IC 342: The Hidden Galaxy

This is a great point - that Doffy wants to feel SAFE and SUPERIOR, and his position as a warlord and as Joker granted him that. He made himself indispencible for all great powers in the world - but didn't account for people like Luffy who actually don't care for the existing system.

Rosetta’s Comet in Gemini

And for Andrew too. My goodness no matter how many reassurances he gives and no matter what he does to prove his loyalty, it's never good enough. It really just never ends with her. Ashley extended every effort to make them as emotionally and physically entangled as possible.

It doesn't matter if the Jedi made mistakes or were flawed. It truly truly doesn't, it's SO beyond the point of this narrative it's not even funny.

The POINT of the death of the Jedi is that you can do everything right and still lose. And even more so, you can be the most moral, compassionate, selfless person in the galaxy and it won't matter if everyone around you has decided to be selfless and greedy.

The point of the death of the Jedi is that they seem like this group that should be nearly impossible to take down, they're full of powerful people who can do powerful things, they've got laser swords and magic powers and can jump really far and run really fast, and they use all of this to do nothing but HELP PEOPLE all the time, and in the end they all die because no one around them wanted to do the same. Fascism is a group effort, it's not the work of one dude or even two. Yes, Palpatine comes in and abuses the system to do bad things, but his entire plan relies on THOUSANDS of people choosing to do bad things with him. Anakin, yes, but also the corporate alliance and Dooku and Jango and Grievous and Maul and the Geonosians and the Kaminoans and Tarkin and so so so many Senators (enough that a Delegation of 2000 feels like their efforts are likely a shot in the dark). The Jedi are doing EVERYTHING RIGHT, they're heroes who give their lives to save others, but they're surrounded by people who wouldn't do the same, and that's what kills them.

THAT'S the point. The Jedi being flawed completely bypasses that point entirely. Focusing on "mistakes" the Jedi might have made, or flaws they might have, means that you're now completely ignoring the entire message about how fighting BACK against fascism and evil is ALSO a group effort. The Jedi cannot do it alone, and if enough people are not standing up to darkness with them, IT IS GUARANTEED TO WIN. Even the most powerful, most selfless people in the world can't stand up against a galaxy full of people prepared to submit to their own fears.

is a take that fundamentally misunderstands both Luke as a character and the entire point behind Star Wars and the Jedi religion.

Luke didn't act out of attachment. If he did he would have killed Palpatine and Vader in a desperate attempt to save his friends.

Let's actually compare this to mister attachment aka Anakin, shall we.

If Anakin was in a position where some guy (for example Dooku) was responsible for Padmé, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, Rex etc. being in current life threatening danger, he would have killed that man and anyone who stood in his way. If there was another guy claiming to be his father that might have thrown him off for a bit but in pure rage and terror of what might happen to the people he loves he would have 10000% killed him, father or not (he literally tries to kill his surrogate father / brother out of attachment and greed and later succeeds IN THE MOVIES).

Luke however chooses AGAINST acting out of attachment. He doesn't let his fear for his loved ones control him. The literal moment he crashes out and eventually almost kills Vader is when Vader mentions Leia. His attachment to her led him to react with rage in a desperate attempt to protect her but then he realizes that that's WRONG. That he's playing into Palpatine's hands and giving himself over to the dark side, so he stops. He chooses not to become what Anakin let himself be turned into.

Luke's motivation for saving Vader is not attachment - it's compassion.

Attachment is to act on behalf of yourself. Attachment is choosing your own feelings over what the people you love would want. Attachment is sacrificing everything your wife stood for, choking her to unconsciousness because she doesn't react the way you want her to and trying to kill your own brother out of greed and jealousy. Attachment is selfish love - love that is about YOU and not the people around you.

Compassion is SELFESS love. Compassion is choosing others over yourself. Compassion is valuing the ideals and wants of the people you love - not just wanting to keep them by your side at all cost. Compassion is tossing away your lightsaber and letting yourself get tortured and almost killed because you REFUSE to act out of attachment and let anyone be hurt but yourself. Compassion is also to sacrifice yourself to save your child even though it gains you neither a better future nor him staying in your life.

