Did the Jedi Council Help to Create Darth Vader?

We know that Anakin becoming Darth Vader was a long process, one that started with the very first prequel film The Phantom Menace. But I think that regardless of the events leading up to Anakin Skywalker pledging himself to the Emperor and Darth Sidious, the Jedi Council was instrumental in pushing Anakin further towards the dark side and to Darth Sidious.

I came across this post on Tumblr which kind of set up this post about Anakin:

But when Palpatine barks, “Do it! Now!” Anakin realizes that this isn’t actually an order. That it is, in fact, nothing more than what he’s been waiting for his whole life.

Permission.

TRDT

“Something that he has been waiting for his whole life… permission”. That really resonated with me because I agree entirely. When Anakin started doubting himself as a Jedi, he was already at the point where he was beginning to feel like the Jedi weren’t exactly what he thought they’d be. In many ways, the Jedi let Anakin down.

I’m still in two minds about Mace Windu’s comments as well when he tells Obi-Wan that Anakin will not become a Jedi Master. Did Mace Windu see something in Anakin that even his closest friends could not?

This post on Star Wars dot com even discusses how Mace Windu and Anakin never really liked each other and Mace Windu was always distrusting of Anakin. As far as I can tell, the path for Anakin’s journey towards darkness was lit by the lightsabers of the Jedi Council, in particular, by Mace Windu.

If Anakin had been accepted and trusted by the council to become a Jedi Master, perhaps his distrust for the Jedi and their ways would not have been so profound. And Senator Palpatine would have found it a lot more challenging to push Anakin without those feelings of distrust and unworthiness in Anakin’s heart and mind.

It’s obvious why Anakin had to become Darth Vader but it could have been a very different movie and perhaps not even a trilogy had different events transpired in Anakin’s journey.

What do you think about Anakin being turned down by the Jedi council? Do you think this was something that fated Anakin to become Darth Vader? Let me know in the comments my friends and stay safe out there and I’ll catch ya in the next post!

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18 thoughts on “Did the Jedi Council Help to Create Darth Vader?”

  2. I think that they contributed. If they were more inclusive, I think he would have been less vulnerable to the influence of Palpatine, who listens to him and therefore becomes his confidant. However, I think that they are fated to become too powerful and unaccommodating, causing Anakin to fulfill his destiny.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yeah my only reservation is that for Anakin to become the “chosen one” he had to become Darth Vader to achieve that end. I am not sure if every star wars fan understands that because it took me a while to understand that concept myself. But once you look at the bigger picture and the first six movies, you can see it much more clearly. I sometimes wonder if Qui-Gon Jinn could see that far ahead as well because he was the one who initially found Anakin and new he was The Chosen One. Ah something for another post perhaps 🙂 Thanks for the reply 🙂

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  3. He seemed often under their scrutiny and doubt, and must have been very confused being taken away from his mother so young. I wonder if the JC had done a deal with Watto to bring Anakin’s mother with him (and for sure they could have done that financially or even by a covert ‘rescue’ mission) then would Anakin have turned out more stable?
    I thought his early relationship with Obi Wan was quite positive; Obi Wan being tough at times with him, but also understanding of his trainee’s wild impulses.
    As you said – it’s looking at the big picture, and his story is fascinating how he finally finds redemption. I always loved the movie poster version showing Anakin as a boy standing alone, with the sun casting his shadow as the future Dark Lord. Chilling!

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    1. Yes that is actually still one of my favourite teaser posters of all-time 🙂 It says so much with such a simplistic design 🙂 I agree with you about Obi-Wan Kenobi. I feel that Anakin would have turned a lot sooner if it wasn’t for his unconditional friendship and respect. Obi-Wan was always saying positive things to Anakin because he knew what Anakin thought of himself, particularly when he was younger. Even though Anakin knew he was a powerful Force user, he doubted himself a lot and I feel the Jedi Council only proved to reinforce those doubts even more. Once the seed of doubt is planted, especially in a young mind, it is very difficult to remove – something I am sure Mace Windu must have known when he refused to vote for Anakin.

      Thank you for commenting 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Cheers Julie, it was a thought-provoking post 🙂 and making me think too about how the death of Qui Gon might have affected Anakin – as well as affecting Obi Wan… being that he too was young back then.
        Yes, that particular poster was on my mind as it’s one to add to my SW Japanese poster collection. You can see the others here if you fancy a look: https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.org/2018/08/18/star-wars-japanese-movie-posters/
        Nothing quite like Star Wars with Japanese graphics to make you love the franchise even more 🙂

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      2. Oh wow!!! Now I cannot stop looking at these lol – they’re beautiful! I’ve seen some of these online before, but not all of them 🙂 Do you own all of those posters in that post?

        Liked by 1 person

      6. I get the majority of my traffic so far from Pinterest. But I am learning about SEO and I’ll be hopefully, gaining traffic from other sources too. Pinterest, like Instagram, is mostly a visual social media tool but the nice thing about it unlike Instagram is you can link to your work on your blog which is what I do 🙂 Let me know if you decide to go there and I’ll follow you 🙂

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      7. For sure. Thanks for the info, Julie. I’m def tempted to do it. For years I’ve had a Twitter accnt which acts as a sister site, and while it’s drawn a fair share of traffic I’ve fallen out of love with it these past few months. The way it presents picture content these days since the last updates sucks, and as my content is always visual I need the best available image solutions. 🙂

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      8. Hey there 🙂 Yeah, I am sorta one foot in and one out when it comes to Twitter. I used IG and Pinterest mostly for social media and Tumblr as well but that’s primarily just for Star Wars. On Pinterest, my star wars content is the best and draws in a lot of views and traffice but I do blog other things there too 🙂 Which is why I like it, you can create boards for anything at all 🙂

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      9. Hey TVTA. I want to do a series of posts about Star Wars posters for my readers. Do you mind if I link back to your blog and use your poster images? I thought I had better ask you first since these are yours and your collection is amazing. Totally understand if you don’t want me to do that, just let me know 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      10. Yay, I’d be delighted, Julie. Use what you like, and indeed any of my Star Wars images (I have tons of them dotted about my site). A link back is always appreciated. For me, sharing the wealth of printed history for Star Wars is a good thing – it’s a remarkable franchise that has spanned the globe and generations, and one of the most savvy there is for marketing itself.
        Look forward to your posts 🙂
        Best,
        Ford TVTA

        Liked by 1 person

      11. Ahhh thank you so much 🙂 No worries at all I always link the creator or source whenever possible. Sometimes it’s hard to locate the creator of things on the internet or the original source but I do my best. Thank you again, I’ll be posting and linking back to you regularly 😀

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