROTJ. They *claim” it’s for the “greater good,” but so did Vader when he was terrorizing Luke to try to recruit him to join the dark side. Moreover, Obi-Wan and Yoda never actually tell Luke to kill the Emperor, too. It’s *just* Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, *their* former student, who *they* helped fuck up, and then ran away from when he turned on them. It implies that they’re also trying to use Luke for a more personally selfish desire to absolve themselves of their guilt over Anakin and the Jedi Order, even if subconsciously. If Anakin had only ever murdered and terrorized enemies of *their* Jedi Order and Republic, or limited his atrocities to people/species who were considered under them, such as the clones, or the people of the outer rims, I guarantee you that Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the Council wouldn’t have cared because they had done the same themselves in one way or another, and those under them couldn’t interfere in their “greater good.” In the clone wars, they even deliberately ignored and exploited Anakin’s increasing emotional/mental instability because it made him a more dangerous and unpredictable secret weapon on the battlefield. Krell killed all of his clones because he suddenly decided to turn on them for no real reason at all, and the Jedi Council really didn’t care. I’m not saying they’re responsible for *all* of his crimes, or that the entire Order deserved mass murder in retaliation for systematically abusing, exploiting, and oppressing Anakin and these other children they recruited as soldiers or supporting a corrupt government for their *own* “greater good,” but those with positions of authority in those systems weren’t innocent either. The fact that children under their care were endangered, harmed, killed, and/or able to grow up to be deeply damaged, dangerously unstable, and dysfunctional adults is largely a result of Yoda and the Council implementing a very fucked up system that separated them from their families and used them as soldiers in combat. The fact that Anakin was able to feel influenced to become Vader in the first place is on Obi-Wan, Yoda, and the Jedi Council, too, not just Sidious. As his guardians, mentors, and supposed friends, they created moral confusion within him with their own messed up way of life, repeatedly dismissed him, emotionally neglected him, gaslit him, isolated him, and fucked him over for their own benefit. Anakin deserved to face justice for his crimes, but not from the Council and Obi-Wan. If you look at Luke in the OT movies, he’s actually quite a lot like the person that Anakin proves himself to be at his *best* in the series, what he once was like as a little boy more often than not, and likely would have grown up to have been if he’d been allowed to have just one good parental/authority figure in his life. Just a kind, idealistic, and normal young man with a healthy independent streak.

[@Azyne]

I completely agree. My dad always mocks Anakin when watching prequels and it hurts me inside. Nothing is wrong with him. It's not Hayden Christensen's fault Anakin was "A bad character" even though he isn't. They would have had a specific way they wanted Anakin to be in the show.

[@Steel-101]

If I recall correctly I think the reason why QuiGon didn’t use his light saber against Watto is because there is a transmitter inside their bodies(Anakin and his mother). All slaves in tattoine have one so that way they can’t escape(if they try to, it will explode). That is the first thing they mentioned when they have dinner at Anakin‘s house. So I think Qui Gon had to get “permission” to free Anakin so that way he wouldn’t explode. Also I don’t think Qui Gon can fit in that little pod racer thingy(The seat looks too small. lol 😂). Plus I don’t think Qui Gon and Kenobi would want to draw too much attention to themselves(by just waving the lightsaber around) because they are on the run. Also it is horrible but I think the main reason why they didn’t go back for the mother is because of the ridiculous Jedi code of keeping children away from the parents(no emotional connections. Which makes Anakin angry and puts him to the dark side). I guess that was the idea for the story.

[@imageispower20]

The slave thing was kinda handwaved with the idea that each slave on tatooine has a bomb in-bedded in them at birth and if they move a certain radius away from their 'owners' they will explode. Also Jedi really don't want to start another Hutt war. That happened already and it was bad.

[@joelsasmad]

They could have just paid for her then?

[@power-armoured_german9856]

@@joelsasmad they only had enough money for the hyperdrive

[@michaelgillespie9112]

@@power-armoured_german9856 They mean they could have returned with more funds and released her.

[@NyxNovaStar]

then why didn't Anakin have a bomb? and either way they could have come back later when they had the funds to purchase her and then release her. The Jedi have access to all the funds they could need at the height of the Republic and definitely have the technology to get a bomb out of her if necessary. It was NOT a problem for them they just did not care enough.

