#palpatine is a master manipulator

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

Jedi Antis: The Jedi are too caught up in politics! They have power to change things, they just don't!

Meanwhile, the Jedi:

Every time they argue with a politician, they are shot down.

I wonder what that could mean? That maybe they don't have as much political power as the antis seem to believe? That maybe *gasp* they were meant to be the victims of Palpatine's manipulation the whole time?

[GIFs aren't mine. Credit to @david-talks-sw ]

[xhaustedlone]

Star Wars x song lyrics (part 2?)

It’s Called: Freefall by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

— my second post on here, not sure if I’m even doing this right

[tossawary]

It's so funny that Palpatine is also a skilled lightsaber duelist and fighter, enough to take on 4 Jedi masters / war veterans at once and easily kill 3 of them (everyone except Mace Windu almost immediately gets wasted), and then to go on to beat Yoda too later. Like, it's funny to think about the logistics of it all. Who exactly has Palpatine been practicing with here? How often has he been hitting the gym in the past 15 or so years?

Up until that point in "Revenge of the Sith", it looks like Palpatine's main skill is manipulation. He doesn't really look like he's sunk a lot of points into melee combat. Supposedly, he trained Darth Maul, but Maul got wrecked by Obi-Wan Kenobi as a padawan and has been "dead" for over a decade by the time Palpatine is confronted by the Jedi and suddenly opens a can of whoop ass. Dooku is a skilled duelist, sure, but Dooku has been running the other side of the war, so he's not sneaking into Coruscant on a regular basis to be Palpatine's evil gym buddy.

Also, when is Palpatine finding the TIME to train that fiercely? He has a desk job! He has TWO desk jobs! He's the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic and also secretly running both sides of the war, all to slowly build up his Galactic Empire. His schedule must be packed. His time management skills are the real legendary dark powers here. He has to regularly be going straight from meetings with Republic Senators and the Jedi Council into video calls with General Grievous and the Trade Federation. Where on his calendar is this man putting his evil workouts where he waves around a red lightsaber?

I really don't like the idea that Palpatine is just so formidable in the Force that he doesn't ever have to worry about spaceships falling from orbit or keeping in shape. He's definitely not a normal guy, but he is also just a guy, given that Darth Vader eventually throws him off a Death Star bridge to kill him (temporarily, if we're going by the sequel trilogy, which I... don't). I understand that at this point in time, Palpatine is possibly super-boosted by the Dark Side thanks to the sheer weight of misery he's inflicted on the galaxy thanks to the war, so he's feeling GREAT, strong and fast and ready to rumble, but I don't think pure power in the Force alone should necessarily translate to staying flexible despite your desk job and having refined sword skills?

So, I guess I have to assume that Palpatine has a collection of personal dueling droids somewhere that regularly get wrecked by a lightsaber or something? Is there a gym maintenance droid somewhere rebuilding these other droids and chugging happily along learning every week (it gets its memory wiped on a daily basis) that the Supreme Chancellor secretly likes to play with lightsabers like a Jedi LARPer? Not an uncommon hobby! There are fan conventions for that!

[jedi-enthusiast]

The funniest thing about Star Wars is that the fandom looked at the peaceful warrior monks whose whole thing is being selfless and practicing emotional self-control, and decided that they were an abusive death cult...while simultaneously looking at the actual abusive death cult and going- "oh yeah, these guys Allow Love™️ and are 100% found family" -even though being abusive towards and murdering your loved ones and your fellow Sith is literally the main requirement for being one alongside being a shit person and committing atrocities

Palpatine murdered his entire family, abused literally every apprentice he had, and then committed multiple genocides and dragged the galaxy into a dark age of fear and pain

Maul murdered a ton of people, literally took every chance he could to ruin Obi-Wan's life and kill those close to him, abused Savage while "training" him, and kidnapped and manipulated a child to try and take him on as an apprentice while also trying to murder his family

Dooku helped orchestrate the plot that eventually got his padawan killed, attempted to kill his padawan's padawan, cut off the arm of his padawan's padawan's padawan, tried to enslave the galaxy and murder his family- (the Order) -and abused both Ventress and Savage while they were under his tutelage

Ventress abused Savage and forced him to murder his brother, took part in trying to enslave the galaxy, killed tons of innocents, and then tried to murder her former master in his sleep

Anakin's path to the Dark Side is literally marked by him doing worse things and more of them especially to those close to him, his Fall culminates in him murdering- (or attempting to murder) -his wife and unborn children as well as him trying to kill his brother/father figure and committing two genocides at once, he plunges the galaxy into a dark age, then continues to commit atrocities, also tries to kill his padawan a lot, tortured his daughter, and cut off his son's hand

...

So tell me again how these people are the- "uwu found family" -trope and are So Great because They Allow Love, because...idk, I'm not seeing it

[saphronethaleph]

Institutionalist

“Vader,” Palpatine said, his voice touched with silky menace. “What are you doing?”