I’m a Palpatine fan. Not because I think he’s "misunderstood" or because the Jedi deserved what happened, but because he is unapologetically, deliberately evil—and he is terrifyingly good at it. I’m tired of people attributing his wins to everyone except him. It’s time we stop nerfing Darth Sidious just to vilify the Jedi.

The "Anakin Fell Because of the Jedi" Let’s be clear: The Jedi didn’t push Anakin away. Palpatine pulled him. He didn't just wait for the Jedi to mess up; he identified a traumatized kid and spent fourteen years grooming him. He inserted himself as the only "affirming" authority figure in Anakin’s life, slowly warping his worldview until he reached a breaking point. Then, Palpatine stepped in and offered him exactly what he wanted to hear. If the Jedi had somehow magically done everything perfectly to counteract a Sith Master's influence, would Anakin have stayed in the Light? Yeah, probably. But that doesn’t change the fact that Palpatine did it. Just because the Jedi didn't manage to counter everything perfectly—when they didn't even know they had an opponent until the final hour—doesn't mean they deserve the credit for Palpatine's hard work. Stop crediting the Jedi for Anakin’s fall; that’s Palpatine’s masterpiece.

The Propaganda Machine People act like the Jedi just stumbled into being hated through "arrogance." No. Palpatine made them hated. He orchestrated a galactic war where he controlled both sides, then maneuvered the Jedi into military roles that fundamentally broke their image as neutral peacekeepers. He allowed the public to get used to seeing them as armed generals rather than spiritual guardians. That wasn't an accidental optics shift; it was a masterpiece PR assassination.

The "If They Just Didn't Fight" Fallacy I hear this all the time: "If the Jedi hadn't fought in the Clone Wars, they wouldn't have died! Clearly, the Jedi fell because they had lost their way as peacekeepers." …do you seriously think Palpatine wouldn't have found a way to turn that situation to his advantage? If the Jedi had refused to fight, Palpatine wouldn't have just packed up and gone home. He would have weaponized their neutrality. Imagine the Holonet headlines: "Jedi Elitists Refuse to Defend Republic Against Former Member Count Dooku." He would have branded them as cowards, conspirators, or traitors who abandoned the galaxy in its darkest hour. The Clone Wars would have still happened, except the Jedi would be hunted by both the Separists and the Republic. The Purge would still have happened anyway; only the "why"(and "how") would have changed.

'He won because everyone played exactly like his script-' Things didn't go 100% to palpatine's plans in the prequels, he just was really good at adapting Naboo: The Trade Federation fumbled the occupation. Palpatine didn't panic; he still used it to seize the Chancellorship. Maul: His apprentice got cut in half. Palpatine just traded up for Dooku to fuel the Separatist movement. Mustafar: Anakin was supposed to be the perfect specimen, not a mutilated man in a life-support suit. Palpatine simply recalibrated and turned the "broken" remains into Vader.

But his fans never ever ever want to admit that he's the villain of the story. They just don't. And it makes having discussions with them about this story and this character near impossible because they interpret the story as being "about" someone else like Palpatine or the Jedi just so that Anakin can be that much less at fault for everything and that much less of a villain.

While many fans—and even some creators—frame Anakin Skywalker as a "tragic hero" or a “Chosen One crushed under pressure,” a closer, psychologically informed lens reveals something far more complex—and far more uncomfortable. Anakin displays numerous traits consistent with severe mental health disorders, especially Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) (historically called sociopathy). This essay is not about pathologizing for shock value—it’s about accountability, missed opportunities, and the moral weight of his fall.

Part I: The Psychology of Anakin Skywalker

🔥 1. PTSD – The Root Trauma

There is little doubt that Anakin suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from:

• Childhood enslavement and separation from his mother at age 9.

• Combat trauma from years of frontline Clone Wars experience, including exposure to mass death, betrayal, and war crimes.

• The violent death of his mother, which re-activated his trauma and led to a psychotic break.

PTSD explains his:

• Nightmares, flashbacks.

• Hypervigilance.

• Emotional reactivity and impulsivity.

• Deep fear of loss and abandonment.

But PTSD alone doesn’t explain his growing cruelty, need for control, and inability to empathize with others.

