10 Things About Anakin That Don't Make Sense

The Star Wars universe has introduced us to so many memorable characters throughout its existence, but none more so than Anakin Skywalker. The original trilogy would confirm that he's once a Jedi Knight, like Obi-Wan, but who turns to the dark side of the Force before the events of the first film. It wouldn't be until 1999 when the first of the first film of the prequel trilogy was released that we would be introduced to a pre-Vader Anakin, setting up his tragic backstory. Thanks to the expanded media, such as the TV series The Clone Wars, we have gotten an even deeper look into his backstory. However, the more we get, the more questions it seems to pose.

So today, we are going to look at 10 confusing points about Anakin that don't make sense:

10. Why Did He Actually Build Threepio?

During the events of The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn happens upon a young boy on Tatooine named Anakin Skywalker and believes him to be the prophesized "Chosen One" from legend who would bring balance to the Force. Young Anakin (or "Ani" as he goes by at the time) takes Jinn and Padme Amidala to his home for refuge during a sandstorm. He takes Padme into one of the rooms to show her a droid he's working on and it turns out to be none other than C-3PO himself. Anakin states he made the protocol droid for his mom, but fans can't help but wonder why. As a slave, it seems unlikely that she would need a droid fluent in over six million forms of communication, so it's likely that this was a very blatant attempt to link the two trilogies and a way of providing Threepio with an origin story of his own, linked to the main story.

9. How Did He Not Know About Artoo?

Sticking with the droid theme a little longer, one of the most debated questions by fans is around Vader and R2-D2 seemingly not knowing who the other is. During the events of the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars, we see that Anakin and Artoo are a match made in heaven. Anakin has even been shown to be extremely defensive of the droid. So why then does he not seem to recognize him during the original trilogy?

Considering that Artoo has been shown to help for many a plot, it would seem strange that Vader would not look to remove the droid from the heroes' team altogether. Fans continue to speculate, with some giving pretty amazing theories and reasons. The truth of it, though, seems to lie in the fact the original trilogy came out first, so the details of the story couldn't be changed after Artoo became such a prominent character.

8. His Dialogue With Dooku In Episode III Doesn't Make Sense

Not long into Revenge of the Sith, Anakin and Obi-Wan find Chancellor Palpatine and begin to rescue him only to be interrupted by Count Dooku. When they are about to begin dueling, Anakin tells Dooku his powers have doubled since the last time they met, to which the great Christopher Lee replies, "twice the pride, double the fall."

It's a nice little scene which confirms that Anakin's arrogance is still continuing to grow, and it made perfect sense considering the last time they dueled was at the end of Attack of the Clones, set three years prior. The problem here comes, again, from the expanded media. The Clone Wars shows that Anakin and Dooku dueled many times, even as late as Season 6, meaning this line of dialogue doesn't really make sense anymore.

7. Never Talking To Obi-Wan About Padme

Anakin was Padawan to Obi-Wan for a very long time, and they went through a lot together. It's clear that he considers Obi-Wan to be a father figure, even mentioning it in Attack of the Clones. So it seems strange that he would not speak to him about any part of his life with Padme, especially when the visions start and she is with child.

There was intended to be a scene in Revenge of the Sith in which Obi-Wan tells Padme he always suspected, but didn't say anything. However, it was left out of the final version of the film. (Not that it would have made much difference.) It's very obvious, throughout the last two films that Anakin has a strange obsession with Padme. So why didn't he and Obi-Wan discuss it? Seems like the events would have played out completely differently had they spoken about it.

6. How Did He Not Know Padme Was Pregnant?

By the time Revenge of the Sith begins, Padme is fairly far along in her pregnancy. However, Anakin doesn't find out until he returns from his mission to save the Chancellor and she tells him. However, season 7 of The Clone Wars takes place just before and during the events of this film, and we can clearly see Padme is pregnant. Yet neither he nor any other character it seems has any idea. She may have dressed strategically in the Senate, but there's no way Anakin wouldn't notice the very obvious bump, surely.

5. How Did He And Padme Not Get Caught?

So this is one that actually really does annoy me. Whilst it's not exactly difficult to keep a relationship secret, the fact that one is a Jedi and one is a high ranking Senator and former Queen of an entire planet, makes it fairly hard to believe it was as easy to keep secret. We see Anakin living with Padme. Surely someone must have noticed him swinging by her home every night. Doesn't she have security?