“I am facilitating politics, my master,” Vader replied.

Palpatine looked at him, then up at the large poster Vader had just finished affixing to the wall of the Senate Chamber.

REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR THE NEXT EMPEROR, it said. REPORT ANY VOTER INTIMIDATION WHATSOEVER TO DARTH VADER, AND HE WILL KILL THE PERSON DOING IT.

“...you don’t think that’s a little paradoxical?” he asked.

“I am not telling people who to vote for,” Vader replied. “I am attempting to make sure the Senate vote is fair and free.”

“Vader…” Palpatine said, slowly. “I am the Emperor. The Senate is irrelevant.”

“You said the Jedi were a threat to the Republic,” Vader pointed out, in reply. “The Separatist Crisis is over. The Jedi are scattered and unable to intervene. It has been enough time that there should now be a new election. For Emperor.”

“That is not the law any more!” Palpatine retorted.

“Why not?” Vader asked. “Meaningful elections are important. Padme said so.”

Palpatine bit back his next reply, seething faintly.

Vader was usually easy to manipulate, but every so often one of those ideas about Padme got stuck in his head and he went from easy to utterly impossible. On that subject, he was immovable.

“Then… why the poster?” he asked.

“The vote should be fair and free,” Vader reiterated. “I will prevent voter intimidation.”

“...huh,” Bail said, a week later. “How did that happen?”

He was looking at the election results, which showed that seventy-four percent of the Senate had voted for him to be the next Emperor.

“I suspect Darth Vader was involved,” Mon replied. “His men ran an exhaustive investigation of the whole Senate over the last few weeks, then he killed everyone who’d taken their post through bribery or through falsified results.”

Bail clicked through to the details of the report, and winced.

The number of people who’d voted for him was about what he’d expected, the Senators who he could count on. The number of people who’d voted against him was… drastically smaller.

Then the door opened with a crash.

“Emperor,” Vader said. “It is time for you to take your position. The previous incumbent of your position was unwilling to vacate his post when the election results came in, but he has been dealt with.”

Bail blinked.

“...you killed Palpatine?” he asked.

“That is a good question,” Vader replied, somewhat quizzically. “I don’t know if it was my lightsaber or something else, but he has exploded and so he is certainly dead whether or not I was the one to kill him. I do not believe it is tradition, though.”

The Alderaanian senator swallowed, trying to hide his nerves.

“Are you going to kill everyone who looks at me funny?” he asked.

“No,” Vader replied. “Though I will kill anyone who tries to assassinate you. That is tradition.”

Mon and Bail exchanged glances.

“...would you actually have a problem if I tried to make things better for the galaxy?” Bail asked.

“You won the election,” Vader said, firmly, and apparently that was all that mattered.

[starwars-and-discourse]

Anti-Jedi content is always so interesting. Most of the criticism seems to come from either a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Jedi operate, intentional misrepresentation of canon, or blaming the Jedi for things outside of their direct control.

Much of it also seems to imply, if not outright state, that the Jedi are to blame for their genocide. Which is just…wild to me. The Jedi Order certainly had faults, as no organization is perfect. But something I see quite often is taking the flaws of individual Jedi and ascribing them to all Jedi.

“Mace Windu was mean to Anakin!!” No, he really wasn’t. Windu was stern, certainly. But I don’t think he was ever “mean.” Anakin was rash, arrogant, and so ruled by his emotions that Windu had every reason NOT to trust him or make him a master.

“The Jedi take children by force!” No, they don’t. That’s just blatantly untrue. If a family does not wish to give up their children, the Jedi do not take them.

“The Jedi use a slave army!!” This is an oversimplification. This is an issue that the Jedi routinely grapple with throughout canon. The Jedi don’t want to be leading any army at all—Palpatine gives them no choice. If they don’t fight? The public grows resentful toward them even sooner and Palpatine can call them traitors even earlier. They do fight? The war drags on due to Palpatine’s manipulation and the Jedi are called warmongers and things go as we know. The Jedi, overall, fostered the clones’ individuality and encouraged them to think for themselves. The Clone Wars had numerous victims, but chief among them are the clones themselves and the Jedi.

These are just a few of the anti-Jedi talking points I regularly see. There are countless others. I am of course willing to debate (respectfully, and if it is in good faith) my positions. But I find these ideas very tiresome at this point.