💠 2. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) Traits

While diagnosis should be reserved for professionals, Anakin exhibits many clinical-level traits associated with NPD, including:

💬 1. Grandiosity

• Believes he is destined for greatness: "I'm more powerful than the Chancellor. I can overthrow him!"

• Sees himself as unique and entitled to break rules, norms, and ethics because he’s the “Chosen One.”

💬 2. Need for Admiration

• Constantly seeks validation from Obi-Wan, the Council, and Padmé.

• Sees their lack of praise or recognition as betrayal.

• His turn to Palpatine is largely because Palpatine flatters him endlessly and feeds his delusions of importance.

💬 3. Lack of Empathy

• Slaughters children at the Tusken camp and the Jedi Temple without any remorse.

• Views others’ pain primarily in terms of how it affects him.

💬 4. Envy and Jealousy

• Jealous of Obi-Wan's status and closeness to Padmé.

• Believes others are “holding him back.”

• Sees love as something to be possessed, not nurtured.

💬 5. Fragile Ego

• Easily offended.

• Cannot tolerate criticism, correction, or rejection—leads to rage.

• Constant oscillation between self-aggrandizement and self-loathing.

🩸 3. Antisocial Personality Disorder / Sociopathy

Some of Anakin’s darkest behaviors push past narcissism and into antisocial territory. Hallmarks of ASPD include:

🚨 1. Disregard for Others' Rights

• Kills unarmed Tuskens—including children.

• Slaughters Jedi younglings with a cold, mechanical detachment.

• Uses fear and violence to achieve goals without remorse.

🚨 2. Deception and Manipulation

• Lies constantly—to the Jedi, to Padmé, to himself.

• Gaslights Padmé into thinking she’s the one destroying the relationship.

🚨 3. Impulsivity and Aggression

• Reacts with violence to stress or frustration.

• Chokes Padmé the moment he suspects betrayal.

🚨 4. Lack of Remorse

• Justifies the most horrific acts as being “for peace” or “for Padmé.”

• Views his actions as necessary and righteous, not horrifying.

🧠 But How Did This Happen?

Anakin didn’t start out as a monster—he became one due to a perfect storm of:

• Severe early trauma (slavery, loss of mother, abandonment).

• A manipulative mentor figure (Palpatine) who encouraged narcissism, paranoia, and sociopathy.

• A romantic relationship (with Padmé) that allowed codependency and unchecked emotional dependence to flourish.

Over time, Anakin internalized the belief that love is control, that loss is betrayal, and that violence is justified if it secures the person or goal he desires.

📌 What Makes This So Tragic

The real horror of Anakin’s descent is that he was a victim who became a perpetrator. That’s not to excuse his actions—it’s to understand that:

Unhealed trauma, when combined with unchecked power and enabling systems, often breeds not only dysfunction—but evil.

And what's more, those around him— most notably Padmé—either ignored the signs, failed to intervene, or enabled him due to their own weaknesses and fears.

🧘 Part II: Jedi Philosophy and Why They Did Not Fail Him

There’s a common belief—especially in modern fandom—that the Jedi “failed” Anakin. But this is often based on a Western misunderstanding of Eastern spiritual philosophy, particularly Buddhism and Taoism, on which George Lucas modeled the Jedi.

Let’s take a moment to break down major key points and then place them in context with Anakin’s choices and downfall:

💡 Attachment in Jedi teachings does not mean “emotional connection” in the Western sense. It refers to clinging, possessiveness, control, and self-centered desire—which leads to fear, and fear leads to suffering.

This is explicitly Buddhist in conception:

• Tanha (craving, thirst) is a cause of dukkha (suffering).

• Love in its purest form is metta—unconditional, universal compassion for all beings.

• To truly love is to let go, not to possess.

The Jedi Code, often maligned by fans or misrepresented in pop culture, teaches:

• “There is no emotion, there is peace” – not suppression, but transcendence of destabilizing emotions.

• Service to all, not fixation on one.

Anakin did not understand or more accurately didn´t want to understand this distinction because it had gone against what he personally wanted and desired.

🪬 Why the Jedi Did Not Fail Anakin

There’s a popular myth, especially among modern audiences, that “the Jedi failed Anakin” because:

• They didn’t let him express feelings

• They were too dogmatic

• They forbade love

But this analysis tries to expose why this is a projection of Western values onto a spiritually Eastern-coded tradition.

