#anakin skywalker who becomes fucking vader because yoda insists on no attachments

[sky-daddy-hates-me]

I never really looked into the philosophical/real world applications of this specific quote, it just lives rent free in my "reasons to hate that entitled green troll" folder.

Ok Im curious about something: What does this quote mean?

What does it mean by "there is no try"

[ahsokalivesbitch]

Are you for or against Jedi, even in spite of their mistakes?

Okay so I’m going to have to sincerely beg your pardon forbringing my own personal religion/spirituality into this discussion, but itabsolutely plays a role in how I view the Jedi, and the question of whether Ithink it’s important this saga have the Order eventually reestablished, orwhether it really and truly is ‘time for the Jedi to end’. I am in no waytrying to push my religion on anybody else, or even trying to coerce anybody toagree with me about the Jedi. This isall, 100%, just me expressing my own personal thoughts and observations. Iunderstand if others don’t agree with them.

Philosophically speaking, I am a very proud, you might even say ‘devout’,Christian. I’m also proudly bisexual,devoutly feminist, pro-gay and transgender rights, pro-abortion, anti-capitalist,and a lot of things certain people would have you believe is decidedly non-Christian.��

In my own very personal study of religious philosophy, I don’t believethat my stance on any of the aforementioned issues is in any way incongruentwith the teachings of my Lord. In fact it’s the exact opposite for me: I amcompletely and irrevocably convinced that my God has always and will alwaysstand on the side of the marginalized and oppressed.

That’s not to say I’m unaware of the very real and veryproblematic ideas espoused by certain other figures in the Bible. Or the rolemany powerful religious institutions have and continue to play in upholdingoppressive attitudes rather than tearing them down. While I’ve never feltcompelled to give up my faith of choice, as I don’t blame God for humans whoexercise their free will to be shitbags, I’ve certainly wondered whether itwould be best for me to give up the title ‘Christian’ and all the baggage thattends to come with it. Rebrand myself as something else to better distancemyself from these ‘communities’ who dedicate themselves to things I cannot reconcilewith the God I know. And I know I’m not alone. Hell, even William P. Young,author of the bestselling novel “The Shack”, incorporated a very candidconversation into his book where Jesus bluntly asks the main character, “Do Ilook like a ‘Christian’ to you, Mack?” Honestly, that line hit home for me in a very real way.

But what has kept me from turning my back on the legacy ofChristianity altogether is the fact that my religion is not a monolith. Not all priests and pastors arebible-thumping, fire-and-brimstone-spewing judgmental monsters who want nothingmore than to put the fear of hell into you. Many if not most are very genuinein their desire to serve and help others, and I’ve had the fortune of connectingwith a number of them who not only welcome LGBTQ individuals like myself intotheir churches with open arms, but also proudly perform gay and lesbian weddings,rebuke discrimination and denial of women’s reproductive rights from theirpulpits, and advocate openly for gay and transgender rights.

On a more broader level, for centuries there have been innumerable churches around the world who devote countless time, money,and resources to feeding and clothing the poor, sheltering the homeless, providingresources to single mothers and orphans, providing sanctuary for hunted-down immigrantsand refugees, helping abandoned and abused animals. There also have and continue tobe MANY Christian minority groups (not just in America) who were able to drawupon the religion as inspiration to push back against their oppressors and succeed. There were thousands ofChristians present at the Women’s March, Black Lives Matter, and Muslim banprotests this past year alone.

On a very personal level—both times my sister was diagnosed withcancer, not a day went by when she didn’t receive a letter, phone call, goodiebasket, you name it, from one of her pastors or fellow parishioners. Wheresomebody didn’t offer to come and help her watch the kids, clean the house,cook her food, whatever she needed.

Two months ago I came to receive the very same response from myown Christian friends when my father was diagnosed with bladder cancer.

