Anakin Skywalker

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Anakin Skywalker was a legendary Human Jedi Knight who served the Galactic Republic in its final years, and later became Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. He was the son of Shmi Skywalker. Later in his life, he became the secret husband of Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, and became the father of the legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo. He was also the grandfather of Ben Skywalker, and Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin Solo. He was the great-grandfather of Allana, and an ancestor of Nat, Kol, and Cade Skywalker.

Although he would later become one of the most important people in the galaxy, Skywalker came from humble origins. He spent the first years of his life on Tatooine as a slave along with his mother. In 32 BBY, Skywalker met a Jedi by the name of Qui-Gon Jinn. After obtaining his freedom, Jinn took Skywalker and departed from Tatooine, though they had to leave Shmi Skywalker behind, something her son always resented. Skywalker took part in the Battle of Naboo, destroying the Droid Control Station despite his young age. Soon after, he joined the Jedi Order, becoming a Padawan to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Skywalker was believed to be the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy, one who would bring balance to The Force by destroying the Sith, which was why the Jedi Council chose to bend the Jedi Code and permit his training.

In 22 BBY, Skywalker was reunited with Padmé Amidala, the former queen of Naboo and new Senator of the Chommell Sector. They fell in love and married soon after the Battle of Geonosis, despite the Jedi Order's restrictions of Jedi, which kept them from making their marriage public. In the midst of these events, Skywalker also endured the violent death of his mother.

Skywalker fought in the Clone Wars with his master and became a Jedi Knight in 20 BBY. Throughout the conflict, Skywalker became an icon to the public, known as the "Hero With No Fear". Despite this, he carried with him a great sense of loss in addition to great anger. His inability to control these traits led to his downfall when, in 19 BBY, he turned to the dark side. Apprenticing to Darth Sidious, better known as his friend Chancellor Palpatine, he became Darth Vader. The Galactic Empire was founded, with Palpatine at the helm as Emperor. The Jedi were exterminated by Order 66, with fewer than a hundred surviving. Two who did live were Grand Master Yoda and Skywalker’s old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. His children, Luke and Leia, were born at this time, though Skywalker remained unaware of their existence.

As a master of the dark side, Vader became the scourge of the Jedi, continuing the Great Jedi Purge which would last until 1 BBY. An extension of the Emperor’s will, the Dark Lord was constantly on the move, traveling throughout the galaxy to defeat rebel uprisings or arrest corrupt Imperials. In 0 BBY the Empire’s great superweapon, the first Death Star was destroyed by a young Rebel pilot. Vader became obsessed with discovering the identity of this pilot, and spent the next several years searching. Vader eventually learned that the pilot’s name was Luke Skywalker, and he deduced that the boy was his son, born before the death of Amidala. Vader fought the Rebel Alliance while concocting a plan to turn his son to the dark side.

Palpatine, however, was aware of his plans, and initiated his own plot to make Skywalker his apprentice. In 4 ABY the two sides came together at Endor for one great battle to decide the fate of the galaxy. Skywalker surrendered to the Emperor, and in the throne room of the second Death Star, Palpatine attempted to turn the young Jedi to the dark side by having him duel Vader. Skywalker defeated Vader, but refused to give himself to the darkness, proclaiming himself a Jedi, like his father before him. When Palpatine attempted to kill Skywalker using Force lightning, Vader came to his son’s defense, saving him and killing Palpatine by throwing him down the main reactor core. Mortally wounded by the Force lightning, Vader died soon after. However, he died as Anakin Skywalker once more, having redeemed himself by saving his son.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life (42 BBY–32 BBY) 1.1.1 Discovery 1.2 Adolescence (32 BBY–22 BBY) 1.2.1 Obi-Wan's apprentice 1.2.2 Becoming a Jedi 1.2.3 Outbound Flight 1.2.4 Mission to Andara 1.2.5 Yaddle's sacrifice 1.2.6 Trailing Jenna Zan Arbor and Roy Teda 1.2.7 Confronting old adversaries 1.2.8 Growing up 1.3 Adult life (22 BBY–4 ABY) 1.3.1 Reunited with Amidala 1.3.2 Return to Tatooine 1.3.3 Battle of Geonosis 1.3.4 Marriage to Padmé 1.3.5 The Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY) 1.3.5.1 The Dark Reaper 1.3.5.2 Battle of Ohma-D'un 1.3.5.3 Battle of Muunilinst and Duel on Yavin IV 1.3.5.4 Battle on Skye 1.3.5.5 Rise of the Cortosis Battle Droids 1.3.5.6 Battle of Jabiim 1.3.5.7 Battle of Aargonar 1.3.5.8 Battle of Zaadja 1.3.5.9 Jedi Knight 1.3.5.10 Battle of Rendili and aftermath 1.3.5.11 A Hutt rescue 1.3.5.12 "Ghost Hand" 1.3.6 Transformation to Vader (19 BBY) 1.3.6.1 Rescuing the Chancellor 1.3.6.2 Fall to the dark side 1.3.6.3 A fateful choice 1.3.7 Rise of Darth Vader 1.3.7.1 Raid on the Jedi Temple 1.3.7.2 Mission to Mustafar 1.3.7.3 Duel on Mustafar and aftermath 1.3.8 Serving the Emperor 1.4 Galen's defection 1.5 Pre-Yavin 1.5.1 An old enemy 1.6 The Rebellion 1.6.1 Searching for the Death Star plans 1.6.2 Revenge 1.6.3 Battle of Yavin 1.6.4 Crash landing on Vaal 1.6.5 Aftermath 1.6.6 Suspicion 1.6.7 Construction of the Executor 1.6.8 Punishment 1.6.9 The son of Skywalker 1.6.10 Tao 1.6.11 Subjugation of the Tagge family 1.6.12 Monastery 1.6.13 Incompetence and Pursuit 1.6.14 Revision of Methods 1.6.15 Phelarion 1.6.16 Deception and Ambush 1.6.17 Hired Bait 1.6.18 Bargain and Recovery 1.6.19 Xizor 1.6.20 Completion of the Executor 1.6.21 Griff's Failure 1.6.22 Culling the Military 1.6.23 Search for Information 1.6.24 Mimban 1.6.25 Request denied 1.6.26 Awarru Tark 1.6.27 Hoth and aftermath 1.6.28 Conflict on Bespin and aftermath 1.6.29 Redemption 1.7 Post mortem (4 ABY and beyond) 1.7.1 Righting wrongs 1.7.2 Spirit 1.7.3 Revelations of the past 2 Legacy 3 Personality 4 Padmé and Shmi 5 Luke and Leia 6 Appearance 7 Powers and abilities 7.1 Power and Force potential 7.2 Jedi Knight 7.3 Sith Lord 7.4 Lightsaber training 8 Lightsabers 8.1 Anakin's lightsabers 8.2 Vader's lightsabers 9 Interpretations of the prophecy 9.1 Anakin's possible "father" 9.2 The Sith'ari 10 Behind the scenes 10.1 Darth Vader as a cultural figure 10.2 Portrayal 10.3 Adherence to the Hero Cycle 10.4 Tragic Hero as Defined by Sophocles 10.5 Alternate endings 11 Appearances 11.1 As "Anakin Skywalker" 11.2 As "Darth Vader" 11.2.1 Non-canon appearances 12 Sources 13 Notes and references 14 See also 15 External links