Let’s clarify a few things:

Misconception

Jedi reject emotion.

Jedi forbid love.

Jedi are emotionally repressed.

Jedi reject family.

Truth

They train to recognize, accept, and transcend emotion without being ruled by it.

They promote universal love, but discourage possessive romantic obsession.

No—they are emotionally disciplined for the sake of service to others.

Jedi form bonds within the Order, like Obi-Wan and Anakin, or Yoda and the younglings—but without exclusive loyalty that leads to conflict of interest.

So when people claim the Jedi were “cruel” or “repressive” for asking Anakin to let go of attachment, what they miss is that the Jedi were actually trying to help him master his own mind—to free him from the suffering that ultimately destroyed him.

🕳️ Anakin’s Fall Was Not the Jedi’s Fault—It Was His Own

Anakin chose not to learn. He rejected the Jedi path, despite having every opportunity:

• He refused to accept the impermanence of life.

• He became obsessed with control, especially over Padmé’s fate.

• He saw love not as something to give, but something to own.

His attachment to Padmé wasn’t loving—it was fear-based possessiveness:

“I can’t live without her.”

“You’re going down a path I can’t follow.”

“You turned her against me!”

This is the language of obsession, not of love.

By contrast, the Jedi way would have been:

• “I cherish her, but I do not own her.”

• “If she must go, I will grieve, but I will not become a monster to prevent it.”

• “Love means letting her choose her own path—even if it leads away from me.”

Anakin could not do that. That’s not a failure of the Jedi—that’s a failure of Anakin’s own spiritual development.

🍂 “Mono no Aware” and the Wisdom of Letting Go

Let´s talk about mono no aware—the Japanese aesthetic of the transience of things. That’s the essence of Jedi wisdom:

Enjoy love, life, connection, without clinging.

Accept death, loss, and change without becoming bitter or violent.

Serve others not because it benefits you—but because it is right.

Yoda teaches this exact lesson:

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

But Anakin did the opposite:

• He feared loss.

• He clung to control.

• He demanded a universe that would obey his will.

• And when it wouldn’t, he burned it down.

To say it clearly:

✨ The Jedi did not fail Anakin. Anakin failed the Jedi path.

Because the Jedi path requires true love—not possession.

True peace—not domination.

True service—not control.

He had every opportunity to grow beyond his trauma. He had guidance. He had love. But in the end, he chose to be ruled by his attachments.

💥 Part III: Anakin’s Fall Was a Moral Failure

Let’s say this plainly:

Anakin knew better. He chose differently.

🧠 He Understood the Jedi Teachings — He Just Didn’t Live Them

Anakin corrects Padmé in Attack of the Clones when she conflates “no attachments” with “no love.” He knows the distinction. He even explains:

“Attachment is forbidden. Possession is forbidden. Compassion, which I would define as unconditional love, is essential to a Jedi’s life.”

So we know:

• He wasn’t misled

• He wasn’t ignorant

• He wasn’t lied to

The Jedi gave him the framework. He rejected it, not because it was wrong—but because it demanded more from him than he was willing to give.

🧘‍♂️ Jedi Teachings Are Therapy — If You Apply Them

✅ Jedi teachings are a form of therapy, rooted in ancient spiritual and psychological disciplines.

Jedi Teaching

Let go of fear.

No attachments.

Accept impermanence.

Meditation.

Compassion over control.

Therapeutic Parallel

Exposure therapy for anxiety and loss.

CBT against possessive and obsessive thinking.

 Buddhist-derived radical acceptance.

 Mindfulness and emotional regulation.

 Trauma-informed relational ethics.

Meditation, detachment from ego, mindfulness, compassion, surrender to the present moment—all these are tools to overcome:

• Trauma

• Anger

• Obsession

• Fear of death

The Jedi gave Anakin these tools. He didn’t use them. Why?

Because he always chose the path of least resistance.

And Palpatine? He made that path very easy.