I’m in no way suggesting Christians deserve giant gold medals fromthe rest of the world for any of this. This, in my opinion, is just doing their fucking job. But these acts do matter, even in the shadow of all the horrible thingsother, more powerful institutions who use the Christian ™ label to advancetheir shitty causes perpetuate. Because they demonstrate that being a judgmental,small-minded, holier-than-thou hypocrite is not inherently some ‘consequence’ of what itmeans when you decide to become ‘Christian’. In fact the true purpose of thereligion always has been just theopposite.

So tying all of this into my view of the Jedi—it’s very hard toargue that, just from the stuff we’ve seen in the films/tv shows themselves,the Jedi Order didn’t operate under some pretty fucked-up ideals. Separatingchildren from their parents at infancy? Forbidding emotional attachment,marriage, a family of one’s own forever?That’s downright deplorable! And the canon itself frames how this directly leadto a number of people who couldn’t possiblyfit into such restrictive ‘ideals’ turning to the Dark Side of the Force,Anakin Skywalker himself being the most notable example. Based on all this, I understand entirely where certain peoplecome from when they think it might be better if Rey just dumps the mantle of ‘Jedi’altogether and starts an entirely new institution. Just like some days Iwish I could come up with a new way of framing my religious identity other than‘Christian’.

But here’s the thing—the Jedi also did a lot of things RIGHT. Theyespoused selflessness, serving the needs of the weak and helpless first, compassion, justice, therestoration of peace, fighting for the rights of those threatened by fascistideals, and using their abilities to defend others rather than gain any sort ofpower over them. You could also be literally ANY species or gender under the sun to be welcomed into their fold  and climb high in their ranks. They pushed back ceaselessly against greedy, opportunist, discriminating and oppressive forces in all forms and fought and gave their lives to try and uphold aRepublic that, while arguably equally flawed, at least stood resolutely fordemocratic ideals and equality among all species.

One of the things I LOVED LOVED LOVED most about Luke’scharacter development over the course of the OT is that he recognizes where his masters’ old ways of interpreting the will ofthe Force failed, while not forgetting where he also very much succeeded in learning from them. Becauseyes, the training and encouragement he receives from Ben in ANH (however brief)was absolutely ESSENTIAL to his ability to “trust the Force” and ultimately destroythe first Death Star. In TESB, his journey with the Force continues to be strengthenedexponentially by Yoda’s insistence he must forget all the arbitrary limitations convention taught him to believe about himself.That moment in the swamps of Dagobah where Yoda lifts the X-Wing after Luke’sattempt failed is very powerful, because it is here that Luke FINALLY learns heneeds to stop doubting himself, dammit tosucceed.

But even in spite of all that, Luke never, not once capitulatesto his masters’ insistence that he have to let go of all emotional attachmentfor good to win the day. He knowsintrinsically this is wrong. And ultimately it is his refusal to adhere tothis faulty principal, to abandon his friends in their time of need or killVader even when not one but TWO of his masters tell him he must (one frombeyond the grave), that ultimately leads to the long-promised achievement ofBalance in the Force. “I am a Jedi—like myfather before me.” It’s a very multilayered statement because he’s not justsaying ‘I’m a Jedi like my Dad’. He’s also saying “Like my Dad, I’m a Jedi whoembraces unconditional love and attachment, even in the face of my destruction”.

Because he KNOWS the Old Jedi’s interpretation of this issuewasn’t just wrong, it was actually downright COUNTER to what the Light Side ofthe Force really stands for (again, it was his unwavering love for his fatherthat brought him BACK TO THE LIGHT). But he doesn’t throw the baby out with thebath water either! He had enough insight to understand (before Disney and RianJohnson screwed this up for UNFATHOMABLE reasons), the best way to proceed inthe Force is to build on all the goodthat the Jedi espoused and accomplished, while preening away all the bad elementsat the same damn time.

