A new look at the Star Wars Saga the weekend of the ROGUE ONE opening
Prelude:
Friday night, my kids attended a Star Wars release party. Last night, we went to see ROGUE ONE. Excellent movie for the Star Wars junkie. We concluded that it was Episode 3.8. We are a Star Wars family. Even our Halloween celebrated Star Wars. Don’t worry. No spoiler alerts in this article!
Introduction:
Watching Episode III (Revenge of Sith) is an important precursor to watching ROGUE ONE. This is the episode where Anakin Skywalker submits to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader. My kids thought this episode was awesome. Yet, after watching Episode III again I have some new thoughts. In fact, George Lucas helped. Commentary on deleted scenes is included with the DVD.
What does the Dark Side mean?
I think the dark side is a metaphor for something in all of us. Been down that rabbit hole? Each and every day, we are asked to make choices. We know what the “right thing to do” is. We all want to walk that line. During moments of weakness, we may be tempted to make the “wrong choice”. What we do at those pivotal moments may shape our story for a lifetime. Or does it?
Leading up to the Big Moment
I would like to present a new interpretation about why Anakin chose the dark side. Anakin had just left Sheev Palpatine’s office. The Sith Lord (Darth Sidious) essentially told Anakin that he was tied to “powers you don’t learn from Jedi’s”. What happened next was not as obvious.
Skywalker went immediately back to the Jedi council to report what he found. In fact, he ran into Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel Jackson). Remember, Yoda was with the Wookie’s. Obi Wan was trying to take down General Grievous. So, your next most senior member of the Jedi council was Master Windu.
When Anakin said “Counselor Palpatine is the Sith Lord!”, Master Windu responded “You are kidding! I will go there and handle this” At that point, he ordered Anakin to stay at the Jedi Temple.
The Strange Lack of Judgment
The weirdest thing was when Master Windu chose to go take on a Sith lord without telling Yoda or anyone else. He simply brought some regular Jedi’s. What was he thinking? It took two seconds for Darth Sidious to stab (literally stab) the two assisting Jedi.
Why did he not send a message out to the entire Jedi network? Why did they not come in with strength? Pretty bad judgment. Everyone knows taking on a Sith Lord would be a big battle.
The conflict and additional bad judgement
Then the light saber fight began. Master Windu and Sidious went at it until the Sith pulled out his famous EVIL LIGHTENING powers. Why do only dark side Jedi’s use lightening power? Remember Count Dooku? More on him later.
Then, the moment. Anakin couldn’t stand it. He had to go and see what was happening. He walked in with Sidious getting deformed by Windu’s light saber deflecting the evil lightning.
Darth Sidious is yelling, “help me…I can’t last much longer”. Then, Master Windu said “I am ending this now!” Anakin said something very interesting.
“You can’t kill him. You must allow him to stand trial.” This was true in Jedi law. Jedi’s must not kill anyone that is defenseless. At that moment, Windu had him under control. Yet, Anakin broke that same rule when he killed Count Dooku. In fact, he was told to kill Dooku by Chancellor Palpatine.
The Big Moment, The Big Question
What happened next is well remembered by all that have seen the movie. Master Windu went to finish off the Sith Lord and Anakin cut off Windu’s hands. Windu was in shock. Then, Sidious took control and killed Windu by throwing him off a balcony.
Did Windu’s decision to break Jedi code cause the destruction of the Jedi? In fact, did it cause the rise of the Empire? Did he set the wheels in motion to push Anakin over the edge at a moment of weakness? We all know that Anakin was susceptible to making a bad choice. We also know that he was having visions of Padme dying. Right when Anakin told Windu to not kill Palpatine, a moral conflict was created.
Even though Sidious needed to be eliminated right there, the Jedi have a strict code. It was also wrong for Anakin to attack Windu. This moral conflict was too much for Anakin to handle.
What If
If Windu agreed to try to take Sidious alive, one of many things could have happened:
1) Darth Sidious could have resisted and forced a self defense kill which may have had the help of Anakin. Anakin would have pleaded with Palpatine to surrender.
2) They would have controlled Palpatine (or he would have surrendered) and took him to the council for trial. Chancellor Palpatine had a lot of support in the senate, so he may have rolled the dice.
I think the evidence would have likely prosecuted him. Especially based on information in the deleted scenes (more below).
3) The Sith Lord could have escaped. At this point, the word would have been out and the manhunt would begin. With the Jedi intact, the potential takeover of the republic would have been slight.
4) The Senate would have definitely removed Chancelor Palpatine and regained control of the republic.
Also, certain things would have never happened:
1) Anakin might not have attacked Windu and could have been coached back to his Jedi mindset.
2) The Jedi Temple would never have been attacked by Anakin.
3) The Clones would not have had a surprise attack on all the Jedi out in the field.
4) Padme would never have chased Anakin to the Mustafar (the Lava Planet) and that course of events would not have occurred. Luke and Leia would be born and raised by Padme and possibly Anakin.
A mid article conclusion
It is all Master Windu’s fault!
