No, the Jedi Council did not fail Anakin.
There’s this notion that, in the Prequels, the Jedi Council failed Anakin, be it by not noticing his fall to the Dark Side or by not granting him the rank of master or “telling him to repress his fears on his first day”. And, like… no.
Lucas made it clear multiple times: the only person to blame for Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side is Anakin himself (and Palpatine, who manipulated him into making the choice he made).
So here’s a breakdown of Anakin’s relationship with the Council throughout the Prequels era. Complete with GIFs and quotes by Lucas.
Anakin & the Council in Episode I
A lot of people say that the Council berated Anakin for being afraid. Not true.
If you take into consideration the fact that Lucas has stated that Jedi are allowed to feel emotions, including love, then it becomes evident that Anakin being afraid wasn’t the problem.
Anakin refusing to admit he’s afraid was the problem. That’s what they were testing for. The whole time, the Jedi are basically telling Anakin:
“Look, we’re mind-reading wizards, we know you’re afraid, you’re thinking about your Mom, it’s normal… so when we ask ‘how are you feeling?’ the answer is…?”
… and Anakin consistently dodges the question and refuses to admit he’s scared.
And that’s not what a Jedi is supposed to do. A Jedi should embrace their fears, then overcome them. Being a Jedi means accepting, confronting and mastering your emotions, not repressing them.
Which is what the Jedi Council was trying to tell Anakin. It’s okay to be afraid, but you can’t keep it bottled up inside.
And keep in mind… they know that dealing with your emotions in a healthy way is a hard thing to do (especially for someone coming from a slave background, like Anakin), which is why they originally say “no” to him joining the Order.
They know Anakin would struggle to fit in the Jedi mold, they know that Qui-Gon did a very foolish thing by taking this 9-year-old away from his mother and then insisting to make him a Padawan right away, without even going through an adjustment period with the younglings.
“I think it is obvious that he [Qui-Gon] was wrong in Episode I and made a dangerous decision, but ultimately this decision may be correct. […] Anakin is the chosen one, and he did bring peace at last with his own sacrifice.”
- Cut Magazine, 1999
“So here we’re having Qui-Gon wanting to skip the early training and jump right to taking him on as his Padawan learner, which is controversial, and ultimately, the source of much of the problems that develop later on.”
- The Phantom Menace, Director’s Commentary, 1999
But they take a chance on Anakin and become his adoptive family.
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