#cinna meta

[cinnacelestial]

Yeah, Anakin may be tough and masculine "cool guy" in TCW — if you think that this is better for an action show, — but it would be much better if he took off that mask when he's with Padmé and was more tender and sentimental with her.

The point of their relationship is their mutual sincerity, but TCW Anidala just continue to pretend for some reason.

I don't think that everything in the Jedi Trial (2004) feels right, but Anakin writing a love letter and crying over it feels more canonical, than TCW Anakin. I can say the same about the old Clone Wars comics, where Anakin thinks about Padmé a lot and receives tender love messages from her. The legends are weird sometimes, but at least you believe in Anidala love which makes a much better match with their first meeting in the beginning of the RotS.

[lovely-tothe-bone]

"It's certain from Venia's last words that we all know I won't be returning. Does the whole world know it? I wonder. I look at Cinna. He knows, certainly. But as promised, there's no danger of tears from him.

Katniss Everdeen, Catching Fire pg 247

One of the questions in this week's #toastedthg is whether Cinna knew he would die for his stunt with the wedding dress. This line struck me with a resounding yes. I don't think he knew when or where but he would have known the risk was real. I think it's less of a question of if he knew he would be killed for doing it and more about him already being willing to die for the cause. Anyone who is in on the rebellion would know the risks. Death would be far below the highest concern when it's obvious that Snow's torture is widely known of. I also think Katniss misreads him here. He knows he won't be seeing her again because he is going to be picked up by Snow for torture or death and that she is going to 13. That he will never see her again no matter what and he has very much accepted his fate. He accepted it when he joined the rebellion. He accepted it when he styled her the way he did each step of the first Games. Every choice he made to support Katniss and the rebellion was him stepping closer to death.

I think the real hint lies in Mockingjay though. He took careful steps to ensure his creation and belief in Katniss was protected in the event of his death. Detailing the uniform in his sketchbook and writing I'm still betting on you at the end, giving it to Plutarch once it was complete (weeks before the Games but after the Quell announcement, I believe he immediately set to work after the announcement), crafting the uniforms and either giving them to a rebel or stashing them somewhere to be collected once they were leaving for the hovercraft. My headcanon is that he gave the uniforms to Haymitch because he would only trust Haymitch with something meant to preserve Katniss' life during the rebellion.

[cinnacelestial]

Another reason I don't like TCW Anakin.

The movies really show him maturing. At the beginning of RotS, he's more patient, he doesn't use anger in battle, he doesn't want to kill Dooku (well, he does, but he's trying to choose another way). He talks and thinks a lot about how Jedi should act (especially in the novelization): he embraces the teachings as truth and laments his inability to uphold them (that is, he wants to be a better Jedi). The fall of such a man is a tragedy, it is something I could imagine as a sad story of Vader. The fall of a man with the "Let's commit a war crime while Obi-Wan isn't looking" vibe is a pattern, which no longer seems so tragic.

(In one of the TCW books, all the Jedi collectively decided to kill Dooku, and this doesn't jibe at all with Anakin's internal conflict in the films about how this is not a Jedi way).

[cinnacelestial]

Can we discuss that moment in the Legends when teen Anakin was drugged against his will with an antidepressant, allowing him to live and think like a normal person without PTSD? He liked it, but he hated himself for this and was ashamed to tell Obi-Wan??????? And also he received condemnation from Ferus?????? This story is terrible on every level. How did the entire Temple miss the fact that the kid was just dying in front of everyone, slowly and painfully?

upd: I love Ferus btw, no neg to him!

[cinnacelestial]

Considering Anakin had always treated droids with empathy, the war broke him far more than other Jedi. "Killing" became the norm for him, while the Jedi likely didn't even perceive it that way. The war forced them to sacrifice people, witness loss, and engage in politics, but none of them killed so many creatures on a regular basis, receiving honor and gratitude for it.

Maybe I'm wrong! This is more nuanced, I know.

[cinnacelestial]

Yes, Ferus and Anakin's relationship was bad, but Ferus was one of the few people who cared about Anakin.

So delulu part of me naively believes that if Ferus had stayed in the Order until the RotS events, he'd have noticed that Anakin hadn't eaten or slept for a week and was on the verge of a psychotic episode, and Ferus would have pestered everyone about it.

(Actually, I don't believe in most "what ifs" because Anakin sensed his destiny from childhood, so he's doomed by all narrative versions.)

[cinnacelestial]

Ferus's haters don't like the fact that he was right about the darkness in Anakin (JQ), and that Obi-Wan also decided he was right (LotJ). Like, Ferus is "too perfect" and wasn't blinded by love like Obi-Wan.

But that's not the point of the LotJ. In the process of studying Vader's birth, Ferus realizes he was wrong, and that Anakin's fall wasn't caused by his big scary natural inner darkness, but by a complex tragedy. Therefore, he forgives him and believes there's light somewhere inside of him.

Obi-Wan was right when he explained to young Ferus that Anakin had his reasons for being weird, he was acting as a good master/parent (JQ), and he wasn't entirely right when he agreed with Ferus after the RotS. But Obi-Wan was in a serious crisis and didn't know the context of Anakin's fall, so let's forgive him for that.

Ferus is cool not because he was right but because he understood he was wrong.

[cinnacelestial]

Living through trauma: Anakin VS Ferus

Ferus couldn't understand why Anakin hadn't left the Order after Darra's death. But the answer was this: they found themselves in opposite situations.

Ferus' actions led to Darra's death, and he found himself in a long decision-making crisis (this is his leitmotif). Roan's support helped him, but when Roan died, the crisis hit harder, almost leading him to the Dark Side.

Anakin's inaction led to Darra's death, and he chose to always act (like he always did before). Shmi's death (just a year or two later) and the war only made it worse. He thought he had no choice at all, his only way — to do the most in limiting circumstances and without support (this is one of his leitmotifs). You can say "but he had support", and this is true. But Obi-Wan, Yoda and Padmé inclined him to inaction, which wasn't even an option for him.