While I wouldn’t go so far as to entirely blame the Jedi forAnakin Skywalker/Darth Vader’sfall to the dark side, I do believe, had they made these 10 different decisions, they could have prevented his fall. Anakin’s turn to the dark side is one of the most important events in the entireStar Warstimeline.
Yet,Anakin Skywalker’sStar Warstimelinereveals that there was no one factor that caused this turn; rather, manydefining moments contributed to Anakin’s fall, with myriad people to blame. Anakin is, of course, the most responsible, butthese 10 missed opportunities suggest the Jedi had the chance to intervene and squandered it.
The Council Treated Anakin Like A Threat When He Was Just A Child
In truth,Anakin and the Jedi Council got off on the wrong foot from the very beginning. Although Anakin was only a child at the time, from the moment Anakin stood before the Council inStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, the Jedi treated him as a threat.
They also made Anakin feel like he was wrong or dangerous for missing his mother, despite the fact that he’d been raised not in the Jedi Temple but in a typical family, where it was normal to love and miss his mother. This meant that, from the beginning, Anakin felt he wasn’t good enough in the eyes of the Jedi.
From the beginning, Anakin felt he wasn’t good enough in the eyes of the Jedi.
Had the Jedi Council approached Anakin with more compassion and realized he was only a child and could learn the ways of the Jedi in time, that would have given Anakin a very different view of and feeling about the Jedi.Just that compassion could have set Anakin up to have more faith in the Jedi in the end.
The Jedi Should Have Trained Anakin Like Any Other Jedi—Not The Chosen One
This Only Made Anakin Feel Even More Ostracized…And Fueled His Ego
The prequel trilogy introduced the idea that Anakin wasthe Chosen One, a being prophesied to bring balance to the Force and, in the Jedi’s interpretation at least, destroy the Sith. Unfortunately, all signs point to the Jedi Council consistently treating Anakin differently because of that fact.
That is,Anakin was placed on a pedestal with very high expectations because he was believed to be the Chosen One. In fact, it’s something that is brought up inThe Phantom Menacebut continues to be mentioned by the Jedi throughoutStar Wars: Episode II - Attack of the ClonesandStar Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
This created two problems for Anakin. For one, this likely only made Anakin feel like even more of an outsider within the Jedi Order, as he was very different from the others. For another,knowing that he was the Chosen One only worsened Anakin’s ego, which was part of his downfall.
Anakin Should Not Have Been Sent To Naboo With Padmé
One of the most bewildering decisions the Jedi Council ever made was choosing Anakin as the Jedi to accompany Padmé to Naboo inAttack of the Clones. While it’s reasonable that the Jedi became involved in protecting Padmé given the multiple attempts on her life, it makes no sense that Anakin was the one chosen.
Not only was Anakin still only a Padawan at the time, which alone makes him an odd choice,Anakin had never been very quiet about his feelings for Padmé. In fact, even earlier inAttack of the Clones, Anakin directly told Obi-Wan how nervous he was to see her.
Sending Anakin off to be alone with Padmé on a beautiful, lush planet seems like a recipe for disaster, especially when it comes to the Jedi Padawan who has long been a rulebreaker already and struggled with issues of attachment from the very beginning.
Yoda Needed To Address The Pain He Sensed From Anakin In Attack of the Clones
Yoda Felt This Pain But Seemingly Never Followed Up On It
Anakin’s massacre of the Tusken Raider men, women, and children inAttack of the Clonesis easily his most heinous act before his full-fledged fall to the dark side, and while the Jedi of course didn’t know about this event,Master Yoda sensed a disturbance in the Force at that moment and apparently did nothing about it.
After Anakin carries out this vicious slaughter,Attack of the Clonescuts to Yoda and Mace Windu, and Yoda tells Mace Windu, “Pain, suffering, death, I feel. Something terrible has happened. Young Skywalker is in pain. Terrible pain.“Sure, the Clone Wars kicked off soon after, which no doubt took priority.
Yet, it was a horrible mistake for Yoda to never follow up with Anakin about what he may have been sensing. Again, Anakin had long been a concern for the Jedi Council, so one would think that something this alarming would be addressed. Had it been, perhaps the truth could have come out.
Obi-Wan Should Have Brought Concerns About Anakin And Padmé To The Council
Obi-Wan Knew About Padmé And Anakin, But He Failed To Address Their Relationship
Star Warshas been increasingly clear thatObi-Wan knew about Anakin and Padmé. In fact, inStar Wars: The Clone Wars, Obi-Wan even openly teases Anakin about it, telling Anakin that he hopes Anakin at least told Padmé he said hello. It’s still a bit shocking that Obi-Wan would evidently ignore Anakin so flagrantly breaking the Jedi code.
In the end, though, this was more than just poor judgment on Obi-Wan’s part. If there was any way Obi-Wan ‘failed’ Anakin, it was arguably this.Anakin’s relationship with Padmé sent him into the spiral of paranoia and fear seen inRevenge of the Sith, and the secrecy was part of that.
I’m fully convinced that, had Obi-Wan told the Council or just encouraged Anakin to tell the Council, this could have been avoided. It wouldn’t have been the worst possible outcome for Anakin to leave the Jedi Order; the worst possible outcome was what happened inRevenge of the Sith.