Biography

Early life (42 BBY–32 BBY)

Anakin Skywalker was born in 41.9 BBY. According to the seminal historical work of Voren Na'al, the planet of his birth was Tatooine, but Anakin himself may have implied that he was only raised on the arid planet from around the age of three.^[2] Skywalker's mother, Shmi Skywalker, claimed that her son was conceived without a father, but could not explain how that had happened. It was the theory of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn that the will of the Force caused his birth. At that time, Skywalker and his mother became slaves to Gardulla the Hutt. Years later, Gardulla lost the boy and his mother in a podracing bet to a Toydarian junk dealer named Watto.^[6]

Even at a young age, Skywalker had a reputation for being able to build or repair anything. This was evidenced by his creation of a protocol droid named C-3PO as well as a podracer. Both were constructed from salvaged parts and nearly completed by the age of nine.^[6]

A child prodigy, Skywalker excelled at mathematics and engineering, but he was also daring and adventurous. He would often risk his own well being to help others, with little forethought or regard for the consequences of his actions. When he was only five years old, Skywalker scaled an immense dune to chase a herd of banthas away from hunters, despite almost collapsing from heat and exhaustion several times. Sometime later, while bartering with Jawas, Skywalker came across a wounded Tusken Raider and took care of it until the Tusken was taken away by his own people. A short time before the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace, Skywalker, his friend Kitster Banai, and several other youths narrowly avoided a run-in with Gardulla. After hearing of children who had been captured and imprisoned by Sebulba in hopes of selling them to Gardulla, Skywalker and his friends disguised themselves as Jawas and sneaked into Gardulla's estate to free the Ghostling children.^[source?]

At about eight years of age, Skywalker had his first experience with the Sith. While rummaging through Watto's junk heap, he located an ancient war droid. Hoping to recover a holoprojector for Watto, Skywalker incidentally activated a disturbing hologram, drowned in cries and screams and the strange mention of the word "Sith." Perplexed, Skywalker rushed to the stranded Republic Fighter Corps member who had told him earlier of the angels on the moons of Iego. The spacer, in shock, told him of the 4,000-year-old wrath of the Sith and how they eventually turned inward and fought each other, bringing about their own doom. He spoke of the belief that one Sith Lord had survived and extended the order's existence to this day. Little did Skywalker know that such rumors would soon play a major part in his life.^[7]

Discovery

In 32 BBY, Skywalker life changed forever. By happenstance, while working in Watto's shop, Skywalker met Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, R2-D2 and a young woman named Padmé Amidala. The young woman fascinated Skywalker so much that he asked if she was an angel. Amidala was not an angel, but a queen - Her Majesty Queen Amidala of Naboo in disguise as a simple handmaiden.

When a sandstorm began brewing, Skywalker offered his new-found friends shelter in the simple home he shared with his mother. There, Jinn and Amidala recounted their plight of how they ended up being stranded on Tatooine on their way to Coruscant because of a leak in their hyperdrive to the Skywalkers. Overwhelmed with compassion, Skywalker volunteered to enter a podrace, a daring and extremely dangerous contest. The prize money for winning would enable Skywalker's companions to purchase the parts needed to repair their starship. Though Shmi initially objected to the plan, Skywalker recalled her words that "the biggest problem in the universe [was that] nobody [helped] each other." Persuaded, Shmi reluctantly agreed to let her son race.