The biggest issue I have with this, though, comes from the scene mentioned above, when he finds out she is pregnant. He runs over to Padme, who is suspiciously hiding behind a pillar, then kisses her. We can still see the senators walking away with Palpatine and Master Windu just seconds before this happens. How did no one see that?

They also share a couple of intimate moments during Attack of the Clones right in front of Obi-Wan during the Battle of Geonosis.

4. Why Is He Not Referenced More?

During the events of the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars, it is widely known that Anakin Skywalker is considered to be one of the greatest and most powerful Jedi ever to wield a lightsaber. As mentioned previously, he is believed to be the "Chosen One," yet he is barely mentioned at all throughout the rest of the saga. Vader is discussed, but never Anakin. You would think, in all that time with Obi-Wan and Yoda, Luke would know about who is father was before turning, but nope.

Again, this is down to the order in which the films were released. However, the sequel trilogy doesn't really seem to have a valid reason for this. Considering it was the end of the Skywalker saga, Anakin should have gotten a bit more, considering he did start it.

3. Was He The Chosen One Or Not?

Okay, so this one easily has the potential to cause fights amongst fans. However, it is never actually confirmed at any point onscreen whether or not he is the "Chosen One." Based on the prequel and original trilogies, it would appear that he is. Although he turns to the dark side and helps wipe out pretty much all the Jedi, he redeems himself and throws Palpatine down a shaft in the Death Star, killing him and bringing balance back to the Force.

Confusingly though, with the release of the sequel trilogy, it turns out Palpatine doesn't die, but instead transfers his consciousness to a clone or clones (or something like that), meaning Anakin dies not having ended the Emperor, leaving it to Rey to do so. Fans have now begun arguing over Rey being the "Chosen One" in the end as she has, as it stands at the moment at least, ended Palpatine's reign for good. Add to that we hear Anakin tell her to bring balance back to the Force as he did, but he didn't?

So far, the details of the legend have been pretty sketchy, but maybe one day we will finally get an answer to it.

It's also worth noting that many fans consider Luke to be the Chosen One, seeing as he manages to bring Anakin back to the light and helps defeat the Emperor.

2. Why Was He Padawan To Obi-Wan Kenobi

So before we make this point, it's worth mentioning that I don't have any beef against Obi-Wan. Ewan McGregor has portrayed the character beautifully, but at the time he takes Anakin as his Padawan, he has barely stopped being one himself. Following the death of his master, Qui-Gon Jinn, Kenobi defeats Darth Maul, allowing him to become a Jedi Knight through defeating a Sith instead of completing the normal trials a Padawan would go through.

From the very first meeting with Anakin, it's clear he is extremely strong with the Force and will likely grow up and become an extremely powerful Jedi. So it seems a bit strange that his teachings would be left to someone with such little experience. There are at least 100 well established Jedi Knights and Masters who would possibly have been better suited to train Anakin and keep him in check. If it is believed that he would be the "Chosen One," surely it would have made more sense for someone like Master Windu or even Master Yoda himself to train him.

1. What Are The Details Of His Birth?

One of the most talked about points surrounding Anakin is how he actually came to be. In The Phantom Menace, it is established that he has no father. Shmi Skywalker explains that she birthed him and raised him, but couldn't actually explain how this happened.

It is never mentioned again throughout any of the films or TV shows; it's just accepted. Now, if you're on the Jedi Council and a fellow Jedi explains that they came across a random boy who was seemingly birthed from immaculate conception and is very strong with the Force, surely this would raise a few red flags, no? Add to the fact that the Sith have just returned around the same time after a thousand years and the timing seems a bit off, yet no one seems to care.

The Marvel comic series Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith by Charles Soule seemed to suggest that the Emperor himself manipulated midi-chlorians within Shmi to make her pregnant before the events of the prequels. However, Soule himself and Matt Martin from Lucasfilm Story Group have said that this is not the intention of the vision Vader experiences. We've yet to actually get more proper details around all this.

Well, there you have it. Ten confusing points about Anakin. Can you think of anymore?

Until next time!

Written By Jordan McGlinchey

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