“It’s Like Poetry”: The 11 Biggest Ways Luke Skywalker’s Story Mirrors Anakin’s

George Lucas has stated that Star Wars is like poetry with its symmetries and rhymes, and there is perhaps no better example of that than the similarities between Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker. Both Anakin and Luke are two of Star Wars’ most powerful Jedi, and they have each had an incredible impact on the Star Wars timeline. However, their stories also have remarkable parallels, and not only because they are father and son.

While the chronology of Star Wars movies and TV shows has complicated the Skywalker family history, the connections between Luke and Anakin are undeniable. In fact, the parallels between Luke’s story and Anakin’s demonstrate how intrinsically linked the two are, which was no doubt George Lucas’ intention. Of all the similarities between Luke and Anakin’s stories, however, these 11 are the biggest and best showcase the poetic nature of Star Wars.

11

Luke Skywalker And Anakin Skywalker’s Fathers Were Both Mysteries

Both Skywalkers Grew Up Without Knowing Who Their Father Was

One of the greatest mysteries of Anakin Skywalker is his parentage. In Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn asked Anakin’s mother, Shmi Skywalker, who his father was. In response, Shmi explained that there was no father; essentially, she believed he was conceived miraculously and spontaneously. While, over time, it’s become clear that Palpatine was likely behind Anakin’s apparent spontaneous creation (through the manipulation of midi-chlorians), Anakin seemingly never uncovered this truth.

Luke’s father was likewise a mystery, although he infamously did get an answer to this question in what is considered one of the greatest plot twists in cinema history. Before “No. I am your father,” though, Luke had little more than vague notions of who his father had been. While Obi-Wan Kenobi had described Anakin somewhat, he hadn’t really revealed much about him; he therefore remained a mystery to Luke until The Empire Strikes Back. This is a particularly profound connection between Luke and Anakin, given that Anakin is Luke’s father.

10

Luke And Anakin Both Saw Their Parents’ Brutal Deaths

Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, And Shmi Skywalker All Met Gruesome Ends

The definition of parents in Star Wars is a complicated one, and Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen are no exception. However, despite not being blood-related to Luke and Luke never explicitly calling them his parents, it’s clear that Owen and Beru are the parental figures in Luke’s life, and they love him as their own son. In fact, the Obi-Wan Kenobi show made this even clearer, depicting in greater detail the family unit they shared. Tragically, though, early in A New Hope, Luke arrived home to find them entirely disintegrated.

This was a sad but poignant connection to Anakin’s loss of his mother in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Just as Luke witnessed the brutal outcome of his aunt and uncle being murdered, Anakin bore direct witness to the wounds inflicted upon his mother. Worse still, Shmi then died in his arms. This link between Anakin’s story and Luke’s is a gruesome one, but it’s also critical. Both Anakin and Luke experienced terrible loss at a young age, and in many ways, that defined their respective paths.

9

Luke And Anakin Both Learned From Master Yoda

Twenty Years Apart, Father And Son Were Trained By The Same Jedi Master

Master Yoda was introduced in A New Hope as the wise but certainly quirky ancient Jedi Master who was essentially Luke’s last chance to become a true Jedi. However, while Yoda’s time in The Empire Strikes Back was fairly brief, the prequel trilogy saw Yoda in his prime. From The Phantom Menace to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Yoda was depicted not as the odd alien from The Empire Strikes Back but as a deeply respected Jedi who served as leader of the Jedi Council and had spent centuries training generations of Jedi.

The prequel and original trilogies certainly handled Yoda differently, but Luke and Anakin did each get to experience training with Master Yoda, which shaped their Jedi paths. For Anakin, this was a rockier road; he was originally very poorly received by the Council, and his relationship with Yoda remained strained. Sadly, it was clear throughout the prequel trilogy that Yoda never fully trusted Anakin. For Luke, the experience was more positive. Despite an odd first encounter, Yoda truly helped Luke understand the Jedi way and master his skills with the Force.

8

Luke And Anakin Both Bonded With R2-D2

R2-D2 Had A Significant History With Both Luke And Anakin

One of the sweetest friendships Anakin had throughout the prequel trilogy was his relationship with R2-D2, the droid who was first introduced in A New Hope. R2-D2 was equally Anakin and Luke’s droid, and he had a considerable history with each of them. This is a particularly wonderful version of the poetic similarities between Luke and Anakin because R2 represents a history that includes both of them, arguably at the best points in their lives.

Although Luke will never really know Anakin as the Jedi he was, R2 is a throughline that connects the two Jedi Knights and unites the Skywalker family tree. In fact, R2 was really Padmé’s droid first, making this rhyme all the more meaningful. It’s almost as though Anakin passed the droid down to his son. While that’s obviously not the case, given Anakin didn’t know Luke existed, it’s a rare moment the Skywalker lineage gets close to more traditional family practices.

7

Anakin And Luke Both Grew Up On Tatooine

Although Neither Luke Nor Anakin Liked Tatooine, They Both Called It Home

The dry, depressing desert planet Tatooine was a place both Anakin and Luke longed to escape in their youth, but they each lived there for quite some time. This is one of the more interesting connections between the two because they effectively shared a home planet despite Luke not growing up with Anakin. Moreover, while Luke technically grew up with his aunt and uncle, those definitions might be a bit of a stretch.

Yes, Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen were Luke’s relatives, as Owen’s father had married Anakin’s mother. However, Anakin didn’t grow up with or really know Owen, and it’s highly doubtful he would have considered him a brother. Even so, this shared world is no doubt one of the many rhymes between Anakin and Luke’s stories. This bond is particularly meaningful because, whether Luke was aware of it or not, he grew up on the land where his paternal grandmother was buried.