[@imageispower20]

@@NyxNovaStar he did. It was still in him when they left. He was going with his new owners. Also the Jedi have all the power in the republic. Tatooine is not in republic space. It was in hutt space. Which the republic really didn't want to go to war with again.

[@lenajohnson6179]

Anakin was doing fine until he started killing children... but we can't pretend like he's not a child killer. The Younglings weren't even the first children he killed. It's not a jump, he'd ALREADY done it once.

[@russellharrell2747]

Anakin becomes Darth Vader as soon as he slaughtered the sand people. He justified this by calling them animals. Justifying killing the younglings as ‘mercy killing’ would be consistent with his characterization, but it wasn’t when he turned to the dark side. He had already chosen that path years before.

[@hurricaneofcats]

I mean he also force choked his pregnant wife... which is relatively minor compared to murder but still - dude...

[@fuckableface]

you dweebs acting like you dont understand anger and rage is ironically infuriating

[@joelsasmad]

Anakin was not doing "fine" long before that.

[@michaelgillespie9112]

@@russellharrell2747 No, that's when Vader was truly born, but it wasn't when Anakin was truly locked into the dark path. From that point on, Vader lived in Anakin, coming out in his darkest moments, until finally, Anakin gives in.

[@Zyxyea]

i genuinely feel so terribly for anakin. his entire life he was a slave and the only time he had good people in his life they either die or turn against

[@Oraanu]

This is why I actually like The Prequels the most. If you can look past some of the weird dialog and cheesy acting, in my opinion it has the best themes, tropes, and character development.

[@thebigshep]

I'd like to state for the record that I've known plenty of people who left stagnant religious institutions and decidedly didn't kill like 30 kids on the way out, but hey man I guess we all cope in different ways 🤷‍♂️ Edit (3 weeks later): Really got some unhinged debate lords coming in after the Kenobi premier taking this way too seriously

[@rhel373]

Yeah... philosophically disagreeing with someone is perfectly alright. Murdering them all because you hate yourself and everyone else and somethingsomething give in to your rage... not so much. ;)

[@ohawwgeez3112]

Ugh I remember a time when mowing down children with a laser sword wasn’t controversial. This generation 🤦‍♂️

[@thebigshep]

@@ohawwgeez3112 modern "society" won't even let a guy commit mass infanticide to alleviate the crushing internal conflict between his debilitating senses of self righteousness and self loathing smh

[@ladyofshalott]

True, but given that the Jedi are all superpowered and there was the whole Dark side on top of all that? It's a bit different. Obviously murdering isn't good. But also superpowered adults and really toxic environments is going to make things really messy.

[@KosmicNomad]

Probably because they didn't get manipulated by someone who is the epitome of evil but who knows

[@samuraijaco1]

You've raised some points that I genuinely never considered. And I'm someone that likes the prequel trilogy. I absolutely think that there's a fascinating story, here, and it only needed another draft or two. I'd love to see some more Star Wars content from you, as I've only ever heard the (rightful in some cases) criticisms leveled at the movies. Instead of an analysis at some of the ideas being presented.

[@jamesmalik3355]

totally agree, The Original Trilogy impressed us with it's execution but the prequels really impressed us on its vision

[@poenpotzu2865]

Personally I would like to think if George decided to make the prequels into a live action tv show. But I guess that why we got clone wars

[@ganondorf797]

@@jamesmalik3355 I feel the OT was simple, but really well executed, while the prequels were ambitious, but failed to deliver on their promises.

[@calebmauer1751]

The prequels also gave us the majority of the modern Star Wars aesthetic, adding many new species, vehicles, technologies, terminology, etc. So many good games set during that timeframe too. Unlike, say, the sequel trilogy, this trilogy really enhanced the Star Wars universe.

[@user-xx6vy9ri8p]

@@ganondorf797 They delivered fine enough.

[@zeograndmaster6507]

Usual critics: "Wow killing those Jedi kids was dark for Anakin. Like unreasonably dark." Tuskin Raiser children: "Am I a joke to you?"