[gffa]

I've been assuming that Qimir is Mae's Master since the first two episodes, where he dropped that "Peace is a lie." line that was borderline an anvil for anyone who has been around the Star Wars fandom for awhile, and I've see-sawed back and forth about it being really blatant in this episode, but ultimately I think this isn't meant to be the show's big mystery. The show is making it really blatantly obvious that Qimir is the Master ("peace is a lie", his deliberate mentioning of how close Osha and Sol were to drive a dagger into Mae's heart, his mentions of how he'd been to Khofar before, Kelnacca being dead, the urging Mae to figure out what "kill a Jedi without a weapon" means, how the Master showed up at the end when Qimir is conveniently tied up) and the more I think about it, the more I like that it's obvious. It doesn't have to be obvious to the characters to be obvious to us and Star Wars does well with villains who are right out in the open. This is a show that is carefully building a lot of parallels it wants to echo--like the parallels between Osha&Mae and Anakin, I really like the idea that so too is Mae being manipulated by someone she trusts. Palpatine disguised himself as a harmless supportive figure in Anakin's life, so too could Qimir disguise himself as a harmless supportive figure in Mae's life, always needling her whenever he senses she's about to turn back to the light, even just a little.

[david-talks-sw]

Debunking more myths in the GFFA: the Jedi and the clones.

I wrote a post debunking the various myths about how "the Jedi condone slavery", a while ago. Something I had omitted (because it's such a big topic) was the following two statements that concern the clone troopers' relations with the Jedi:

"The clones were genetically bred to have accelerated growth, so they're technically child soldiers."

"The clones were slaves of the Jedi."

Both the above statements are inaccurate, let's explore why. 

"The clones were child soldiers"

Let's get the easy one out of the way first, because it's a logic that cuts both ways. If age is our only determination of the maturity of a Star Wars character, then Grogu is not a baby. He is aged 50, and is thus a middle-aged man.

Who cruelly eats the babies of a woman...

... and knowingly tortures animals for his own sadistic pleasure.

Of course, I'm kidding. Grogu's none of the above things.

The narrative frames him as a cute baby who does innocent baby stuff. Him eating the eggs is played off as comedic, as is him lifting with the frog. To this day, some fans still call him "Baby Yoda".

Conversely, despite the clones being 10/14-years-old, their actions, behaviors, way of thinking, sense of humor, morals etc, are all those of an adult.

Like, Ahsoka is technically older than Rex in this scene.

The scene doesn't portray them as peers, though. This isn't written as "a teen and a tween talking". No, Rex looks, acts and behaves like a grown-up and is thus framed as such by the narrative.

You can make the argument "they're child soldiers", but (unless you're doing so in bad faith) you'd also have to argue that "Grogu's an adult".

"The clones were the Jedi's slaves"

Nope. For all intents and purposes, they're in the same boat as the Jedi, who George Lucas stated multiple times had been drafted to fight in the war.

Again: both the Jedi (monk/diplomats untrained for fighting on a battlefield) and clones (literally bred en masse only to fight) are being forced to fight by Palpatine and the Senate.

Though, on paper, the clones were commissioned by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, it was actually done by the Sith (who either manipulated or assassinated Sifo-Dyas then stole his identity, depending on the continuity you choose to adhere to). The rest of the Jedi had no idea these clones were being created.

So while the clones are slaves... they're not owned by the Jedi.

They're the army of the Republic, they belong to the Senate. This isn't exactly a scoop, they refer to the clones as something to purchase...

... and manufacture.

As far as the Senate’s concerned, clones are property, like droids. 

Like there's a whole subplot in The Bad Batch about this very point: after the war, the clones are decommissioned and left out to dry because they literally have no rights, they served their purpose.

The only trooper to ever canonically blame the Jedi for the clones' enslavement is Slick, who the narrative frames as having been bribed and manipulated by Asajj Ventress into betraying his comrades.

Also, the only canonical Jedi shown to ever be mean, dismissive or mistreating the clones in any way, is Pong Krell.

And it's eventually revealed he’s in fact a full-on traitor, hence why the story frames him as an antagonistic dick from the moment he's introduced. He doesn’t represent the Jedi in any way.

We know this because the other Jedi we’ve been shown are always prioritizing their clones’ lives over theirs, if given the chance.

Finally, if we wanna get even more specific... as Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the clones belong to Palpatine. 

Palpatine who is a Sith Lord. 

Palpatine who arranged for the creation of the clones and had them all injected with a chip that would activate upon hearing a code-word...

... and forced them to murder their Jedi without hesitation or remorse.

When you bear all that  ⬆️  in mind and when you read this quote by George Lucas...

"The Jedi won't lead droids. Their whole basis is connecting with the life force. They'd just say, 'That's not the way we operate. We don't function with non-life-forms.” So if there is to be a Republic army, it would have to be an army of humans."    - The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, 2020  

... narratively-speaking, everything falls into place.

Sidious knows that:

If he orchestrates a war designed to thin the Jedi's numbers, corrupt their values and plunge the galaxy into chaos...

If he wants to draft the Jedi - peace-keeping diplomats who’d never willingly join the fray - to fight in his war...

... then the only way they won't resist the draft and abstain from fighting is if they think joining the conflict will save lives.

So he creates a set of cruel, sadistic villains for them to face, opponents who will target innocent civilians at every turn...

... and instead of lifeless droids, he prepares for the Jedi an army of men... living, mortal people who, despite being well-trained, will be completely out of their league when facing the likes of Dooku...

... Ventress...