6

Luke And Anakin Were Both Excellent Pilots

Luke Seems To Have Inherited His Incredible Piloting Skills From His Father

Both Luke and Anakin had incredible feats as pilots. In The Phantom Menace, young Anakin actually ensured his own freedom by winning a podrace. While this may not seem so remarkable on the surface, Anakin was the first human to ever complete—let alone win—a podrace because of the speed and danger the races require. Anakin went on to be, as Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke in A New Hope, “The best star pilot in the galaxy.”

Luke, likewise, managed to pilot his X-wing successfully enough in A New Hope that he was able to destroy the Death Star. While he did have help from the Force, this nevertheless did require significant piloting skills. This sweet connection between father and son was highlighted in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show when Obi-Wan spotted Luke atop the Lars’ home, pretending that he was flying a ship.

5

Anakin And Luke Both Became Jedi Later In Life

The Jedi Were Concerned About Anakin’s Age, But Luke Became A Jedi Even Later

One of the largest concerns the Jedi Council had about Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace was his age. By 9, Anakin had the time to develop attachments, which could risk feelings of fear, jealousy, and anger. In light of that, the Jedi Council initially rejected him; they only made an exception because of Qui-Gon Jinn’s death. Presumably, that was a factor in his fall after all, as those weaknesses were major contributors to Anakin’s path to the dark side.

However, Luke was significantly older when he became a Jedi, and he didn’t suffer the same fate. In A New Hope, Luke was 19 years old, much older than any new Jedi had been in the prequel trilogy. While this raises interesting questions about what sort of impact age and attachments really do have, it is nevertheless a significant connection between Luke and Anakin. Both father and son were nontraditional Jedi, at least in terms of the prequel trilogy’s Jedi Order. While their fates were different, their Jedi paths were fascinatingly similar in their complexity.

4

Anakin And Luke Each Lost A Hand

Both Luke And Anakin Lost Their Hands In Battle

Luke and Anakin’s lost hand parallels could admittedly be perceived as funny, and to some degree they are, but they also reflect something much deeper. In a sense, these losses are incredibly symbolic—Luke’s in particular. For Anakin, his hand was lost in a battle with Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones. Although he had yet to turn to the dark side, he had already carried out his terrible massacre of the Tusken Raiders. With that horrible incident and this new mechanical hand, he was one step closer to becoming Darth Vader.

Luke’s hand has a very similar symbolism, although with the added layer that this new hand was reminiscent of his father’s. In fact, Luke even let his eyes linger upon Darth Vader’s robotic hand, seemingly reflecting on the strange bond he now had with his father. This moment was compounded by Luke’s fear of becoming like his father, as well. Of course, perhaps the most obvious connection pertaining to their hands is the fact that Darth Vader took Luke’s hand himself.

3

Palpatine Tempted Both Luke Skywalker And Anakin Skywalker With The Dark Side

Although Only Anakin Fell, Palpatine Wanted Anakin And Luke As His Sith Apprentice

Emperor Palpatine has proven himself time and again to be behind many of the dark side events in Star Wars, and that was certainly the case both when he tempted Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force and created Darth Vader and when he attempted to turn Luke. With Anakin, Palpatine was of course successful, although that was no doubt in part due to Anakin’s prolonged exposure to him. From the moment Anakin arrived on Coruscant in The Phantom Menace, Palpatine was plotting his eventual fall.

Palpatine achieved this in a number of ways, most notably by presenting himself as a reasonable, even comforting mentor to act opposite the Jedi’s harsher, more suspicious perception of Anakin. With Luke, Palpatine simply didn’t have that time; Luke appeared before him first as an adult. He also had at best brief encounters with Luke, rather than working alongside him for years as he had Anakin. Despite those differences, and the very different outcomes, this is yet another pattern in Luke and Anakin’s similar stories.

2

Obi-Wan Kenobi Was A Mentor To Both Luke And Anakin

Obi-Wan Trained Luke And Anakin In The Ways Of The Force

Although Obi-Wan Kenobi inarguably had more hands-on training time with Anakin than he did with Luke, he had lasting impacts on both. For Anakin, Obi-Wan was both a father and a brother figure, and he was his Jedi Master for nearly two decades. The former master and apprentice certainly had a very complex relationship even before Anakin’s betrayal and Vader’s eventual murder of Obi-Wan. However, the effect Obi-Wan had on Anakin’s life is undeniable.

For Luke, however, Obi-Wan was his very way into the path of a Jedi. Just as Obi-Wan and Yoda had hoped years before when they hatched a plan to one day see the Jedi return, Luke accepted Obi-Wan’s teachings on the Force and became a Jedi. Yes, his time with Obi-Wan was much briefer than his father’s had been, but Luke and Anakin certainly shared a Jedi master in a meaningful way.

1

Luke And Anakin Both Brought Balance To The Force

In The End, The Chosen One Prophecy Needed Them Both

While the true Chosen One is highly debated to this day, the truth is that the Chosen One prophecy was poorly named. It was neither Luke nor Anakin alone who ultimately brought balance to the Force. With balance seemingly meaning holding the Sith or the dark side of the Force at bay, Luke and Anakin’s combined efforts to destroy Palpatine at the end of Return of the Jedi fulfill this prophecy.

This is a particularly special connection because, while the many rhymes between Anakin and Luke are profound, this is the moment their story truly intersects. Together, father and son save the galaxy, with Luke completing the Herculean task of bringing his father back from the depths of the dark side. Although Star Wars has innumerable links between Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker’s stories, this is no doubt the most meaningful.

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