[@Phantasmeels]

It's worth noting that with the way the dark side works, not only does it have a slow and agonizing buildup before a turn to that dark side, but once that precipice is hit, the returns of power (and twisting of moral reasoning) are exponential. It's been officially likened to a narcotic, giving easy power in exchange for moral and physical deterioration, with that power's allure to take another hit always present. In this case, too, it seemed like it really brought out of all Anakin's anger, fear and disillusionment into what would fully emerge as Vader. Thus, Anakin's morality and reasoning are twisted into justifying to himself the killing of the Jedi children, whatever those were in his mind at the time. It's fucked up and absolutely looks like an unbelievably extreme leap for Anakin, but it's what the dark side does in Star Wars. It's a subtle, but powerful, part of the force that can make rational paragons eventually collapse into fallen horrors. By the time he sees Padme again on Mustafar, his entire worldview and personality are twisted beyond recognition, enough to kill his wife out of a perception that she was betraying him. This isn't even mentioning how being made to participate in warfare and how the Jedi never really helped him in return when he really needed them. These are all Anakin's choices, but between the Jedi's failures in general and to him, Sidious's manipulation and the insidious power of the dark side, there's actually a line of logical causation to his arc that isn't in fact just lazy writing.

[@lazulenoc6863]

Suppressing positive emotions is easy, suppressing negative emotions only ever makes them worse.

[@lauren1211]

15:55 Ok but it was not Obi wan’s responsibility to be gentle with Anakin. Obi wan just saw videos of Anakin slaughtering a temple full of Jedi along with a bunch of children. He had every right to be harsh with Anakin.

[@GreenKnight343]

It certainly gives a compelling reason for Obi-Wan to be hostile, but it still demonstrates the “big brother” relationship that Obi-Wan had with Anakin, and his failure as Anakin’s mentor. Rather than believing that Anakin could be saved in Anakin’s darkest moment, Obi-Wan gives up on him. In an ironic twist, this situation arose because Obi-Wan decided to be harsh with Anakin in his darkest moment, rather than any previous time when Anakin’s darker tendencies showed.

[@Bakuru]

True, his feelings are completely justified, but it wasn't WISE to just go in like that. Clearly Padme was reaching him, even if he was arguing with her, he was TALKING to her. It was only after he saw Obi Wan and believed that Padme intentionally brought him, that he snapped. Obi Wan KNOWS Anakin is an emotional person that acts very impulsively, so maybe let's NOT provoke that impulsive nature to the 99th degree LOL

[@Emma.Lou1]

@@GreenKnight343 idk man, I understand where you're coming from, but if my bestie/student/sibling etc was seen killing dozens of helpless kids, I'd be pretty ticked off with them.

[@GreenKnight343]

@@Emma.Lou1 If my friend did that, I would also be understandably angry, but that’s just the point I’m making, if my *friend* did that I would be pissed with them. By contrast, if my student/pupil had committed these acts, yea I would still be angry, but it would also demonstrate that I failed as a mentor/teacher well before my student ever got this extreme. As the video says, Obi-Wan really only gave Anakin a verbal slap on the wrist or a temporary “time out” whenever Anakin did something wrong, but he never really helped Anakin learn from most of his mistakes leading up to this. I’m certainly not saying that a mentor figure would be completely unemotional about Anakin doing war crimes, but they would at least try to find out *why* Anakin committed these actions and converse with him before they decided to kill him. This is because friends are not wholly responsible for the upbringing/teaching of each other, where as a mentor is.

[@palantiri6590]

@@Bakuru That conversation was going south quick. He goes from “I’m doing this to save you” to “I’m more powerful than Palpatine, I can overthrow him and we can rule the galaxy” in a matter of seconds. He was clearly deluded that Padme would be ok with that and his actions. I partially can’t blame him. Padme swept his last act of mass murder under the rug, never told anyone and married him after. So why wouldn’t she be ok with it this time? Horrible writing aside, if Obi Wan weren’t there things might have been worse for Padme. When Obi Wan confronts Anakin, Anakin starts frothing at the mouth saying how this is his fault and Obi Wan can’t take Padme from him (classic abuser behavior), despite the fact Anakin just tried to kill her seconds earlier. How is Obi Wan supposed to deescalate this deluded, unhinged and violent fellow? But, you are right Obi Wan did handle it wrong. He should have killed Anakin after he burned. Even though Anakin is the most deserving of having his limbs cut off and being burnt alive.

[@tommysnell8944]

I feel like there's a lot more nuance to explore in Anakin's arc, but this is still a solid base to build on.