The Jedi Should Not Have Kicked Ahsoka Out Of The Order
This Was Wrong To Do To Ahsoka, But It Also Shook Anakin’s Faith In The Jedi
Anakin may not have left the Jedi Order, but his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, certainly did, and that was enough to permanently shake Anakin’s faith in the Jedi. While it was technically Ahsoka who made the final decision to leave the Jedi Order, that was after she’d already been kicked out.
After Ahsoka was falsely accused of murder,instead of standing by and protecting their own, the Jedi effectively threw Ahsoka to the wolves. Once Ahsoka was no longer part of the Order, she was beholden to the Republic Senate in terms of her crimes and her punishment.
Horrifyingly,the Senate was seeking execution if Ahsoka was found guilty, which means the Jedi very nearly let Ahsoka die. It makes sense that this was enough to have Anakin believing the Jedi were far from good, and that belief seems to be present when Anakin chose Palpatine over Mace inRevenge of the Sith.
Yoda Should Have Taken Anakin’s Nightmares More Seriously
Anakin Tried To Go To Yoda, But He Didn’t Get The Help He Needed
Something that has long surprised me inStar Warsis the fact thatAnakin actually tried to seek Master Yoda’s help inRevenge of the Sithwhen he was having nightmares about Padmé dying in childbirth. No, Anakin didn’t tell Yoda the whole truth, which no doubt would have made a much bigger difference.
However,Yoda’s response to Anakin having nightmares was largely unhelpful, and I believe that contributed to Anakin’s fall to the dark side in the end. Rather than listening to and truly helping Anakin overcome these nightmares and these fears, Yoda only tells Anakin that he must learn to let go.
This really only repeated what had happened between Anakin and the Council when he first arrived to Coruscant, though, as it’s clear that Anakin had long struggled with attachment and needed real, compassionate help. Instead, Yoda’s response comes off as a bit dismissive, and then he doesn’t mention it to Anakin again.
Anakin had long struggled with attachment and needed real, compassionate help.
Anakin Should Not Have Been Put On The Council At All
Not Being Granted The Rank Of Master Infuriated Anakin, But This Also Bent A Knee To Palpatine
Although it’s become a long-running joke that, had Anakin only been granted the rank of Master, he wouldn’t have fallen to the dark side, there’s a kernel of truth in there somewhere. While I don’t believe getting the rank of Master would have prevented him from turning,putting Anakin on the Council at all was a major mistake.
On the one hand, the only reason Anakin was even angry about not getting that rank was because it felt like a slight to put him on the Council but not give him that rank—a symbol, in Anakin’s mind at least, that he still wasn’t good enough or a typical Jedi.
The much more befuddling aspect of this decision, though, was the sense in whichputting Anakin on the Jedi Council because Palpatine requested it was effectively bending a knee to Palpatine. Instead, the Jedi Council should have been clear that Palpatine had no jurisdiction over the Jedi.
It’s true that acquiescing was only part of the Jedi’s plan to have Anakin spy on Palpatine, but even that doesn’t really explain why the Jedi Council would make this very bad decision. In fact, asking Anakin to do that was yet another reason Anakin believed Palpatine’s lies about the Jedi.
Mace Windu Should Not Have Said He Didn’t Trust Anakin Before Confronting Palpatine
This Only Worsened Anakin’s Sense That He Wasn’t Good Enough At The Exact Wrong Time
One of the most frustrating parts ofRevenge of the Sithis when Anakin tells Mace Windu that he’d learned Palpatine was the Sith Lord they were looking for. This was a major step for Anakin, not only because he was betraying someone he saw as a beloved mentor but also because he was telling Mace Windu of all people.
Anakin and Mace had a strained relationship from the very beginning, so his willingness to confide in Mace was notable. Yet, in response, Mace Windu tells Anakin that if this proves true, Anakin will have earned his trust. The problem is,Anakin had been a war hero for years, and Mace was revealing he still didn’t have faith in him.
That undoubtedly stung Anakin, and it made it so much easier for Anakin to turn on Mace only a little while later when he was faced with the choice between Palpatine, a trusted mentor who was claiming to be able to save the one he loved, and Mace Windu, who had never liked or been kind to Anakin.
Anakin Should Have Gone To Utapau With Obi-Wan
Anakin Was Looking For Obi-Wan Specifically When He Learned The Truth About Palpatine
If there was any one event that really could have saved Anakin, it was arguably Anakin going to Utapau with Obi-Wan to stop General Grievous. This isn’t just because it would have removed Anakin from the confrontation with Palpatine, though.
If there was any one event that really could have saved Anakin, it was arguably Anakin going to Utapau with Obi-Wan.
Having Anakin with Obi-Wan during this tumultuous time would have given him someone he trusted even more than Palpatine. In fact, it was Obi-Wan who Anakin was seeking once he’d learned about Palpatine’s true identity. Anakin and Obi-Wan absolutely had their issues over the years, but underneath it all, Anakin loved and trusted Obi-Wan.
Had they not been separated when Anakin learned the truth (whenever he learned it, as that timeline would also change), I believe Obi-Wan could have prevented his fall to the dark side. Unfortunately, the Jedi Council had many opportunities to preventAnakin Skywalker/Darth Vaderfrom turning, but they failed to do so.
