“Was Anakin really the Chosen One? Was he doomed from the start?” for ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rootspiral
I like that in animated Star Wars Anakin is ambivalent about his status as Chosen One, it's only in the Mortis arc that it's brought into serious consideration.
Qui-Gon Jinn claimed Anakin was meant to bring balance to the Force, the Jedi were over confident and thought the prophecy was made in their favor. The Jedi forgot the Living Force isn’t just about the Light Side but also included the Dark Side of the Force.
(Also, I need to rewatch the Mortis arc but I recall that both the avatars of the Light Side and the Dark Side died leaving the Father as the sole survivor. I think? Must rewatch!).
The Jedi think they’re the Be All and End All of Force knowledge but the Bendu and other Force users in the galaxy proved that the Jedi and the Sith don’t have monopoly on the Force.
I think, maybe Anakin had two paths to walk. Maybe he didn’t need to bring about the destruction of the Jedi in order to bring Balance. Maybe he could have been a force for a schism within the Jedi Order (hat tip to bedlamsbard). The Jedi Order was meant to be shaken and maybe even splintered, anything to shake the stagnation from the Order.
For Anakin, there were legitimate efforts to guide him to the Light but most of the methods that worked for one Jedi doesn't work for ALL.
There were legitimate efforts to help Anakin, and that was Yoda’s inspired ‘give the reckless Jedi a Padawan to take care’; the tactic worked! Until the Jedi shot themselves in the foot and became instrumental for Ahsoka to walk away.
The Mortis arc demonstrated there needed to be a careful balance between light and dark; too much of one would lead to chaos or stagnation. In Mortis, Light and Dark are personified and Anakin stood at the middle of it, but because of all the trauma he suffered, Anakin himself isn’t balanced.
Anakin is sustained by people, he’s like that quote from About a Boy: “Suddenly I realized - two people isn't enough. You need backup. If you're only two people, and someone drops off the edge, then you're on your own. Two isn't a large enough number. You need three at least.”
He cared so deeply and so passionately but he was also deeply flawed, and Palpatine took advantage of that. In the end, because of circumstances, Anakin did Fall but I like how in the Clone Wars I never got the sense that Anakin falling was a done deal.
Instead there were steps that led to that path. Some things caused Anakin veering from the Light: Palpatine’s machinations, the Jedi Order willful blindness to their own sins, and Anakin’s own flawed decisions.
So, while, as the audience we know Anakin become Vader I still would like to think that Anakin’s Fall isn’t predestined. He could have gone either way, unfortunately Palpatine got his hooks into Anakin very early.