[@fumkioyuki8457]

i completely agree the same. i love Anakin's character and he got me into stars wars.

[@JairsPlaylist]

The clones were LITERAL 10 year olds going into combat... It's all FUCKED!

[@pennyforyourthots]

I know we often think of Anakin's fall in the context of a religious institution failing him, but I'd also like to point out the parallels between his fall to the dark side and being radicalized to a fascist ideology. You begin at a conservative religious institution that promotes tradition above all else, often leading one to questioning their own identity and having no one to turn to and help them process their emotions. Then a charismatic figure appears who offers the solution to your problem (often something that is only comforting, but won't actually solve your problem), then they use your pent-up anger and rage as a weapon to destroy their enemies (often including genocide), and then finally being discarded when you are no longer of use to them (like the end of ROTJ). The reason why other disillusioned Jedi ,(like Ashoka) didn't immediately jump to the dark side is because they didn't have that radicalizing presence in their life like Anakin did. They had strong mentors or had healthy ways of expressing their emotions that couldn't be taken advantage of, so it's not just that the Jedi failing Anakin led him to the dark side, he probably would have just been disillusioned but otherwise still good, the real Crux of his dark side turn is palpatine who took his emotions and gave him a Target to project all of his insecurities and hatred on. From a certain perspective, you could read Anakin's character Arc from episode 1-6 as the story of him being radicalized into a fascist empire then deradicalized by a sympathetic figure who helps him to realize the flaws in his worldview and gives him a new meaning to his life outside of the fascist goals.

[@brianjankowski4419]

And this is why Anakin is my favorite Character. He was a boy in need ND was set up for failure by a religious cult. And especially after the Clone wars series He was pretty pretty ass in his abilities

[@j-money1354]

That religious cult kept peace in the universe longer than Luke did...It's easy to bash using hindsight. Try being in their shoes..They had been so successful with a strict code for hundreds of years.

[@brianjankowski4419]

@@j-money1354 They lost their way and fell into Coruption. and the Jedi Order didn't live on. Not in the current cannon. I know you are referencing the EU. Not everyone has read those comics and novels. Also Jedi were flawed. They were blind to the manipulation of the Sith. The Jedi temple on Corouscant was built over a sith shrine. Even Yoda acknowledged his failure. Even Luke told Rey to forget about being a Jedi. It is better to be a Grey force user. Like Ahsoka.

[@j-money1354]

@@brianjankowski4419Some force destiny balance bs is just for story telling..They were good and anti war, anti violence..Even in this world.Monks gotta be the most anti war humans out of everyone..

[@decepticonxhunter4850]

@@brianjankowski4419 So the Jedi weren't perfect. They were still exponentially preferable to a galaxy ruled by entirely selfish beings who were able to wield cosmic power to inflict unspeakable damage on others.

[@ryanmoore6259]

The problem is that the Jedi aren't against emotions; they feel that when death comes you need to accept it though even if it's sad. Anakin doesn't want to do that because he's worried how it will effect HIM

[@MrKoraboras]

Literally the first line of their code is "There is no emotion, there is peace", they are very much against emotion. They pretty much universally practice stoicism, because they consider emotions to be a gateway drug to the dark side. Which is kind of correct, but their 'solution' of repression only deepens the problem. Since repressed feelings don't just go away, they fester waiting for release. And the dark side offers that release, which in turn feels therapeutic, because... You've been living with pent up anger, stress, internalized guilt and all kinds of 'FUN' stuff since childhood without being taught how to actually deal with it and the wisest Jedi in the room upon being asked for advice just told you "yeah just stop feeling that". And that's how 99% of fallen Jedi fell to the dark side. Not because it's seductive and powerful, rather because they end up in a situation, that requires them to cope with their pent up emotions resurfacing due to some circumstances, and they literally don't know how to, so it all explodes. And that feels great, even without a surge of literal anger power boosting their strength and clinging to their mind.

[@Wolffman109]

They couldn't communicate that, though.

[@j-money1354]

@@Wolffman109 They did..Yoda told him death was natural and a natural process of life and to let go of fear of it..Anakin couldn't because he accepted his visions as facts and they were but by help of his own doing..