Just before the race, Jinn made a bet with Watto that, if Skywalker won, the boy would be freed. However, Watto specified one condition—that he roll a chance cube. If it was blue, Skywalker would be freed; red, Shmi would be freed instead. The die was weighted to land on red, but Jinn used the Force to make the cube flip to blue. The Toydarian, positive the boy would lose, accepted the results anyway. The reason for his assumption was obvious: normally, humans lacked the fast reactions needed to operate such a tremendously high-speed land vehicle. However, Skywalker's latent Force sensitivity, manifested in the form of limited prescience, gave the impression that the boy had lightning-fast reflexes. At the time, Skywalker, who dreamed of being a Jedi but lacked knowledge of the Force, believed his Force sensitivity was only his instinct that told him what he needed to do.

Because Skywalker won the race, Jinn was able to free him. However, the Jedi Master was unable to secure Shmi's release, and Skywalker was forced to choose between staying with his mother and becoming a Jedi. Skywalker chose to go with Qui-Gon, though he promised he would come back to free her. Even after the Battle of Naboo, in which Skywalker and his new companions were entangled, ended victoriously, neither the Jedi nor the Republic made any effort to emancipate her. Skywalker’s duties as a Jedi prevented him from freeing his mother himself, though she eventually obtained her freedom from Watto through the aid of a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars.^[8]

After departing to Mos Espa, Jinn and Skywalker approached the Naboo Royal Starship, but were attacked by Sith Lord Darth Maul, who sought to capture Queen Amidala. While Jinn engaged the Sith in battle, Skywalker rushed ahead and warned those already onboard. The ship lifted off and after rescuing Jinn, they left Tatooine behind, heading for Coruscant.

While on the journey to Coruscant, Skywalker further bonded with Amidala, giving her a Japor snippet for her to remember him by. Years later, Amidala would carry that same snippet at her funeral.^[9]

Upon arriving at Coruscant, Skywalker faced the Jedi High Council and was tested concerning Jinn's belief that Skywalker was the Chosen One and should be trained as a Jedi. Skywalker's gifts cemented Jinn's belief on the matter, but the Council remained skeptical. Jinn requested to train Skywalker after his current apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, completed his trials, but his request was denied. Skywalker was much older than the usual Padawan, and the Council was concerned that his prior experiences would interfere with his training. In particular, he exhibited much fear and anger, leftovers from his days as a slave; emotions that were further compounded by his separation from his mother and home. They believed he would simply not be able to master the level of emotional detachment required by a member of the Jedi Order. Kenobi, while also amazed at Skywalker's unprecedented midi-chlorian count--over twenty thousand^[source?]--and strong potential, initially agreed with the Council's decision. With nowhere to go on Coruscant, and no way to return to Tatooine, Skywalker followed his new friends on their mission to free Naboo.

Ultimately, Skywalker fought in the Battle of Naboo in a vicious starfighter battle above the planet. After accidentally joining the battle in orbit, Skywalker single-handedly destroyed the orbital Droid Control Ship, thus rendering the Trade Federation's ground forces inactive and saving the Gungan Grand Army from destruction.

However, the celebration was tainted with the death of Jinn, slain by Darth Maul. The Master's dying wish was for Kenobi to take up Skywalker's training, which Kenobi promised to fulfill. The Council reluctantly agreed for Obi-Wan to begin Skywalker's training, though they were concerned that Skywalker would be too difficult a student for young Kenobi to handle.

Meanwhile, Palpatine, the Republic's newly-appointed Supreme Chancellor, promised Skywalker that he would watch the young Jedi's career with great interest.^[6] This would be the beginning of a long friendship between the young Jedi and the new ruler of the Republic.

Adolescence (32 BBY–22 BBY)

As a young adult, Anakin developed as an arrogant and somewhat socially awkward boy, doubtless in part because of his rapid transition from a scrapyard slave to rising star of the Jedi Order. His natural abilities placed him leaps and bounds above his peers, and this fed his ego and caused him to distance himself from other learners of his age. He frequently showed off, chafed against authority, and displayed little respect for Obi-Wan, whom he partially viewed as inferior. Despite this perception, he did state that Obi-Wan was like a father to him, and he claimed he had the wisdom of Master Yoda and the power of Master Windu—but this praise may have been just another expression of Anakin's own arrogance, as he amended that he himself was "beyond" Kenobi in many ways, and felt Kenobi was holding him back. His relationship with his master was complicated and contradictory, due partially because Obi-Wan himself had doubts about whether he had the ability to train Anakin, something the boy did not need, especially during that critical time in his life. Frustrated, he would turn to another mentor for advice: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

As Anakin's early friendship with Palpatine continued, the Chancellor lent Anakin a sympathetic ear, saying things to further fuel his pride. It is likely that Palpatine's reassurances also had the effect of perpetuating Anakin's lack of control—whenever he was chided or reprimanded by Obi-Wan, Palpatine would reassure Anakin that he had done right, hence Anakin never quite had the impetus to change his behavior.

Obi-Wan's apprentice

Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship had a rocky start. Obi-Wan was not the only one to see the potential in the boy, and even considered him dangerous. The only reason he continued to train the boy was because of Qui-Gon's dying wish for him to do so. He felt it a duty, though he did not feel he had the ability to train him properly. Anakin, on the other hand, knew he was just different. Because of how different he was, Anakin tended to keep to himself, not branching out and not really wanting to do so. He did, however, feel a special attachment to Obi-Wan, since he was like the father he never had. Slowly but surely, Master and apprentice began to form a special bond throughout Anakin's adolescence.