Because, when you come down to it, if every successive generationjust throws away everything the previous generations learned and accomplishedbecause of how muddied or imperfect their general approach was in retrospect, nothing gets built. No legacies stand. Invaluablelessons inevitably get lost along the way as we just dismiss all of ourancestors’ insights as ‘meaningless’. And ultimately what would happen isanything anyone would attempt to build would just get burned to the ground over and over again as every humaninstitution tries and fails to achieve perfection. That’s not how people themselves work. We don’t abandon everything we are every time we realizewe need a major shift in our world view. We build upon all that we’ve already learned and experienced throughout ourlives, keep the good while casting off all the toxic bullshit. So why shouldour institutions be in any way different?

So yes, I am very much pro-Jedi, in spite of their many, many egregious mistakes. In fact(and this was actually a very good message that would have been SO MUCH BETTER COMMUNICATEDhad it not been delivered in the context of Luke’s shitty character retrograde)I DO believe failure is an invaluable teacher and absolutely 100% necessary ifany institution or humanity as a whole is to grow and improve on what camebefore. What I WANTED to see Luke achieve, but hopefully we’ll see through Rey,is a Jedi Order that, while probably never ‘perfect’, learns how to balancelove, family, and attachment while never abandoning the virtues of selflessnessand commitment to justice, compassion, and equality the Jedi always dedicatedthemselves to. There’s a beautiful legacyalongside all the fuckery there and, imo, it doesn’t deserve to be burned away alongwith all of the bad.

[strawberryinoue]

