This is part two of a three-part deep dive into possibly the most important character in all of Star Wars: Anakin Skywalker. If you have not read part one, click here. Now with that out of the way…
In our first article, we Anakin went from an innocent slave boy born without a father to a bona fide murderer; albeit still without a father. Anakin’s mother’s death was a turning point in the padawan’s life. After slaughtering the Tusken village, Anakin brought his mother’s body back to her home and told Padme of what he had done. Anakin was filled with guilt. He felt remorse for murdering the Tusken Raiders, but, more importantly, he felt guilty for not being able to prevent his mother’s death. It was then that Anakin vowed to become strong enough in The Force to stop other people he loved from dying.
After mourning the death of his mother, Anakin received a transmission from his Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kenobi had discovered that the Separatists were working with the Trade Federation to create an army of droids, even more, powerful than the ones from the Battle of Naboo, to wage war against the Galactic Republic. Not long after transmitting his message, however, Obi-Wan was captured and Anakin and Padme set off to rescue him. But when the duo arrived on Geonosis, they too were captured.
Anakin, Padme, and Obi-Wan were chained to poles in the middle of a massive coliseum to be executed by beasts. When all hope seemed to be lost, Master Mace Windu of the Jedi Council led a large group of Jedi to rescue the trio in the middle of the arena. The rescuers were being rescued. But the droid forces were too much for even the Jedi Assault Team to handle. For the second time, all hope seemed to be lost. That is until the great Jedi Grandmaster Yoda swooped in from above with an army of clones. These clones were genetic copies of the bounty hunter that had attempted to assassinate Padme. The Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate, Sheev Palpatine, the Senate that Padme was a part of, had authorized the deployment of a clone army that was developed in secret.
Now because these soldiers who were seemingly materialized out of thin air were clones of a bounty hunter that tried to assassinate the very senator that was being rescued, any normal person would be immediately suspicious of whose side the new military was on. But because this is Star Wars, the characters just rolled with it. In the ensuing all-out battle over Geonosis between the clone army and the Separatist’s droids, Anakin confronts Count Dooku, the Sith Leader of the Separatists, and loses a hand. The battle would be the start of what would become the infamous “Clone Wars”. After the battle, Anakin returned to Naboo to marry Padme, as they had both fallen in love. But as this was against the Jedi Code, this was done in secret. Anakin had yet again betrayed the Jedi Order.
During the ensuing Clone Wars, Anakin would grow both in power and distrust of the Jedi Order. Anakin would adopt his own padawan, Ahsoka Tano, although Anakin never became a Jedi Master himself. During the three years in which the war occurred, Anakin continued to love Padme in secret and fought alongside both his master and his new padawan.
Towards the end of the war, the Separatist Military attacked Coruscant, the capital of the Galactic Republic, and kidnapped the Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Senate. During the battle for Coruscant, Anakin would win a duel against the leader of the Separatists, Count Dooku, in front of the Chancellor. With Dooku disarmed, Anakin held the Sith at lightsaber-point, at which point the Chancellor ordered Anakin to break the Jedi Code and execute the defenceless Count. Anakin, though initially hesitant, committed the murder in the name of the safety of the Republic.
After the battle, Anakin Skywalker returned to Coruscant and met with his secret wife, who informed him that she was pregnant. Anakin was ecstatic, and the couple planned to raise their child back on Naboo. Anakin’s joy would not last, however, as Anakin would receive a nightmare of Padme dying in childbirth, just like the nightmare that told Anakin that his mother was captured. And Anakin swore that he would never let a person he loved die again.
Part 3 coming next week.