While on Coruscant, Anakin did not give up his love of tinkering with machines, and the halls of the Jedi Temple were said to be littered with his droid creations. Still craving thrills and adventure at the age of twelve, he salvaged a pair of race wings and secretly participated in the highly dangerous and illegal garbage pit races held in the lower levels of Galactic City. During one such race he was nearly killed by a Blood Carver named Ke Daiv before Obi-Wan reached him.

About three years into his training, Anakin and Obi-Wan had their first mission together to investigate cult leader Kad Chun. Chun, calling himself Uni, was co-leader of disenchanted idealists and refugees who wanted to flee their bureaucracy-flooded worlds. Kad's father, Vox Chun, the leader of the cult, was killed when Obi-Wan and Anakin came to investigate. Later on, Kad forgave Obi-Wan and his scheming father for what they had done.

The next mission they took was to the living planet of Zonama Sekot to find Jedi Knight Vergere, who had recently vanished on a mission there. Unbeknownst to them, Wilhuff Tarkin and Raith Sienar had followed them to exploit Zonama Sekot's ability to fuse organic and high technology into starfighters, creating them at an astonishing rate and at an extremely high quality. On the planet, the colonists sold "seed-partners", which bonded with their hosts and allowed the planet to customize a starfighter for the individual. Anakin attracted many more seed-partners than anyone, and thus, he had a bigger and more intricate ship. He named this new biological ship Jabitha. When Tarkin and Sienar arrived, the planet revealed its sentient consciousness to the Jedi, explaining that Vergere had left with the mysterious "Far Outsiders" in order to protect Zonama Sekot. Anakin and Obi-Wan could not rescue the Fosh Jedi, but they could halt Tarkin's attack. When Ke Daiv, now Tarkin's bodyguard, attempted to kill Anakin, the boy, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, telekinetically burned the Blood Carver from the inside out. Unfortunately, Anakin was captured, and brought before Tarkin; however, Obi-Wan managed to destroy Tarkin's flagship and rescue the boy. During this, Zonama Sekot was able to activate its planetary hyperdrive, causing the planet to vanish, bound for the Unknown Regions. Afterwards, Sienar and Tarkin returned to the Republic. Unfortunately, Anakin's organic ship died away from her creator. After the conclusion of this mission, Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to Coruscant.

Becoming a Jedi

In 28 BBY, Anakin constructed his first lightsaber in the caves of Ilum. While he was constructing it, however, he had a dark vision of Darth Maul, the Sith who had killed Qui-Gon. After Anakin managed to defeat this specter, he awoke to find he had finished construction on his lightsaber, its blade a shining blue.

On a mission to Nar Shaddaa when Anakin was 13, he killed the T'surr slave trader Krayn by burning a hole in his chest. This allowed all the slaves of Krayn to be freed, as well as ending Jedi Knight Siri Tachi's undercover mission there.

Not long after, the young Jedi and his Master were called upon, along with Tachi (who was now a Knight), Soara Antana, Ry-Gaul, and their Padawans, Ferus Olin, Darra Thel-Tanis, and Tru Veld, respectively, on a mission to Radnor to help with the evacuation of the planet. The evacuation was due to a deadly toxin that had spread throughout the planet because of a chemical leak. He and the other Jedi and their Padawans later discovered that the toxic leak was connected with the Avoni raiders. The path of guilt led to Galen, a traitorous Radnoran, who was taken into custody for his crimes. However, the Avoni did not pay for their crime and were not forced to make amends. To Anakin, it almost seemed as if the planet was worse off than when they had found it.

Obi-Wan and Anakin were later sent on a mission to find out what had happened to the Consular-class space cruiser, the Radiant IX, which was carrying the Jedi Et Rex and Alysun Celz back to Coruscant to be punished for falling to the dark side. They discovered that, while on their flight, a large group of mynocks had fed on energy from the ships electrical couplings, causing the ship to plummet into the gravity well in the Hoth system, and crash landed on an asteroid known as the Poison Moon. The distress signal was sent even as Celz killed everyone on the ship. Rex managed to escape Celz and befriend a group of mynocks. When the Jedi found Celz on the bridge of the ship, he insisted that it was Rex who did it. Obi-Wan went to find Rex, leaving Anakin with Celz. When Obi-Wan found Rex, Rex convinced him that Celz was framing him, and the two hurried back to save Anakin. In the meantime, Celz tried to convince Anakin to leave his master, but failed. Celz angrily knocked out Anakin with his Force Lightning, revealing to the Jedi as they entered that she had killed everyone on board. Obi-Wan engaged her with his lightsaber, only to be knocked back by a dose of force lightning. Rex sent his mynocks after her lightning, feeding on it like they would electricity. The Jedi left the moon on Obi-Wan and Anakin's ship, with Celz as their new prisoner, and headed back to Coruscant.

