There’s been a lot going on in the comic book world of Star Wars over the past month, and with the release of the final comic in “Fortress Vader” we’ve seen another major crack in the veneer of Darth Vader, and learned more about who exactly Anakin Skywalker was. The latest issue affirms what many had thought about how we should interpret Star Wars canon. Is Anakin Skywalker really the Chosen One, and what implications does this have for the conclusion of the Skywalker saga? Read on for more, spoilers and speculation below.
As noted by Pablo Hidalgo, this specific revelation is perhaps nothing new and has been out there for a long time.
Not sure why it’s being treated as groundbreaking. given 1) what’s in Episode III 2) the peculiar POV of the comic and 3) how long this has been out there (13 years or so). Of all the amazing things this comic does, it’s an interesting reaction to a small piece. pic.twitter.com/thM85lh8z9
— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) December 26, 2018
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Let’s just say it this new comic has a lot of interesting ideas that we’d love to discuss in due time, but we also think it is worth discussing and possibly reevaluating the Chosen One prophecy based on these recent developments.
Prior to the Sequel Trilogy, it was commonly understood that Vader did in fact bring balance to the Force by killing Darth Sidious in Return of the Jedi. This was the explanation George Lucas in the introductory documentary for the Special Edition of A New Hope:
“Which brings us up to the films 4, 5, and 6, in which Anakin’s offspring redeem him and allow him to fulfill the prophecy where he brings balance to the Force by doing away with the Sith and getting rid of evil in the universe…“ George Lucas
But this quote now raises the question, If the Force is so balanced, why is Snoke around? Why is the First Order back and winning? Why is the Chosen One’s grandson an overpowered villain?
These questions lead one to naturally wonder if the Force was truly balanced. Even Luke thought everyone was going to live happily ever after, and that’s one of the major reasons why his character is so distraught after Kylo Ren erased everything he did in the original trilogy.
The latest Vader comic puts in canon more explicitly the idea that Anakin was not the light side Chosen One the Jedi thought. Perhaps the most exciting part of this is that while it’s the first time we’ve heard it in canon, it’s not the first time we’ve heard it.
Right before the Disney sale, there were hints at where Lucasfilm was going to take this. Much of that disappeared into abyss when everything except for the films and cartoons were removed from canon, but there’s been a slow “re-canonization” of the majority of the more conceptual ideas featured in more recent canon. All this points to the conclusion: it was never removed.
What I’m going to do now is walk you through all the clues Lucasfilm has speckled throughout its media landscape, and show you just where they might be taking it. My hypothesis? Anakin Skywalker was created by the Sith in order to deceive the Jedi into thinking he was their Chosen One. By using Anakin as their weapon, the Sith were then able to destroy the Jedi from within.
George Lucas’ Original Intention
Saving the bigger revelations for last, lets look at the germ of this idea– the first time it was ever mentioned. The earliest clue we have, going back years now, is that George Lucas intended for Revenge of the Sith to have an “I am your father moment” In the opera house scene, where Palpatine/Sidious successfully seduces Anakin into believing he can save Padme through the dark side, we were supposed to get this reveal. This point was further revealed in J.W. Rinzler’s book, The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith:
Darth Sidious: “I used the power of the Force to will the midichlorians to start the cell divisions that created you.”
Anakin: “I don’t believe you.”
Darth Sidious: “Ahhh, but you know it’s true. When you clear your mind, you will sense the truth. You could almost think me as your father.”
Anakin: “That’s impossible!“
The echoes to Empire were strong, but the final version in the film wasn’t this explicit. Some take Palpatines “..to create…life”, along with smile at Anakin to imply this, but it isn’t completely clear.
For those who may have been disappointed at the Force becoming some scientific cell-based phenomenon back in 1999, now you know why. This is how George Lucas conceived the plot to his six part saga, it means the Jedi were in fact tricked into thinking that Darth Sidious’ creation was their Chosen One.
Once you look at it this way, you start to notice it’s fingerprints are all over the prequels–from Anakin’s first trial where the Jedi think he has too much fear and anger, to the scene where he tells Padme he’s not the Jedi he should be, to the scene where Yoda starts to believe the prophecy was misread. Anakin Skywalker was predisposed to darkness, and the Jedi put him on a pedestal as their champion of light.