[@lordmaul7278]

@J-Money basically saying “get over it” to someone worried about their loved ones is the shittiest advice you could possibly give. Especially to someone who had already been as traumatized as Anakin was. This was all very easily avoidable if the Jedi weren’t so incompetent. There’s a reason why Qui-Gon always butted heads with the council- because they got wrapped up in politics instead of doing what they are supposed to do.

[@decepticonxhunter4850]

@@lordmaul7278 Yoda didn't tell him to "get over it". That's a super simplistic(not to mention silly and ignorant) perception of the situation. Yoda told him to accept the fact that his loved one's will die, and that he should prepare himself for that inevitability so he could move forward. He told Luke the same thing in ROTJ when Luke didn't want him to die.

[@protector_of_the_realms]

I love the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker, it's very reminiscent of the titular protagonists of two other stories that are among my all-time favourites in Othello and Macbeth. Anakin is famed elite warrior suffering from the incapability of letting go falling to the corruption within ultimately defeating himself, bringing a self-fulfilling prophecy full circle driven by greed, inner and external conflict and turmoil, manipulation and love. It's beautiful and so complex spurred on by his views and values and all the dynamics of his relationships regarding life, politics and the Order and their ways along with his mother, Padme, Obi-wan, Ahsoka, Palpatine and his Jedi peers. I've always felt he's a very flawed and relatable character though I don't agree with his conclusion or support of dictatorships haha

[@zenebean]

I started with Clone Wars, so I've always loved Anakin's character. They made it clear this is a good person who is capable of falling without changing his personality

[@solahaze8948]

2:17 Two reasons for things: 1, Anakin and his mom have an explosive chip that kills them if they go too far from watto (It's spoken about in the movie), and two, pods have very small cockpits and you need to be a compact species with very fast reaztion time (like a dug) to race in them properly. Anakin was a child, so small enough, and also force sensitive, which gave him the reaction time he needed. But also, yes, child endangerment is a jedi specialty

[@Wally480]

Yoda is telling Anakin that he needs to meditate On Letting Go of everything he fears to lose. That's his advice to Anakin, not just "don't be afraid" And letting go of everything you fear to lose really means drop your attachments because attachments are unhealthy. Remember your fear leads to anger and anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering

[@Severian1]

I am already in love with Ben's editing skills. Never thought I'd need a theatrical release of a LotR and The Raid mashup.

[@notchbeard9007]

I actually agree and have criticized the Jedi's rejection of love, most every one of them has a lover but they admonish their padawans for doing the same. This created a schism in Anakin, Love or Jedi he couldn't have both. In choosing Love he lost it and everything else.

[@JainaSoloB312]

Anakin was entirely allowed to love, he wasn't allowed to be Attached to the extent that he couldn't imagine his life without that person. Because that level of attachment indicates the love is Possessive, and when love is possessive there's nothing you won't do to keep it. You're allowed to love people, you're not allowed to own them, you're not allowed to for example murder a room of children to keep what you own.

[@DovahFett]

@@JainaSoloB312 Anakin explains the Jedi's view on love in Episode II. They are encouraged to love, but only unconditionally. They are supposed to love _everyone_ while staying at an emotional arm's length from them at all times. It's not really a reasonable demand when you consider that love for another being is actually what allows a Jedi to keep their identity after death (something the Sith can only do in roundabout ways since they only love themselves), as well as being what allowed Luke to free Vader from Palpatine's grip and shatter the Empire's hold on the galaxy. Yoda and Obi-Wan thought that Luke's love for his father would be a weakness that would stop him from doing what was needed to destroy the Sith, but the the opposite was true. Attachment is what allowed them to remain in the material plane as Force ghosts (Qui-Gon says as much to Yoda in The Clone Wars), and it's what allowed Anakin to return to the light. Love also played a major role in Revan's redemption. Attachment isn't the weakness the Jedi thought it was. They were just incredibly cautious about one of their own falling to the dark side over the loss of a loved one. It's a really scorched earth approach to dealing with attachment issues.

[@JainaSoloB312]

@@DovahFett"Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is central to a Jedi's life." I agree with you, attachment is a risk, but Yoda's Order went too far in trying to prevent attachments, their fear of attachments becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy just like Anakin's fear of losing Padmé'.

[@decepticonxhunter4850]

@@DovahFett It is a reasonable demand. One of the issues that ppl don't want to address about Anakin is that his being a former slave morphed into a twisted desire to enslave other other ppl by controlling their destiny with the Force. He was ultimately driven by a self-serving cause that he confused with love.