... Grievous...

... Savage Opress...

... or the defoliator, a tank that annihilates organic matter.

Thus, in order to save as many clone and civilian lives, the Jedi join the fray despite knowing that doing so will corrupt their values. 

And as the war rages on, a bond of respect is formed between the two groups.

Clearly, the Jedi don't like the fact that the Republic is using the clones to fight a war, but for that matter, they don't like being in a war, in fact they advocated against it.

However, it's happening regardless of their issues with the idea or personal philosophies. Said The Clone Wars writer Henry Gilroy:

"I’d rather not get into the Jedi’s philosophical issues about an army of living beings created to fight, but the Jedi are in a tough spot themselves, being peacekeepers turned warriors trying to save the Republic."

And bear in mind, the Jedi are basically space psychics, the clones are living beings that they can individually feel in the Force... 

... so the Jedi feel every death but need to move on, regardless, only being able to mourn the troopers at the end of every battle.

We see this in the Legends continuity too, by the way.

(that is, when the writers actually try to engage with the narrative)

Also, if you ask the clones, they’re grateful the Jedi have their backs.

When Depa Billaba voices her concerns about how the war is impacting the Jedi's principles, troopers Grey and Styles are quick to make it clear how grateful they all are for the Jedi's involvement:

So the clones aren't the Jedi's slaves. If anything, they're both slaves of the Republic (considering how low the Jedi's status actually is in the hierarchy).

Only I'd argue the clones have it much, much worse. 

The Senate sees the Jedi as "ugh, the holier-than-thou space-monk lapdogs who work for us"... but a Jedi has the option to give up that responsibility. They can leave the Order, no fuss or stigma. 

A clone trooper cannot leave the GAR! If they do, they’re marked for treason and execution. Again, they’re not perceived as “people”.

And it doesn’t help that the Kaminoans, the clones’ very creators, see the troopers as products/units/merchandise. A notion that the Jedi are quick to correct whenever they get the chance.

How The Clone Wars writers describe the clones' relationship with the Jedi.

George Lucas hasn’t spoken much about this subject aside from the quote from further up. But to be fair... the Prequels aren’t about the clones’ dynamic with the Jedi, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t talk on that subject so much.

He did mention that part of The Clone Wars’ perks is that he could:

“Do stories about some of the individual clones and get to know them.”

But that’s as far as it gets. 

So for this part, I'm just gonna let Dave Filoni, showrunner of The Clone Wars and the upcoming series Ahsoka, and TCW writer Henry Gilroy - both of whom worked closely with Lucas - take the wheel. They make themselves pretty clear on how the clone/Jedi dynamic is meant to be viewed. 

Here’s Henry Gilroy:

"In my mind, the Jedi see the clones as individuals, living beings that have the same right to life as any other being, but understand that they have a job to do."

"The clones see the Jedi as their commanding officers on one hand, but also, at least subconsciously, they look to them for clues to social/moral behavior."    

"Some clones may find themselves getting philosophical leadership from the Jedi that helps them answer some of the deeper questions of life."    

"We thought this was a great opportunity to show how the Jedi interact with clones. Specifically, Yoda in a teaching role of the clones, who were socially new, who kind of grew up— who were created to fight, and he really broadened their horizons and helped them realize there was a great big universe out there that was bigger than just fighting and killing."    

And here’s Dave Filoni’s comments:

"I truly believe that the Jedi try to humanize their clones and make them more individual, as Henry says."    

"I think we saw that in Revenge of the Sith, when the Clones were colorful and named under the Jedi Generals, and then in the final shots of the film with Palpatine and Vader near the new Death Star, the ships are grey, the color and life is sucked out. The Stormtroopers are only numbers and identified by black and white armor or uniforms in A New Hope." 

"The soldiers have become disposable to the Emperor."    

"That is something the Jedi would never do."    

"Yoda teaching the clones much like he taught Luke. ‘Cause that was kind of natural for [the Jedi], a natural instinct to take to these clones like they’re students."    

None of the above quotes from two different writers of The Clone Wars, who had many interactions with George Lucas, frame the Jedi and the clones’ relationship in a negative way. 

How much more proof do we need that "the clones were slaves of the Jedi” isn’t the intended narrative?

My point being that while the clones' ordeal is indeed horrible, the Jedi have nothing to do with it. The narrative of The Clone Wars always frames it as the fault of the Sith, the Senate and the Kaminoans.

If you go by the intended narrative, the Jedi were the clones' teachers and brothers-in-arms. The clones and the Jedi were not just comrades.

They were friends.

[anidala-for-ever]

Palpatine deserved a space Oscar

[astheforcewillsit]

Do you ever think about the master class in politics that Fox got working with Palpatine. The way he served under someone who managed to manipulate the Republic, GAR, & the Jedi Order without being caught.

I just think Fox would be a beast if he decided to go into politics, because he knows how to play dirty and innocent all at once, because he spent his time watching someone do it.