Later on, a simple Jedi training mission to Ragoon-6 caused Anakin and Obi-Wan to get tangled up with a mysterious man whose mission in life seemed to be to kill them. Further research on him revealed that he was from Nierport VII, collected Sith artifacts, and was extremely wealthy—though he had no tangible source of income. Anakin and Obi-Wan were then dispatched to the Galactic Games in order to ensure the peace. Anakin found out about an illegal podrace being set up, and, instead of reporting it, he decided to join. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan, with the help of Siri Tachi and apprentice Ferus Olin, unraveled a huge plan to ruin several senators' careers by framing them in a plot to rig some of the games. The plan was orchestrated by Maxo Vista, and Obi-Wan learned from him that the podrace was also rigged so that the lead podracer would lose control of his brakesand possibly kill hundreds. Too late, Obi-Wan set out to warn Anakin, but his Padawan had already started racing and eventually took the lead. Obi-Wan could only watch helplessly as Anakin's brakes malfunctioned. However, using the Force and his piloting skills, Anakin managed to gain control of his craft and avert a tragedy. After a this event, further investigation was done on the man who previously tried to kill them, and it was revealed that the man was trying to take over the marketing of bacta through a mining venture. Anakin, after being captured by him, found out, with the aid of Obi-Wan, that the man's name was Granta Omega. He also discovered that he was trying to impress a Sith Lord by killing Anakin. Master and apprentice were able to escape, halting Omega's mining of titanite in the process. Omega himself, however, escaped their grasp.

Outbound Flight

Before this, Anakin and Obi-Wan were sent to Barlok to monitor the overbearing Jedi Knight Jorus C'baoth and his timid Padawan, Lorana Jinzler, in their negotiation mission between the Corporate Alliance and the Barlok. Unbeknownst to them, Kinman Doriana, on behalf of Darth Sidious, had planned for the negotiation to work splendidly in Jorus's favor, gaining him enough prestige to go ahead with his pet project, Outbound Flight.

Anakin and his master were again sent to observe the self-acclaimed Jedi Master C'baoth on this project, at least until its last stop within the known galaxy. Obi-Wan did not approve of Jorus's overseeing of the project, butting heads with the Jedi Master on numerous occasions. However, the hardheaded and arrogant C'baoth would not listen, and was glad when they disembarked the venture on Outbound Flight's last stop, Roxuli. Despite the problems his master and Jorus had had, Anakin greatly admired C'baoth, whom he saw as an example of a great leader. These views would also shift his view of a better galaxy under the harsh rule of Palpatine.

Mission to Andara

Not long after, in 27 BBY, fourteen-year-old Anakin and his Master were given a mission to investigate a senator's son's disappearance, which they presumed to have much to do with an elite school for senators' children. In order to investigate a band of renegade students and the school itself, the Jedi council gave Anakin and Ferus Olin the task of penetrating the school, which was located on Andara, by posing to be senators' sons. Soon, Anakin had located the students and acquired their trust. He decided to join them on a mock attack on a Senator's ship, which in Anakin's view would be helping those who were unrepresented under the Senator's jurisdiction. Ferus did not like the plan and warned Anakin of its problems; however, Anakin dismissed his caution due to his rivalry with Ferus. Later, Ferus suddenly disappeared, but Anakin neglected to inform his master. Before the "mock" attack could begin, he found out that the attack would actually be real, and it threatened to start an war. Before he could leave and inform Obi-Wan, the leader of the group, revealed as Gillam Tarturi, the Senator's missing son, informed Anakin that the Padawan would have to die in order for Gillam's plan to proceed. Left with no choice, Anakin disarmed Gallam and the rest of the members, shut down the lasers of the starfighter the group was planning to use, and, at the same time, destroyed ten attack droids. At this point, Obi Wan, along with Siri Tachi and Ferus Olin, had arrived to Anakin's aid, but he had finished the fight before they could help him. Anakin's level of skill, nearly equal to some great Jedi Masters, left Obi-Wan unnerved. However, Anakin's master was also furious that Anakin had not told Obi-Wan that Ferus was missing, and for the first time, Obi-Wan shouted at his Padawan. This incident widened the gap between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

Yaddle's sacrifice

When Anakin was fifteen, he, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Yaddle were sent on a negotiation mission to Mawan to settle a devastating gang war, in which three criminal organizations fought one another. These gangs, led by Decca the Hutt, Feena Shaan, and Striker, caused the remainder of the population to take refuge underground. During the mission, Anakin was kidnapped by Striker's men. Striker, revealed to be Granta Omega, tried tempting Anakin to leave the Jedi Order and come with him, offering visions of freeing the slaves and his mother on Tatooine. When he saw that Anakin would not yield, he made Anakin arrange a meeting with himself and Yaddle. Unbeknownst to her and the rest of the Jedi, the chaotic planet was a trap set for the Jedi by Omega. He released a fatal chemical weapon that killed Yaddle when she absorbed it through the Force. However, through her sacrifice, she saved the city of Naatan. The weapon was intended by its vengeful maker to kill Anakin and Obi-Wan, but it failed because of what Yaddle had done. Anakin and Obi-Wan managed to bring peace to Mawan, but Anakin still felt responsible for the death of the Jedi High Council member.

Anakin's guilt about Yaddle's death caused friction between him and Obi-Wan, who felt that he was less than capable of teaching the mischievous Anakin properly. When sent on a rescue mission in the Uziel system to a planet called Vanqor, the two were forced to try and reconcile their differences. They were forced through several tribulations, including a run-in with a nest of gundarks. Anakin was then placed under the influence of a drug called the Zone of Self-Containment, and taken prisoner by the insane and fanatical scientist Jenna Zan Arbor. Siri Tachi, Ferus Olin, Garen Muln, and Clee Rhara, who were also sent on another mission entirely, received the distress signal from Obi-Wan while en route to their own destination and picked him up together with Obi-Wan on Vanqor.