This could have radically changed the prequels. Just one sentence in the opera house scene could have justified Anakin’s aggressive tendencies and quick fall to the dark side, but it never happened. The seeds were planted in the films, but Lucas never committed to it. Now what?
What Lucas was Up to in 2012
The Clone Wars did a lot of world building for Star Wars, and it’s one of the few things to survive the EU purge. What separates The Clone Wars from other license-based kids show spin-offs is that its not some one-off use of the IP, and George Lucas had a significant involvement in its development. The Clone Wars evolved into something spectacular, and it’s clearly the brainchild of a post-prequels George Lucas expanding the Star Wars universe with new ideas and preparing it for a future.
There was a very interesting period for Lucasfilm around the time of the Disney sale, As noted in The Art of The Last Jedi and The Art of The Force Awakens, George Lucas had some involvement input in pre-visualization (art and design) by reviewing and giving his impression of early concept art. He met with Rick Carter early on, and turned over his drafts to Carter’s creative team. Artwork from this period (like the Jedi Temple on Ahch-to) ultimately influenced the design of the film. At the same time, The Clone Wars wasn’t even finished. The show ran from 2008 to 2014. Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012. Disney era pre-visualization for the trilogy began in 2013, before a director (and eventual writer) for The Force Awakens was hired.
So if the Sequel Trilogy is supposed to be built from the foundation that George Lucas created, what does that mean for the story? Did George Lucas’ original ideas for Anakin’s origins finally become the basis for a nine-part version of the saga, and what influence did he have on future development of these ideas?
The Mortis Arc
The Mortis Arc in The Clone Wars TV show is a surreal, dream-like, allegorical string of episodes that seem to be central to the Chosen One prophecy. It’s exact meaning is hard to pin down and the episodes are a popular subject of debate.
If you’re not familiar with it, the episodes involve Anakin’s trip to a planet run by Force “gods”: A father, son, and daughter. The son is dark, the daughter is light, and the father balances the two. Anakin is tested by the father to see if he is the Chosen One, and Anakin passes. The father then asks Anakin to take his place, but he refuses. Instead, Anakin is manipulated by the dark son, resulting in the death of the light daughter (who sacrifices herself). The father eventually kills himself in order to deprive the son of power, and it all ends when Anakin kills the son. The father’s last words to Anakin were that he believed Anakin was the Chosen One, but that he must “beware of his heart”.
Prior to the past month, there’s always been something not quite right when one considers the Mortis arc as an allegory for Anakin being the Chosen One. It works, but then there are elements that doesn’t fit and you wonder why they muddied it up. Thanks to the new comic book, we now know why. The “heart” that the father is referring to is Anakin’s origin from and predisposition toward the dark side. The entire three-episode Mortis arc is based on the fact that everyone thinks Anakin is destined to balance the Force. Instead, he’s the wrong person, is deceived by the dark side, and brings about the death of the daughter (light side) and the father (balance) and finally the son (dark side).
The most interesting part of this arc, however, is what they decided not to put in it. In this deleted scene we see the only time we’ve ever heard something that even resembles a prophecy. This one comes from Darth Revan to the son:
“It has been foreseen that one lives that will control the universe […] The Chosen One is the key. He who controls Skywalker will control everything.”
Obviously this is not the prophecy the Jedi heard, but it’s one that I’m sure Darth Sidious knew about. And if you look at the saga, that’s what happens: Whoever is controlling Anakin controls how galactic events go. Whether it’s Sidious, Obi-wan, Qui-gon, Padme, or Luke. In Return of the Jedi, Palpatine loses control of Anakin, and Luke gains control.
I’m not even going to begin to unravel that one, but if you watch the linked video you’ll see that Lucas was heavily involved in these episodes because they needed to “get the Force right.” Although not canon, the episodes were released in 2011, one year before the sale. Interesting, but why do we care? It’s the timing.
Old Canon, Legends, and “Transitional Canon”
Way back in 2012, the year of the Disney sale, Lucasfilm produced Book of Sith, which would be a companion piece to The Jedi Path, which was released two years earlier. At first glance, they just look like novelty gifts, and as any fan will tell you whenever you bring up Legends, they were de-canonized in the blanket de-canonization of everything that wasn’t movies or TV shows, and they don’t count anymore.