Of all the clones that would be up for a position as a senator (of imo, the Chancellor, and it would eventually be Fox), it would absolutely be him. Unwillingly, but it would be him.

He'd have a very weird relationship with the ghost of Palpatine when his job required him to do ugly things.

Because if he learned everything from Palpatine, does that not make him his reluctant successor. More angst and relatability for he and Anakin, honestly.

And he and Bail would be best friends

[cursedshrines]

i am truly so sick of people—both outside and inside the star wars universe—remembering anakin fondly. this man, though not wholly responsible, played a major hand in the destruction of the jedi order and the death of democracy itself. he slaughtered children, brutally executed his peers and superiors, and continued to hunt them down throughout the years. he is remembered as a good master, as a good leader, but… was he? was he a good master when he led the execution, the genocide, of ahsoka’s people? their people? yes, it would have happened with or without him. yes, he was groomed and manipulated by palpatine. but he, in the end, choose to commit those heinous crimes. he chose to forsake the galaxy, forsake his community, all for a person who genuinely did not want that. it is the very thing the jedi order so deeply tried to teach him, to not let your love blind you, and to not forsake everyone else for your love. he chose his path, and to free him of any blame while putting that blame on the very people who tried to help him (the jedi) is a disservice not only to the tragedy of his character, but the tragedy of the jedi order’s fate itself.

[pestopastaenjoyer]

palpatine has to be one of the funniest characters of all time. not bcs he’s a joke or whtv bcs I personally think he’s a well-written and cunning villain (the comics do him the best justice). but like. pre-empire late-republic clone wars era where he is forced to stick to The Bit™️ as chancellor is actually fucking hilarious like pls think abt all of the times he tried to kill padme via-assassination and the sheer one-sided BEEF he had with her. ovbi it was her proposed vote of no confidence that moved along his master plan and yes he used her as a means to manipulate anakin but beyond that he wanted her gone soooo bad. BUT as chancellor he had to act like her #bestie bcs A) they’re literally from the same planet, B) ppl like her so he needs associate w her, and C) he needs to be privy to her and anakin’s relationship. he literally fucking HATES her bye 😭 the messiest thing he’s probably ever done is tell anakin “hey girly! 😊 you know your wife? your secret wife that we loveeeee here in the senate?? okay well….you may not want to hear this but I heard she and your father/brother figure are fucking ☹️ yeah 😞 behind your back 😢 im sorry i had to break the news girl 💔” imagine how long he was holding that in

[lazerswordweilder]

Vader is funny with outsider knowledge, for example titles, even though he doesn’t brag about them he doesn’t brag about anything and you’d assume Vader has pride (he does, just not for Sidiouses empire) and he lists all of his titles when asked

Person: who are you?

Vader: I AM DARTH VADER, LORD OF THE EMPIRE, SUPREME COMMANDER OF IMPERIL ARMIES, THE EMPERORS SECOND IN COMMAND BLAH BLAH BLAH…

But in reality the only titles he’s ever given himself are husband, father, mechanic, and pilot, which ties into power. Most officers of ranks as high as Vader are power hungry, not all of them, but most, so you’d assume Vader’s the same.

But we always forget Vader never wanted power?? Well, he wanted the power to stop his wife from dying (both by getting the rank of Jedi Master therefore more knowledge and joining Palpatine who promised to give him the power to save her) but there was manipulation there so it doesn’t count also it was only to power to save his wife, not to rule the galaxy or anything. He would’ve been happy being a house husband, maybe with a side job fixing up or building ships, but no, Palpatine made him into the Emperors Fist, the Jedi Slayer, I can’t think of any more names!

[skywalkr-nberrie]

Anakin’s love and marriage to Padmé wasn’t the issue of why he fell to the dark side. He was already being groomed by Palpatine in becoming his apprentice, and Padmé not being there wouldn’t have changed that. She just made it easier. Anakin was born a slave, which doesn’t leave him in the right headspace, and ever since Shmi died, Anakin became more unstable. Inevitably, he became more obsessed with control and wanting the power to stop the ones he loves from dying. Had Padmé not been in his life, Anakin still would have fallen due to Palpatine’s manipulations and topped with the Jedi’s mistreatment of Anakin. The Jedi and even OW failed Anakin in a way where Anakin came to a point where he doubts their faith in him, and he in return loses his trust him them. He says so himself in the ROTS novel. None of that had anything to do with Padmé.

But to insinuate that Anakin only cared for gaining “power” and essentially his “greed” is to blame for his actions, is super reductive understanding of his character. Yes, Anakin was greedy for control, and power. But not because he’s power hungry and wants to rule the galaxy. He only ever wanted more power to keep his loved ones safe, to assume control over what happens to him. (and this would’ve happened even if he and Padmé weren’t together.) saying that if Anakin “truly cared about saving his wife”, he would have told OW or any of the masters about his situation but didn’t because he was “greedy” is again, incorrect. Because Anakin DID go to the Jedi for advice. He talked to Yoda. Anakin put his faith into the Jedi but they didn’t exactly lead him down the path he needed.

