Rewatching PM and the scene where the Jedi council meet Anakin has given me some thoughts.
The Council says that they cannot see Anakin’s future. I think that’s because Anakin’s future hasn’t been decided yet. His future will be shaped by the choices that others make. One day Anakin will be an adult who decides to fall to the Dark Side. Anakin does have agency but his direction is influenced by those around him. Right now he’s not an adult. He’s nine and the adults around him are making decisions that will affect his life.
Yes the council cannot say with certainty that Anakin is the chosen one, but they do suspect he could be. And even if they don’t, there is evidence that Anakin was created by the Force itself. For a bunch of people who yammer on about listening to the Force, absolutely none of them do in this scenario. Like the Force could have easily created a kid within Republic space. One that the Jedi would definitely be able to detect and get at a young age and raise with all their rules and regulations. But the Force did NOT DO THAT! No the Force is like here is my son, the one that I intentionally had born in the Outer Rim where you do not go, and where he was so far away that none of you detected him. Also I only led a Jedi there once the boy was old enough to form attachments. A boy who hasn’t become an emotional constipated person. Who feels fear but stands before you with his head held high. Who is feeling emotions but doing the scary thing anyway and not just pretending he feels nothing at all. Maybe you should all look at this kid and wonder what lesson I’m trying to impart here?
And instead of realizing that the Force is literally presenting them with the exact type of child the Force wants, what does the council do? They themselves become afraid and cling even tighter to their ways. They outright reject the notion of a kid with those qualities.
The Force is trying to show the Jedi what balance can look like. That balance is achievable. Anakin at nine is terrified but fearless. He is kind and loving and strong. Despite his fear and his attachment to his mother, Anakin does leave her. He goes to a new world and joins the Jedi and he doesn’t go back for her until he literally can’t ignore the Force anymore. For someone that people claim has unhealthy attachment, Anakin did exactly what was expected of him. Of course he missed her but he let her go to focus on building his life.
Anakin is the most Force sensitive because he was not just born with Force abilities but because he is born OF the Force itself. And what is the Force? It’s a connection between all living beings. So naturally someone with that much connection to the Force is going to want to CONNECT WITH OTHER LIVING BEINGS! Only to end up in a place that says that feeling those connections is bad.
I’m on my first watch of the Clone Wars but it’s very obvious how different Anakin is from the other Masters. We see the difference in Ashoka too because she’s learning from Anakin.
In the episode where Anakin is injured, the other Masters is basically telling Ashoka to start letting Anakin go now. That in order to save everyone, Ashoka needs to focus on those that still have a chance. So just leave Anakin here and focus on getting help for those who can actually use it. Which yes, you can’t jeopardize everyone’s safety for one person who is dying. But also Anakin isn’t dead! The Master is basically like we should resign ourselves to Anakin dying and get help for the living. But the two goals were not mutually exclusive?! Instead of framing it to Ashoka as if you want a chance of helping Anakin, we need to work together to get help for both ourselves AND him. Leaving Anakin to get help was actually the only way to help Anakin. The decision for Ashoka to go was the right choice. The motivation the Master presented was very callous and uncaring. She was so detached that she didn’t actually care if Anakin lived or died. I mean hey if he happens to live that’s nice but helping him certainly wasn’t even on her list of goals.
There’s a lack of balance in that Master’s approach. She is so detached that she doesn’t care about individuals anymore. Only the grand plan of the mission. Balance isn’t becoming cold and unfeeling. It’s not like whelp he’s probably gonna die so we should stop caring. It’s trying to save all individuals while there’s still hope, and only accepting and moving on AFTER they’re dead. The balance is caring even if there’s nothing you can do and letting go after.
When Barriss and Ashoka were buried under the rubble of the droid factory, Anakin refused to give up. Luminaris was like it’s the will of the Force. Barriss was also resigned to her fate. She had taken the lessons of her master and knew that Luminaris wasn’t coming. Both of them were passive to what is happening. It’s like they decided that they had no control over what happens next and should just accept the inevitable. But Ashoka knew from experience that Anakin wouldn’t just sit around and start mourning her until he actually knew she was dead. Ashoka fought because that’s what Anakin taught her to do. Luminaris told Anakin that she hadn’t given up. But like, girl, you literally sat down in the dirt ready to start preparing yourself to mourn Barriss. That’s pretty much the definition of giving up. I guess by not give up she means she’s going to sit there passively and if it’s the will of the Force, somehow Barriss will survive or suddenly have the rubble shift?
Again lack of balance. Barriss and Luminaris are completely passive to the will of the Force. But the Force may connect people but it doesn’t dictate every individual action. You can’t be like I’ll sit here and let the Force do all the work. You have to have the drive to do it yourself. Anakin and Ashoka had the drive to actually save themselves. Ashoka and Barris survived the explosion. Luminaris even stated that she felt their lifeforces. The Force did its part by making sure they survived, now you have to kick in and actually get them out.
These scenarios show that the Masters have become passive and uncaring for individual lives. They have swung too far away from emotions that they themselves have become unbalance. Anakin has the passion and the drive to save the lives of those around him.