No therapy, Jedi or otherwise, can work if the patient:

Doesn’t want to change

Only seeks affirmation, not growth

Is actively undermined by an external manipulator (Palpatine)

🧑⚖️ Palpatine as the Enabler of Anakin’s Worst Instincts

Palpatine is the archetype of the false father, the devouring mentor, the spiritual saboteur. He was:

• A constant presence in Anakin’s life

• Feeding his ego

• Stoking his fears

• Validating his entitlement, not challenging his attachments

While Obi-Wan told Anakin:

“You are strong and wise, Anakin, and I am very proud of you.”

Palpatine whispered:

“You are the greatest Jedi. You deserve more power. You know better than the Council. You are special.”

So whenever Anakin wanted something the Jedi said “no” to (power, control, eternal life for Padmé), Palpatine said:

“Yes. And you deserve it.”

Anakin didn't fall because he wasn't loved.

He fell because he didn’t want to hear hard truths—only comforting lies.

He never learned to take responsibility for his own suffering—so he blamed others (the Jedi, Obi-Wan, Padmé) when reality didn’t match his fantasies.

🔄 The Pattern of Avoidance

Anakin’s refusal to apply Jedi teachings mirrors what we often see in the real world: people who are given the tools to heal—but don’t use them because they:

• Want quick fixes instead of deep growth

• Don’t want to confront their inner pain

• Find destructive shortcuts easier than patient discipline

Even the best therapist would’ve struggled with someone like Anakin because he wasn’t ready to be helped.

That’s the key. The Jedi weren’t perfect—but they were offering him a lifeline.

He chose the rope that led to the abyss.

🥀 Final Thought: Anakin’s Fall Was a Moral Failure, Not Just a Tragic One

This is what makes Anakin’s story a true tragedy in the classical sense.

He wasn’t a passive victim—he had agency.

He was the architect of his own fall, because he:

Knew the right path

Was taught how to walk it

Chose the easier, darker one instead

And ironically, it cost him everything he was trying to preserve.

In this sense, Anakin’s story is a Greek tragedy, but a just one.

He had the knowledge.

He had the teachers.

He had the choice.

But he chose not to evolve.

He chose to cling.

He chose to kill.

And in the end, he lost everything because he tried to keep it all.

That’s not the Jedi’s fault.

One of the most uncomfortable truths about Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala is also the simplest one: they genuinely have nothing to talk about.

When they are alone together, their conversations reduce to an almost comical loop:

“I love you.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“I do.”

“I shouldn’t love you.”

“But I do.”

Repeat endlessly.

There is almost no shared intellectual curiosity between them. No sustained political or ethical discussion — which is especially striking given that Padmé is a senator at the heart of the Republic. There is no serious debate about the Jedi Order, the war, slavery, governance, philosophy, or the moral decay of the institution (the Republic) both of them serve. There is no sense that they enjoy thinking together, challenging each other, or building ideas side by side.

In fact, Padmé talks politics more meaningfully with Palpatine than with her own husband. That alone should set off alarms.

On paper, Anakin and Padmé should clash in fascinating ways. Their worldviews are fundamentally misaligned. Padmé believes in democracy, institutions, reform, restraint, and process. Anakin is openly authoritarian — he explicitly argues that “someone should make people agree.” He values decisive power, control, and imposed order. This ideological mismatch should produce intense debates, moral friction, growth, or rupture.

Instead, the story avoids the clash entirely.

Padmé hears Anakin say things that should terrify her — things that contradict everything she stands for — and responds with a sigh and a kiss. There is no interrogation. No challenge. No “walk me through that, because that scares me.” The relationship is never allowed to test either of them, and because of that, it never deepens.

When you compare them to functional couples elsewhere in Star Wars or adjacent sci-fi, the absence becomes even more glaring. Luke and Mara bond over philosophy, duty, history, and Force ethics. Han and Leia clash and connect through politics versus pragmatism, leadership, and the logistics of rebellion. These couples build a shared life of the mind.

Anakin and Padmé do not.

Anakin shows no meaningful engagement with Padmé’s senatorial work. Padmé shows no serious engagement with Anakin’s moral framework or inner conflicts. They do not build a shared intellectual or ethical space. They are not partners. They are mutual emotional escape hatches.