Trailing Jenna Zan Arbor and Roy Teda

Jenna escaped, however, and did not resurface again until Anakin was seventeen. From information given them by Tyro Caladian, they discovered that she had reappeared on Romin, a focus of corruption and villainy and a shelter for criminals. In order to infiltrate the planet, he, his Master, Siri, and Ferus disguised themselves as a band of thieves looking for refuge on the planet. They discovered that Jenna had allied herself with Roy Teda—the ruler of Romin—and Granta Omega, Obi-Wan and Anakin’s old adversary. The Jedi were about to be captured when civil war erupted. The underworld was trying to overthrow Teda, and, in the midst of it, Roy and Jenna fled. The two criminals contacted the Jedi—thinking they were actually criminals—to try to find a way offworld. Unfortunately, Jenna recognized Anakin from their previous encounter, and Roy ordered his men to seize the Jedi. Before they could do so, Mace Windu and a team of Jedi arrived, arresting Roy and Jenna. In spite of this, since the Jedi were trying to get to Omega, and they knew the two would lead them to him, they set the two captives free.

Only a few weeks later, Obi-Wan and his apprentice trailed Jenna and Roy to Falleen, where the rogues had managed to set up the Blackwater Systems facility to mass-produce her drug, the Zone of Self-Containment. When they were found, Jenna was forced to destroy the facility and they once more fled.

Anakin and Ferus were again paired when the trail of Jenna and Roy led back to Coruscant. Sano Sauro—a friend of Granta Omega—and Bog Divinian started to make anti-Jedi accusations in order to convince the Galactic Senate to lessen or completely dissolve its support of the Order. This vote, which was about whether or not the Jedi should be involved in the Senate's activities, was all a part of Sauro and Omega's plan to leak the Zone of Self-Containment drug into the Senate's vents and assassinate Chancellor Palpatine. Anakin and Ferus, who were learning to forget their rivalry and understand each other, managed to prevent the assassination attempt on the Supreme Chancellor. Omega's plan was uncovered, but not in time to save twenty-one Senators and several other Senate employees from being killed by seeker droids programmed by Teda. Unbeknownst to the renegade, since Jenna and Granta had no more use for the man, a seeker droid killed him, as well. Afterwards, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Siri set off to find Omega, leaving Ferus to protect the Senators and Palpatine.

Confronting old adversaries

Tracking Omega and Zan Arbor to Korriban, four Jedi pairs—Anakin and Obi-Wan, Siri and Ferus, Ry-Gaul and Tru Veld, and Soara and Darra—journeyed there to confront and stop them. During the course of the hunt, the apprentices were split up from the Masters to better accomplish the mission. The investigation of Dreshdae led them to the Valley of the Dark Lords. Because of the dark side power of the planet, the Padawans, instead of working as a team, started fighting amongst themselves. When Anakin found out about Ferus's advanced training, he was extremely jealous of him, and, because of all of the friction, their journey to find Omega was catastrophic. They were caught and halted by numerous traps that they would have been able to avoid were they able to function as a team. Because of this, the confrontation with Omega was a complete and utter disaster.

Previously, during the fighting, Veld's lightsaber was damaged, and Olin decided to repair it. Skywalker, who was more mechanically adept than Olin, noticed that the repair job would not work. Instead of speaking out and properly repairing the saber himself, he kept quiet, hoping to humiliate Olin. During a battle in one of the tombs, Tru's lightsaber began to fail. Olin switched lightsabers with Tru in order to protect him. Darra noticed the faulty lightsaber and leaped to protect Ferus. However, she was riddled with blaster fire and killed. This caused friction between Tru Veld and Anakin, her death being partly Anakin's fault. Obi-Wan, who showed up just in time, was forced to kill Granta Omega with a stroke of his blade. Zan Arbor managed to elude capture once more, and was not seen again by the Jedi or the Republic.

Ferus, blaming himself for Darra's death, resigned from the Jedi Order.

Growing up

Some time later, Anakin and his Master were sent on a diplomatic mission to a planet wishing to join the Galactic Republic. They soon found out, however, that the planet's indigenous population considered thievery an important social asset. During their stay, Anakin's lightsaber was stolen. The Padawan searched for it, ashamed to tell Obi-Wan that he lost it, but soon had to admit defeat. Asking Obi-Wan for help, he found that the Jedi Knight knew the lightsaber had been stolen, and, using a trick of the Force, had "acquired" it from the thief. Obi-Wan had merely been waiting for Anakin to admit that he had lost it.

Obi-Wan and his apprentice, who was then sixteen, were then assigned to the task of protecting Senator Simon Greyshade from assassination. Greyshade had recently filled the station of Senator of the Commonality; a Senatorial seat left by his assassinated cousin. Simon's cousin, Jheramahd Greyshade, had been thrown off of the roof of 500 Republica in an attempt to stall the passage of the Financial Reform Act, which the Senator had supported. The act was a bill that addressed and was meant to reduce the amount of corruption that was causing the Senate, and, through them, the Republic, to disintegrate.

