Photo by hugovk licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.
The Clone Wars have also been raging on for the past 3 years with the Jedi fighting a war against the Separatists. The movie opens with Anakin and
Obi-Wan rescuing the Supreme Chancellor Palpatine from the clutches of
Separatist leader, Count Dooku. In the
process, Anakin also ends up killing Count Dooku at Palpatine's urging and he
questions the motives behind his actions.
After a narrow escape, the three make their way back to Coruscant and Padmé reveals to Anakin that she's pregnant. Initially, Anakin is elated at the news, but has a terrible nightmare later that night of Padmé dying in child birth. They are similar to the nightmares that Anakin used to have right before his mother died.
As
Anakin continues to struggle with the thought of Padmé dying in child birth, Palpatine
puts Anakin on the Jedi Council as his representative. Much to his dismay however, he isn't granted the
rank of Jedi Master and he is ordered to secretly spy on all the Chancellor's
dealings. Anakin starts to lose faith in
the Jedi and Palpatine starts to twist Anakin's mind with stories about the how
the dark side of the Force holds the power to prevent death, specifically Padmé's. Anakin voices his thoughts about Padmé dying
and his allegiance to the Jedi Order and the Republic.
Palpatine
later reveals himself to Anakin as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and Anakin
reports his findings to Mace Windu who goes to deal with Palpatine and tells
Anakin to stay in the Jedi Temple until he returns. Anakin is overcome with the thought that
Palpatine has the power to save Padmé's life and goes off to where Mace Windu
went. Right before Mace Windu is about
to kill Palpatine, Anakin chops off his arm and Palpatine kills Mace
Windu.
It is at this point of vulnerability, that Palpatine takes advantage of Anakin and takes him as his apprentice, Darth Vader. Palpatine tells him that every Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic and orders him to go to the Jedi Temple and wipe out all the Jedi and also the Separatists gathered on the lava planet of Geonosis. Meanwhile, Palpatine also executes Order 66 and the Clone Troopers turn on and kill their Jedi masters and declares himself Emperor after reforming the Republic into the Galactic Empire.
We
end with a final lightsaber duel between former master and apprentice, Obi-Wan
and Anakin with Anakin losing nearly everything that makes his human and his
transition into Darth Vader is complete.
Padmé also dies in childbirth after giving birth to the twins, Luke and
Leia who are separated, so that they won't be discovered. Luke is sent to live with his family on
Tatooine while Leia is adopted by Senator Bail Organa and his wife on Alderaan.
It is still very heart-wrenching for me to watch the scenes where Anakin turns to the dark side. The scene where Anakin's body is consumed by the lava and cries out in anguish is especially brutal to watch. I honestly sometimes say to myself, "No Anakin don't." when he makes the decision to save Palpatine and when he begins his merciless killing.
In
the psychiatry research article, "Is Anakin Skywalker suffering from borderline personality
disorder?", the authors discuss the possibility that Anakin could be afflicted by
this disorder because he meets six of the nine criteria that fulfill the
requirements for the diagnosis. Even
though I had never considered this possibility before because I believed
Anakin's downfall was only attributed to the power of the Dark Side, it seems
very likely. I agree that Anakin acts impulsively,
has trouble controlling his anger, and his fear of losing Padmé made him
desperate enough to betray the Jedi.
I also agree that killing the Tusken Raiders and the Jedi younglings were both events that chronicled dissociative episodes secondary to stressful events, his mother dying and voicing paranoid thoughts about Obi-Wan and Padmé. However, I don't agree with the part about Anakin being confused about his identity at all. As a teenager myself, I wholeheartedly agree that the Star Wars movies appeal to us because of Anakin's character and his struggle.
Episode III was supposed to be re-released in theaters in 3D on October 4, 2013, but was unfortunately postponed like episode II because of episode VII. I am still holding out hope that it will be released because this is my second most favorite episode. What do you think about Anakin's reasons for turning to the dark side and the idea of him suffering from borderline personality disorder? Leave your comment below.