It's why a single Sith is able to keep the visions of the entire council clouded for so many years. Palpatine is able to do this because he is actively working to obscure the Force. While there are 10,000 Jedi, they are passive and wait for the Force to choose whether or not to show them anything.
With the Blue Shadow Virus, Anakin is dedicated to saving all lives. Obi-Wan is like, you have to be prepared to sacrifice a few lives to save more. And Obi-Wan isn't wrong. But it doesn't mean Anakin shouldn't try to save everyone either. Ankain pushes himself harder than anyone else, because he wants to save everyone. It's not always possible, but at least he knows that he tried. How is he supposed to live with himself if he just lays down and allows things to happen? Not trying is what happened with his mom, and the lack of doing anything is what haunts him about her death.
When people talk about Shmi's death, the focus is always on how Anakin used the Dark Side to kill the Tuskens. Which, yes, but the thing is, that Shmi's death was actually about how there wasn't any balance. Anakin was having nightmares for a month. He kept asking Obi-Wan about them. And what was Anakin told? To let it go. To not think about his attachments. This is too far in the wrong direction. Everyone knows that dreams can be prophetic. I get the impression that Anakin hasn't consistently had dreams about his mom until recently. I think until that point, Anakin had learned to let his mom go. But once again, because the focus was so heavy on 'don't be attached' that no one looked any further while the Force was sending messages blaring that an innocent woman was being tortured and that something should be done about that! Anakin was pressured into not going to Tatoonie to check for himself and his mom died. Then he swung to opposite direction and was filled with hate and rage. And while yes, a lot of that hate and rage was at the Tuskens, I mean they did hold an innocent woman hostage and literally torture her for a month straight. But I'm sure a lot of his hate and rage was also for himself. Because he had the ability to do something and he didn't. If Anakin had come as soon as he was able and had fought with everything he had, and the outcome had been inevitable despite his actions, he probably could have lived with himself much easier. But in the end, it's obvious that if Anakin had come when he first started having the dreams, he could have saved her since she lasted this long. If the Jedi code had allowed for Anakin to worry and check on someone he cared about when he was having these dreams, a woman would have lived and Anakin would have been balanced in his actions.
I see Anakin as naturally being the most balanced in the Force. By that I mean, that he does what is necessary to save innocents.
When Poggle is captured and the Jedi need to get information to save innocent lives that are being mind controlled by those worms, Anakin does what needs to be done. The Jedi would allow themselves to take the moral high ground and let everyone on the ship die, just to say that they didn't let their emotions rule them. Anakin went in and scared the ever living daylights out of Poggle. But also, Poggle is not some innocent person. He is very gleefully watching the Jedi's fear and knows full well that everyone infected by the worms is being tortured and he's loving in it. There reaches a point where some people are so violent, that violence is the only language they speak. It's very obvious that Anakin used the Dark Side. But he wasn't consumed by it. Anakin used his emotions just enough to get the information he needed. It didn't look like Anakin was enjoying himself, just getting a job done. And once Anakin got what he needed, he stopped. In that moment, Anakin was balanced enough to tap into the Dark Side and be motivated by emotion, while also being able to pull himself back out to do the right thing and save everyone.
When Padme is working with Clovis, Anakin is worked up. Yes, he orders Padme to not go, but he knows he can't control her and is just trying to convince her to stay in the absolute worst way possible. Although most of Anakin's issues with Padme doing this mission stem from the fact that she is an untrained civilian who is being used as a spy and only a small part is because it's with a boyfriend that he had no idea about. And yes, Anakin is jealous. But when Anakin walks in on Padme and Clovis with their arms wrapped around each other, what does Anakin do? He lets it go and walks away. He takes the disk and makes the choice to trust Padme to not let things get too far. He puts the mission above his emotional attachment. Almost like he has the ability to not be unhealthily attached and do what needs to be done. He gives the disk to Artoo and tells him to leave and make sure the mission is a success. He's completed what he has to on the mission, now he can focus on the other half which is checking that Padme is okay. Anakin found balance on that mission between making sure they got what they needed and not abandoning Padme.
The Jedi themselves have an unhealthy attachment. Their attachment is to the Code. When someone is in danger, they are so busy trying to show off how detached they are, that they are willing to passively allow someone they love to die, just to prove that they can let go. The Sith are incorrect in saying people should be ruled by their emotions. But the Jedi are wrong in saying that people shouldn't have any emotions at all. But neither side is willing to budge on their stance. Anakin is caught in the middle trying to be both but that is not what either side wants. For both sides, it is all or nothing. That is why the Force needed to bring balance. It could have easily been that the Jedi council recognized that Anakin was brought to them for a reason, and learned how to become balanced themselves. Instead they clung to their old ways and ended up creating an ultimatum for Anakin. Anakin wasn't allowed to remain neutral. In the end, Anakin ended up destroying the Jedi, but he also killed the Sith. He got rid of both sides that were too extreme. Which allows Luke to restart the Jedi with little to no knowledge of the old ways. Without the influence of needing to be one or the other, Luke will naturally create a Jedi order that is balanced.