Anakin Skywalker + Darth Vader | Character analysis

Anakin Skywalker was born into slavery on a desert planet. He has no father, only a mother. While this isn't explained throughly within the films it's widely believed in the more hardcore fandom that Anakin's father is the force itself. In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine aka Darth Sidious tells Anakin his master Darth Plagueis could influence the Midichlorians to create life. I've never dug too deep into expanded universe content but I'm aware that his experiments failed. The living force rebelled against the Sith and thus the chosen one was born. It's Anakin's destiny to destroy the Sith and bring balance back to the force. He's discovered by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn as a by product of Palpatine's plan to promote himself to Chancellor. In The Phantom Menace he's characterized as a gifted child like hero. He's competent with technology enough to build his own pod racer and multi-language protocol droid; more importantly being much more gifted with the force than any Jedi or Sith alive. Qui-Gon senses the hidden potential within him and his mother confirms that he's always had special powers. Had he not won the pod race tournament then Qui-Gon and company would have been stranded on Tatooine longer than they could afford. If Anakin didn't fly up to space and take out the droid control center then the Gungan army would have fallen. Many complain about the fact he flew up into space on accident and accomplished what older more experienced pilots couldn't. That's the point. In the original trilogy Obi-Wan said he was the best Star Fighter pilot of his time. Another piece of characterization he gets in this film revolves around his fear of loss being a weakness. The Jedi don't want to train him because they can sense the fear within him. Which stems from separation with his mother. Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. This is the philosophy of the Jedi. His future can't be predicted and the Jedi council doesn't like that. Without Qui-Gon's insistence on the training of the chosen one being mandatory then Anakin wouldn't have became a Jedi. Anakin also meets Padme during all of this, developing interest as a young boy. These two things are important for the sparks that will lead to an immense fire.  Moving on to Attack of the Clones. Many argue the prequels should have just started here and that TPM had no point. In addition to what I've explained already I'll add that without TPM his overall character development is weakened by not seeing his child behavior in comparison to his adult behavior. Though I will admit that I think TPM and AOTC could have been 1 film. In AOTC he's classified as whiny and a failure. All of this is a huge misunderstanding. As the chosen one Anakin's skills develop significantly faster than other Jedi or Sith. Obi-Wan comments that Anakin's senses aren't attuned enough to keep track of Padme. This is proven wrong when Anakin senses the threat to her just as fast, if not faster than Obi-Wan. Then we have the Dooku duel. Anakin may have held the L here but he really did better than Obi-Wan against Dooku. Mind you Dooku was keeping up with Yoda for a period of time. What's my excuse for allowing himself and Padme to get captured like Obi-Wan? I've somewhat answered already. The Jedi aren't invincible, Anakin and Padme didn't plan on getting into a fight when entering that factory. They got separated and thrown into an unorthodox situation. My point here is that the reason Anakin has become arrogant and hasty is because he actually IS fairly powerful. He's ready to move on from being beneath Obi-Wan. Not just in name, a Padawan literally has to go where or do whatever is requested of their master. During this film he loses his mother in which case he breaks the Jedi code by viciously striking down her murders. Including women and children of said species. Believing he should have been able to recuse her increases his fear of loss. As well as his lust for power. All of these aspects compliment someone who's meant to end up on a dark path. That's furthered when he tells Padme he thinks a dictatorship would be fine if someone suitable was in power.  Now we're at Revenge of the Sith. It's been a few years and Anakin has been promoted to a Jedi Knight. Noticeably on better terms with Obi-Wan and is more humble. Anakin was the one who bested Dooku while Obi-Wan was rag dolled by his force abilities. Anakin expresses it's because of his master's training. This seems to fly over most people's heads since the majority of the film is Anakin's transformation to Darth Vader. Immediately after this is when Anakin starts dreaming of his wife Padme's death. After that is when suspicions about Palpatine arise. Palpatine proceeds to request Anakin becomes his personal representative on the Jedi council. The council is taken aback by this and only approves Anakin's promotion in hopes of using him to spy on Palpatine. Though they make the error of not also promoting Anakin to a Jedi Master. Something that hasn't been done in the history of the Jedi. This is another instance of Anakin being labeled as whiny but if you ask me it's a legit reaction. That's pretty much the highest form of insult possible. You might say Anakin's reaction is exactly why they didn't want to make him a master. Yes by their standards Anakin couldn't qualify as a master and I don't think he ever would. But that's not a bad thing, quite the opposite. The council is not the end all be all. Even Qui-Gon was known to have issues with the council and he followed the living force to the core. Allowing him to maintain his consciousness after death. Later teaching Yoda and Obi-Wan. Quite frankly the council have a questionable way of thinking. Anakin often conflicts with this because his humanity is stronger for better or worse. Look at what happened when Anakin came to Yoda for advice about his visions.  Yoda: "Rejoice for those around us who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy, the shadow of greed, that is." Anakin: "What must I do, Master Yoda?" Yoda: "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."  