Doubled with the fact that he knows the Council doesn’t trust him, and him not being sure he can trust them, (yes, including OW.) this led him to seeking answers in other and more dangerous places. Which was Palpatine. Whom Anakin is already vulnerable to and was being groomed by. Anakin’s fall to the darkside was due to his desperation and desire to save his wife, the love of his life. Not because he was greedy for more power and that he didn’t truly care about saving Padmé. That’s just a bad analysis of his character, intentions, and motivations. Anakin only became obsessed with the idea of “gaining power to rule and obtain authority” happened AFTER he fell. And that’s because the darkside plays with your sanity like that, makes you want and do things you normally wouldn’t do or want.

The main point is: Anakin’s fall doesn’t stem from his greed for wanting power because he seeks heroism, status, and authority. It was out of genuine love and desperation for his wife. Then again, his marriage to Padmé also isn’t to blame for his fall, because that was due to Anakin’s own fear of loss and abandonment. He would’ve fallen under any circumstance, with how unstable, vulnerable, and manipulated he was. That was the tragedy. He was always doomed to fall.

[fellthemarvelous]

How can you be on the council and not be a master?

I need to stop looking at Star Wars TikTok posts because I guess the concept of personal accountability is lost on so many people.

I love Anakin Skywalker. I do. I think he is one of the best fictional characters ever created because he is so fucking complex. I love him for all the good he did and in spite of all the bad things he did as Darth Vader. In the end, he sacrificed his own life to save his son.

That's the thing that's killing me right now.

People want to blame everyone else except for Anakin for the choices he made. They want to blame the Jedi because the Jedi don't strictly adhere to their vision of love and are therefore responsible for why Anakin fell to the dark side.

I saw a few comments where someone blamed the Jedi (specifically Obi-Wan), blamed the council, blamed Ahsoka because she left him, blamed Padme (because if we can't blame female characters for something then what are we even doing, right?), blamed the Jedi for not trusting him (and therefore somehow preventing him from believing in himself), and then at the end was like...oh and I guess Palpatine too since he groomed him for 13 years.

First of all, why is it a chore to blame Palpatine for Anakin's problems but so easy to blame the Jedi?

Imagine the heartbreak Anakin felt when he learned that the man who spent 13 years mentoring him turned out to be the Sith lord the Jedi had been searching for. That's reason enough to be angry at Palpatine because it was Palpatine who broke Anakin's spirit.

Secondly, not one of these people is responsible for Anakin's actions. Not one of them. Not even Palpatine. That's why it had to be Anakin's choice. Palpatine could not force him to fall, so he had to resort to manipulation and gaslighting to fuck with Anakin's head. He spent 13 years planting seeds of self-doubt and mistrust in the Jedi in Anakin's head. Because what happened when Palpatine assigned Anakin to the Jedi council despite having zero authority to do so??

"How can you be on the council and not be a master?"

The Jedi Council would like to ask Anakin the same question.

You have to be a Jedi master before you can be on the council.

Anakin became upset because he was denied the rank of master. It didn't occur to him at all that Palpatine intentionally placed him in that situation for that exact reason. Palpatine knew the Jedi well, and he knew how they would react. He knew it would lead the Jedi to asking Anakin to spy on him. He played the long game and it paid off.

The Jedi taught Anakin what they could, but they have no control over whether or not Anakin put the Jedi code into practice. The Jedi trusted Anakin. We saw them trust Anakin with their lives many many times during the Clone Wars.

They gave him a padawan for crying out loud. They looked at this 19-year-old, freshly knighted Jedi General and trusted him to mentor Ahsoka, a 14-year-old girl who was more advanced than everyone else her age. He's a vergence in the Force and they gave him a padawan who was already incredibly powerful. It's rare for Jedi to get their own padawans at such a young age, but Anakin was a Force prodigy and Ahsoka could have become a knight herself at 16 if she had not left the Order.

The Jedi trusted him. Until they didn't.

Anakin is the one who slaughtered an entire clan of Tusken Raiders in anger after the death of his mother. Even the women and the children. He killed all of them because he hated all of them and he was angry because he wasn't able to prevent his mother from dying in his arms. The only people who knew about that were Padme and Palpatine.

Anakin is the one who spent three years lying to the Jedi because he kept his relationship with Padme a secret from everyone (except Rex). He believed he could have it all if he tried hard enough, and trying to have it all is what lead to him losing everything when he chose to fall to the dark side, when he chose to sacrifice the galaxy for one person, only to lose her and his unborn child for good.

During the war, Ahsoka told Barriss that Anakin will always do what needs to be done, leaving out the part that includes the use of terror and torture. Barriss got to witness Anakin's rage personally when he figured out that she was the one who framed Ahsoka for treason.