This failure is compounded by how Padmé herself is written. She is a former queen, a skilled legislator, and politically perceptive enough to recognize the Republic’s decay — yet with Anakin, she ignores red flags she would immediately recognize in anyone else. She never pushes back on his growing extremism. She never asks hard questions after he confesses to slaughtering the Tuskens. The narrative requires her to be passive so Anakin’s fall can appear “tragic.”

That makes the romance not just thin, but structurally dishonest.

This matters deeply for how Anakin’s fall is meant to work. If Anakin had been intellectually bonded to Padmé, morally challenged by her, and forced to articulate and defend his fears, his collapse might feel earned. Instead, the relationship neither deepens him nor corrects him, nor does it meaningfully confront his worldview. When Anakin claims he is doing everything “for love,” skepticism is not only reasonable — it is necessary.

This is not love as shared values.

It is love as obsession, fear, and idealization.

And that leads directly to the psychological core of the problem.

Anakin projects a maternal role onto Padmé.

He lost his mother through traumatic, violent circumstances. That loss remains unresolved. He develops an extreme fear of abandonment and emotional annihilation. In Padmé’s psyche, he finds an emotional anchor, a source of unconditional acceptance, and a figure of safety — precisely what his mother represented to him.

The difference is that Padmé is also a romantic object, a sexual partner, and a projection screen for his ideals.

This is a textbook case of unhealthy attachment.

That is why their dynamic feels so wrong. Anakin’s communication with her is childishly intense, emotionally dependent, and desperate for constant reassurance. He reacts with panic at the mere suggestion of loss. This is not the love of an emotionally mature adult. It is: “Please don’t leave me, because without you I will collapse.” That is not romantic or erotic energy — it is codependent regression.

There is an unmistakable Oedipal element here, not in the crude sense of conscious physical desire for the mother, but in the psychodynamic sense: mother as the only source of safety, loss of the mother as unresolved trauma, and a replacement maternal figure becoming both the object of desire and dependency. Freud would have a field day with Anakin Skywalker.

Padmé is pulled into this dynamic without the narrative ever acknowledging it. She is not his therapist, yet the story places her in that role. She comforts, normalizes extreme behavior, ignores her own boundaries, and overlooks warning signs — turning her into an emotional caretaker rather than an equal partner. That is unhealthy for both of them.

This is not love. This is an inability to let go.

Anakin does not fall because of love. He falls because of unintegrated trauma, fear of death, the need for control, and emotional dependency. Love is merely the pretext.

One of the most quietly insane lore drops in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno is the revelation that Sidious deliberately brought Anakin and Padmé together, fully aware that Anakin’s pathological attachment to her would eventually be the lever that completed his fall.

Let that sink in.

This wasn’t fate.

This wasn’t tragic romance.

This wasn’t “forbidden love doomed by circumstances”.

This was engineered toxicity.

Sidious looked at Anakin Skywalker—an emotionally unstable, traumatized former slave with severe abandonment issues, arrested emotional development, and zero healthy coping mechanisms—and said: What if I give this man a romantic/sexual partner who will also function as a replacement maternal attachment figure?

And then he picked Padmé Amidala.

“Pathological Attachment” Is Not Romantic Language

Luceno’s wording matters here. He doesn’t describe Anakin’s feelings as deep love, forbidden attachment, or even obsession. He calls it pathological attachment.

That is clinical language.

Pathological attachment implies:

fear-based bonding

emotional dependency

inability to self-regulate

identity collapse in the face of loss

escalation under stress rather than stabilization

This is not a love story. This is a psychological case study.

And it explains why Anakin and Padmé don’t grow together, don’t mature together, and don’t actually build anything resembling a shared life. Their relationship does not add stability—it amplifies dysfunction.

They Bring Out the Worst in Each Other (And That’s the Point)

Anakin is mentally and emotionally a child in an adult body. He never processed his trauma, never learned emotional regulation, and never developed a stable sense of self. He does not love in a grounded, reciprocal way—he clings.

Padmé, meanwhile, is written as morally performative, convinced of her own ethical clarity, intolerant of dissent in politics yet selectively blind in her private life.

So what happens when you pair her with Anakin?

You get:

a man who needs validation + a woman who believes she knows best

a control-freak + a moral absolutist

someone who wants permission + someone who grants it when convenient

She talks down to him ideologically while enabling him emotionally.

That’s a nightmare dynamic.