Senator Greyshade, who had received a death threat for his stand, was now under protection by the Jedi duo. Commander Zalin Bey of the Senate Guard and her unit were assigned to investigate Jheramahd's assassination. Anakin and Obi-Wan had their hands full protecting Simon from myriad assassins: droids; Keluda, a Dug; and Princess Tsian, whom they could not seriously investigate because of her diplomatic immunity. Despite these hurdles, Tsian was arrested and Keluda was killed.

Sagoro Autem and Isaru Omin continued the investigation of the Senator's murder, turning up several disturbing facts. Sagoro's brother, Venco, had assassinated Jheramahd, and convinced Reymet Autem, Sagoro's son, to unwittingly help him in another assassination, this time an attempt on Simon's life, but this second attempt failed. Sagoro managed to let his son escape, but, unfortunately, when Omin discovered his obstruction of justice, too late for him to arrest Reymet, he arrested Sagoro. The man took the blame and disgrace for what his son had done, and was removed from the office of Senate Guard. Simon Greyshade was safe once more.

Because it was found that the assassination and attempted assassination was because of the Financial Reform Act, it never got a vote. Some say that this was the cause of a good portion of the seceding planets that would soon make the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and could have prevented the Clone Wars had it been passed.

Adult life (22 BBY–4 ABY)

At the age of nineteen, in 22 BBY, Skywalker and Kenobi, along with Luminara Unduli and her apprentice, Barriss Offee, were sent to Ansion to settle a border dispute that had the potential to cause the extremely strategic planet to secede to the Confederacy. If Ansion fell, so would countless other worlds. The Jedi had to influence two constantly feuding armies to settle their dispute and come to an agreement. They were unaware that Presidente Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild was behind the scenes, pulling the strings for Ansion to secede. However, the Jedi foiled her plot, moving the Ansionian clans Januul and Borokii to agree to stay in the Republic. Because of her status as Presidente, Shu Mai was not discovered to be a part of the matter.

Reunited with Amidala

Days before his twentieth birthday,^[10] there was an attempt on the life of Padmé Amidala, now the Senator of the Chommell sector, by the bounty hunter Zam Wesell. Skywalker was personally assigned to protect and escort Amidala back to her homeworld. To avoid looking conspicuous, the two traveled as refugees. Skywalker had not seen her in ten years, though he had thought about her daily since their parting at Naboo. His childhood fascination with her had turned into a powerful infatuation. In conversation, Skywalker revealed his affection for her, a distrust of the political process, and his view of the need for one strong leader. Over a short time, his infatuation for her blossomed into something more: love. Eventually Amidala began to return his feelings, even dressing provocatively around him to garner his attention.

It was at Amidala's lake retreat where the two lost their inhibitions and shared their first kiss. Both seemed entranced with the other despite their different social castes. However, Amidala eventually came to her senses, and while Skywalker was concerned with his feelings and living in the present moment—even suggesting they could keep their relationship a secret—Amidala was more concerned with duty and obligation. She had enough foresight to know their current situations would not allow for a relationship between them. Skywalker's pursuit of a relationship with her was in violation of Jedi tradition, which held that although Jedi were not required to be celibate, they were to avoid attachment to all but the Force itself.

Return to Tatooine

Skywalker had been suffering from recurring nightmares about his mother, Shmi, for several months prior to meeting Amidala again; and, because of them, went against the spirit of his orders to protect Amidala by bringing her to Tatooine to find Shmi. Upon landing on Tatooine, Skywalker made his way straight for Watto's shop, where he discovered that a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars had freed and married his mother.

While speaking with Lars, he learned, to his horror, that Shmi had been abducted by Tusken Raiders. He immediately set out in pursuit of her on Owen Lars' swoop bike. That night, the young Jedi discovered the Tusken camp beyond the B'Thazoshe Bridge, and slipped into the tent that contained his mother, most likely locating her with his Jedi senses. He freed her from her bonds, but it was too late. Battered, sleep-deprived, and dehydrated, Shmi Skywalker died in his arms, but not before seeing him for the last time.

Skywalker allowed the shock of her death to catalyze an explosion of his long-nursed anger and selfishness. He flew into a rage, killing everyone present—even, as he confessed to Amidala later, "the women and children."^[8] A number of Jedi, including Yoda and the deceased Qui-Gon Jinn, sensed the shock of this massacre as well as Skywalker's powerful Force presence, which bordered on the dark side.

Amidala was clearly troubled by what Skywalker had done, but had invested herself too much in him to be truly repulsed. She tried to soothe him with sympathy and told no one of Skywalker's hideous act. In his anger and sorrow, he rashly claimed that one day he would have the power to stop people from dying.

Battle of Geonosis

While still on Tatooine, Skywalker discovered that Kenobi had been taken hostage by the Geonosian-engineered Confederacy of Independent Systems's droid forces. He initially decided to honor Master Windu's order to protect Amidala at all costs and to stay on Tatooine, the episode with his mother having caused him to lose confidence in himself. However, Amidala convinced him that rescuing his mentor was the right thing to do and they traveled to Geonosis. Once on the planet, Skywalker and Amidala infiltrated the droid foundries but were soon captured as well and sentenced to die in a gladiatorial execution arena. Faced with their impending fate, they professed their love to one another. The timely arrival of the Jedi and eventually the clone troopers allowed both of them to escape and fight in the ensuing battle.