We all saw how Luminara reacted to Ahsoka violently threatening Nute Gunray to get him to talk. She was horrified and immediately reprimanded Ahsoka because it is not the Jedi way to resort to terror. The Jedi were supposed to negotiate, not terrorize. And Anakin taught Ahsoka his version of aggressive negotiations. (And she hinted at the fact that she used aggressive negotiations against Morgan Elsbeth when Huyang questioned her about how she obtained the information to locate the map to Peridea and she told him that she did not follow Jedi protocol.)

When Anakin interrogated Poggle the Lesser during Brain Invaders, he physically hit Poggle before force choking him. He used brutality to get the answers he needed. Obi-Wan, Luminara and Ki-Adi all expressed concern over how he got Poggle to talk, and he wouldn't tell them what he did. What he did went against the Jedi code. He made that choice. No one else made it for him. He knows it was wrong. It's why he didn't answer their questions.

Yes, he was doing it because Ahsoka was in imminent danger and he needed to save her (and Barriss and the infected clones) and there wasn't enough time to negotiate with Poggle. Anakin did what an older brother would have done for his little sister, but she was also his padawan and he was her master. And it was very clear that Ahsoka was a lot like him.

It's not Anakin's fault that Ahsoka left the Jedi Order, but it is not Ahsoka's fault that Anakin fell. He was incapable of letting go of his padawan (he literally resurrected her from the dead on Mortis), which was an important part of the reason he was given a padawan in the first place. He had formed a strong attachment to her just as he had Padme and Obi-Wan and Rex and C-3PO and R2-D2.

His unwillingness to let go of his attachments is what caused him to fall. He was a Jedi, and Jedi are not supposed to form attachments. So when he betrayed the Jedi Order to save Padme's life, his fall to the dark side was a result of him giving into his hatred and his anger. He took his rage out on an entire galaxy for 25 years because he was unable to let go.

Attachment does not equal love.

Maul was attached to Obi-Wan and there was nothing loving about it. It was violent and many people died because of Maul's inability to let go of his anger and hatred for Obi-Wan.

The whole reason that Anakin gave into the dark side completely was because he fell for the trap. He believed he could use the dark side without letting it consume him, but the dark side is all about controlling others. He couldn't control Padme and he ended up force choking her. He couldn't control Ahsoka and she left. He couldn't control Obi-Wan and chose to fight against him instead of listening to Obi-Wan's pleas.

No one could save Anakin Skywalker from himself. He had to save himself from his own darkness.

Which he did, in the end, because he saw his son being tortured by Palpatine, and he realized what it meant to let go. He finally understood what he needed to do and accepted that he would have to give up his own life to do so.

It took him a long time to understand what it means to let go, because letting go isn't giving up. Letting go is about accepting that there are some things beyond his control.

The conversation he had with his mother on Mortis was key to helping him accept who he was in the end. "Your guilt does not define you. You define your guilt."

He knew he was going to die, but he died saving someone he loved, doing the right thing and ultimately returning balance to the Force. He accepted his destiny. He accepted responsibility for who he was as Anakin Skywalker and that Anakin Skywalker was also responsible for the actions of Darth Vader because they were one in the same.

It's the problem we see Ahsoka struggling with when she's with him in the World Between Worlds. She struggled with the knowledge that her master became a monster and worried about what that meant for her. She struggled to figure out who she would have become if she had not left the Order. She had to wrestle with her own darkness, and Anakin's final lesson to her also took a weight off her shoulders. It's why she's suddenly that same girl we saw at the beginning of the war. The one who always smiled and was always so sure of herself. She chose the light and it was reflected in the way she suddenly began wearing white, a contrast to what she'd been wearing decades.

It's understanding that she has control of her own destiny, whatever that might be, and that she gets to choose who she decides to be. Anakin chose to be a Jedi in the end, and he was able to pass a hard-learned lesson onto a padawan he loved like his own sister. He was still able to watch out for her in the end while teaching her one more time.

It's never too late to do the right thing, but it's Anakin who has to take responsibility for his actions instead of blaming everyone else for all of his problems.

Apparently that's a lesson a lot of fans need to learn too.

A question Star Wars has always asked us is "how far are you willing to go to save what you love?"

[saphronethaleph]

The Force is just done with you

“Long have I waited… for my grandchild to come home,” Palpatine said, with a smile. “I never wanted you dead-”

“Oh, shut up!” Rey snapped. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused?”

Whatever Palpatine had been expecting from her, it apparently wasn’t that, and Rey glowered at the Dark Lord of the Sith.

“Well?” she asked. “Do you?”

“...I have only done what is necessary for my own success,” Palpatine said, with some hesitation. “What do I care what inconvenience I cause?”

“The Force cares!” Rey replied, little flecks of white light dancing around her fingertips for a moment before she shook them off. “I know technically not everything that happened was you, because some of it was Plagueis, but you’ve not exactly been making things better!”