[@sensennsen]

Anakin is a weapon of the Force. I think it was destined for him to suffer and to bring chaos, in order to regain the Order in the Galaxy.

[@ravenshrike]

Anakin had been in multiple pod races before. Not a major danger for him given his force-assisted reaction times.

[@maddoxbrien5850]

I hate sand

[@pazatron1348]

Sand is great

[@JaimeNyx15]

I do think focusing on managing your emotions is important when you’re a space wizard who can choke people to death with an angry gesture. But the Jedi clearly have no idea how actual emotional management works. If that part had been handled better, the Jedi could’ve been more sympathetic.

[@NinjaLill]

Yes! Anakin is a great character. I still think Hayden made him human and relateble. It wasn’t the acting, it was the directing. And Qui-Gon is best Jedi!

[@bulletsandpencils]

"Wow, that dude killed a lot of innocent children. He must be a victim somehow. "

[@loboblack3092]

I agree with you. The prequels did show how Anakin fought against the pull to the Dark Side and how his tortured dreams convinced him that the Jedi were wrong. I mean, he went a bit nutso after...but i still think they showed his fall well. Thanks for all you do, Sir.

[@gerbliherbli6561]

One small little thing. The Jedi aren’t against sexual relationships, just close personal connections in general. I don’t think it’s even slightly surprising if a bunch of Jedi were hooking up randomly.

[@frankdavf4599]

Falling to the darkside was a by product of palpatines manipulative control and the leverage he had upon Anakin s secret situation.

[@dayvin408]

In Obi Wan's defense, when he's walking up to Anakin in a non-friendly manner, Anakin was choking Padme so hard to be friendly to someone choking a pregnant female.

[@99Gara99]

At that point it was all lost But as his master, he could have helped things not to escalate to that (edit: I mean, not on that scene, but through out the years)

[@biscuit1388]

I don’t know where this video came from, but thank you so much. I’ve been saying this for years, Anakin was failed by the Jedi. I wish we could have gotten a better script and better direction, but oh well.

[@connortravers2865]

I always felt that while Anakin is also responsible for his failures, the Jedi really failed him more then anyone else ever did

[@sharp52092]

Qui-Gon couldn't just take Anakin and Shmi. They had chips in their bodies that would explode if they ran away. Even if he killed Watto, whoever inherits his property might blow up the Skywalkers when they realize they're missing.

[@jonasquinn7977]

And the Jedi didn’t have any way to remove that?

[@sharp52092]

@@jonasquinn7977 Maybe, I don't know. The question is could they find and get it out in time.

[@jonasquinn7977]

@@sharp52092 considering the lack of a police force and how long they could theoretically go before anyone even noticed that Watto was dead absolutely

[@PreistofGHAZpork]

Why kill watto? Just threaten him. "Watto, you're going to free these two slaves, because if you don't I'm going to kill you with my lightsaber"

[@SantosAl]

@@jonasquinn7977 Jedi, a representative of the Republic killing honest business men and stealing Slaves on a planet owned by the Hutt outside of Republic Space... That is grounds for war, a war that has already happened before in Star Wars, with not the best results.

[@adamreeves3244]

This is my first video of yours I'm watching. Love the energy! Thanks for the laughs😂😂

[@Torchwick109]

This is exactly what I've been saying too! Like as you said one of Anakin's biggest motivating factors to join the Dark Side was his mother's death which was easily preventable. I've heard some people say that the reason the Jedi left Shmi on Tatooine was because they wanted Anakin to not have any distractions which his mother would have been if she were around. I never thought that was a good excuse because I feel like knowing his mother is still a slave would always be in the back of his mind and be another kind of distraction. If the Jedi didn't want Shmi around to distract Anakin they still could have saved her and sent her to some relatively safe planet where she could have been a cook or a gardener or something, in the end the only thing that needed to happen was that he knew his mother was free and safe, no more distractions, but instead they couldn't even think of something as simple as that.

[@cwwabg9859]

The Jedi were not wrong. They rejected Anakin and didn’t want him trained. Qi Gon, who was more like TLJ Luke, fought them on this. Qi Gon’s death is the only reason they allow it.

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

they were as wrong as they come. Their own actions created their self fullfilling destruction prophecy.

