In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Anakin Skywalker’s turn to the dark side of the Force, thereby creating Darth Vader, is initiated by his mounting suspicions that the Jedi are no longer to be trusted; while his actions were wrong, his opinion was somewhat right, based on one defining moment during the Clone Wars. Star Wars’ prequel trilogy makes it clear that the Jedi were not as idyllic as they may have seemed when Obi-Wan Kenobi described the Jedi Order’s history in A New Hope. Instead, the Jedi made many mistakes that got worse over time.
Given that Anakin is one of Star Wars’ most powerful villains, it might be easy to reduce him to someone obsessive, troubled, and easily tempted, but that lacks the depth and nuance that truly led to his turn to the dark side. While Anakin did become obsessed with saving Padmé and was ultimately manipulated by Palpatine as a result, he wasn’t entirely wrong, and the Jedi weren’t entirely right. Anakin’s remorse and conflict in the wake of killing Count Dooku makes that clear, particularly when considered alongside one Clone Wars-era plan by the Jedi.
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Anakin Knew Killing Dooku Was Wrong
At the beginning of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is left to fight Count Dooku alone after Obi-Wan is knocked unconscious, which gives Palpatine, who is looking on and pretending to be Dooku’s captive, the perfect opportunity to influence Anakin. When Anakin has Dooku disarmed and trapped between both their lightsabers, Palpatine convinces Anakin to deal a death blow; however, Anakin isn’t eager to do so, and he immediately regrets it. In fact, although Anakin has an obvious inclination toward revenge, when Palpatine says it was an act of revenge for Dooku cutting off Anakin’s arm, Anakin doesn’t agree.
Anakin also never counts this as a victory, which is out of the norm for him. While Palpatine is clearly pleased that Anakin has done it, Anakin instead looks pained, and he laments out loud that he shouldn’t have done it because it’s not the Jedi way. Here, he’s referencing a specific Jedi rule; the Jedi aren’t supposed to kill unarmed opponents. However, no one, the Jedi included, ever seems to make Anakin feel like he’s done something wrong. When he returns to Coruscant, he’s even celebrated for his rescue of Palpatine and for this defeat.
Despite not receiving backlash for his actions in this case, Anakin’s response to this decision is correct. Dooku posed a serious threat to the galaxy, but killing him when he was already unarmed and could have easily been taken into the Republic instead was wrong. It’s interesting that Anakin felt this was wrong, given how brazenly he slaughtered the Tuskens in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, but it’s clear that he regrets what he did to Dooku right away.
The Jedi Council Had Already Approved Dooku’s Assassination
Anakin’s regret over killing Count Dooku is interesting not only because he goes on to kill countless more and had already killed many, but also in light of the Jedi Council’s own plan to kill Dooku. In the canon Star Wars novelDark Disciple, written by Christie Golden, the Jedi agree that killing Dooku is the best course of action to truly end the Clone Wars due to Mace Windu’s advocacy for his assassination. Anakin was present during this conversation, so he was aware that the Jedi Council themselves had sanctioned this execution.
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This is an interesting moment for Anakin—one where his moral compass is more in keeping with the Jedi code than that of the Jedi masters. Despite Anakin’s awareness that the Jedi Council would not take issue with him killing Dooku in Revenge of the Sith, he regrets it and knows it was wrong. This suggests that, already, Anakin was beginning to doubt the Jedi and see himself as having a different (in his opinion, better) point of view. This becomes compounded when, very soon after, the Council asks Anakin to spy on Palpatine, which he considers to be treason.
Anakin Was Right To Distrust The Jedi Council – At First
This moment with Dooku signals that Anakin was in part right to be suspicious of the Jedi, as were numerous other Jedi who had left the Order, like Ahsoka Tano who left the Order during The Clone Wars, who had simply grown more concerned about Jedi practices. There were, of course, also more radical examples of these doubters, such as Barriss Offee, who turned to the dark side of the Force because she felt the Jedi had fallen so far from who they were supposed to be. In many ways, though, they had.
The Jedi were meant to be peacekeepers, not soldiers. When they entered the Clone Wars, they not only immersed themselves in a war, enlisting Padawan learners as young as 14 to fight in the battles, but also aligned themselves politically with the Republic and with Palpatine. They had gone from figures known throughout the galaxy for spreading peace and protecting others with their gifts to essentially being employed by the Senate and heavily influenced by politics. These choices ultimately chipped away at the Jedi code and the individual Jedi themselves.
Of course, Anakin took this too far. The answer to addressing the Jedi’s issues was not a genocide that killed most of them. While a massive (and terrible) overreaction, though, it did come from a place of some truth. The Jedi had betrayed something vital by thinking they could decide when to take a life, which was only worsened for Anakin when he saw Mace Windu about to kill Palpatine. These choices meant they were no longer the protectors they had once been, and perhaps couldn’t be trusted, as Anakin claimed in Revenge of the Sith.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
- Release Date
- May 19, 2005
- Director
- George Lucas
- Cast
- Ewan McGregor , Natalie Portman , Hayden Christensen , Ian McDiarmid , Samuel L. Jackson , Christopher Lee , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Frank Oz , Ahmed Best , Temuera Morrison
- Writers
- George Lucas , John Ostrander , Jan Duursema
- Studio(s)
- Lucasfilm
- Franchise(s)
- Star Wars