“The Force is a tool!” Palpatine said. “It cannot care! The Dark Side-”

“Out of you and the Force I know which one is the tool,” Rey interrupted. “Just… this is the problem with the Sith, you know. It’s incredibly obvious now I’m able to pay attention.”

Palpatine shook his head.

“You are talking nonsense, girl,” he said. “But you have power. So much power! Take your rightful place as Empress Palpatine, take the throne, and…”

His voice trailed off a little, as he saw that Rey was just glaring at him.

“Let’s recap,” she said. “Your master, Darth Plagueis, worked out how to manipulate the midi-chlorians to create life, in a direct violation of how the Force works. All things have a beginning and all things have an end – it is the cycle that is eternal, not one individual. Darth Plagueis violated that, and to put the galaxy to rights came the Chosen One, to bring balance. That being Anakin Skywalker, who was born of the Force itself.”

Palpatine frowned slightly.

“You seem to consider yourself extremely well informed on topics you know absolutely nothing about,” he said.

“The Force is telling me this,” Rey replied. “Yes, I know, I haven’t got to how that works yet, I’m getting there. Because Anakin Skywalker was the one to bring balance to the Force, and this is where you enter the story because you turned him to the Dark Side, twisted him around over years and years for your own selfish gain. And what do you think happened then?”

The former Emperor glared at her.

“I can assure you, I remember my greatest triumph very well,” he said. “The Jedi were broken, scattered. They had failed.”

“Because of you,” Rey replied. “The Jedi, guardians of peace and justice, stewards of the Force, were broken and destroyed because of you, because you forced them into an impossible situation by hiding who you were and acting in direct defiance of the will of the Force. And the Force responded… by making Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa powerful and strong. Strong in the Force, strong of will, strong of character. The fusion of the best of the old and the new. Luke did what everyone told him was impossible, and his faith in his father did not waver. Not when his master, his sister, his father, and you told him it was impossible, he made the impossible possible.”

She made a gesture with the hand holding Leia’s lightsaber. “And Leia – she was just as strong, just as much of a shining presence in the Force – and she gave up the role of a Jedi to be something else. Leia rejected the Force as the guiding principle of her life, and that was all right as well.”

“I assume that at some point there will be a reason for this nauseating story?” Palpatine asked, somewhat waspishly. “I do not need to hear about the dead.”

“Luke and Leia defeated you,” Rey pointed out. “In different ways, and not alone, but they were the catalyst for your defeat and destruction and death in the exploding remains of your battle station… and the Force was in balance.”

She pointed at him. “Until you came back as a clone and turned Ben Solo to the Dark Side, broke Luke’s faith in himself and Leia’s marriage, destroyed the Jedi Order once more. How do you think the Force reacted to that?”

Palpatine just kind of stared at her.

“...the Force,” he said, slowly, “is not… alive.”

“It’s made of all life,” Rey replied. “It’s an energy field that surrounds and connects all living things. It is the gestalt combination of all life in the galaxy, in the universe. You seem awfully sure that such a thing couldn’t be alive… and besides, that’s how I know all this. Because the Force threw up its metaphorical hands and just plugged me directly into itself. The Force itself has had enough of the Sith.”

“The Sith are eternal!” Palpatine said. “I am eternal! If you have so much power, then you will give it to me!”

Little lightning bolts flickered around his hand, and he reached out towards her. Energy fizzed and crackled, then Palpatine splayed out his fingers to draw power out of her and into himself.

Absolutely nothing happened.

“...what?” Palpatine asked, with a frown. “Why didn’t that work? That’s impossible!”

He clenched his hand into a fist. “Nobody can deny me! Especially no… scavenger girl! There is no way you should be that powerful, it’s completely unjustified!”

Rey tilted her head to the side slightly.

“...you,” she said, patiently. “Came. Back. From. The. Dead. At this point you have no justification to complain.”

The white light that had been glowing faintly around her for the entire conversation lit up, gradually more brightly, until it was seething off her skin like smoke from a grass fire.

“Are you going to kill me, then?” Palpatine asked. “Do you think that will work? If you strike me down, you will inherit all the powers of the Sith!”

“I’m not going to kill you,” Rey replied, as the smoke-light grew brighter. “That would be a mercy. By the will and urging of the Force, I will do to you what was done in ages past to Ulic Quel-Droma and Exar Kun.”

Palpatine’s expression immediately changed.

“You couldn’t,” he said, unable to keep a hint of fear out of his voice.

As Rey promptly demonstrated, she could.

Then there was the sound of running feet at the entrance to the room, and Ben Solo came racing in with all of his former followers stampeding behind him.

“Please tell me you’ve got a lightsaber!” he said, then skidded to a halt as he spotted Palpatine. “Ew. What happened to him?”

Rey wasn’t actually sure, because Palpatine had compressed to roughly the size, shape and texture of a charcoalized raisin.

“...I cut him off from the Force,” she said. “Apparently that’s what happens.”

By the time she’d looked up again, the Knights of Ren had all run away.