Luke In The Original Series: I Know My Father Is A Genocidal Maniac But I Can Save Him

Luke in the original series: I know my father is a genocidal maniac but I can save him

Luke in the sequels: I had a bad dream abt my nephew, time to kill him

One of my favorite niches in the Star Wars fandom is Eldritch Abomination Skywalkers

There’s a difference between the best Star Wars movie and your favorite

example:

The best is objectively (do not argue) The Empire Strikes Back

My favorite is the dumpster fire of the Phantom menace

Nobody made Anakin Skywalker fall.

He had a horrible life, yes. He grew up a slave, his mom died, the man who freed him died, the Jedi Council initially rejected him, Palpatine groomed him, Ashoka left the order, Obi-wan faked his death, he participated in a civil war.

All of this is absolutely horrible, traumatizing stuff and he no doubt had depression, raging bpd, and C-PTSD. However, none of that was an excuse commit multiple genocides, kill children, commit countless war crimes, choke out his pregnant wife, enforce galaxy wide tyranny, blow up a planet, and cut his sons hand off.

You don’t kill billions of people because you have untreated and unacknowledged trauma. You do it because you choose to.

He was a grown man. He could have gotten mental help, could’ve left the Jedi, could’ve rejected Palpatine, could have accepted the help of his loved ones (Obi-Wan and Padme). He could’ve have made different choices.

This isn’t an Anakin hate post though. He had good qualities. He was brave and loyal and clever and he loved deeply. But even before he became Darth Vader we saw that he was also cruel and selfish and arrogant. He told Padme that he didn’t believe in democracy. Anakin felt if everybody would just let him run things, then everything would be better. And that really is the center of his character. If Obi-Wan, if Padme, if the Jedi, had just let him run things and stop undermining and regulating him than he could fix everything.

He truly believed that everybody else was the problem not him. Additionally, his loyalty and deep love for others more often than not was unhealthy. He killed all the Tusken Raiders for his mother and killed the Jedi for Padme. His only moral compass was his loved ones and he was angry when they didn’t love him in the same way. Didn’t understand why they would be upset when he did it for them. Didn’t understand why they wouldn’t do the same for him.

At the heart of his character is Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker didn’t become him, he was always him. That’s why I believe that even if he had a different master, if his mother hadn’t died, if the war hadn’t happened, and even if he didn’t fall in love with Padme that he would’ve fallen anyways. Those event exacerbated his issues, but they didn’t cause his selfishness or cruelty or narcissism.

He was a vivacious young boy, but he was a selfish, selfish boy.

Before Qui-Gon Jinn died, he used Ataru and had passed down his mastery to his Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Ataru which relies on acrobatics, offense, quick movements, and unpredictability. Ataru which lacks defense, which Qui-Gon Jinn does using.

After Naboo, Obi-Wan Kenobi switches from the lightsaber form Ataru to Soresu.

Soresu is the Endurance form. It is an unpopular form amongst younglings because it is pure defense. They don’t understand how they can win using it. They’re right. You can’t win using Soresu, that’s not why it was made.

It is the form of survival, not winning. It is meant for the user to endure suffering, endless suffering and still stand. A Soresu master will never be struck down for lack of defense.

Obi-Wan Kenobi refuses to leave his Padawan masterless.

Delegation of 2000 save me, delegation of 2000 save me, save me delegation of 2000