One Revenge Of The Sith Scene Hints At A Shocking Abandoned Love Triangle

One shocking prequel trilogy love triangle almost made its way into the movies, and there’s still a subtle nod to it in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Of all Star Wars’ movies and TV shows, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith are the most overtly romantic – albeit tragically so. While Leia and Han Solo also have a prominent relationship, and Rey and Kylo Ren arguably have romantic feelings for one another, Anakin and Padmé’s is the biggest romance in the franchise.

In part, this relationship is what makes Revenge of the Sith one of Star Wars’ best movies. In addition to making sense of the events of the original trilogy, Padmé and Anakin’s secret marriage adds emotional stakes to Star Wars that hadn’t quite been there before. However, based on one discarded prequels plot, their relationship almost looked very different.

Anakin Kills Padmé In A Fit Of Jealousy

“You Will Not Take Her From Me” Suggests Another Layer

In Revenge of the Sith, when Padmé arrives on Mustafar, Anakin is immediately on the defensive about Obi-Wan. While he excitedly tells Padmé about how they can overthrow Palpatine and rule together — not defensive about what he’s done — when Padmé confesses that Obi-Wan knows about them, Anakin’s face darkens. When she soon after says Obi-Wan was right about him changing, he tells her he doesn’t “want to hear any more about Obi-Wan.” While this could be played off as Anakin simply angry that Obi-Wan helped Padmé see the truth, the rest of the scene signals something more.

When Anakin sees Obi-Wan appear at the entryway of Padmé’s ship, he becomes enraged, screaming at Padmé that she is a liar when she says she loves him. Notably, Anakin then also says, “You’re with him!” It’s then that Anakin begins to choke her. After she falls, this line of thought continues, with Anakin accusing Obi-Wan of turning Padmé against him and yelling, “You will not take her from me.”

Again, while much of this dialogue could arguably be attributed to Anakin believing that Obi-Wan will use his turn to the dark side to convince Padmé to leave him, this particular language suggests something almost like romantic jealousy. Anakin’s claims that Padmé was ‘with’ Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan would ‘take’ Padmé from him are phrases commonly associated with romantic betrayal. This ties into the original plan for Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan.

Lucas Did Consider A Star Wars Prequel Trilogy Love Triangle

The Fan-Favorite “Ani-dala” Relationship Almost Looked Very Different

The first draft of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace set up a love triangle, with Padmé having clear feelings for Obi-Wan. In this version, Obi-Wan would not have been the young Padawan learner, very similar to Anakin in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, but instead would have been a full-fledged Jedi Knight, closer to Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace. The root of Padmé’s feelings would have been Obi-Wan’s bravery in standing up to the Queen, which also suggests an interest in that sort of experience and authority.

While this likely would never have gone anywhere, given that Padmé is the mother of Luke and Leia and Obi-Wan was a Jedi Knight not as willing to break the rules, it would have planted a seed of doubt in Anakin. If he observed those feelings, or became aware of them later, that could have manifested in the type of jealous rage he exhibited on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. More than that, it would have mirrored the love triangle that took place in the first Star Wars movie and The Empire Strikes Back, awkwardly including Padmé and Anakin’s own children.

There’d Have Been A Strange Echo Of The Original Trilogy In This Love Triangle

Anakin, Obi-Wan, And Padmé Wouldn’t Have Been Star Wars’ Worst Love Triangle

While there’s plenty to critique about Anakin and Padmé’s relationship, not the least of which is that he chokes her and is largely responsible for her death, the original Star Wars trilogy still holds the title of worst romance. In A New Hope, it wasn’t yet established that Luke and Leia were twins. Instead, Luke clearly has feelings for Leia, viewing Han Solo as his competition for winning her over. This worsens in The Empire Strikes Back, in a moment when Leia kisses Luke to put Han in his place.

While, for Leia, this kiss was a way of making Han think she didn’t have feelings for him, Luke looks very smug after Leia walks away. This kiss has become infamous because, after the reveal in Return of the Jedi that Luke and Leia are twins, it represents something fairly horrifying. It is, to date, still one of Star Wars’ oddest, most disturbing choices.

This would have been echoed in the potential love triangle between Anakin, Padmé, and Obi-Wan, which would have made both all the worse. By forming a prequel trilogy love triangle, Star Wars would have reminded audiences of this awkward romantic history between Luke and Leia, particularly because the new love triangle would include their parents. This was certainly a history the prequels need not repeat.

Would Anakin’s Fall Have Been Better With A Proper Love Triangle?

This Offered One Way For Star Wars To Address Anakin’s Quick Turn

Even outside the callback to Luke and Leia, though, this love triangle would have been a mistake. While, yes, Revenge of the Sith received criticism about Anakin’s acceptance of his turn to the dark side of the Force and status as a Sith Lord being too quick, and romantic jealousy could have contributed more to that narrative, it would have cheapened what happened in the movie. Rather than falling back on a more clichéd or flat plotline of relationship troubles, Revenge of the Sith saw Anakin truly paranoid about losing Padmé and angry about his limitations.

This paranoia built perfectly on the terrible loss of Anakin’s mother, and it shed light on the issues with the Jedi Order, which made Anakin more willing to turn against them. Not only did the Jedi disagree with any sort of romance, in many ways creating the secrecy and issues with Padmé and Anakin’s relationship, but they also lacked the ability to save her life. By having Anakin be solely focused on saving Padmé, Revenge of the Sith managed to make their romantic relationship about so much more than just stereotypical scorned lovers.

There was also little need to do this, as Star Wars had already established that Anakin had issues with romantic jealousy. In Attack of the Clones, this is subtler. When Anakin and Padmé are sitting together in the fields of Naboo, he asks her about anyone she’s had feelings for before. Padmé then describes an older boy whom she had a crush on when she was younger, adding details about his hair and eyes, at which point Anakin cuts her off, saying he gets it.

This jealousy is worse in Star Wars: The Clone Wars when Anakin nearly kills Padmé’s old flame Rush Clovis. There was no need for Anakin to be jealous of Obi-Wan and Padmé; he’d already proven his romantic jealousy was an aspect of his need for control and issues with attachment. It also would have detracted from their relationship. Anakin and Padmé truly did love each other, but outside forces tore them apart. By keeping a love triangle out of it, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith focused instead on Anakin’s desperation to save Padmé, for the better.

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