A Criminal’s Mind
I have often wondered how many criminals started their life of crime with one bad moment. The human brain protects itself. When we commit horrific acts of violence, we go into shock. I bet part of that shock reflex is a justification for that violence. In a way, do we justify that one act by giving in to the dark side as a way of life?
Right after Anakin cut off Windu’s hands and the Sith Lord killed him, Anakin yelled “What did I do!!!”. He knew he went to the point of no return. At that moment, he committed to Lord Sidious. He had nowhere to go but the dark side.
If a human commits a horrible violent crime, is this a brain defense? In other words, once you realize you did something “unforgiveable” do many just submit to evil? Is there any way to recover?
The Final Dagger
When Padme died, they noted that there was no medical reason. She likely just gave into death. She didn’t want to live in a world where the one she loved became evil. Lord Sidious used this information to put the final dagger in the Anakin. Darth Vader asked what happened. Lord Sidious said “In your anger, you killed her”.
Now, there was no reason to ever look at anything in the light. Lord Vader was forever in the dark.
Did the Dark Side start to invade Samuel Jackson?
One side question might be whether the dark side temporarily entered Windu. Let’s create a new Star Wars legal defense; Temporary Dark Side Insanity. That moment when he was going to kill Sidious was a moment of anger (not self-preservation). Did the Dark Side of the force create the events that had Windu act the way he did?
Deleted scenes and more back story
Editing a movie must be the hardest part. There were a whole bunch of scenes that were really cool. One was Yoda flying off to the Dagobah system. This was a beautiful set up for Episode V (The Empire Strikes Back) when Luke went to see Yoda (after Obi Wan sent him).
A more important set of scenes was a whole plot line that was skipped in the final movie. Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) and step father of Princess Leia Organa apparently formed a committee of senators.
The scenes showed meetings that they were concerned with the excessive use of power by Chancellor Palpatine. In fact, they were very worried that democracy did not exist anymore. In the scenes, they met more than once with Padme. This is because Padme was the outspoken Senator (Amidala) that made a motion to give the Chancellor special powers.
Padme agreed there was something fishy going on. In fact, one of the deleted scenes was her challenging Palpatine in his office. Guess who was looking on? That’s right, Anakin! In fact, they started to have a personal conflict over Palpatine.
I think this is important because the final version of Episode III implied that Padme was completely in the dark on the events that were brewing. Yet, there was some conflict between Anakin, Padme and Chancellor Palpatine. This may explain further why Anakin was doubting his relationship and ability to protect Padme. It also confirms that Anakin did have some doubts about Palpatine. This supports my theory that he could have helped Windu subdue Palpatine.
Dooku was a lame apprentice compared to Darth Maul
Lord Sidious had (3) apprentices. Darth Maul, Count Dooku and Darth Vader. We can all agree that Darth Vader was the toughest and best apprentice. But, Count Dooku dropped in skills before his demise.
In Episode II (Attack of the Clones), Count Dooku put on a serious display of evil Jedi skills against Yoda. He used his light saber, lightening powers and even telekinesis. He was an even match for Yoda. So, what happened in Episode III? Did he stop training? Was he not feeling well? Anakin took care of him in a couple of minutes. Anakin was tough, but not any tougher than Yoda! Not impressed Dooku, weak effort.
My vote for 2nd best apprentice is definitely Darth Maul. He gets points for the double light saber and taking out Master Qui-Gon Jinn
Best Jedi Fighters ever (Do we need a playoff system?)
Is there a UJR? That would be a Universal Jedi Rating. I think this would be a great debate. Who was the toughest Jedi ever? My vote is Master Obi Wan Kanobi. He has never lost head to head. He is also the only one to defeat Darth Vader. He also took out Darth Maul and General Grievous. The one time his lost (to Vader in Episode IV), he gave in to become part of the force. Let’s call this a withdrawal.
Vader would be second, since he defeated everyone including the Emperor (Episode IV – Return of the Jedi). What do you think? I can’t vote for Yoda. He couldn’t defeat Count Dooku. That immediately eliminates him from my TOP 2. Why does this discussion sound like a college football debate?
Chewbacca introduced but never saw Yoda again
Did you notice? Somehow, Yoda worked with Chewbacca in Episode III on the Wookie planet. When Yoda finally left the planet for the Dagobah system, what happened next? Somehow, he hooked up with Han Solo prior to Episode IV.
Conclusions
I am a little embarrassed I spent this much time on this article. At the same time, I couldn’t resist the temptations of the dark side. I was 10 years old in 1977. I was finishing a day at the Renaissance Fair. Waiting in line for archery, I was reminded that if we didn’t leave right now we would miss the new movie. That new movie was Star Wars. I stood in line for 2+ hours saw the official national opening of Star Wars. It was in Westwood, California (Downtown UCLA). The AVCO Theater was a common place for premiers. I even remember eating McDonalds in line. The line went around the block twice! Yes, it is only fitting that today I share this article with the world. Look forward to your comments! shortly.
Copyright Walter Oden – December 18th – 2016 – All rights reserved – Please see global copyright notice on sidebar of home page for additional notices
I Have an Idea 