The issue I have with dismissing these books is that they deal heavily with Clone Wars era topics that never existed prior to the show. Not only that, they were re-released together as a box set item the year after Lucasfilm sold to Disney, when the sequel trilogy had already been sketched out and had gone into pre-visualization.
These books describe in detail the ideas that the sequel trilogy is built on. These are conceptual, big picture things that you don’t just change. The Mortis arc, for example, isn’t just some cobbled together script they wrote for an episode—it was a carefully crafted part of a larger world and narrative. A foundation.
It’s for that reason that I call this “Transitional Canon.” It’s not technically canon, but it probably is.
What do the Jedi have to say about the Chosen One prophecy in The Jedi Path book?
We don’t know because the Jedi’s Chosen One prophecy is blanked out, presumably by Sidious, which sort of further muddies the waters as to the true nature of the Jedi prophecy. However, the Book of Sith does provide some thoughts on the matter. In Book of Sith, you will find another prophecy about their own “Chosen One”:
The Sith’ari will be free of limits.
The Sitha’ari will lead the Sith and destroy them.
The Sith’ari will raise the Sith from the dead and make them stronger.
At this point, it seems as though Lucasfilm is intentionally mystifying the nature of the chosen one prophecy, even though George Lucas had previously defined it. To me, that looks like a deliberate change made in preparation for the future.
Those aren’t the only mentions of it, however. The Book of Sith goes on to further connect the Chosen One prophecy and Mortis, through none other than Darth Plagueis, as he contemplates both the Jedi prophecy and the Sith prophecy. Darth Plagueis goes on to say:
Yet many of the Jedi treat the legend of Mortis as literal truth. They believe that the Chosen One will prevent these gods and demons from tearing the universe asunder– that their champion will be a vessel of pure Force energy.
So we come back to midi-chlorians. These organisms allow beings to live and provide a connection to the Force. If bred in sufficient quantities, midi-chlorians can even conceive a new life form and bestow upon it powers greater than any Jedi has ever dreamed generating a vergence in the force.
If I induce midi-chlorians to create such a being, my handiwork would fit all the descriptions of their chosen one. But he would be an agent of my will. How fitting that the misguided reliance on superstition could lead to a Sith creation that is hailed by the Jedi as a savior.
Certainly this quote describes exactly what is depicted in December’s issue of Darth Vader. Even more still, earlier in the text, Plagueis explains his plans to try this out on “slaves purchased from the Hutts“:
But eventually I succeeded, first with small creatures, then with slaves purchased from the Hutts.
This certainly sounds like Shmi Skywalker, and the Vader comic is an in-canon depiction of Darth Sidious carrying out parts of Plaugueis’ original plan. The important thing to note here is the Darth Plagueis story we get in Book of Sith is completely different than the story we get in the Plagueis novel. In the novel, Plagueis never experiments on Hutt slaves. Instead, he temporarily revives someone and the Force creates Anakin as a reaction to fight back. In the Book of Sith, it’s implied that Plagueis sought to create a false chosen one.
Given the timing, this all begs the question why did the role of Darth Plagueis and his connection to the Chosen One prophecy make this shift one year before The Force Awakens started pre-production?
There’s a lot to consider here, but there does seem to have been a suspicious amount of changes done to old canon the year before pre-production on the Sequel Trilogy. To see some of those changes come to fruition in new canon comics suggests that some of the late-Clone Wars era literature might be worth a second look. If you’re curious about the where the sequel trilogy is going to end up, reverse engineering the creative process at Lucasfilm is a good place to start. The timing suggests it’s because they were laying the foundation for the Sequel Trilogy. If Anakin is a false chosen one, and was created by the Sith, then it opens the door for the sequel trilogies where we explore who the real Chosen One is.
Is Anakin Skywalker a false chosen one? Maybe, but his story arc and ultimate redemption are in a way no less valid if he is the creation of Sidious. His life set the ball rolling for this saga, and it could continue for much longer if there are many more potential Chosen One candidates going forward.
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