That answer does not fit the context of the situation; a completely robotic response. If you can prevent the death of someone you love then that's what you should do. The Jedi think running away from your emotions is the answer. Everything Anakin did was the will of the force. This is supported by the 2008 Clone Wars animated series. When a prisoner of war is within their grasp they insist on not resorting to brutality. Anakin and Ahsoka being the exceptions which has turned the tide of battle multiple times. The Jedi could capture Dooku who was one of the most dangerous men alive but they'd never execute or torture him. Providing the chance for him to be recused which would result in damage they could have easily prevented. Furthermore the Jedi are suppose to be keepers of the peace. But how much can they live up to that when they're restricted by being guardians of the Republic. An example would be when Alderaan had a resistance group but the council refused to aid those soldiers in fear of making it look like the Republic was allied with them. If Anakin didn't give them illegal assistance than the Separatists would have taken over that system. On a planet called Mortis Anakin encountered living embodiments of light (The Daughter), dark (The Son), and balance (The Father). The Son showed him the future where he became Darth Vader. Wanting to stop this tragedy he teamed up with The Son to hunt down Sidious. The Father erased his memory and told Anakin he shouldn't have seen what he did. That Anakin needn't lose faith in who he was and he'd surely bring balance just as he had by coming to Mortis. That's the closest thing in the lure to flat out telling you Anakin must destroy the Sith AND the Jedi. The force had a plan to reset the usage of the force. That reset starts with Luke Skywalker. The man who defeated his father via a balance of light and dark. In the final episodes of the Clone Wars Yoda is called on by Qui-Gon and spirits of the force to ensure he trains the unborn Skywalker who they foresaw.  What really adds stirs up the pot is when Anakin learns of his assignment. Anakin respects Palpatine because he befriended him all these years. Being disrespected and asked to spy on someone like that feeds into skepticism towards the Jedi Order. This is furthered when the council and Obi-Wan refuse Anakin's assistance to take down General Grievous which would end the war. Throughout all this he's been completely excluded from the council and used only as a means to an end. It wouldn't be strange at all if he was removed the council when this business was over. Including events of the Clone Wars such as Obi-Wan faking his death without telling Anakin the truth. As well as his Padawan Ahsoka's exile being unjustified. His anger boils over and he's unbalanced. Ahsoka was meant to help him get over his fear of loss and mature. If he could raise someone and let them move on then he could let other people go. It was working until the council betrayed him. His judgment begins to swift when Palpatine reveals that he's the Sith Lord they've been looking for. Instead of giving in to his anger and fighting someone he probably can't defeat he decides the best course of action is to turn Palpatine over to the council. But here's where Mace Windu fucks everything up. Windu tells Anakin to stay behind instead of allowing him to aid Sidious's capture. The excuse being he senses confusion within Anakin. Anakin later arrives to find every Jedi dead except Windu who has Sidious on the ropes seemingly. Protocol is that Sidious must stand trial. The Jedi way is not to kill, which Anakin reflects on after he killed Dooku. But Windu tries to kill Sidious anyway which technically IS betraying the Republic and confirms all of Anakin's suspicions from his point of view. Sidious told Anakin not too long ago that all those who gain power are afraid to lose it, including the Jedi. So Windu trying to kill Sidious who is the Chancellor of the Republic without putting him on trial makes it seem exactly so. That they wanted to overthrow the Republic.  But why couldn't Anakin see that the Jedi just wanted to protect the Republic from the oppression of the Sith? The answer is that he was blinded by love. The visions of Padme's death clouded his judgment until it transformed him into Darth Vader. Earlier in the film there's some dialogue between Padme and Anakin that indirectly tells you what I just said. Anakin's fate is an example of what the Jedi fear BUT they were the ones who pushed him down that path. If they tried to get him through his fears with more realistic means then his faith in them wouldn't have faltered. Sidious had been telling Anakin that if he joined him then he'd have the power to save his wife from certain death. Sidious was giving him something the Jedi wouldn't. The council was afraid of Anakin wielding too much power. Anakin could see this and Sidious hyped up the concept even more. With usage of the dark side the power of the chosen one began to grow even more. George Lucas stated that had he not suffered any injuries he could have beaten Sidious at this point. Anakin has exactly what he wants now. Unrivaled power and a way to stop people from dying supposedly. There's just no going back. Then why was he unable to kill Obi-Wan with ease? Because his mind wasn't stable. Before Padme arrived on Mustafar we could see Anakin shedding tears. He then immediately jumps to conclusion about why Obi-Wan was on Padme's ship. Common sense should have told him Obi-Wan just snuck onboard. His rage led him to making the last memory with the one he sacrificed everything for an unthinkable occurrence. On top of going against someone he looked at as a brother even if he doesn't admit it. He couldn't immediately recover from psychological damage like that. Admittedly the film doesn't make this so easy to deduce but the novelization spells it out and it can be applied to the film. With the death of Padme his transformation into Darth Vader is complete. It was own fault and he owns it. He has to live with this guilt for the rest of his life and therefore chooses to discard his old self entirely. This has nothing to do with Anakin himself but I feel the need to point out why exactly Padme died. She died because she was broken from how Sidious transformed what was most important to her within days. Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader. The Republic of democracy into an empire of dictatorship. Depression during pregnancy can be fatal.  I find it very powerful when you flashback to the kid version of Anakin and compare him to the infamous robotic looking Sith Lord. His character is unique in the sense you rarely see the evolution of the hero into the villain. Along with the intentional character regression in the end. His son opens up old wounds and leads him to fulfilling the prophecy of the chosen one right before his death.