[@sheevpalpatine6139]

@@berilsevvalbekret772 I mean they didnt even want the kid.

[@jacobthomas4698]

-00.41 this part gave me chills The words as the helmet is getting put on anakin 🫠🫠🫠

[@joelgoh1504]

Beautiful. Just beautiful. Love this video!

[@marklastes312]

I believe somewhere in the novelizations or in the EU, Anakin and his mother couldn't just be taken off of Tattooine. They both had explosives implanted in them that would've gone off had they tried to leave the planet. If I'm not mistaken they couldn't even leave the planet in the story until after Anakin had it removed.

[@corymccarty8603]

Actually... That's in the movie. Anakin even said he'd been trying to figure a way to locate his. Then there was the combined dialog of him and his mother. (Shmi: Any attempt to escape... (Anakin: ...and they blow you up. Boom!)

[@masterdeetectiv9520]

@@corymccarty8603 yeah, the only way to free a slave is to let their master let them go

[@shalomproduction6367]

The jedi could still have helped with that....fuck the jedi

[@mariaelenagarciamolero1437]

This is something I've always said, people just love to throw crap at the movies because of the acting but the reasoning it's still there. Anakin went from one master to another, sure the Jedi are not meant to be a slavers but for him who grew up like slave it feels the same, and that crap about supressing emotion is absurd and specially for him and taking his childhood in consideration. Then there's the war, the Jedi act aloof and it's so wrong, also all the masters treated him so bad but then were surprise that he didn't listen or turned, look at Mace who spent all ofhis time treating him like shit and criticising him for any action he took but also pressuring him be the most perfect person ever. If I'm not mistaken in the comic/novel so many Jedi had a partner or romantic relationship on the down low. Anakin was manipulated by both the Jedi and Palpatine but Palpatine tried to act more freindly than the Jedi and the Jedi were idiotic on not noticing Palpatine was a sith. The fact is that their idiology about emotions was bullshit, the point is not let yourself be lead by emotions and loose all rational thinking and how to go about it. Sure it doesn't excuse his actions but it makes sense his downfall and it could have been prevented, he's a victim but he made his choices in the end to follow a path he knew deep inside that was wrong

[@Hextraordinary13]

THAT was a cool cut at the very end when you started talking about the 'lens' Anakin sees the Jedi through. Very well done. SLICK AF at 16:40 -- That was some excellent work.

[@YamiWolfGirlArtemis]

I'd also like to point out a really cool parallel that supports this- in the scene where Mace Windu and the other Jedi confront Palpatine, Mace directly echoes what Palpatine said back when Anakin killed Dooku. In the Dooku scene, Palpatine tells Anakin to kill Dooku, stating "he is too dangerous to be left alive." Anakin kills him, and then appears to regret it instantly, stating "its not the Jedi way" because he killed an unarmed opponent. In the Mace scene, Mace states that Palpatine has to die because "he is too dangerous to be left alive." Anakin (who sees Palpatine as a defeated and unarmed opponent) echoes what he said to Palpatine and tells Mace "it's not the Jedi way." Mace goes for the kill anyway, so Anakin tries to stop him. Anakin doesn't even go for a killing blow - he cuts Mace's lightsaber hand off By the end of that scene, Anakin sees fully the hypocrisy of the Jedi order AND he knows from experience they won't help him save Padame. (also side note but apparently the Jedi GAVE PALPATINE ACCESS TO ANAKIN, AND LEFT THE TWO TOGETHER, ALONE, AS HE GREW UP....seriously wtf Jedi). Honestly it's a testament to Anakin's character that he bothered to tell the Jedi Palpatine was a Sith at all. At that point he really had no reason to believe in the Jedi over Palpatine.

[@annieainegoolie1749]

In the film, it’s explained that the slaves have implants that will kill them if they run away. And Anakin’s owner is “immune to Jedi mind tricks.” The narrative is pretty shoe horned in one direction but Anakin wasn’t motivated by anything other than more power.

[@joelsasmad]

They could have come back later to buy her freedom couldn't they?

[@jaimeruiz7837]

@@joelsasmad they could’ve bought her right then and there, but if you haven’t already learned you will. That the Jedi don’t care about helping people. They’re meant to find information and retrieve it. Stay out of the business of others. They’re suppose to be robots, emotionless. Yet they all failed at doing that. The Jedi order is a fucking sham.