She excuses what she would condemn in anyone else. She does not challenge him in ways that would force growth—she cushions him, hides him, and protects him from consequences.

That is not love.

That is enabling.

If Padmé actually believed in law, justice, and responsibility, she would have reported Anakin after the Tusken massacre so he could get help. Full stop. Anything else is hypocrisy.

Sidious Chose This Dynamic on Purpose

From Palpatine’s perspective, this pairing is perfect.

Padmé provides Anakin with:

moral cover

emotional validation

justification for secrecy

Anakin provides Padmé with:

intensity

exceptionalism

the illusion of being uniquely chosen

Neither one challenges the other in a way that disrupts the spiral. Instead, they lock into a feedback loop where fear, secrecy, and emotional dependency reinforce each other.

Sidious doesn’t need to push hard. He just applies pressure and lets the pathology do the work.

That’s why the revelation is delivered so casually in Dark Lord. By that point, the manipulation is already complete.

This Was Never a Tragic Romance

Anakin and Padmé are not soulmates torn apart by destiny.

They are two profoundly incompatible people who become each other’s emotional crutches, selected and positioned by a master manipulator because together they are weaker, not stronger.

Their relationship does not humanize Anakin. It destabilizes him.

It does not anchor Padmé’s morality. It erodes it.

This wasn’t love ruined by tragedy.

It was a tragedy disguised as love, curated by the most accomplished emotional predator in the galaxy.

And “pathological attachment” is the most honest phrase Star Wars has ever used to describe it.

But then, I see the millionth post of many that will condemn OBI-WAN (the GENOCIDE survivor of the Jedi Genocide that ANAKIN has currently just helped cause) for Anakin HIMSELF choking Padmè in a fit of rage. And not like—idk—the main perpetrator of the violent act of domestic abuse against his own wife: AKA—Anakin Skywalker himself.

Then, I see the millionth post of blaming Obi-Wan (the GENOCIDE survivor) for how he RIGHTFULLY wanted Anakin to face justice for his horrific and heartless crimes against the galaxy and also the Jedi Order themselves—and I quickly realize: “No, I’m not imaging the pure demonization and dehumanization of the Jedi and their culture at all. 🙃”

I think it’s VERY telling that even NOW, in this situation where ANAKIN is clearly the one in the wrong, that some of his fans will immediately look to demonize Obi-Wan—one of Anakin’s VICTIMS—for wanting to STOP Anakin’s violence in its tracks before he could become a greater threat to the galaxy and go on to kill more people (which he did end up doing).

Because at the end of the day, for some people—ANAKIN’S pain seems to be the only thing that matters.

It’s absolutely BONKERS to blame OBI-WAN in this situation for something Anakin WILLINGLY does and WOULD have no doubt done anyways, even if Obi-Wan hadn’t revealed himself at the time. Because Padmè was NOT getting through to Anakin. Lol. 😭 The last words he ever says to her is when she’s BACKING AWAY FROM HIM, where he basically snarls: “Don’t you turn against me,” because Padmè was upset learning that he’d just—ya know—heartlessly SLAUGHTERED Jedi babies like garbage.

In the nicest way possible, anyone who believes Padmè was seconds away from ‘getting through to Anakin’, and that big meanie Obi-Wan (how DARE the genocide survivor want one of the main PERPETRATORS to face justice! 😱) somehow ‘ruined’ that from happening is straight up incorrect and painting their own headcanon over canon itself.

It is also BONKERS in general just to demonize OBI-WAN for ‘daring’ to believe Anakin was too far gone for Padmè to talk any sense into, after he LITERALLY just watched a video of Anakin not only helping commit GENOCIDE against the Jedi Order—but also him seeing with his own eyes the very Jedi babies Anakin slaughtered in the temple like they were no more than garbage. Like??? Why WOULD Obi-Wan believe Anakin could be ‘talked down’ at that point? Lol. Why should he even be EXPECTED to?

More than that, Obi-Wan was no doubt also worried for PADMÈ’S physical safety (even if that wasn’t his main concern at the time), because he no doubt thought she was a lamb walking willingly into a lion’s den. Like??? God FORBID Obi-Wan having some common sense, when Padmè was clearly blinded by her rose-tinted denial, and didn’t believe Anakin had slaughtered Jedi younglings until Anakin willingly admitted it (even though she WILLINGLY took to her grave Anakin’s tusken massacre that DID indeed include tusken children and itty bitty babies, no doubt).

