Iâm new to your blog so I donât fully know your take on Clone Wars and whatnot. Iâve seen the whole show and it seems like the Jedi are fairly trusting of Anakin during the war. My question is, what changed between that and ROTS to make the Jedi not like him? Especially Windu? Do we know? Or is that something that just wasnât touched upon enough in Clone Wars?
Honestly, I would say that theyâre still pretty trusting of Anakin even in Revenge of the Sith!Yoda and Obi-Wan are both there and supportive of himâI know a lot of people donât like Yodaâs advice in ROTS, but given how both George Lucas and Dave Filoni have talked about Yodaâs words are at the core themes of Star Wars, Iâm pretty sure weâre meant to take that conversation in a positive light on Yodaâs side and a negative light on Anakinâs. YMMV on how you interpret it, everyone has their own views, which is perfectly cool, but Iâm pretty sure the narrative is trying to show them as supportive, especially since Yodaâs taking time to sit down and talk with him, Obi-Wan makes a point to talk with him and reassure him that heâs on Anakinâs side.The problem with Mace (since Anakin doesnât really interact with many other Jedi beyond these three/the film doesnât really show us many Jedi beyond them) is that itâs not really just about Anakin. Itâs about Palpatine chipping away at what precious little autonomy the Jedi Order has left, by forcing them to appoint Anakin to the Council despite that he hasnât yet earned it.This isnât Anakinâs fault, but he does accept the offer, when he could have turned it down. Heâs angry when the Jedi try for a middle road, they have to accept Palpatineâs order, but theyâre not going to promote him to Master just because Palpatine says soâand Anakin says, âHow can you do this? This is outrageous. Itâs unfair. How can you be on the Council and not be a master?â
The looks theyâre all giving each other as Anakinâs intensity ramps up says everything about why they donât trust him, that heâs getting upset because he takes this as a personal attack/betrayal rather than seeing that this is a political attack on the Jedi and that they canât just bend to Palpatineâs whims.Later, Anakin continues to rail against this decision with Obi-Wan, âWhat kind of nonsense is this? Put me on the council and not make me a master? Itâs never been done in the history of the Jedi! Itâs insulting!â   âCalm down, Anakin. You have been given a great honor. To be on the Council at your ageâ itâs never happened before.  The fact of the matter isyou are too close to the Chancellor.  The Council doesnât like it when he interferes in Jedi affairs.â   âI swear to you, I didnât ask to be put on the Council.â   âBut itâs what you wanted. Your friendship with Chancellor Palpatine seems to have paid off. â
Itâs not Anakinâs fault that Palpatine is using him as a pawn against the Jedi, but he still accepted the appointment and refused to understand why this was an unearned promotion. (We can see, given the entire plot of the movie, that Anakin has not mastered himself. His Force skills are better than anyone elseâs, but thatâs not really what makes someone a Jedi. A Jedi is about mastery of self, controlling yourself, and Anakinâs not there, not yet.)Thatâs why Padme also nails the problem with Anakinâs view, when he tells her, âObi-Wan and the Council donât trust me.â She responds with, âThey trust you with their lives!â and he changes the subject because he seems to not have a good response to this truth.And itâs also why Mace later says, âIf what youâve told me is true, you will have gained my trust.â because it goes right back to what was shown to us in the Council meeting.
Itâs about Anakin previously choosing his friendship with Palpatine at the cost of the Jedi Order, itâs about Anakin accepting the position on the Council because itâs what he wanted without having earned it, rather than understanding why this is such a shitty thing to do to the Jedi.When Anakin comes to Mace to tell him, hey, this person that I thought was a friend is actually the Sith Lord weâve been looking for, then Anakin did the right thing when push came to shove, which is what Mace didnât trust he would do before, when he accepted Palpatineâs offer to put him on the Council. He chose what was better for everyone, rather than what was better for himself/his friend.The Clone Wars doesnât really go into it a super lot, theyâre not friendly, Anakin definitely thinks that Mace doesnât give him enough praise (when Mace praises Artoo for the rescue, Anakin says that he never got any praise like that from Master Windu), so itâs not like they were BFFs before this, but the events at the beginning of the movie are really what puts that tension there between them.Otherwise, the Jedi seem pretty positive towards Anakin in TCW, they praise plenty of times, so it seems like most of them support him pretty well and the problem between Anakin and the Council is about a growing sense of complicated circumstances. Anakin tends to assume the worst, he prioritizes personal loyalty over everything, so he doesnât understand that their actions arenât personal towards him. (This is a huge, huge factor in the reasons why Anakin feels so betrayed by the Council, especially as he listens to Palpatine telling him that they donât value him enough, so his pov gets twisted around a lot.)But things arenât helped by some of the complicated political situations they get into (when Anakin would like to just go lightsaber everything in the face) and the situation with Ahsoka where everything went pear-shaped is something he blames on them (itâs complicated, too), which gives depth to a lot of the tension youâre picking up on with Anakin vs the Jedi Council, but ultimately I think most of whatâs directly causing the Mace vs Anakin part is that they were suspicious of someone who would accept a position on their governing body that was appointed by an outside factor that forced it on them.