[@bloody4558]

@@joelsasmad Yes, they could, if not for the fact that they were busy dealing with a possible war in their hands. Jedi are not just warriors, they are also diplomats, and they are highly sought by the republic. Either as bodyguards or going alone for negociations. In fact Anakin was trying to do just that, he wanted to buy his mother's freedom but the training left both him and Obi-wan too occupied, and by the time they managed to get some free time to do it it was already too late, someone had bought her freedom already and she had been kidnapped

[@tombworld9012]

It's also explained in the film that Anakin is the only human who has the reflexes required to do pod racing. Qui-Gon couldn't have run the race himself as this video suggests. Even though he has 'Jedi reflexes' of his own, Anakin's 'made-for-the-story-an' Force bacteria level, and therefore his attunement with the Force, was way higher. Even Force Jesus Anakin crashed every other time he tried to do it.

[@bloody4558]

@@tombworld9012 he only crashed the other times due to sabotage though. Watto himself said that the boy had talent.

[@Dwarf_Bard]

I maintain the biggest difference between the prequels and sequels. Is that the prequels have a very good core story incompetently told, and presented poorly. From the acting and poor directing you have to really stop and think about what the story actually is to realize it is actually a very good, and even epic tragidy in many ways. Meanwhile, the sequels are presented extremely well. The acting, directing, etc is all very well done, and in the moment it all looks and feels great. Then you pause... and if you dig into it like you do the prequels you realize... there isn't anything there its hollow and purposeless.

[@davidbowles7281]

The core story of the prequels doesn't make any sense, though.

[@sarveshnathan7559]

@@davidbowles7281 Yes it does Prove it doesn't

[@plague8163]

Not to justify their decision, but it was to show how good of a pilot Anakin was, even as a 9 year old.

[@717UT]

The Jedi's worst flaw was not seeing their flaws. When you mention the one more redraft of the prequel script, you REALLY hit the nail on the head. The Prequels could have been so much darker and more heavy if they wouldn't have handled some of the situations with so much brevity. We got a few dark situations, but they could have resonated even more, especially when you don't view the Jedi as the good guys. As I got more mature and I viewed the Prequels through that lense, they got better as stories for me. Lastly, great video man. You pointed out some great stuff that I hadn't realized. Especially the youngling scene which I think you are spot on.

[@carolbriscoe9337]

I see your points about Anakin and his development under the Jedi. Thought it had been established that for some time the Council had been subtly encouraged into a form of behavior it didn't practice before. Even Yoda was blind to the order's faulty practices. If the early history of the Republic is ever told, I suspect we'd see a totally different Jedi.

[@stiqula]

On the kid killings... Having played KotOR, I always interpreted it as: The Dark Force ability to save a life could only be unlocked by getting enough "dark force points," thus killing those kids was a quick and dirty way of doing it. He didn't want to. He's clearly conflicted in the close up, but he couldn't bare to lose Padme and his own children more.

[@wyveriusblackfire3834]

I mean, that's basically it. Sith feed off their emotions, including emotions like guilt and self-loathing. Vader actually duels a seemingly resurrected Darth Maul in one of the comics who asks him what he could possibly hate enough to destroy Maul. Vader's answer was, "Myself."

[@sheevpalpatine6139]

While you're close to right I don't think that's why Anakin killed the kids. Most of the Jedi were going to die anyways, and Palpatine wanted Anakin to participate in the slaughter. And that is it. Younglings turn into Jedi. And Younglings who want revenge turn into enemy force users. Cutting off loose ends

[@anotherrandomguy8871]

@@sheevpalpatine6139 yeah I think this is the answer. He didn’t care about them kids at this point.

[@decepticonxhunter4850]

Anakin told Obi-Wan that the Jedi were evil from his point of view at the end of their duel on Mustafar, so he did want to do it. He had already convinced himself at that point that the Jedi and anyone else who opposed Palpatine and the newly formed empire had to die.

[@nelsonwoodard7459]

A point about Anakin getting set free from slavery, is a poetic stance that he freed himself accomplishing something he always wanted to do.

[@GaryTongue-to3pw]

It's like Poetry! It like sort of almost rhymes!

[@idontcareproductions]

I so wish this was better executed in the prequels and the last trilogy. Good read.