But no, let’s blame the GENOCIDE VICTIM for what the person that BETRAYED him is willingly doing of his own free volition, just because he’s angry.

I’m sorry if I sound a bit snippy, but this unempathetic take has always baffled me. Lol. 😭🤷‍♀️

And I just knowwww there’s going to be SOMEONE who reads this take and will think I ‘hate’ Anakin. 🫩 And yet—alas—(sadly enough for my sanity), I very much DO love Anakin’s character. And even relate to him greatly in a lot of ways with being afraid of change and death.

And yet—Anakin’s pain will NEVER matter more to me than the pain of his victims’s.

And yessss, yesss—I knowww: “Idk if you know this, but he isn’t real! 🤪” 🙄🫩

Yes, I’m aware of that. Thank you for sharing, hypothetical person. Lol.

My POINT, is that Anakin’s pain and suffering IS valid. His childhood is heartbreaking, and makes him very sympathetic. And yet, just because ANAKIN suffers, does not suddenly ‘absolve’ him and give him all the authority in the world to take his pain out on everyone else. It doesn’t suddenly make him a ‘helpless little baby’ who holds no responsibility for his actions. And it DOESN’T suddenly mean Obi-Wan becomes the BAD GUY in a situation where he has EVERY right to want Anakin to face justice for helping to murder children, and stab the family who raised him since nine years old in the back in the form of pure and heartless genocide.

In fact, if ANY character is full-blown correct in this scene, it’s Obi-Wan. Or at least the closest to correct as you can get.

People are free to treat Anakin as just their ‘precious little blorbo’ that can do no wrong. It is after all just fiction. But that doesn’t mean everyone else can’t also view SW from the realities of real life, and acknowledge the insanity of a take that blames the GENOCIDE SURVIVOR, instead of the very man who helped CAUSE it. Lol. 😭🤦‍♀️

Sorry for the rant. Just appears I had enough motivation to write a little ✨SW meta✨ after months of hiatus.

Because as absolutely horrific as Order 66 obviously is, as much of a betrayal as it is, if they get any kind of answer as to WHY he did what he did, they can kind-of write it off as like... a snap decision due to suddenly getting visions of Padme dying. They could maybe convince themselves that it was the sleep deprivation, or maybe just being worn down because of the war in general, that caused him to react to those visions the way he did and to trust Palpatine enough to turn on the Jedi in order to get his help. They could maybe convince themselves that if just one or two of those things hadn't happened, if he hadn't gotten the visions or if the war hadn't happened, that he wouldn't have done what he did, that he wouldn't have turned on the Jedi and become a murderer. They could convince themselves that the person they'd known and loved had been real right up until he snapped.

But the Tusken massacre makes that absolutely impossible. Because the Tusken massacre tells them that he was capable of massacring an entire village down to the last child without the war at all, and seemingly without anybody telling him he had to do it in order to save someone else. The Tusken massacre tells them that Anakin was lying to them for YEARS and that the person they thought they'd known, at minimum for at least the years after that, was a lie. Because they still saw him as a kind, honorable, honest person. And the reality is that he was a cruel, dishonorable, liar. That he was lying to all of them every moment of every day, pretending that he was still the person they thought he was because it benefitted him to do so. And the fact that they can no longer blame Order 66 on a snap decision means that they can't really do that for the Tusken massacre, either. It starts to call into question whether Anakin had been this kind of person the ENTIRE TIME, it causes them to wonder just how long Anakin had been capable of this kind of atrocity, how long had Anakin been willing to JUSTIFY this kind of cruelty, how many other things was he lying about in order to pass himself off as a good person while secretly he was out killing people on a whim? Had anything they had ever believed about him ever been true?

For the Jedi characters in particular, it really shows them just how little he'd always respected them and believed in their lifestyle and their philosophies, as well. It shows that all those times he'd "bent" the rules might have had more nefarious motives behind them than they'd realized. It shines a different light on his attitude towards the Council and his unwillingness to obey any order they ever gave him.