Skywalker and Kenobi pursued Count Dooku, the mastermind of the Confederacy and, unbeknownst to them, a Sith Lord. They gave chase across the vast Geonosian sands, where he led them to a CIS-owned hangar. Once they caught up with Dooku, Skywalker, against the better advice of his Master, foolishly rushed the Sith with a headstrong attitude. It was the Padawan's undoing: Dooku unleashed a powerful barrage of Force lightning on Skywalker, knocking the youth unconscious and leaving Kenobi to face Dooku alone. Kenobi put up a valiant fight, however, his skills proved no match for the more powerful and experienced Dooku, and he was soon incapacitated. As Skywalker recovered from the Force lightning, he witnessed Dooku raising his lightsaber to deliver the final blow against the fallen Kenobi.

Skywalker, calling upon the Force, leapt into the path of Dooku's lightsaber, blocking it with his own, saving his Master's life in the process. Taking up his fallen master's weapon, Skywalker unleashed a flurry of attacks, catching Dooku off guard. However, despite the tactical advantage the second blade granted, it was short-lived. Dooku managed to destroy the green blade, leaving Skywalker with only the blue. Despite holding his own for much of the duel, Skywalker lost the battle—and his arm—to Dooku. After being rescued by Yoda, Skywalker's forearm was replaced with a mechno-arm.

Marriage to Padmé

Not long after the Battle of Geonosis, Skywalker married Amidala at Varykino on Naboo in a secret ceremony performed by a Naboo holyman. C-3PO and his counterpart, R2-D2, were the only witnesses. The newly-married couple would later struggle to keep this illicit relationship secret.

The Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY)

With the onset of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker started on his way to become a legendary hero. He was an unparalleled starfighter pilot, flying missions over several worlds, including Kamino, Balamak, and Virujansi, solidifying his reputation. He even earned the seldom-heard title of Tan in recognition of his exceptional piloting skills. He custom-modified his Delta-7 Aethersprite starfighter—naming it Azure Angel as a tribute to his wife—into a unique and deadly vessel that time and time again outperformed any ship on the battlefield. He also proved his worth outside the cockpit, destroying the ancient Sith weapon known as the Dark Reaper^[11] and helping to drive back a Separatist invasion of Coruscant that even breached the Jedi Temple itself.^[12]

Dubbed the "Hero With No Fear", war molded Skywalker into a man and honed his combat ability, but it continued to nourish his ego. It was also a lie. Skywalker had no fear for his own life, but he was terrified for the lives of his Master, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the troops under his authority, and even R2-D2, who accompanied Anakin whenever he could. It was difficult to rein in Skywalker as he increasingly had trouble following the strict doctrine governed by the Jedi Code, especially when the Order itself was complicit in ambiguous moral acts by waging a full-scale war. But, above all else, Skywalker feared for his beloved Padmé Amidala. He wrote to her whenever he could, and also tried to meet with her on several occasions, but because of their duties they saw each other very rarely. And the few times they did, Padmé was usually in danger, which fueled his protectiveness for her and his fear.

The Dark Reaper

One month after the start of the Clone Wars Anakin and Obi-Wan were involved in an operation to stop Count Dooku from obtaining the Dark Reaper, a powerful superweapon of mass destruction constructed during the Great Sith War and lost after it's conclusion. Skywalker and Kenobi helped to evacuate Republic outpost on Rhen Var and then went to Raxus Prime where Dooku found Force Harvester–a major part of Dark Reaper. After his encounter with Count Dooku on Raxus Prime, Skywalker was captured and sent to Alaris Prime, to be executed by the Force Harvester, an ancient Sith weapon that drains the Force from all living things within its range. He escaped and travelled to Rhen Var. On Rhen Var, Anakin went to the tomb of Ulic Qel-Droma for information on how to withstand the effects of Dark Reaper and the Harvester. Shortly after the Dark Reaper was revived on Thule, Anakin led an attack capital city of Kessia and destroyed the Reaper using his TX-130S fighter tank. Although Anakin did manage to destroy the Reaper, the knowledge he gained from Qel-Droma caused him to act more arrogantly towards Obi-Wan, and indirectly led him to take a step towards the path to the dark side of the Force.^[11]

Battle of Ohma-D'un

When the planet Naboo lost contact with a Gungan colony on one of Naboo's moons, Ohma-D'un, Anakin was sent along with a squad of four Jedi to investigate. They quickly found what had become of the Gungan colony. Every single Gungan had died of a mysterious chemical weapon. The Jedi were infected by the poison, but luckily its effects took longer to work on non-Gungans. They soon encountered Ohma-D'un super battle droids, B2 super battle droids and the bounty hunter Durge, and attacked them. Anakin defeated many droids during the battle and helped to save the prisoners located in the nearby camp. It was the first time Anakin encountered Asajj Ventress, who would be his nemesis throughout the whole war. ^[13]

Battle of Muunilinst and Duel on Yavin IV

At the Battle of Muunilinst, Commander Skywalker was charged with orchestrating the aerial assault on the homeworld of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, a pivotal member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. His piloting talents and leadership of a group of clone pilots led to a victory.

A mysterious vessel caught his eye during the fray, and he was drawn from the battle despite Obi-Wan's admonition. He followed the enigmatic Fanblade starfighter through an intense chase through the streets of Muunilinst's capital city, back to space and through hyperspace to Yavin IV. Beneath the jungle canopy and amongst the remains of ancient Massassi temples, Anakin came face to f